Next World Series | Vol. 5 | Families First [Homecoming]

by Ewing, Lance K.

  “Yes, sir, and I’m almost finished. We should be able to take it for a test run tomorrow.”

  “Ha! That’s great news!” replied the Sheriff. “I’ll be honest. I didn’t much care either way at first if you made your upcoming jump, but now I’ll admit I’m rooting for you. Hold tight. I have a gift of sorts for you, but don’t let it go to your head. We still have a long way to go, you and me.”

  “Yes, sir,” replied Ken, wondering what it could possibly be.

  He got back to work, and minutes later heard “Heads up! Catch!” as he turned just in time to see the round object twisting in the air.

  “I hope you’re a large,” stated the Sheriff as Ken smiled broadly at his new, used bright orange motorcycle helmet. “It’s got a couple of scratches, near as I can tell, but she looks in good shape over all.”

  “This may just be the best gift I’ve ever received. Thank you, sir.”

  “Keep your ears open for me in the jail, and I’ll be back at, say, noon tomorrow for the chair test.”

  “I’ll have her ready,” replied Ken. He attempted to fight off daydreams about being back home with his girlfriend and dog on Saturday night. Only if you survive the jump and he decides to keep you around, he thought.

  “Oh, last thing, Ken,” added the Sheriff. “I’ll send my girlfriend by later today. She wants to meet you.”

  “Ah, okay, sir. Sure.”

  * * * *

  “Hi, Ken,” came the call a few hours later.

  “Hey, Kate. It’s been a long time. How are you?”

  “I couldn’t be better, considering the circumstances. The chair, it’s looking good,” she added.

  “How did you know about this?” Ken asked.

  “I know a lot about you, actually—about the chair and your upcoming jump.”

  “Oh, now I get it. The Sheriff said his girlfriend would be by today. I guess that’s you.”

  “That’s right. Let’s get a few things straight, though,” she added, closing the door to the side room and lowering her voice. “Sheriff Johnson and I have been together for a few years now. I’m sure the new addition to the jailhouse yesterday didn’t go unnoticed by you or the other men there.”

  “No, you’re right. It was something I didn’t expect, that’s for sure.”

  “Have you heard the phrase ‘A man is only as good as the woman who stands next to him?’” she asked.

  “That sounds familiar,” Ken replied.

  “That’s what we have here in this town now. It was the Sheriff’s idea to let you jump the courthouse, and it was mine to save you from the noose. Do you think it was just a coincidence that I handed him the 1974 Guinness Book of World Records, featuring none other than Evel Knievel at the exact moment he was wondering what to do with you all?”

  “I’m not sure I follow,” said Ken.

  “Here it is. I’ve known it was you inside since the beginning. You ran for City Council—and I voted for you, by the way.”

  “Oh, that makes sense. And thanks for the vote!”

  “Anyway, if I could have got you out of there by winning a motorcycle race, I would have done it, but the Sheriff loves the death-defying stunts, so I pushed him towards something I thought you could walk away from alive… What do you think of the helmet?” she said with a wink.

  “That was you, too?” Ken asked.

  “A little of both, I guess. You’re growing on him too.”

  “What about Richard and the other guy?” he asked.

  “Ha! I don’t give a crap about that slob Richard or James’ shooter. Nope, he came up with the gladiator thing on his own. Do you talk to those guys?”

  “Hell no. I keep to myself.”

  “That’s what I thought. There’s one more thing,” she said, moving in close and whispering in his ear “It doesn’t matter who wins their little fight; neither of them is getting out alive. We, you and I, just drifted apart. I know that, and I don’t blame you for it. But he doesn’t know about us, and I’m not sure what he would do if he found out. Does that make sense?”

  “Completely.”

  “So, the short of it is, you keep that our little secret, and I’ll do my best to keep your head on your shoulders. I also expect complete loyalty to the office of the Sheriff moving forward, assuming you make the landing.”

  “And if he decides to keep me around, right?” he asked, only half-joking.

  “Nope, you just make the jump and I’ll make sure you get to stay in town. Besides, I hear you have a dog and a new girlfriend to get back to.”

