Chapter 2

"Who's Chante?" Ten year old James asked.

"She is one of our ancestors," Lewis answered. "You know what an ancestor is?"

"Yeah, it's a relative that lived a long time ago."

"That partly right honey," Alyssa said. "Ancestors are part of our family that are alive or lived before you. Your Dad and I are your ancestors. So they don't have to be from a long time ago. You understand?"

"I think so. Boompa is my ancestor then," James replied. The boy called William, Boompa. No one was sure where it came from; James had called him Boompa from the time he started talking. "And he's your ancestor too, huh Dad?"

"That's right and Grandpa Jim is your ancestor."

"And Grandpa Josh is my ancestor and yours too Mom, right?"

"That's right son."

"But who is Chante?" The boy asked again.

"Sorry ... we got sidetracked a bit," Lewis chuckled. "Chante was your, let's see ... your great, great, great, great Grandmother. She was a full blood Lakota who lived in the late 1800's."

"Wow," James said. He was quiet for almost a minute. "I've haven't heard about Grandma Chante. Can you tell me about her?"

"Tell you what James. After supper, ask Boompa to tell you about her," Lewis suggested. "She was his great, great grandmother and helped raise him, right here on this ranch."

"Awesome," James said excitedly.

Lewis and Alyssa walked back to the house. James went to the corral to see Joshua. He climbed onto the top rail and the animal came over to join him, standing with his head over the corral.

"Hey Joshua, you found a journal from my grandmother, Chante. How cool is that?" The big horse nodded his head as if he understood the boy.

A few minutes later Alyssa rang the dinner bell. "See you later Joshua," James said and with a last pat on the horse's neck ran to the ranch house.

Jake Sanders sat with his back toward his desk looking out the big picture window in his corner office. The skyline of Phoenix was golden in the setting sun. His thoughts were a little over one hundred miles north in Prescott. That's a problem that needs to be solved, he thought; it's gone on too long.

Sanders was one of the men in charge of Land Procurement for Center Corp. His four state territory included Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. He was very good at his job but he'd run in to a brick wall in Prescott. For better than ten years Center Corp and Sanders had been trying to get their hands on the Eagle's Nest ranch.

Eagle's Nest encompassed an entire valley nestled between several mountains. Damn that place would be perfect for a resort and golf course, Sanders thought. Sanders had thought the same thing ten years ago when he had his flunky Sid Collier approach William Randal to buy the ranch. Collier hadn't done his home work because Randal had told Collier that he didn't own the ranch and even if he did he wouldn't sell it to the developer. He had made the word developer sound like an insult.

Collier continued to press William to sell out until finally Randal told him in no uncertain terms what Center Corp could do with the offer and threatened to tie Collier to an ant hill. A three months later Lewis Randal came back home to Eagle's Nest; he was the actual owner. Collier approached Lewis with an increased offer of 3.5 million dollars.

Lewis told him the ranch wasn't for sale for any price. He repeated what William had suggested that Center Corp do with the offer. He also warned Collier that he'd follow up on the ant hill threat if the Randals weren't left alone.

Sanders had traveled to Prescott and met the Randals himself. He didn't have any better success than Collier. Lewis told him to move out of their way. Sanders wasn't a coward but the cold hard look in Lewis' eyes made him back down.

Now we have a possible solution, he thought. He turned back to his desk and told his secretary to get Collier in Prescott on the line.

"We may have an in to get hold of Eagle's Nest," Sanders said. "We'll buy the Benson ranch, now that the old man is dead."

"Mr. Benson told me the same thing the Randals did when I approached him two years ago," Collier replied.

"I know but he's dead now. His son Edward lives in L.A. and doesn't like the ranch at all," Sanders informed Collier. "Edward and his wife have made it plain that they don't want to live in such an 'uncivilized' place, as he calls it."

"But how will that help us with the Randals?"

"When we get the Benson place and start building we'll make a mistake and put part of the hotel on the Randals' land."

"But we'll get fined and have to pay a penalty to the Randals," Collier protested.

"We'll pay the fine and compensate the Randals but we'll have a foothold on their land," Sanders said with a chuckle. "We'll make it so uncomfortable and inconvenient for them that they'll eventually sell the place to us."

"But sir, if the Randals protest instead of taking the money they can force us to tear down what we've built and restore the land," Collier protested.

"We're going to just take about ten or twenty acres at their end of the valley and we'll money whip them to accept the compensation. Get hold of Edward Benson, make him an offer, and let's get started," Sanders ordered. He hung up and smiled. Finally I'm going to get Eagle's Nest, he said to himself.

Lewis had shown William Chante's journal when they returned to the house. "When James asked me about her I suggested that he talk to you," Lewis told him. "So be prepared to tell a story after supper."

"It's a story the boy should hear," William agreed with a smile. "And I never pass up a chance to spend time with James." Gazing into the distance through the kitchen window he added, "Chante was the matriarch of our family."

James squirmed all through supper, hardly able to contain himself. He couldn't wait for Boompa to tell him about his grandmother Chante. As soon as Alyssa started to clear the table James turned to his grandfather.

