Small Town Carnival And A Helpful Neighbor

 After Marlee's mom and dad got through signing all the papers at the lawyer's office, then they had to make an appointment with the title company. They found out that their paper work included title search, title insurance, having an assessor go to the ranch and make sure that the boundaries were accurate plus they were very busy and couldn't get to their closing date for another few weeks. And again that all cost more money. Marlee had had to sit in the waiting room while the grownups were busy talking and deciding what they were going to do. Looking at her mom and dad's face she knew things weren't going too good. She decided not to bug them about going swimming and just see what they were going to do. Maybe they were just going to go home. That was fine with Marlee, then she heard the strange lady in the office say, "You know there are some campers for rent in town. You could rent one of those at a pretty reasonable rate and park it out on the Double D Ranch. It has a campground on the back lots of the property. I don't know how updated it is, but I have heard it's a nice place to relax and I'm sure that Steff won't mind if you want to stay there for a few days. They come furnished with dishes and linens etc., all you need is food for the fridge and you would be set. It might help you kind of get the lay of the land so to speak. Would you like me to make some calls for you? Great! Just a second I'll see if someone's in the office. Okay, it's all set, they have a nice camper for rent. They said they will even haul it our to the ranch if that's okay with you  at no charge. Why don't you follow me and I'll introduce you. By the way we will be your new neighbors. We live just across the section from the Double D. We raise cattle, not horses."

Marlee's grandma decided to pack up and shorten her vacation with Whitlee and head to Texas. "This must be some crazy kind of mistake. The kids know nothing about ranching. We'll get to the bottom of this, won't we, Whit?"

The old woman watched as the couple and little girl got in the car and headed to town. She decided to follow them to see where they were going. As they pulled into town she noticed that the sheriff was headed in the opposite direction. "Good riddance to bad rubbish! Now if they just leave their car unlocked I'll be able to get that pocket watch out of the box. Rats! Now where are they going?" Then she saw that they were now at the title company. She sat and waited and decided they were going to be in the title office for awhile. She was going to take her chances. "I can't believe my good luck they left the doors unlocked. Now to see if I can find that watch."

"Mom! Dad! Somebody is in our car! Come quick!" Marlee's mom and dad came running out to the waiting room and said, "What are you yelling about?" Marlee said, "There was a lady getting in the back seat. I think she was in the box that I bought at the auction. She shouldn't have done that, should she?" They all went outside and didn't see anyone near their car and the box was still in the back seat."

"Marlee, I think everything is okay. If she did take something we probably won't know it because we haven't gone through all the stuff in that box. Don't worry about it. We are going to have an adventure tonight. We are going back to the ranch and sleep in a big camper. Won't that be fun?"

Marlee said, "Okay, but can we lock the doors this time?" They all laughed and went out to go see the camper that would be their home for the next few days. On the way to the camper rental place Marlee said, "Look! They are having a carnival! I want to go. See those kids having fun. Can we go? Please?"

Marlee's dad looked at his wife, closed his eyes for a second and said, "We sure can. How about if we get the camper out to the ranch, then come back into town and get some groceries so we can have breakfast tomorrow. Then we can go to the carnival. Okay?" Marlee was so excited. She said, "Can I get a cowboy hat? Every one is wearing a hat in Texas. Mom, you can get one too! Oh I want to ride on those rides. Let's hurry!"

And Marlee got herself a hat and so did her mom and so did her dad.