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From: | "Ben Dutton" <bendutton@sharechat.co.nz> |
Date: | Thu, 22 Nov 2001 06:42:05 +1100 |
Snoopy, what a brilliant picture you've painted - excellent reading on a Thursday morning - thanks :-) Great to see some humour like this on the Forum. Best Regards Ben Dutton (Disc. - haven't sold my mum's CEN for her yet and probably won't). ----- Original Message ----- From: <tennyson@caverock.net.nz> To: <sharechat@sharechat.co.nz> Sent: Thursday, November 22, 2001 8:46 AM Subject: [sharechat] CEN standoff > The doors of the saloon swung open and the deputy delivered the news. > > "It's the Mission boys Phil, they won't budge, they want the whole > town." > > Sheriff Phil Pryke was still off duty, but the skin on his face > tightened, and the hairs on the back of his neck stiffened. He sat > upright on the bar stool as he took in the news. > > "Whisky" he said > > The bartender sent a glass sliding down the bar surface. It was > snapped up by Sheriff Phil's parched fingertips. His hands were > leathery and battle weary like that of a rancher who had fought and > tamed a wild mustang, but his eyes were steely grey like that of a > big town banker. He picked up the glass and downed the contents as > easily as a penny slides into a china piggy-bank. > > "The Mission Boys", he repeated with parrot like precision, but there > was nothing bird brained in the train of thought that followed. The > Mission Boys owned half the town already. "The Mission Boys"- > sounded placid! But you would never find them anywhere near a choir > stall, and the toughest of them all was "Big Ed." > > Yep, "Big Ed Mission" had turned the lights out in Southern > California after a showdown with the State Governor. big Ed had lost > big on the other side of the Atlantic with the coal project. Big Ed > was tough and pugnacious, but fresh from a fiscal battering. Perhaps > a desperate man? Sheriff Phil had always felt uneasy with Big Ed > in close company. Sheriff Phil's job was to keep the balance in > the town. But when the scales of justice were teetering it was > usually a wink from Big Ed that would decide which way the scales > ultimately fell. Hell, if it wasn't for the support of Big Ed, > Sheriff Phil wouldn't be where he was, but now he was going to have > to pass judgement on the Mission Boys offer. It was a tough call! > > It is at times like this that a law man has to rely on more than gut > instinct. It was Sheriff Phil's canine companion, Grant, a > Samualoid, that had the job of sniffing around these Mission men. If > Grant could sniff around "the Mission Boys" without bearing any teeth > that was good enough for Sheriff Phil. There was no barking, but > Grant did show the white's of a fang, so what was Sheriff Phil to do? > If he recommended the full takeover by big Ed, he knew that he'd have > to leave town himself. He imagined Big Ed would give him some sort > of pay off. Possibly $4million in gold bullion would do the > trick. Would Big Ed stretch that far? Yeah, of course he would! > $4million would be the minimum payoff for a world class Sheriff > such as himself! He chuckled. > > The deputy stood in the saloon doorway and all this time had never > taken his eyes off Sheriff Phil. The deputy knew that the > townspeople had turned down Sheriff Phil's last pay rise. Would > they still have confidence in him at the time of trial? Could the > townspeople rely on Sheriff Phil to recommend the right thing? > > "Big Ed will meet you at the jail house, on February 3rd 2002" > "I suggest you call a rally of the townspeople then, and we'll have a > final vote on it." > > Sheriff Phil knew the score. He'd be Okay either way, but would the > townspeople trade their sovereignty and possibly their future > prosperity for a pay off from Big Ed? He couldn't tell them to turn > Big Ed down. But secretly he kind of wished they would make the > right decision. Or did he? Like the rest of the townspeople, the > deputy just couldn't read those poker faced grey eyes. > > SNOOPY > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > Message sent by Snoopy > e-mail tennyson@caverock.net.nz > on Pegasus Mail version 2.55 > ---------------------------------- > "Dogs have big tongues, so you can bet they don't > bite them by accident" > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > To remove yourself from this list, please use the form at > http://www.sharechat.co.nz/chat/forum/ > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To remove yourself from this list, please use the form at http://www.sharechat.co.nz/chat/forum/
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