Bisbee.
Tonight I looked around for pa and found him in the office, sleeping and snoring loudly in his chair. “DADDY!” I shouted to wake him up.
“WHAT?!” Pa jumped straight up in his chair.
“Are you inspectin’ the insides of your eyelids again??” I giggled.
Pa rubbed his eyes and looked at me as I stood in front of his desk.k “Ummm, yes, I was making sure there were no holes in them. What ya up to munchkin?”
“Uh huh.. I was just readin’ and thought I should get some fresh air.”
“Reading? What ya been readin? Readin how the chicken crossed the road and the rooster got the chop block?” Pa chuckled.
“Um... I been readin Sherlock daddy. What else is there to read?” I giggled.
“Oh I don’t know… what about Huckleberry Finn or Tom Sawyer by Samuel Clements?”
“Hmm guess I could..”
“You might like them dear...they are full of adventure and great stories for kids.”
“Yeah but... Won’t Sherlock get mad?”
“Dear, why would a fictional character in a book get mad?”
I thought about that and finally said, “I guess he wouldn’t, would he?”
“Nah, though if you leave him alone too long, he might start loosing his cases without his best little detective to help him…” Pa smiled.
“Daddddyyyyyy…” I glared at him.
“What?! What’s your ma and Jimmy doing?”
“I dunno... I think Jimmy’s out practicin’ with his bb gun or somethin’ with Shira. And ma’s uh... Not sure what ma’s doin’.”
“So what ya been up to besides readin Sherlock Holmes? You think he ever loses a case? I mean you ever think Watson gets tired of chasing Sherlock all over London on a wild goose chase?” Pa chuckled.
“He did lose a case... Remember the one about Irene Adler and the picture and stuff? She took the picture he really wanted and kept it with her and he never got it back from her ’cause she disappeared.”
“Oh really? I guess I missed that one. For once the bad guy should win don’t you think?” Pa smiled.
“It was one of the first ones pa. The woman won.” I giggled.
“Oh wow, the woman never wins in the story… way to go woman.” Pa smiled.
“You gotta read it daddy. It’s real good.”
“Read? What’s that? I like books with lots of pictures so I don’t have to read.” Pa laughed.
“Oh come on daddy.... You don’t read ANYTHING??” I laughed at him.
“I read the Bee every week when it comes out. Or I read the tea leaves as Mr. Wise suggested last night...laughs at the things he heard last night from the mayor.”
“You read the Bee??? You read my articles daddy? Are they any good?”
“Of course munchkin… I love your articles.”
“I gotta come up with somethin’ good for this week.” I grinned.
“So what do you want to do munchkin?”
“I dunno. Wanna go wander ’round? Maybe somethin’s happenin somewhere that I can write about.”
“Sure...Sounds like a plan…” Pa shuffled his paperwork and put it in the desk. He turned and shut and locked the safe and made sure it was secure.
We walked outside and saw a horse in the street. I grinned and went over to pet it, happy to see it. It was a real big horse and Pa said it was a clydesdale male horse. I asked how he could tell that it was a male horse and Pa said that was something that I had to talk to Ma because she could explain it better. He said that it was something that I should learn when I’m old enough, when Ma thought it’s the best time for me to learn.
We walked up to Shucks and heard that they were having some sort of wrestling thing in the saloon and we wandered back home.
Bisbee.
Soon as I was back in bed, I looked over at Pa. “Daddy you gonna gimme a bedtime story???”
“So you want some cookies and milk before bed munchkin?” Pa asked me.
“Yeah! I’ll be real good and go put on my pyjamas right now too if you’ll tell me a story?” I nodded excitedly.
“Okie dokie, what story you wanna hear tonight?”
“I dunno... I’ll think ’bout it while I go upstairs and change!” I said and ran upstairs to change into my pj’s. Pa came upstairs and I curled up in my bed, snuggling my bear as I waited for him. He set the cookies and milk down by the bed and sat down on the edge, looking over at me. “I know what story I want today,” I told him.
“Which one?”
“Um... I wanna hear ’bout Tom Sawyer. Or maybe some other one you read when you was my age.”
“You ever hear of Davy Crockett?”
“Davy Cricket?” I shook my head.
“He was a famous frontiersman. Davy Crockett. He could shoot the eyes out of a fly a mile away.”
“What’s a frontman?” I asked as I nibbled on a cookie.
“He lived in the woods, hunted bear, and racoons, he wore a coonskin hat with a tail. He stood 12 feet tall, and rode bears like we ride horses.”
“Oh wow! Hey pa when’s Jimmy’s birthday? I wanna get him a coonskin hat.”
Pa munched on a cookie and drank his milk. “Well dear, his birthday is the 15th of this month actually. You ever hear of Paul Bunyan sweetie?”
“That other story’s over?”
“Well this story is more interesting. See Davy Crockett well he went to live in the woods and was never heard from again. But Paul Bunyan has a big blue ox named Babe. He found Babe when he was a baby ox, nearly frozen up in the north where there is nothing but snow year round.”
“Awww..... poor thing.”
“Yeah, but Paul Bunyan took him, and raised him, and he grew up to be as big as a stagecoach, and blue as the sky. His horns measure from end to end about as far as this room is wide.”
I grinned and curled into my bed, getting more comfortable as I became sleepier.
“You know what Babe likes to eat?”
I shook my head and reached for my milk, dipping a cookie in it, and then ate the cookie.
“Kids toes…” Pa laughed and tickled my feet.
“Daddyy!!! You’re gonna make a mess!” I giggled, almost spilling my milk.
“Me! How am I gonna make a mess?”
“Cause you made my cup shake!”
“Then you have a milk shake.” Pa laughed.
“That the end of that story?” I glared at him.
“Yes munchkin, but you know how you get chocolate milk don’t you?”
“Um..” I giggled. “Brown cows?”
“No, close though...you feed cows chocolate.”
“Daddy, are you suuuuuure?” I shook my head.
“And if you spin a cow around real fast, you get whipped cream.” Pa smiled.
“Daddyyyyyyy…” I rolled my eyes and nudged him with my toe.
“What?! Would I tell you a lie?”
“You better say yer sorry.” I nodded.
“Ask your ma tomorrow… she will tell you the same thing.” I nudged him more with my foot.
“Ok ok...I sowwy, but if you really do spin a cow around, you get whipped cream.” Pa made googly eyes and stuck his tongue out.
I giggled and stuck my tongue back at him, hiding my bear in front of me. “Get him, bear. He’s crazy.”
“I gonna find that hat for Jimmy early for his birthday so I not forget,” I said and then slowly fell asleep.
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