Redemption on the Road to Jericho

By Paul Kluzek

Redemption on the Road to Jericho is a Christian novel with two simultaneous stories centering around the biblical story of the Good Samaritan. One is a modern-day tale while the other one occurred two thousand years ago in the land of Judea. They are emotionally engaging stories dealing with love, human conflict, pain and suffering, and the healing process that can set a person free from their painful past.

It is possible that this book can inspire victims of abuse to set themselves free from the emotional scars that they carry. This book illustrates how life was like when Jesus walked among us and shows that people really haven't changed all that much since then. We may have many modern conveniences and luxuries and have access to all kinds of knowledge, but we still have difficulty loving one another and making wise choices.

The story of the Good Samaritan encompasses all of humanity because we have all been victims or bullies at one time or another. We all need redemption and we all need a helping hand at one time or another, and we can choose to be that helping hand as well. We are all going down our own unique pathways in life, but no matter what road a person travels, one way or another, all roads eventually lead to the cross. Once we arrive there, we have to choose what we will do with Jesus.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9798889432371

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Redemption on the Road to Jericho

Paul Kluzek

ISBN 979-8-88943-236-4 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88943-238-8 (hardcover)

ISBN 979-8-88943-237-1 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Paul Kluzek

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Never a Dull Day

Chapter 2

Summer Vacation

Chapter 3

The Good Samaritan

Chapter 4

Adventures at the Ranch

Chapter 5

Reaping What You Sow

Chapter 6

The Night Fight

Chapter 7

Saltwater Fishing Fun

Chapter 8

The Assault

Chapter 9

There's a Reason They Call It Fishing and Not Catching

Chapter 10

The Rejected King

Chapter 11

The Storm

Chapter 12

The Sacrificial Lamb

Chapter 13

Setting the Captives Free

Chapter 14

The Rest of the Story

Chapter 15

The Battle

Chapter 16

The Healing Process

Chapter 17

The Confrontation

Chapter 18

Paradise

About the Author

Chapter 1

Never a Dull Day

Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

—Job 5:7

The girl of my dreams, Melisa, and I were about to have our first kiss. Her deep brown eyes gazed longingly at me while her freshly painted lips sparkled, inviting me for our first kiss. My heart raced in excitement as we both closed our eyes and pressed in for the kiss. But to my shock, instead of her soft lips, all I felt was a big slobbery tongue licking my mouth and face. Making matters worse, my mouth was open, and that big slobbery tongue brushed across my tongue several times.

Instead of Melisa's sweet perfume, all I could smell was the faint pungent odor of dog breath. I opened my eyes, and to my horror, I saw our Labrador retriever, Princess, licking my face. I jumped up and yelled, Yuck!

She scurried off before I could grab her. I wiped the dog slobber off of my lips and face with my forearm and then stumbled to the bathroom and rinsed my mouth out with mouthwash. The image came to my mind how Princess was drinking water from the toilet last week. I shook my head, thinking about how annoyingly wonderful dogs can be. Princess's affection and energy was great, but the dog slobber from her reckless tongue was gross.

Frustrated, I went back to bed and lay down again, hoping to go back to sleep and finish my wonderful dream. A few minutes later, the alarm clock went off. It was the dreaded signal of the start of the first day of school. Oh no, I moaned to myself, I can't believe my summer is over already. I loathed the thought of even getting out of bed, so I lay there a while longer, wishing it was just a bad dream.

Eventually, Mom poked her head into my room, turned the light on, and sang, Obadiah, it's time to get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and then go to school. Aren't you excited? She seemed especially perky this morning.

I remembered the phone call conversation I overheard that she was having with her friend, Patty. I heard Mom say she was so glad school was starting soon so she'd have more free time and more peace and quiet at home. I kind of wished she would wake me up like they do in the Marine Corps, just yell and scream at you, kind of like injecting your body with a jolt of adrenaline through your ears. That sweet voice of hers coupled with the thought of getting up was like a hot drink on a hot day, nice by itself but disappointing together.

I longed to sleep a bit more until I got a whiff of the pleasant smell of cooking bacon. My spirit started to rise up out of the dark muggy swamp where it started out first thing in the morning. It was like the scent of bacon was gently pulling me out of bed and wetting my taste buds.

