J.T.'s Revenge

By Ken McComas

About the Book
J.T. while on his scheduled inspection of his livestock and condition of his largest ranch west of the Mississippi River, discovers mysterious wagon tracks heading east across his vast range. He receives reports from his many foremen of valuable lumber missing also. J.T. becomes quite irate and along with his daughter begins to head to the Capitol for answers. Finding themselves being fired upon and wounding his daughter, he declares revenge on his intruders. Little did he have any idea of what dangers lie ahead of him.

About the Author
Ken McComas retired from the Navy after serving 20 eventful years. Serving as an Admiral’s aide offered many exciting adventures overseas. He attended school afterwards at Illinois State University acquiring his teacher’s degree in 1985. After teaching for 22 years he again retired and travelled worldwide with his wife, Connie.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Company
• Release date: Sep 8, 2023
• ISBN: 9798886838220

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The contents of this work, including, but not limited to, the accuracy of events, people, and places depicted; opinions expressed; permission to use previously published materials included; and any advice given or actions advocated are solely the responsibility of the author, who assumes all liability for said work and indemnifies the publisher against any claims stemming from publication of the work.

All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2023 by Ken McComas

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, downloaded, distributed, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented without permission in writing from the publisher.

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It has been over twenty-five years since they have buried Uncle Steve in what is now the family cemetery, recalled J.T. as he relaxed in his old rocker on the veranda of his home. He was always amazed at his accomplishments, both in his family and the size of his herds, which were scattered over 5,000 acres of the best grazing land in southern Utah.

He and Kat had produced three fine kids. Kathleen, now nineteen, Jesse, now twenty-one, and Nathanial, who at twenty-three was the foreman of the K-J-S Ranch empire. Jesse has been in charge of the large horse population since he was sixteen. Kathleen was the finest rider of the three, which really made her brothers quite jealous.

J.T. was relaxing while watching the sun rise before making his preparations to make his six-month inspection of his vast empire. He has decided to take Kathleen with him on this trip. The boys have been the one to accompany him on the inspections up to now, but time has come for Kathleen to become accustomed to the accounting of the size of their herds.

I know the boys have been giving their sister a hard time because she was going with their dad on this inspection. At least it is in a fun type of teasing. The boys know that she can handle herself in any situation. She can outride any hand on the ranch, as well as handling her rifle and handguns. T.J. knew that Kat and himself had done a good job of raising three kids on a growing ranch.

Kathleen (who prefers to be called Katie) was busy packing what clothes she could take into her sleeping bag.

Hope I’ve got enough to last me until we get back. I know there is no place to wash my clothes unless we find a creek to clean them. I’m sure that daddy, he hates it when I call him that, knows all the water holes for drinking and washing. I hope that we don’t run into any trouble on our trip.

After making sure that she had everything packed, she headed for the corral to saddle up her pride and joy – Midnight. He was black as the night with no stars and as fast as the wind. There was not another horse on the ranch that can keep up with him. She had raised him since he was born, and he loved her like a second mother.

Kat stood looking out the kitchen window at her daughter making preparations to accompany her father on her first long trip away from home. She knew that there was nothing to worry about, but she was still her baby, and mothers just don’t like to see their daughters go like that.

Kat stepped out to the porch and slowly approached J.T., and when she stood behind him, leaned over, and wrapped her arms around him, and with her most sensuous voice said, J.T., you will take care of my little girl, won’t you?

You do know that she is also my little girl, right? That little girl out there is just as rough as her brothers, and she can outride, outshoot, and outfight her brothers. I’m actually taking her to protect me on this trek.

Oh, you stinker, whispered Kat in his ear. You just take care of our little girl, or you’ll have to answer to me. Understand?

Yes, Kat. I understand completely, he replied with a loving smile. He was more in love with Kat than ever, if that was possible. He did not know what he would do without her. He practically worshipped the ground she walked on. He rose from his chair and turned to her and said, How about a hug and a kiss before I have to leave you here for the next six months.

Kat tried to wipe the tears away before J.T. could see her crying.

You know that I would not let you go without them, you stinker J.T. You better take care of Kathleen, or else you will answer to me. You hear me?

J.T. smiled, and with a little hug and a quick pat on Kat’s backside as he turned toward the corral, stated, Yes, dear, I hear you.

As he neared the corral, he noticed Katie had Midnight already to go. Katie had also brought out his favorite palomino, Wonder Boy. He was second only to Midnight in speed and beauty. J.T. knew he had the best spread of horses in the west.

In addition to the finest batch of horses, he had the best cattle spread over his ranch. He had cabins located all over his spread with hands living in them. They managed assigned areas to better account for the cattle. J.T. was intending on checking in with each of these areas.

The families living in the outpost cabins were given land to raise crops to live on, plus a bull to furnish them with calves from cows from the herd, and one tenth of the profit from the cattle in their section at roundup time. This provided each family with a good amount of food, plus a nice amount of money.

Unfortunately the nearest trading post was four days away by horseback. Add another two days by wagon. Going to the post to purchase personal items and material for the cabins would turn out to be a good trek.

Katie noticed her