Boats, Barrels, and Broncos

Ma smiled at the peck on the cheek, and welcomed her daughter inside. Her siblings were already seated, and waiting for their middle sister. Their father was already at the head, smacking the eldest's hand for attempting to sneak a roll from the basket. Of course, stepping in, and then saying that she'd miss her mother's cooking, it instantly quieted the family at the table. A worrying look passed Ma's face, while Da seemed a bit unhappy but didn't say anything. The only one who did was the eldest brother. "You can't be serious Joan."

Ma couldn't take it anymore with the brother piping up. "Mathew Cooper mentioned you bought a dingy from him..... Are you really gonna go? I mean, you don't even know how to sail, let alone navigate. Just wait a bit longer dear, at least til we can find you a good teacher." She'd pull Joan over to the table and sat her down, before taking a seat herself. Joan knew Ma was just trying to delay her. No one on Ballywood would teach her anything if she didn't have the money to pay for expensive navigation lessons. While her family wasn't poor, a majority of the funds were used to raise cattle, buy food, and pay for the land taxes. Even if Joan did find a navigator to teach her, not only would she need equipment, but she'd be forced to either join the marines, or abide by lessons that could be day, week, or month long breaks as ships rarely stayed for any longer than they necessarily needed to.

Before Joan could say anything, her father held up his hands in prayer, and spoke without a second's hesitation as Ma sat. "Lord we thank you for this food, and the bountiful harvest. We ask for your continued protection of our family and our herd, and for the safe travels of all those closest to us."

The last part wasn't normally in the dinner prayer, which only meant one thing. Ma looked towards Da and the man didn't look at her, as though to say he wouldn't talk about it. The younger two didn't seem to notice what the last words had meant, but the elder two brothers did. They looked at Da in disbelief, their mouths agape.

Pa looked to Joan, almost expectantly after a moment.

Pa was more watching her reaction, and at the grin and tilt of her head, he sighed, before clarifying; "Amen." Digging in, Ma looked disheartened, while Fin looked sour. Her second eldest brother was too busy stuffing his face, as were the two younger; before Joan reassured her mother. Of course, neither Ma or Pa found her joke funny, before Fin interrupted, "Just cause they're lettin' you go doesn't mean you should joke about that. Sailing to go fishin' is one thang, but going out into open sea! Just how crazy are you Joan?! You're gonna end up like Uncle Waldo!" Fin's outburst was a bit uncalled for, and Joan had never heard about an Uncle Waldo. The older brother looked a bit sorrowful, but what really made an impact was how both Ma and Pa reacted. "Shut up Fin." Pa responded, his expression growing dark and bitter. Ma seemed even more worried now, especially with how much she saw her daughter joking about this entire situation.

"She's not ready Johnathan. I'm sure Mr.Cooper would buy it back no problem if you ask." Ma pleaded with Pa as she seemed even more desperate to keep her daughter here. Pa slammed a fork on the table, immediately grabbing everyone's attention. It was rare for Pa to ever have outbursts like this. Especially during dinner. "No.... This is Joan's decision... If I tell her no, then I gotta tell everyone else no when they go to pursuit their own life, whether it's here at the ranch, as a deputy for the sheriff, or anything else even when I think they aren't ready yet." It was made clear at this point. Pa had only given his grace under principle rather than anything else.

"Now..... No more of this. Joan... we're gonna have a chat in the barn after dinner." He stated, before looking to the rest of the siblings, "Alone." A single command from Pa made it clear he wasn't gonna deal with people not listening to him. The rest of the meal would go by for what seemed like an eternity. Honestly, it was a fairly big meal, more than usual. Once everyone stopped talking about Joan's choice, they told various things about their day. Fin stating that the cows were doing well and no predators was bothering anyone nearby; the older bother stating that his girlfriend and him had hung out most of the day and were thinking of buying a plot and getting married by march. The younger brother commented on how his cork gun aim was improving as he had hit three cans in a row without missing, and the younger sister stating that she found the newly hatched chicks to be cute as buttons. In the moment, everything seemed to be normal. No indication that tomorrow would and could likely be the last time she saw her family in a while.