"Boompa, would you tell me about grandma Chante?"

"Let me look at Chante's journal first. If she wrote about what went on in her 1880's and 1890's, it would be better to hear the story from someone who was there. Don't you think so?"

"Yes sir," James replied disappointed that he wasn't going to hear the story right away

"But I will tell you a little bit about her tonight. Let's go into the family room." Leading the boy into the big family/living room, William walked over to the mantle above the big fireplace and picked up an old album and turned to a picture from among the many in the book. It was done in the old style sepia toning. The image was of a Lakota woman sitting and holding a baby; standing next to her and slightly behind her was a tall rugged looking man.

"That's a picture of Grandma Chante and your Grandpa Jim. The baby is John, my great, great grandfather," William explained. "John was your great, great, great grandfather."

"We visit Grandpa Jim's burial platform every year. Right?" James asked. William nodded. James said "I don't remember seeing a picture of him before or of Grandma Chante either."

"She was an amazing woman," William remarked. "Without her and your Grandpa Jim's brother, William, we wouldn't have Eagle's Nest."

"He's got the same name as you Boompa," James said smiling. "How did he help Grandma Chante?"

"That's right, I was named after him. Dad grew up around Uncle Will after your Grandpa Jim was gone and knew how much help Will was to Chante and to him," William replied. "We better stop for now," he added.

"Tomorrow night please Boompa," James requested. "You'll tell me the story tomorrow night?"

"Don't worry son, I'll tell you the story. Okay?" William asked. He wanted the boy to know that he wasn't being ignored.

James went down to the barn to say good night to Joshua and William went back into the kitchen. Sitting at the table with Lewis and Alyssa he said, "I'd like to read Chante's journal to James. What do you think?"

"She lived in a wild and often violent time," Alyssa said. "If you can skip over any gory parts, I think it's a fine idea. James is really curious about Jim and now Chante."

"Those years weren't as near violent as today," Lewis said. Just look at the TV news or newspapers. I don't think you should skip over anything Chante wrote," he suggested. Turning toward Alyssa he added, "The boy should hear the true facts of what happened back then." Taking Alyssa's hand he continued, "We can't protect him forever. James should start learning how things really were and are; not how we'd like for them to be."

Alyssa held Lewis' hand for a few seconds and replied, "I suppose you're right. James isn't a baby anymore."

William sat in his big easy chair with Chante's journal in his lap; soon he was lost in her words. It was almost three hours later when Lewis and Alyssa came back into the room to say goodnight.

"Eleven o'clock already?" William asked. He was surprised at how long he'd been reading. "This sure explains things," he said holding up the journal. "We got Jim's side of things and now we hear Chante's side. It's tough to put down."

Just after lunch the next day, Alyssa answered the phone. It was Sam Reynolds from Prescott. After greeting her and asking about the family he got to the reason for his call.

"Your father is contesting the will Alyssa. Some highfalutin lawyer is representing Edward to get the will overturned." Sam paused and asked, "I wonder if someone put him up to this?"

"Who would do something like that?" Alyssa asked.

"I've heard some rumors running around the courthouse," Sam replied. "Seems like a lawyer or two have been asking questions about Josh's place and about the will."

"Lawyers, what lawyers?"

"Don't know their names yet but I do know they've done work for Center Corp in the past," Sam answered. Looks like Center Corp is trying to get hold of Josh's, I mean young James' ranch."

"It's that bastard Jake Sanders," Lewis said. Alyssa had motioned for him to get on an extension. "He's been trying to get Eagle's Nest or a foothold in the valley for better than ten years." Lewis couldn't keep the anger from his voice. "Guess I better have a talk with Mr. Sanders again."

"Lewis, don't do something stupid," Sam cautioned. "Let me handle Sanders and Center Corp; it's my job. Besides like I said at the reading, God himself can't break this will."

"Okay Sam, I'll do it your way," Lewis agreed. "At least for now," he added.

"They're on the losin side of this fight," Sam reassured Lewis. "Josh never gave me the whole story but apparently Center Corp tried to buy his place a couple of years ago. He said they were quite insistent. From what I understand he gave Sanders the same answer that you gave his errand boy; Josh told him where he could stick his offer." Sam laughed aloud. "That's why Josh didn't leave it to chance when he made the new will."

"What'da you mean?" Lewis asked.

"Josh went to see a friend of mine in California and got his opinion on the will," Sam replied. "My friend is the dean of the Stanford Law School." Sam chuckled and added, "Josh just wrote what my friend Bill told him to write." After a few seconds Sam continued, "Don't worry kids. No one's getting that ranch except James."

"Keep us informed will you Sam?" Alyssa asked. "And thanks for your help."

Lewis and Alyssa hung up. She walked into the living room where Lewis had been on the phone. "Promise me you won't go looking for Sanders." Lewis tried to downplay what he'd said. "Promise me," Alyssa demanded.