I spent a few minutes in front of the bathroom mirror, trying to fix my wayward hair. I still don't know how a couple hours of sleep could make my hair look worse than that of a shedding grizzly bear. It was sticking out at all kinds of odd angles, and it took a lot of water to wet it down to make it stay in place.

I made my way to the dinner table. My twin sister, Lexi, was already there, all dressed-up and ready to go. I can't wait to go to school, see my friends again, and learn new things! I'm so excited! she said gleefully.

Oh, you're so annoying, Lexi, I can't imagine any sane person wanting to go school. I just want an endless summer. The thought of going to school is about as pleasant as the dog kiss that Princess just gave me on the lips. I was too embarrassed to tell the entire truth that she had given me a French kiss.

Princess just licked you on the lips! Dad exclaimed with a chuckle. I remember kissing a few girls back in the day that were probably as slobbery as that.

Who did you dog kiss, Mr. Smith? Mom asked accusingly. You better not be referring to me, and I don't want to hear anything about those ex-girlfriends of yours. With a foolish comment like that, you'd better not plan on kissing me anytime soon, you big goofball.

Oops, I'm sorry, sweetie, I opened my mouth and stuck my foot in really deep. Of course, I wasn't referring to you and your sweet kisses, and those ex-girlfriends don't hold a candle to you, my dear. Why, comparing you to them would be like comparing you, my beautiful princess, to a flea-bitten feline or a rose to a thorn bush or a swan to a buzzard. You are the best-looking, best cooking, smartest and brightest woman in the entire world. I hope you can forgive me.

Oh, knock it off, you big goof, you don't deserve my forgiveness or my love, but Jesus wants me to forgive you, so I will. But I just might burn your bacon for that comment about kissing dogs and ex-girlfriends.

Well, getting back to our previous subject, Dad said once he figured out he was off the hook, I think it's great that you are looking forward to this school year, Lexi. If a person can learn to enjoy the mundane things in life, they will have a life full of treasures, unlike those grumpy complainers.

You mean like Obadiah? Lexi asked.

Well, Dad replied, I wouldn't call Obadiah a grumpy complainer. He's more like your average bellyacher. Sometimes we all whine and complain, but it's much better to learn how to be thankful. If nothing else, things could always be worse.

It was hard to admit, but Dad was right. There were worse things than going to school, like stepping in a big fresh cow pie or perhaps getting a big wet dog kiss on the tongue.

My dad was a police officer. He worked from two in the afternoon to midnight. He was a lean man with well-toned muscles and was very serious about his job. He exercised regularly, stayed away from the donuts, had a black belt in martial arts, went to the gun range regularly, and made sure he obeyed the law to the letter. He said that someone once told him that a police officer is often the answer to someone's prayers. An abused spouse or a victim of a crime calls out to God for help and then dials 911. Instead of sending an angel, God often sends a police officer to rescue the victim and arrest the abuser. It's sad that police officers are so despised by many people in our society today.

Because of the stresses that police officers endure due to the nature of their job, some of them use their unpaid time at the gun range to hone their shooting skills and talk things over to help each other decompress. It's one way for them to keep their sanity and deal with the rude way criminals and other people treat them.

Sometimes Dad would share stories with us about what happened at work. "Obadiah, you should have seen the lady I had to deal with the other day. She parked her old beat-up rusty van at a restaurant to eat, but it so happens that her van was also her home. Well, it broke down in the restaurant's parking lot. After a few days, the restaurant owner got tired of having that eccentric lady living in an old, broken down van in his parking lot. I don't think he was mean-spirited toward the lady, but the customers started asking why there was a strange lady living in a van in the parking lot. He was afraid he would lose some customers, so he told her to move it.

"Instead of getting it towed to a repair shop, she said she was out of money and would have to wait another week or so, so they called the police. We told her she would have to move her van or we would have it towed away the next day because the parking lot was private property. That same night, one of the restaurant's custom-made mats ended up being stolen.

"The next day, I came by to investigate the theft. I was looking over her van to see if the restaurant's mat was inside. I couldn't help but wonder why she had adorned her van with some amateur hand-painted flowers on the sides. It looked like a kindergartner had painted it. She was hiding nearby behind a tree, so when she saw I was looking over her van, she came out from her hiding place and approached me with a defiant angry look on her face. She was about as skinny as an underfed wiener dog, had rotten looking teeth, some scabs on her skin, and she was constantly scratching different parts of her body like a flea-bitten dog.