Once everything was done, and the dishes were cleaned; Joan would see her old man stepping out. It seemed that the time was now.

Once she stepped outside, she'd see Pa dragging out a pair of hay bales, sitting on one while the other was in front of him. The lantern had moths fluttering about it, as he waited for Joan. "This could be the last time we talk.... So make it count. I'll answer any questions you got. Anything you want to get off your chest, now's the time. Cause by First Light if you're not gone from the house, I'm gonna ask Mr.Cooper to take his boat back." Pa stated as a matter of fact. He was usually the first up, and awake by first light. In short, he was wanting her to be ready to set sail before he woke up. He was always this way. If you showed reluctance, you got left behind, or he took matters into his own hands. Fin had trouble putting one of the injured calves down, and when Fin didn't pull the trigger in time, Pa did. A simple sentence that Fin took to heart. "If you say you're gonna do something, Do it. Cause each second it only gonna be a second you're a liar. I don't raise Liars in my household." Pa was a stern man, and at times he ruled the house with an iron fist; but he was never tyrannical beyond reason. After all, every second that calf was suffering a broken leg, was another second it was in pain.

Pa listened, giving her the same amount of respect as she had shown him. He looked at the girl before him. She was serious about her choice, and he knew why. What he hadn't expected was for her to try and give a reason as well. Smiling softly like he had when she was younger and brazenly honest, he shook his head.

"Girl, did you really think your old man wouldn't have known where his only baby girl at the time was heading off to? Only reason I didn't stop that man was because I knew what he was, an' that he didn't mean no harm. Convincin' these folks though was another story. Plus, i figured if you decided not to tell yer old pa, you had something to protect.
Made sure to have a talk with that man and set the line too." He grinned lightly with a twinkle in his eye. "Ya ma's job is ta take care of ya. Mine is ta keep my eye on y'all amd make ya strong. If you thought silence was the answer, then I figured you'd take it to the grave. Glad you still decided to clear things out... Just not this way."

Pa seemed to adjust in his seat a bit at the mention of Waldo however.  "Figured you'd ask that.  Fin shoulda kept his mouth shut, but that's too late I suppose.  Boy's gonna get himself in trouble one day for openin' that mouth."  the older man commented, before closing his eyes.  "Waldo was my older bother.  You heard how the ranch was passed down to me, but originally I wasn't gonna get it.... Waldo was.  My pa, your long dead grandpa that you never met; he wasn't one to break tradition.  Waldo was suppose to inherit the land, but it didn't go well because he had other plans in mind.  He wanted to sail the seas.  He wanted to find the One Piece.  You were born a year before Jolly Devil was executed.... it was that same year Waldo found and ate some strange lookin' fruit.  When he did, he began to act different.... began to want to find something.  Then before me or my pa could stop him, he won a boat in some kinda bet; and set sail.... we found wreckage of the boat a few days later... ended up killing my Pa.  Broke his poor heart.  He gave the ranch to me, and disowned my brother for putting him in his death bed.  After that I saw Waldo in the Most Wanted Papers.  He'd changed his name, but he was still alive.  So I made it so we honored my Pa's last words.  We wouldn't talk about Waldo.... only exception is that I said I'd answer anything you wanted.  So I'm doing that now.  I don't mind whatever business you gotta do, but do me a favor.  Don't go underestimatin' the big blue.  She's violent, oppressive, and deceitful when you least expect it."  Pa stated, looking his daughter in the eye as he said so.  Those eyes were filled with a sorrowful resentment as he spoke about his brother.  Still, Joan had never seen any wanted poster with the name Waldo on it, nor their family name.  

"Well..... Do you got anything else you want to ask?"

Pa hadn't been expecting his daughter to hug him, but didn't exactly push her away, instead letting the moment happen and enjoying it as it could be the last time he ever holds his daughter.

