The Kansas Outback —Generational History
Lisa Meier had six miscarriages during the first five years of marriage to her high school sweetheart. A fertility doctor told her that she would never be able to sustain a pregnancy because of an incompetent cervix. Married to a driven to succeed man that did not take no for an answer when it got in the way of his goals, she felt incompetent as a wife to provide the lifeblood to carry on the family heritage. No children, no heritage.
They married following high school graduation. Richard was a rancher in his mind and heart. He insisted on wearing cowboy boots at all times, to all events, even gym class, but he made it look tough. He had that build and look that said he was cool, a persona that everyone liked—even the jocks—a true toughness generated from the hard life working the ranch with his father and brothers.
Richard’s ancestors all had large families and predominately boys. Sixteen sons and five daughters were born over five generations that included his three brothers. This manpower prospered the family ranching business, caretakers that were not just hired hands. The youngest of four boys and before Richard became a man, he witnessed the tragedy of disease, war, and the hard life on the outback of Kansas. His oldest brother contracted polio in 1950 at the age of 16. His middle brother was killed in the Korean War in 1953 at the age of 18. While on a cattle roundup in 1956 with his father, uncle, and his remaining youngest brother, he saw firsthand his brother’s gruesome trampling at the hooves of these 1500-pound beasts. After his last brother died from this freak accident—tossed from his horse and stampeded by a herd of 500 cattle—Richard, just sixteen, took on his brother’s cowboy responsibilities. Since his father would not hire any additional ranch hands, he committed to keep the ranch alive and worked after school until sundown, did his homework after dinner before bed, and graduated from high school. His father’s ranch was profitable and debt-free. It was these experiences that drove Richard beyond normal work ethic expectations. It was love and honor of his heritage that caused him to strive to achieve what his father and forefathers accomplished, passing to their sons a thriving ranch and business.
Lisa’s upbringing was quite different. She was the only child of a devout Lutheran pastor. Her home life was simple and ordinary. What was not ordinary was her beauty. The sleek, midnight black hair, high, prominent cheeks bones, beautifully sculpted, long ridge nose, olive toned skin, and almond-shaped dark eyes drew the attention of the cowboy who longed for the Old West. Her great, great grandma was a full-blooded Kaw—the Indian nation referred to as People of the Southwind or Kansa by French traders and other Europeans.
Lisa was not like the majority of girls in high school. She did not date around and was content with having a steady boyfriend who respected her faith. She knew right from wrong and chose to practice a life of obedience. She saw the fruit of obedience in her mom, a supportive pastor’s wife, and her dad, a devout man of the cloth whose reverence for the Lord was second to none.
Besides her beauty, there was one thing for which she was publically known. She could ride a horse bareback like no other, won champion barrel racing, and was crowned rodeo queen during her senior year in high school—and not because her dad owned a ranch because the pastor did not. Rather her best friend, Maribel, would be the one to satisfy her love for horses and to lead her to the moment of a miracle she would need.
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Copyright 2017 © Jeff Cambridge
Excerpt from PURSUIT, a novel by Jeff Cambridge, a writer of transformational fiction with real characters in real-life tell stories that change lives in the readers as the characters transform.
This is a pre-published scene.
To read the scenes sequentially, begin with
“PURSUIT: A Novel – Prologue”
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This novel is a work of fiction. Any references to real events, businesses, organizations, and locales are intended only to give the fiction a sense of reality and authenticity. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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