"She said, ‘What are you looking at, mister?'

"It was hard not to stare at her brown teeth while I said, ‘Someone stole one of the restaurant's mats. Do you know anything about that?'

"Of course, she said no. I bluffed her and said the restaurant had a camera showing her taking the mat and putting it into her van. If she would come clean and return the mat, I would let her go. Otherwise, I would get a warrant and have her van searched. The defiant look on her face quickly turned into a sad puppy dog look while she sadly confessed that she stole the mat. Her eyes started to tear up, and she said she didn't want to cause any trouble and was sorry for what she had done.

"She opened the van's sliding door to retrieve the matt, and an old musty smell filled the air. The inside of her van looked like a packrat's den, with just enough room for her to sleep on the back seat. That van was full of all kinds of things that you would find left over from a garage sale like old magazines, empty soda cans, a set of lime green dishware, some pots and pans with pitch-black burnt bottoms, some faded dusty fake flowers. To top it all off, there was a Christmas painting hanging from one of the back windows. It portrayed a girl sitting on Santa Clause's lap and whispering in his ear, telling him what she wanted for Christmas. I couldn't help but think that she wanted to be that little girl, hoping that Santa would come through in a big way for her with a great present. I wonder what she would wish for? Would it be a new van, a home of her own, a good husband, a good job, a million dollars? But I've come to realize that most things that we want in life we have to earn.

"Well, she pulled the mat out of her van and marched it back to the restaurant with her head held low, looking like a schoolgirl walking to the principal's office to receive punishment for a classroom infraction.

Later that day, I heard the tow truck came to pull her van away. She managed to sweet-talk the driver into moving her van out of the parking lot and putting it alongside the curb. I'm sure she said she was down on her luck and broke, but the sad truth is; she probably wasted most of her money on booze or drugs. It's sad to see a person throw away their life to just get high. Unfortunately, I see it all the time in my line of work. A few days later, she got some of her friends to help her move her home-on-wheels somewhere else.

When Dad finished his story, Mom put a stack of blueberry pancakes and a plate of bacon on the table. I couldn't help but notice one piece of bacon was burnt to a crisp. Mom didn't have to say a word. She gave Dad one of those scowling looks, and he obligingly took the burnt bacon and put it on his plate and said, Now that's the way I like my bacon, burnt to a crisp.

You're lucky that's all I burned. Next time it will be your hide, my love.

Well, I'm not a big fan of burnt bacon, but I do love bacon! It's so good it makes everything taste better, like burgers, French fries, and even brownies.

My mom is a wonderful cook, making all kinds of tasty dishes and desserts. She has a college degree but decided to stay home to raise Lexi and I. She has some kind of stay-at-home job, working on her computer and the phone. It's nice coming home from school and having Mom there. Often, we are greeted by the wonderful aroma of fresh baked brownies or homemade bread.

Dad asked me to say grace, so I hurriedly said, Thank you, God, for everything, and take care of everyone. Amen.

Mom said, Well, that was short and not very specific, but it pretty much covers everything, and I know God hears our prayers.

Yes, he does, and I just can't wait to dive into those pancakes and that wonderful bacon, I said.

Our breakfast was interrupted by the sound of the next-door neighbor's dog, Big Jake, ferociously barking. He looked like the cross of a Rottweiler with a pit bull. We could see our neighbor, Mr. Reed, encouraging Big Jake to attack a two-by-four that he was poking at him. I quickly discerned that he was training him to be an attack dog. Big Jake grabbed that board with his teeth and was strong enough to make that tug-o-war battle with Mr. Reed a draw. What a powerful angry dog! Then Big Jake let go of the board, crouched down, and lunged at our neighbor. The dog knocked him to the ground, and he tried to bite Mr. Reed's neck.

In the desperate struggle, somehow Mr. Reed managed to keep the board between his body and the dog. Big Jake was on a chain, so Mr. Reed was able to shimmy away from the crazed dog. Fortunately, Big Jake was at the end of his chain or Mr. Reed might have had to change his name to Mr. Red for all the bloodstains that Big Jake would have left on him.

