HIGH NOON
A HERO IS BORN!
Gentle reader, let us hover o'er the Oz-Injun camp, in particular over one softly lit teepee that seems to be convulsing from the activity within. Let us gently place an ear against the brightly painted canvas and listen a little to the sweet nothings being exchanged between SS and her captive Alex:
SS: "Stop struggling dang you! I have to search you for the iPad!"
Alex: "I keep telling you -- it's in my saddlebags - that you gave to Queen KC!"
SS: "I tell you I'm going to search you anyway - hold still!"
Alex: "I'm not going to wear blue jammies with kitties on them!"
SS: "Then you'll go nekkid!"
Alex: "For petes sake, somebody save me!"
Let's leave the lovebirds to their unique courting rituals and return to the devastated hamlet of MR-Rock, after the stampede of the shums!
Moonlight bathes the tiny, dusty, and tired town of MR-Rock. The empty streets are littered with broken glass, bits of wood, and empty juice boxes dropped by the rampaging shums. The weary townsfolk have finally captured the last rampant shum and returned all to their places of captivity, errr residence. The battle between the generations is finally over for today. A new battle looms on the horizon.
The alarm bells have been silenced! Kindlish kitten had crupt up the belfrey stairs and pushed a kitten through the cat flap in recluse's door. She waited until she heard purring - from both the kitten and recluse. Cute kittens could always calm ol' recluse after a shum attack!
Figures of authority, concerned citizens, and town drunks have filtered back into what's left of the Llounge Saloon. Doc is busily filling glasses and taking musical requests for the gibbon at the player piano .... who has mysteriously vanished! Doc jumps onto the bar and shouts "Is there a musician in the house?" No one answers. "Dang," he mutters, "without the piano music to distract the customers, I can't water down the whiskey tonight! I'm gonna dock that ape's wages big time for this!" "I better call the girls down early to provide some entertainment for this crowd."
Sheriff HarryT and Judge Nate were huddled at table in the back of the room, discussing the missing iPad situation. Deputy Bob joined them, along with the gray doggie.
"We've got to track down that varmint Alex and get our town's iPad back! We can't let him get away with it again!" intoned the Judge.
"Yeah," agreed the Sheriff, "Miss Patricia has found the manual for it."
"But how will we find out where he's got to? The shum stampede has covered all the tracks left by that dang Mare!"
The three men sat silently drinking, pondering their seemingly hapless situation.
"We could form a posse!" cried the deputy. "Swear in a bunch of townsfolk, find Alex, lynch the varmint, and bring the iPad back to town."
"But how are we gonna find Alex now?" objected the Judge. "We'll need a tracker to lead our posse."
The gray doggie raised his head at these words, and darted out of the saloon into the night. No one noticed he was gone, except for a few hungry fleas who promptly jumped onto the deputy.
Meanwhile, by the empty piano, the cat-house ladies were assembling to sing a few show tune numbers, and had noticed the large absence of the gibbon. They stood there, shifting from stilletto-heeled foot to foot, waiting for the music to begin. The crowd was growing restless, angrily calling for some entertainment.
Things were getting ugly in the Llounge Saloon....
The gray doggie ran back into the saloon ... followed by a slouched bearded dusty man, who ambled up to the bar and said: "Heard you're looking for a tracker. Well, I'm your man. Name is Vintage Seasonings. I can find a flea blindfolded in a room full of wolves. I can find a flea even if he isn't wearing a blindfold. I'll track down your iPad."
"Well stranger," said Doc as he poured the whiskey, "I don't know about that. The fugitive has quite a start on you, there's been a stampede, and we've been seeing a lot of fireworks over at the Oz-Injun reservation. Things look mighty dangerous out there."
Seasonings just laughed in a hopeless, capable sort of way, and said "I like a challenge."
He turned to face the now silent room and shouted "Who's with me? Who wants to catch a thief? Who will ride with me into the desert?"
A hush blanketed the bar .....
(To Be Continued .... who will ride with Seasonings?)
(What unspeakable horror is Alex undergoing?)
(Has Queen KC changed the password on the iPad?)
(Don't forget -- the robotic rangers are coming!)