Smiling, he pulled Alyssa in for a hug. He kissed her and said, "Okay, I promise." Under his breath he added, "Not right now anyway. But if I run into Mr. Jake Sanders in town, his ass is mine."

"We need to do something about the day to day running of Granddad's ranch," Alyssa said. Smiling she added, "Guess I should say James' ranch shouldn't I?"

Lewis was lost in thought for a couple of minutes. "You know, Jerry Pace is just the man to run the place."

"Yeah, Jerry's the right choice, if he wants the job," Alyssa said. "He's been working there for over seven years now."

"Closer to nine," Lewis responded.

Jerry Pace was the nephew of the first quests at Eagle's Nest when they started the dude ranch. He'd shown a talent for being a "cowboy" and Lewis had hired him while Alyssa was pregnant with James and couldn't make the cattle drives. After getting his degree with a double major of Animal Husbandry and Ranch Management he'd gone to work full time for Josh Benson.

"Let's ride over and talk to him this afternoon," Alyssa suggested.

Jerry was coming out of one of the barns when Alyssa and Lewis rode up. He waved and walked toward them. They dismounted and tied their horses to the top rail of the corral.

"Got a few minutes Jerry?" Lewis asked. "Need to talk to you about the ranch." Jerry nodded and Alyssa continued.

"We know that you and the other hands have been wondering about what was going to happen with the ranch now that Josh is gone," she started. Jerry nodded again but didn't say anything. "Granddad left the ranch to our boy James. Lewis and I are administrators until he gets to be 21," Alyssa informed Jerry.

"I thought it was something like that," Jerry replied with a smile. Lewis and Alyssa looked puzzled so he added, "There was a lawyer out here last week asking about the ranch and who was running it and such. Said he worked for an Edward Benson. You're dad?" He asked Alyssa.

She nodded and Jerry continued, "I told him he'd have to talk to you two about the ranch. That I just worked here." Jerry chuckled, "That fellar wasn't very happy that I wouldn't give him any information. I figured that Josh had left the ranch to you instead of your father."

"You did good Jerry," Lewis said. "What goes on here is nobody's business but ours. Especially not some shyster lawyer.

"Don't know what your plans are but we're offering you the job of running the place," Alyssa told Jerry. You interested?"

"Depends, what do you mean run the place?"

"You'd be the ranch boss," Lewis answered. "Day to day operation, ordering feed and supplies, in charge of breeding the horses and buying new stock as needed. You'd be the ramrod."

"We want you to make this ranch your home," Alyssa added. "At least for the next eleven years; that's when James turns 21. The decisions will be up to him then."

"You'll get top wages," Lewis said. Looking at Alyssa's nod he continued, "We'll give you $4000.00 a month and five per cent of the net profit each year plus you can move out of the bunk house into in the big house and drive one of the ranch trucks as part of the deal."

Jerry grinned. "Funny how things work out ain't it? I was getting ready quit and head out on my own. When Josh passed I decided to stay for awhile. I didn't feel right about leaving y'all in a bind."

"You were going to quit?" Alyssa asked. "Why? I thought you liked it here."

"I do but I'm planning on getting married soon," Jerry replied. "And there isn't any room here at the ranch for families. But living in the ranch house will change all that."

"You understand? The ranch belongs to James and when he gets to be 21 he may decide to do something else," Lewis cautioned.

"Shush Lewis," Alyssa said. Turning back to Jerry she said, "James will have his hands full what with schooling and learning to run Eagle's Nest. I can't say for sure but I doubt he'll have time to boss both places."

Jerry stood staring across the valley toward the mountains for better than two minutes. Lewis and Alyssa kept quiet waiting for his answer.

"Reckon I'd rather stay here than go somewhere else," Jerry finally said. "This place has become like a home to me. You've got yourself a ranch boss." He stuck out his hand to shake but Alyssa hugged him while Lewis smiled.

"Thank you Jerry," she said. "I feel better now that you'll be taking care of Granddad's ranch."

They set it up to have a monthly meeting concerning the ranch and if anything out of the ordinary came up Jerry would call them. Other than that, Jerry would be in complete charge of the Benson ranch.

"Grandpa, will you tell me about Chante tonight?" James asked as the Randals finished supper.

"Yep, I think we should start reading her journal tonight," William answered. "Let's help your mom clean up the kitchen and then we'll go into the den."

Lewis had to smile; he'd never seen James so energetic helping with the after supper chores. Finally after what seemed like an hour to James, he grabbed his grandfather's hand and pulled him into the family room. They were followed closely by Lewis and Alyssa.

William sat in his big chair with the journal on his lap. The book was about 6 by 8 inches, bound in leather with no name or title on the front cover. James sat on the ottoman next to William's feet. Lewis and Alyssa found comfortable seats in their own easy chairs; all the Randals were now ready to hear Chante' journal.

"Chante was a good woman but her writing skills weren't the best," William said. "Her thoughts are well written but the journal is a little hard to read. She didn't leave any spaces between sentences or paragraphs. I'll break it down a little so it's easier to understand."