Dad ran outside to see if Mr. Reed was okay. Are you okay? Dad asked. That dog could have killed you! What are you trying to do?

Mr. Reed slowly got up, brushed himself off, and then he paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. He carefully examined himself to see if he had any wounds. One of his hands had some puncture wounds on it caused by the dog's teeth. Some crimson blood started to ooze out and drip to the ground. You could see his facial expression change from I'm scared half to death and I barely cheated death to I'm glad I survived that one to a defiant angry old man.

I'm trying to train my guard dog, Mr. Reed replied. I don't want anybody messing around in my backyard. This is my castle, and Big Jake will keep me and my possessions safe from any thug.

Then Mr. Reed looked over his wounded hand and carefully wrapped his other hand around it.

Do you want us to take you to the doctor? A dog bite can be very serious if it becomes infected, Dad said.

If I needed your help, I would ask for it. Why don't you just go and mind your own business?

Well, if that dog of yours hurts you, then you deserve it, but if he harms anybody else, I will personally have you arrested. And I will testify against you in court that you were training a vicious attack dog!

Mr. Reed retorted, I have every right to do with my dog as I please. So leave me alone and stay off my property!

Dad came back inside and said, "If you look in the dictionary under the word fool, you will find a picture of that man."

That is so wrong teaching an animal to be vicious like that, Mom said emphatically. That dog could have been a nice friendly pet if he'd been treated right. Honey, can't you arrest that man for cruelty to animals?

Well, unfortunately, I can't because technically he's just training a watchdog. If he was abusing the dog or starving him, that would be different, but if that dog gets loose and attacks somebody, then he will be liable for the injuries that the dog causes. But that's what freedom is all about. In this country, we have all kinds of fools, like our neighbor, doing foolish things. But if we make a law against every foolish thing we can imagine, then we will end up with a big government butting into everything we do, like telling us how to train our dogs or raise our kids.

You are right, Mom said, but we need to keep our children and our dog safe from his mean dog. That dog could easily be a ferocious killer.

That's why we have our firearms. We don't ever plan on using them, but if we have to, we can keep ourselves safe from danger.

Breakfast was over all too soon, and Lexi and I were out the front door with our new school clothes on. She looked nice and cute, so I couldn't help but tell her, You know, Lexi, you have the fashion sense of a hog that just finished rolling in the mud.

Obadiah, that was just mean. I don't think Jesus would be happy with you. I don't want to forgive you, but Jesus wants me to, so I guess I'll forgive you anyway. Well, that kind of stung my heart a bit because she was right, but I was too proud to let her know that.

We were walking to the bus stop, and as we passed by our next-door neighbor's house, we saw Big Jake lunging against the chain, trying to get at us. He had a ferocious disposition, and it looked like he wanted to kill us. Watching the anger in that dog made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Lexi grabbed my arm, and we both walked faster until we got out of Big Jake's earshot. We went back to our normal pace, and I brushed Lexi's hand off of my arm. I didn't want anybody else to see that I actually did care about my sister. Plus, I didn't want anyone to know that I was afraid because I thought that men weren't supposed to fear anything.

It didn't take long for the bus to come by, so we climbed on in, and I found a seat next to my good friend, Gary. Lexi sat next to her friends, and they immediately started chatting like girls do. At the next stop, Dietrich Stillman, my archenemy, got on the bus with his hoodlum friend, Butch Davis. He scowled at me as he walked by and said, Hey, if it isn't dumb old Dopadiah and his nerdy friend, Gary.

It had been a good summer without having to deal with Dietrich. For some reason, he didn't like me, or, for that matter, I don't think he really liked anybody. He was rude and crude and managed to bother and pick on just about everybody in our class. He was Butch's boss. I don't think they were really friends; I just think Butch needed somebody to pay attention to him. Butch wasn't very bright, and he would do just about anything Dietrich told him to do. I figured one day when they got older, my dad would probably have to arrest both of them for some kind of crime, but unfortunately, today was probably not going to be that day.

