IT DON’T MATTER CHAPTER 22 New Deputy

New Deputy was too Busy!
courtesy photobucket.

When anything different occurs in our town it always makes a splash for the town isn’t very large and everyone knows or wants to know everyone’s business.

The sheriff thought he should have a new deputy so he hired a trainee from the East.  

 

He just came in and began to do his duties without being introduced.  I saw him once or twice the first couple of days but didn’t really meet him.

On Saturday it was time for the monthly dance at the community hall and there was a good crowd there.  

 

The musicians were wound up and playing away when the new deputy came in and said we was making too much noise and would have to tone it down or go home.  

 

This was something new for the sheriff never complained before. The men started to object and argue till the deputy put several of the men under arrest for disturbing the peace.  

 

Again this was something that never occurred before, and it just so happened that Nan and some of the other women got caught up in the foray.

When I saw her under arrest I went and got Judge Larson to come out and try to talk to the deputy.  When the judge tried to speak to the deputy he said “Old Man you better get on home before I put your in jail.”

The judge said, “You had better release all these people or I will put you in the county jail for a year for inciting a riot.”  The Judge went on and said, “It’s apparent you don’t know who I am.”

The deputy said, “You are some old fool who I’m arresting for insulting and threatening an officer of the law.”

The Judge just walked away and into the Mayors office.  He told him to fire both the sheriff and the new deputy.  A few minutes later the mayor went to the Sherriff’s office and said neither you nor your deputy work for this city any longer, you’re fired.

The sheriff didn’t have any idea what was going on.  When he arrived at the jail he asked me what happened and after I give my side I of the story he looked at the deputy and said, “Give me your gun and badge.  You are fired because I don’t want a crazy person working for me.”

I was glad to see this idiot dismissed from duty permanently because if it hadn’t come down the way it did the deputy would have been as the song says,  “Heading for the last roundup,” for neither him or anyone else messes with my Nan.

Judge Larson insisted the sheriff arrest the deputy for putting his hands on him and shoving him into a wall.  The sheriff was worrying about his own job so he put the deputy in a cell.

The mayor confessed maybe he was a little hasty in firing the sheriff and that he could keep his job.

A Judge (Judge Barton) from the next county was brought in the next day to hear the case against the deputy and when he heard Judge Larson was manhandled the trial was over.

He sentenced the ex-deputy to a year in the county jail and a five hundred dollar fine.

At present the deputy is enjoying the counties fare three times a day.  He was also ordered to leave for the East as soon as he was released at the end of his sentence or be prepared to serve an additional year.

As I thought about this whole scenario I still can’t understand why it came about.  Was it a case of the new deputy trying to show he was in charge or was he that much of a bully?  In any case it happened and is over.

Getting back to the coming wedding, Luann called Nan and said it’s been a month since Sam proposed and that’s long enough to wait.  I don’t want someone else have a shot at him so Saturday is the day.

I hope no one get’s sick and delays the happening.  She said I have had a dress for what seems like a long time to be married in and I’ll be wearing it come Saturday.

We all gathered in the church and while waiting for the bride to make her entrance someone raced down the aisle and shouted the doctor is needed immediately.  The doctor headed out to his buggy as the bride started down the aisle.  He called for me to bring the preacher and grabbed LuAnn by the arm and out they went.

The preacher got into the buggy with the Doc and Luann and away they went with the wedding crowd following.  By the time we got to where the sick person was they just finished saying their I Do’s and were man and wife.

The doctor said he had to get the patient to the operating room and remove an appendix.  He said it won’t take long and afterward we will have a party celebrating our getting married.

This was almost too much excitement for me.  Nan and I went for a ride in the moonlight and the air was filled with romance.  We missed most of the reception but we wasn’t sorry about that.

I told the Doc I hope he enjoyed the rest of the evening as much as I did.

He looked at me puzzled but said, “I intend to,” and off they went.  

I must admit I must have looked sheepish as I said to Nan, “Let’s go home and enjoy the rest of the evening.”

She said, “Okay but you better behave yourself or you will sleep out in the barn.”  

I replied, “If you weren’t teasing me my feelings would be hurt.”

The next morning, we got up too late for church, and Nan said, “I think that is going to be the last wedding I’m going to let you attend for you get too excited and worked up. I’m afraid you will hurt your self not to mention me.”

I didn’t dare answer her and changed the subject; “I wonder where Doc and Luann have made it to.”

She said, “Forget about them come on back to bed and let’s catch up on our sleep.”

It was Ma’s idea to move to town for she liked the idea of not having to do all of the farm stuff; the milking and feeding all the animals, the canning and dealing with the hog killing and curing the ham and sausage.

Using the scrub board and boiling the clothes to get them clean was a backbreaker.

Dr Lester keeps up on all of the new inventions and he got me a washing machine as they called it.  I have had a washer woman come over and wash most of my clothes and I hated to get rid of her so she still comes and runs the new machine as Dr. Lester taught her.

Ma said, “I just go down to the store and buy whatever I need to cook instead of having to put it up and store it in a pantry.  I can even buy Polk Salad all year round in a can.  I almost feel guilty life is so easy.

We have a couple acres and that is no problem to take care of.  Pa likes to have a garden and raise a few things like green beans and turnips.  He still has his dogs and they have taken to city living.

At first they barked at everyone who went by but have settled in and now mostly just watch people.  Once in awhile Pa can’t stand it any longer and he hitches up the buggy and he and the dogs head for the home place.

He makes the dogs ride in the buggy with him until they get out of town and then he lets them get out and hunt along the way.  He misses the old place but is glad to get back to town and sit on the porch with the dogs.  

When he was on the farm he always kept his shot gun along side himself and it is one of the habits he can’t seem to break.  You will always see the shotgun within arms reach.  It is clean and loaded.  As time went by the word got out about the shotgun and nobody bothers anything on our place while others miss something every so often.”

One of his old horses got sick and had to be put down. They were such good friends and been together so long I put him down instead of Pa having to do it.

I took Pa out to the ranch and had one of the cowboys round up a few of the horses.  Pa picked out one that had a few years on him.  He said he didn’t want a young horse that was too full of life to match up with his other horse for it would be too hard for the older horse to keep up with him.

I agreed that made good sense for they would be miss matched.

Matt and Mark are both wanting to go hunting and fishing more often nowadays. When I couldn’t push them off on grandpa I ended up doing what I loved as a kid but have less interest in lately.

At least they can bait a hook with dough balls though worms are yet to be mastered.  

Matt thinks his dogs are the finest dogs alive.  In the daytime it is squirrels and rabbits and night hunting is… well our last episode must have been hunting for skunk for that was what we found.

The two dogs, the two boys, and their father were banned from entering the house.  My kind wife threw some clothes out the back door and demanded that we burn our clothes.  I hated to see some of those clothes go for I had them since I was a teen.

We couldn’t go wash in the river for it had ice around the edges and the well was just a little better.  We built a fire under the hog scalding tub and jumped in before it got too hot. The bottom was so hot you had to keep your feet moving in order not to burn them.

Well for the next four days I couldn’t go to work, and the kids had to stay with me in the barn.  We kept burning our clothes and putting on fresh ones.

Nan said she was going to the church and beg for some old clothes for us.

After the fourth day we weren’t completely over our adventure but Nan let us back into the house though I had to sleep in the office.

The boys never mentioned going night hunting again and it wouldn’t have done them any good anyhow.

When I was a kid “It didn’t matter” if I got skunked but now it does matter.