Page 77 of Final Ride

“We’re coming over in a while to help get the house set up for y’all. Mommy doesn’t want Travis moving around today. He did too much yesterday, and she’s worried about the stitches pulling apart.”

“Great. I’ll tell him to stay put and I’ll see you later.”

“Was that Lucy?” asked Virge.

“Yeah. She and Mom are coming over to straighten up the house. They don’t want Dad trying to do it.”

“Fantastic. I don’t know where to put all the kitchen stuff. Be great if they organized it for us.”

“Yeah, I love Mom’s kitchen at her ranch with the big, long table and the fireplace.”

“We don’t have a fireplace in our kitchen, but we do have a woodstove, and Dad is pumped for it. He talked about chopping wood more than once.”

We came in from the barn and washed up. We looked to see if Dad was up yet and found him upstairs out of breath trying to get his boots on.

“Dad, what the hell are you doing?” asked Virge.

“There’s no food in the house, so we have to go out for breakfast.”

“Nope. You’re not going. Mom is already on you about doing nothing today and she’s coming over. I’ll take the boys into Giddings, grab breakfast and bring you back food and coffee. Sit on the porch and have a smoke until we get back.”

“Good copy, Harlan. My side is giving me a bit of trouble this morning.” Travis sat on the end of his bed trying to get a hold on his breathing.

Not a pretty sight. He was in serious pain.

“You’re a mess, Dad,” said Virge. “Slow down and don’t go any farther than the porch.”

“Copy that, Virgil.” Dad smiled.

I rounded up Corb, laid down the plan, and the boys piled into the Jeep. Max and Sarge wanted to go for the ride, but I told them to stay on the porch with Dad.

They whined but did as they were told.

Golden Arches. Giddings. Texas.

Giddings had the closest drive-thru for breakfast and coffee and it didn’t take us long to get there. Our new ranch was close to several little towns.

“I’m worried the bikers will come back and hurt Dad again,” said Corb.

I noticed it was the first time the kid had called TravisDad.Felt sorry for him.

“We’ve got our order, Corb, and we’re on our way back to the ranch now. Ten minutes and we’ll be there. Dad hasn’t been alone long enough for bikers to find our new ranch and come grab him.”

“Bikers ain’t riding the roads at eight in the morning, Corb,” said Virge. “Don’t fret about Dad.”

Ten minutes later, I drove down our lane and as soon as I got near the house, I could feel something wasn’t right. I parked the Jeep near the garage and had already noticed Dad wasn’t sitting on the porch in one of the wicker chairs where he was supposed to be.

“Where the hell are the dogs?” I hollered.

Virge jumped out of the Jeep and was gone. He was running through the house hollering his head off for Dad before I got to the porch steps.

He ran out the door panting for breath. “There’s no blood and the dogs are gone. Where is he?”

“The bikers took him.” Corb had gone a snowy shade of pale. He leaned over and puked into a flower bed full of purple flowers.

“Stop puking and check the barn, Corb,” hollered Virge. “They must’ve locked up the dogs.”

Corb took off on the run and I plopped down on the top step and called Annie.

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