I said a quick, quiet prayer to God, Please, God, put Dietrich and Butch in different classes than Gary and I, and, uh, bless them, Lord. Amen. I figured that since God is love,¹ he would want me to pray for something good for Dietrich and Butch. Maybe with my request for God to bless them, he would be more likely to answer the rest of my prayer as well.

Before long, I found myself walking into my tenth-grade first period English classroom where my new teacher, Mrs. Abishire, stood watching her new students file into their desks. She had her arms crossed with a somewhat hostile look on her face as if she was discerning who would be her adversaries this new school year.

I found a desk toward the back of the class. I noticed Melisa was in the same class, but she was surrounded by popular people, not leaving any room for a guy like me. I wondered if she would even glance at me as I walked in. And, of course, she didn't even look my way. I didn't want to give in to the reality that I was an average Joe. I wasn't a good enough athlete to fit in with the jocks and I wasn't smart enough to be a geek; I was just one of those guys that mostly goes unnoticed in high school.

After the bell rang, Dietrich walked in late and sat in the only seat left, right beside me. Mrs. Abishire reprimanded him, so he came up with some pathetic excuse about helping the librarian organize some books. I found out later that Gary was in the other class with Butch. How could God do this to me? That's not a good way to answer a prayer. How could God love me and do something like this?

It looked like this school year was going to be worse than stepping on a cow pie or getting a big slobbery French kiss by a dog. Dietrich and I got along as good as two grizzly bears fighting over the same salmon. It looked like this was going to be a year full of turmoil.

When Dietrich sat down, he sarcastically exclaimed, Wow, look who I get to sit next to. Ole Dopadiah, the biggest loser on the planet!

Not to be outdone, I retorted, Well, at least I'm human, unlike you, the one who got barfed out by some alien. The still small voice in my soul told me that was an unkind thing to say, but I got some short-term satisfaction out of that reply when Wendy Williams chuckled. But Mrs. Abishire only heard my comment. So I spent the first fifteen minutes of class writing one hundred times, I will not belittle my classmates. What a great way to start the new school year.

After Mrs. Abishire laid down the law for the upcoming school year, she gave us our first assignment: write a two-page paper about our summer and then give an oral report to the entire class. Wow, what a summer I had! How could I explain the great adventures I had lived through this last summer on just two pages? It was nice to think about the pleasant days of my summer rather than think about the conflicts I would be having with Dietrich sitting right beside me.

I started writing, but I couldn't help myself, so I took a peek at Dietrich's paper. It was blank, except he had written "Pain in big block letters in the middle of the page. He saw me gazing at his paper, so he quickly covered it up and said, What are you looking at, Dopadiah?"

Chapter 2

Summer Vacation

Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.

—Proverbs 17:6

My summer had started out with a bang. The last day of ninth grade seemed to take too long, even though it was only half a day. All we did was watch movies in class and play basketball in gym. We ate one last meal for the year in the school cafeteria. They actually went out of their way to make sure it was extra special. It was some surprisingly decent-tasting pizza with a nice frosted brownie and some baby carrots. I thoroughly enjoyed it but complained with the rest of my classmates so they would think I was cool.

This pizza crust tastes like cardboard, Shea said.

Yeah, and the pepperoni looks like small plastic Frisbees, I said as I devoured the last bite of my pizza. I don't think they would feed this stuff to prisoners on death row.

When the final bell rang, I felt like a racehorse in the Kentucky derby. I ran through the hallway to the bus, and, of course, all the teachers were saying, Stop running! But I couldn't help myself. I was the first one on the bus, and it seemed like I had to wait for an eternity for everyone else to climb aboard and get seated. Of course, Dietrich and Butch were the last ones to get on the bus.

The bus pulled out of the school and made its rounds, dropping off the kids. When Lexi and I were getting off the bus, Dietrich said, Have a lousy summer, you losers.

I jumped out and started to run home. Lexi pleaded for me to slow down and wait for her, but I wouldn't. I had too much adrenaline in me, so I just left her in the dust. I sprang through the front door and was greeted by my dog and my mom. Princess was super-excited like always to see me. I gave her a hug and petted her, and then she danced around me, while Mom gave me a hug and kissed my head. That kiss made me feel warm inside, even though I didn't want anyone in public see her do something like that. The sweet cinnamon aroma of fresh baked apple pie filled the house.

