The sun is up about thirty minutes when a late model International pickup truck driven by a teenage boy on the verge of manhood exits Ranch Road 1 and slowly proceeds through the massive main gate of Rancho del Robles. The gate is meant to impress with its hand-made ironwork and cut stone. The owner, Governor William Thomas McCulloch, is an accomplished man. The boy has visited the ranch on several previous occasions but today he is not making a social call. Today is the first day of a five-year plan and step one is to find a summer job. Good paying jobs are difficult to come by but here at Rancho del Robles there exists an excellent opportunity. He is mature beyond his years and fully aware that he must begin to demonstrate his fitness to someday be granted the responsibility for preserving and extending his family's legacy and that of their 120-year-old Texas ranch, the Diamond Bar C. His era in the Cahill Family Saga begins today.
Mindful of his mission, he turns East onto the hay meadow and drives toward the distant machinery which consists of a John Deere tractor and a New Holland hay baler. He slows his approach to keep the dust down and as the pickup rolls to a stop he turns off the engine and steps out.
"Good morning, Sam, is Mr. Pete around?" "Randy Cahill, what are you doing here? You get fired from the Diamond Bar C?" "Nope, Grandpa told me to hustle up a job off the ranch this summer. He wants me to show him I can make it on my own." Sam points at the bright red pickup truck coming across the meadow. "That's Mr. Pete coming yonder. Talk to him. If you want, I'll vouch for you." Two months ago, Sam and Randy started as a team and today they have finished the final job of the season; the Rancho del Robles 2000 acre hay meadow. "Thanks for staying to the end with me." "You are welcome, Sam. Will Mr. Pete be here soon?" "That's his truck coming now." Mr. Pete smiles as he gets out of his truck and walks toward Randy and Sam. "Thank you Randy for sticking with us 'til the end. I didn't think you were man enough but you proved me wrong." "Uh, could I get paid now?" Mr. Pete takes a roll of cash from his pocket, counts out the exact amount, to the nearest dollar, and hands it to Randy. "Thank you, Mr. Pete." Randy offers his hand to Mr. Pete and Sam. They shake hands and Randy walks away. "I hope Randy will be with us next season He was the best and most dependable hand we've had." "Yeah, he is a fine young man. He has a great future and it don't include bucking hay bales for a nickel apiece. Mind you, he will be the Top Hand wherever he goes and whatever he does. He's out to prove to his Grandpa and Daddy that they can depend on him to carry on the Cahill family name. I knew his Great Grandpa Cahill and he was one Hell of a man. All them Cahills have been giants. I hope his Grandpa lives long enough to watch his Grandson show that he is gonna be the best of all the Cahills.
