Prologue - Book I

Waite Phillips was in a dead-end job. He worked for a dead-end company in Texas. The word came down one Tuesday that the company was outsourcing to Mexico and everyone received a pink slip. The company did give him a severance package since he was middle management. It wasn't much, but better than the workers got. They got jack, and Rick Perry just moaned and acted like an ass on TV. It made Waite mad that he'd contributed to the campaign after Kay lost the primary. He knew it was going to hell in a hand basket, and he couldn't do a damn thing about it. There really wasn't much in the way of good jobs for someone with his skills here in Waco. He decided to take a little time off. He drove out to his place in Prairie Hill after cleaning his office out; there wasn't much after 6 years.

As he reflected on his life, he came to the realization that it wasn't much either. He'd done well in high school. His grades were a bit better than average, but then, he went to Waco High and well, it's not like University High. The GPAs at University were a lot higher. His mom worked hard and long to support them, and they couldn't afford to live in the University attendance area. What had helped was his running ability. He was one of the State's best distance runners. He did a 4:20 1600M as a junior, and was offered a full ride at Baylor. He finished 2nd in the state meet at 4:09 in his senior year. He completed his 4 years at Baylor with a degree and the job, but that's about it.

He lazed around his ranch for a couple of weeks. He hadn't done much except read westerns online. One of his favorite sites was storiesonline.net. He enjoyed the westerns of writers like cmsix and aubie56. He wished that he could travel back in time like some of the stories he'd read. It was a good escape. He still worked the ranch, making sure the cattle and the horses got fed. It was a small enough spread that it was easy to do. He had a lot of time to read. The more he read, the more wished he could be back there in time. It was so much easier.

It was hot on Wednesday of the second week in June. He needed to go out and check the fences. It was a monthly ordeal. He saddled up Midnight, his black quarter horse, and loaded his mule, Ruth, up with supplies. Yes, he could have taken the F250, but he preferred to ride. The back part of the property was remote enough to look like Texas of the 1800s. He really didn't mind working that part of the ranch. He'd inherited it from his dad in '98 when Mom and Dad were killed in a wreck in Hillsboro on August 3, 1998. The guy that caused the wreck was drunk at 9:00 in the morning. He was a rich oil man, so his lawyers got him off the vehicular homicide charge, although he did plead guilty for DUI. He didn't go to prison. The civil suit Waite filed went differently, however. The asshole didn't get away with it in the end. The jury awarded Waite $27 million in actual damages, and $71 million in punitive damages. The Court of Appeals confirmed the award, and the Supreme Court denied the petition. His insurance company paid out the maximum of $10 million on the policy, and Mister High and Mighty paid the rest of the bill. The attorney took a ¼ of the award and Waite invested the rest. He didn't have to work, but he wanted to. The ranch had 560 acres and had a lot of fence line. He'd just camp out overnight. He took his Henry rifle along in case he ran into some of the coyotes that populated the area. There were times when he heard them singing. Waite found a good place to stop and camp for the night. He cooked his dinner, and then lay out on the ground like he would have done if he was a cowboy of the 1800s.

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