Lexi made it through the door shortly thereafter, and the first thing out of her mouth was, Mom, Obadiah ran home without me, and you and Dad told him he has to walk me home from the bus stop every school day.

Oh, Obadiah, you should be more patient and wait for your sister. I know you are excited since this is the last day of school, but you have to watch out for your sister. That's what big brothers are supposed to do.

I'm sorry, Mom, but I'm just so excited. I have so many things to do this summer, like eat some of that apple pie you baked. You are such an awesome mom. I knew if I sugared her up and changed the subject, she would probably forget that I was in trouble. It worked.

We all ate some apple pie together, and Mom asked us about our plans for the summer. I told her I planned on sleeping in some, build some things in our woodshop, make some airplane and tank models, hang out with my friend Gary, and play video games.

Well, I'm going to hang out with my friends, help Mom out around the house, draw and paint pictures, and read some good books, Lexi said.

I just couldn't figure out how she always had the best answers to impress Mom and Dad. I think I could understand how Jesus's half brothers and sisters felt. How could you measure up to him? Because he is the son of God, he always had the right answers and always did what was right, kind of like Lexi. She did have her faults, though. I don't think Jesus always told his mom, Mary, when his siblings had done something wrong like Lexi did to me. As twins, we were closer than most brothers and sisters. We did a lot of things together and really enjoyed each other's company. Of course, we had our occasional squabble, but we always managed to make up.

When Mom was done praising Lexi for her answer, she said, Your dad and I have been talking about us three going to Grandpa and Grandma's ranch for a month this summer. Dad is going to SWAT school and has some other training going on this summer. Would you like to do that?

Of course, Lexi said yes. I asked if we could still go on our fishing and camping trip to the coast this summer.

Of course, we will. You know that is an annual event for our family, camping on the beach, fishing, and getting sand all over everything and every part of our bodies. We wouldn't miss that for the world, Mom said somewhat sarcastically. She was a half-hearted camper who liked the fresh air and the scenery but longed for the luxuries of home, especially a shower. While we were camping, she would fuss about the heat, the sand, the discomfort of sleeping without a mattress, and most of all, the lack of a modern bathroom. But when the trip was over, she would talk about how nice it was to spend time together as a family.

Well, I'm in then, I said excitedly. Grandpa and Grandma were a lot of fun. There was so much to do on the ranch. This would be a great summer.

The first two weeks of summer flew by, and before I knew it, we left for Grandma and Grandpa's place. They had a small ranch in the Texas hill country region, where there were rolling hills covered with live oak trees and grass meadows. Many of the ranches sported exotic game animals from all over the world, like zebras, bison, wildebeest, and other types of exotic antelopes.

It seemed like just about everybody in Texas owned a pickup truck or a big SUV, had a Texas flag or a Come and take it flag with a cannon on it, and a sign on their gate that said, We don't dial 911 with a pistol on it. Texans love their guns, their state, and their freedom. They also use the expressions y'all and fix'n to in just about every conversation. It's stylish in Texas for a girl to wear a skirt with some pretty cowgirl boots on instead of some high fashion high heels. And instead of telling how far away a place is in miles, we tell you how many hours it takes to drive there.

When we pulled up to the ranch house, Grandma and Grandpa made a big fuss over us. Their Old English sheep dog, Merlin, jumped up on us and tried to lick our faces. Princess and Merlin ran around and chased each other, excited to have a friendly dog to play with. Grandma had a big meal of chicken fried steak, gravy, biscuits, corn on the cob, and blackberry cobbler ready. After dinner, Grandpa rubbed his stuffed belly and said, Grandma, that was the best meal I ever ate in my entire life. You are truly the best-looking, best cooking, sweetest woman in all of God's wonderful creation!

Grandma chuckled and said, Oh, shut up, you big galloop.

What's a big galloop? Lexi asked.

It's a guy who is full of sweet sarcastic words, but the elevator doesn't go all the way up to the top of his head, Grandma said.

Well, that fits me to a T, Grandpa replied. What y'all say we go for a ride around the ranch on the four-wheeler?

We all climbed into the four-wheeler. It was a four-seater, so it was cramped, but we even managed to put Merlin on Grandma's lap and Princess on Mom and Lexi's lap. "Dogs are people