On the note of her response to the blue, he nodded. "Right.....," before he held his chin in an attempt to remember. "It's been so long since we saw the wanted poster, and we stopped seeing not even 2 years later. We assumed he might be caught, since bounties grow over time the longer someone is left uncaptured. considering it's been 20 years, his bounty would be fairly large, but nothing changed. My Pa couldn't even stomach Waldo's wanted poster... I do know that he still kept his cowboy hat even after all this time, and he had a scar on his left eye. That could describe anyone really, but if you do meet him, he'll likely look a bit like myself, though with a mustache. Reason I only ever grow a short beard. A few times bounty hunters thought I was Waldo, and tried to turn me into the sheriff. Those days I went to the town with some strangers was what that was. It stopped two years after, but yeah. Sheriff was happy I wasn't visiting him every month or two." He chuckled, before his face sunk in sadness....

"I guess I can't call you my baby girl anymore. You've gone and grown up into a woman....." With that, he reached behind the haybale, before pulling out a holster and pistol. "Here.... Something for your travels. It was Waldo's and left it behind.... He had a strange fascination with horns, so I reckon if you see him again, he ought to recognize it. That said..... You can sleep where you want to... unless you got something else you want to ask, but be quick. You know how Ma worries I'll catch a cold being out for too long."

The pistol was what you'd expect, being a flintlock, but it's design suggested that it wasn't constructed normally. Parts were hinged, allowing one to quickly reload it using break action; and the handle was made of a bull's horn as opposed to wood like most guns. What's more was the longhorn symbol burnt into the top of the handle, clear as day. It shown with a finishing coat, and honestly was a nice looking weapon in and of itself. Pa stood up, before reaching over to hug his Joan back. "I ain't one to tell you what to do anymore, but one last goodbye won't hurt." He said, waiting to see if she had any further questions, before heading back inside.

Neither Ma nor Pa saw her as she left, though in the house, everyone looked a bit pained. It was hard saying goodbye to family. Especially if you didn't know when you'd see them again. The two younger siblings noticed the mood and fell into place, though they'd look out the window confused as Joan began to walk away. Ma kept her head to the side, as she shut the shutters so the twins understood that it was better not to watch. For the first time in all of their lives, Joan's siblings would see their Pa's eyes red and wet, as he struggled to keep his tears from flowing, to no avail. Ma could only console him, by grabbing his hand, and telling him this. "It'll be a'right. She'll come back. I know it. She'll make it out there." Despite her own worries, she knew that Joan was her father's child; and that she'd swim across the sea to get back home if she had to.

As Joan moved along, she'd find that the moon being out, and the lack of lights from her home, she could see clearly enough, to notice the outline of the cattle herd in the distance. The wide expanse seemed strangely empty without the sounds of Prairie dogs, the occasional rattle of a snake in the distance, or even the sight of a tumbleweed. Everything was perfectly quiet and clear.......

Moving along, Joan would eventually reach near the border of her family's land. Beyond it a few more hundred feet, was the rocky coast that she'd need to follow towards the cave where the cove was located. However, in the moonlight, Joan would notice something. The fence was moved, two planks were removed from the post. It wasn't the same as the one she had repaired which had been struck by freak lightning.

Looking at the markings on the ground and inspecting for tracks, Joan could tell that whoever it was it was likely multiple people, and what's more they weren't normal country folk. Most knew better than to wear dress shoes out in the wilderness; much less when traveling discretely, so their tracks were clear as day.... night.... moonlight.... whatever it was. However, Joan could also tell that they hadn't gone very far into the premise. The tracks seemed to more scout things, checking the local area, bushes, and even an abandoned tortoise burrow. Whatever they were doing, they weren't local, nor did they seem interested in heading deeper in, as their tracks continued on back towards town. Following where they had come from, it was obvious they had likely been following the border of the fence.

Whatever the reason for these trespassers to have chosen to do something this stupid as to leave the fence down, they definitely didn't seem to be scouting, but rather searching. None the less, with the tracks that left leading towards town, Joan could at least fix the fence, or perhaps she could try and track down these trespassers. There were multiple options, but for once she didn't have Pa to give her advice, or instruction. This was entirely her choice on what to do, as her boat was still waiting for her in the cove.