Before Bert and Steve left, they went inside the house again fur some more coffee. “Would you boys like to take a little zucchini bread fur later?” Lucy asked them with a smile.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Bert answered quickly. “That is if’n it ain’t too much trouble,” and he smiled back at her.

  Lucy packed them up some bread and made them a couple of sandwiches, too! “I’ve been missing yore good cookin, Lucy,” Steve said. Steve and Bert said good-bye and were on their way.

  As they drove off, Steve took up a new matter with Bert. “Bert, I’m goin to let you in on a dream of mine. Now, don’t laugh. I want to be the sheriff. It’s always been something I wanted.”

  Bert said in reply, “Well, Steve you kin be just about whatever you want to be. You are a real go-getter! However, are you ready to give up bein a federal officer?”

  “No, why?” Steve asked.

  “Becuz you can’t be both a federal officer and a local officer at the same time. You will have to decide what you want the most,” Bert explained.

  “Well, don’t that beat all! How come I never thought of that?” Steve said. “That does tend to change things, Bert! I guess I will just stick with what I know and forget bein a sheriff,” They drove to their next farm to inspect fur illegal liquor.

  A few weeks later, Earl said one morning, just after the kids left fur school, “Lucy, I think I’ll go break up the romance between Romeo and Rosie and bring her on home before the snow flies.”

  “Ok Earl, have you got the stall ready fur her in the barn?” Lucy asked.

  “Oh, I almost furgot! Could you git John to muck it out and git it all ready, please?” Earl requested.

  “I’ll be glad to. It will sure be good to have fresh milk again. Some things you just can’t fix without milk,” Lucy said thoughtfully.

  Earl got Blackie and Youngster all harnessed up to the wagon and Lucy brought him out a bag of assorted goodies. She had made a lunch of leftover meatloaf in a sandwich, some of her home-fried potato chips, especially thin and crispy, a big slice of apple pie and a bottle of lemonade. Just as she handed it up to Earl, Carl came runnin out. “Pa, I’m goin. You know how Rosie is when she is carryin. She is apt to be downright ornery and it will help to have me walkin behind her proddin her with a stick every now and again.”

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  “Well, son, welcome aboard! I wasn’t thinkin about Rosie’s peculiarities and I’m glad you wus. Ma only made enough food fur one…” Earl said

  Carl interrupted, holding up a poke (paper bag), “I done made my own, Pa,” He hopped up after giving his ma a kiss on the cheek and the guys were off.

  Lucy went inside to put the finishin touches on the homemade Christmas presents and then gathered up the dirty clothes fur laundry day. She interrupted John to have him set the big kettles on boilin outside fur the washin. Thataway, after she finished sewin, she could have the water ready to do the wash.

  Earl and Carl were on an uphill stretch when Earl said, “the wagon feels a mite shaky. I'm gonna stop the horses and check on it.” He pulled the horses to a stop and jumped down. He walked around the wagon, checkin that the nails holdin it together hadn’t come out and findin that satisfactory, checked the harnessin. It all checked out ok. He climbed back up in the wagon and said, “Well, maybe it was my imagination,” Earl let off the brake and just as the horses crested the hill and started down the other side, Earl and Carl saw a lop-sided wagon wheel rollin down the hill, passin them! “What in the world?” Earl said and just as he said it, the front right side of the wagon clunked down on the road and made the worst racket, draggin until Earl brought the horses to a stop.

  “Well, pa, we got ourselves a little delay. I’ll grab the wheel and take it back home and fix it,” Carl said. He was the blacksmith of the little farm. He made all of their axes, shovels, nails, knives and anything else that needed to be forged. “I got an extra wheel in the shop and it only will need a little modifyin to be the right size fur the wagon. Give me an hour fur walkin there an back and an hour to fix the wheel and I’ll be back. He took off walkin and Earl put on the brake and went fur a walk in the woods. He knew he might find some of Lucy’s herbs she used fur doctorin and he sure wasn’t goin to twiddle his fingers sittin in the wagon fur two hours!

  Carl started off walkin home, enjoyin the birds singin an the warm sun. Both would be gone soon, with winter comin on. He hadn’t gone but ? a mile when he heard a low rumblin. It got closer and he saw a whirl of dust risin and then Bobby Brown pulled up beside him. “Hey, Carl, where are you goin? You want a ride?”

  Carl put his wheel in the backseat, well, behind the front seat, cause the backseat wasn’t there! Just a bunch of tarps on the top of whatever was there. He climbed in beside Bobby an they were off like lightning! He was home almost before his rear-end sat on the seat! “A feller could get used to this; drivin like the wind!” Carl said.

  Bobby asked him what he wus doin and said he had passed Earl and the horses. He asked if Carl needed a ride back to his pa.

  “It sure would save me time, Bobby, but it looks like you are in the middle of some important business. I got to get a good fire started soze I kin fix this wheel. It would delay you, as I couldn’t be ready to leave agin fur a little bit,” Carl explained.

  “I kin wait. My bizness ain’t out in the open yet. Nobody suspects, so I got time,” Bobby said proudly.

  “Would you mind tellin me how you got that car runnin so fast while I work on this wheel?” Carl asked.

  “I’ll be glad to, Carl,” Bobby answered.