Forum Archive Index - November 2001

["Clare Willis" <willisc@xtra.co.nz>]

great read
zane grey would be proud of such a cayuse forking, rough riding, shoot him
up, high noon tale of woe and intrigue
any chance of a weekly installmentl
shane

----- Original Message -----
From: <tennyson@caverock.net.nz>
To: <sharechat@sharechat.co.nz>
Sent: Thursday, November 22, 2001 10:46 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"
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
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