Give It Time by Buckskin

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Settling In challenge
All mistakes are mine

Word count: 840

Sure hope they give this a chance. Oh, sorry there, folks, this is Walt. I’m a senior hand at Lancer ranch an’ thought that maybe I’d fill ya all in on what’s been happenin’ around here. Big changes since Mr. Lancer decided to call his boys home. An’ there’s not been anything that’s not been affected. But guess I should start at the beginning, huh?

You all know about Mr. Lancer being married twice, losin’ both wives and sons, so I guess I can skip over that part. All these years later, the whole valley is under threat of them damn land pirates again. Sounds kinda funny to me, ‘land pirates’, but that’s what Mr. Lancer calls them. Anyway, with him being crippled with a bullet in his back from Pardee, he called his sons home to help.

None of us here in the bunkhouse know what to expect. The older son, Scott, he’s from Boston an’ we all know that he will need help once he starts workin’  here, if he decides to stay. An’ the younger one, Johnny, well he’s a gunfighter an’ truth be told, none of us think that he’ll stick around. He’s got the ‘free as an alley cat’ attitude about him. But time will tell.

When the boys showed up on the same stage an’ got to the ranch, things didn’t start out too friendly. Seems that both boys were told lies about their father, so they all got off on the wrong foot. But after a few months they got to talkin’, an’ it seems that things are startin’ to turn around.

Now, Mr. Lancer is a fair an’ honest man. The best to work for, but well, I gotta tell ya, it was tough to watch him struggle at bein’ a father to two grown men. After missin’ out on raisin’ his sons, he made mistakes, treatin’ them like kids. Especially Johnny. They butted heads more times than what we can count; hell, we could hear the arguments all the way out to the bunkhouse! An’ it didn’t help that Johnny’s got a temper to match his old man, worse than his old man! How many times did we watch Johnny leave, galloping down the road after one of those fights?

But eventually, he’d come back. Usually, Scott would go an’ get him. Apparently, Scott has come into the role of peacekeeper. Boy, he’s got his work cut out for him! Seems they took to each other once the major differences got straightened out. Watching those two find their connection was, to put it mildly, somethin’ to see.

Scott was a surprise to all of us. We were expectin’ a greenhorn, a tenderfoot, but once he got here, he stepped right up an’ learned from the bottom up. He took us all by surprise. Didn’t let it get to him when the jokes, at his expense, were played. He laughed, most of the time, an’ took it all with good humor.

It was a little different with Johnny, though. He’d worked on ranches before, so with his experience, he took to the work, but gettin’ up in the mornin’ was hard on him! He sure wasn’t used to the routine of goin’ ta bed early an’ up before dawn! We got a few laughs what with him being late, but he’s gettin’ better, much to Mr. Lancer’s relief!.

An’ Mr. Lancer, well, guess it’s takin’ time for him, too. I know he’s the ‘tune caller’ an’ needs to be confident an’ all, but sometimes I can see it in his eyes. I wouldn’t exactly call it fear, maybe deep concern?… Nope, it’s more like fear when he looks at his boys. I know he’s worried that his sons might not stay. This wasn’t the life Scott was accustomed to. Back-breakin’ work, day in an’ day out; dangerous an’ dirty… An’ I already told ya about Johnny havin’ his troubles. I know Mr. Lancer worries about him stayin’, probably more than Scott. Ranch life requires dedication an’ I know Mr. Lancer wonders about that, too.

Once in a while, I can see Mr. Lancer stare at the gun Johnny carries an’ is never without. I hear tell it was a serious row when he insisted Johnny not wear his Colt in the house! Johnny told his daddy he may as well walk around naked! Mr. Lancer didn’t take to that neither, considerin’ that Miss T’resa was there. But, I know that he’s thinkin’ about the chances that other gunfighters will come lookin’ for Madrid, an’ I can’t blame him there.

I watch the old man as he watches his sons. But with all the worry, there’s pride there, too. He’s showing more confidence as the days go by that his sons will stay and continue the Lancer legacy. If you look close enough, you can almost see his buttons pop right off of his shirt, he’s so proud. An’ it’s growin’ every day. Just settlin’ in, I guess.

Yup, give it time.

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~ end ~

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