  “I, uh…well, I mean…”

  “Don’t worry about it,” she said, with a smile. “Make the landing, and you will be home on Saturday night. Are we agreed?”

  “Sure, Kate. It sounds like you’re the one doing me a favor.”

  “I am. See you around, Ken.”

  She kissed him on the cheek and opened the door to leave, giving the shop owner a mind-your-own-business look.

  * * * *

  “What did you think about Ken?” asked the Sheriff as soon as he saw her at home.

  “You should keep him around. You can trust him; I know that much.”

  “That’s what I thought you would say, honey.”

  * * * * * * *

  Chapter Two

  Second Chances Ranch

  Weston, Colorado

  James had a visitor later in the day. He was looking at the gate through his binoculars when the man arrived on horseback. James recognized him immediately.

  “Jason, can you let him in through the gate?”

  “Sure, but do you know him?”

  “Yep, he’s one of the Sheriff’s deputies; he’s got a small farm a few miles towards town.”

  “Why didn’t he just drive up here?” asked Jason, as he headed down the front porch stairs.

  “Well, he either is just out for a ride on his day off or is not looking to draw any attention, and I’m guessing the latter, so let’s see what he has to say.”

  “Howdy, James.”

  “Deputy, how have you been?”

  “Better than most, I have to admit. Oh, I didn’t mean...”

  “We’ve known each other a long time,” said James. “You’re not going to offend me with anything you might say—and besides my legs, I’m better than most!”

  “Point taken, old friend,” replied the deputy. “Time to state my business, I guess… I heard you had a visitor yesterday.”

  “Maybe,” replied James. “What are you asking me?”

  “Well, I’m not askin’ as much as I’m only giving a heads up to an old friend and one of the few men I trust in this town. Judge Lowry was arrested on Sheriff Johnson’s orders shortly after leaving your place. I wasn’t there, but it seems there was a long chase before they apprehended him.”

  “What’s the charge?” asked James, trying not to act as surprised as he was about the news.

  “That’s just it! I don’t know. Our guys were just told to arrest him and bring him to the jailhouse.”

  “Hmm, that makes things interesting, for sure—any word from the Sheriff on what he plans to do with him?” asked James.

  “Nope. There’s been no word, but he’s been in a cell since yesterday and refusing to eat, from what I hear.”

  “Thanks for the heads up, and let’s just keep this little conversation between us. Agreed?”

  “Yes, James. I was hoping you would say that.”

  Jason showed him out, locking the front gate behind him.

  “Who is that, Daddy?” asked little Billy, jumping up into James’ lap.

  “Oh, just somebody Daddy works with. How about you get your mom and Aunt Lauren? Uncle Jason and I need to talk to them.”

  “Okay, Daddy. I’ll find them.”

  * * * *

  James, Janice, Lauren and Jason sat on the front porch sipping iced tea, minus the iced part, and discussed their options.

  “Jason, what do you think?” asked James.

  “I don
’t…well, I don’t really know. This is all just a shock—something I wasn’t expecting.”

  “Let’s start at the beginning,” suggested Janice, “so we are all on the same page.”

  James told her and Lauren everything they knew so far.

  “Hmm,” said Janice, without elaborating.

  “Hmm, what?” asked James.

  “To be honest, I’m not surprised at all about this,” she replied, with Lauren nodding in agreement. “We knew things were headed south between those two, and it was bound to come to a head. What I’m concerned about is that the arrest happened at some point between our ranch and Weston. I wonder who all knew he was coming here to talk to you guys.”

  “That’s a good point, honey,” said James.

  “Jason, you and I will head into town tomorrow morning and stop by the jailhouse.”

  “Are you sure you’re up to that?” asked Janice.

  “I’ll have to be. You know I always want to know upfront what’s headed our way. Plus, we owe it to the girls and Billy to always make sure we’re one step ahead of everyone else.”

  All agreed with a head-nod while watching the four young children play a game of tag out by the main barn.

  “In fact, let’s make a day of it,” James continued. “We will head to town together, and you all can drop Jason and me off at the jailhouse. We will meet you at the restaurant for breakfast when we’re done.”

  * * * *

  At 7 a.m. they were off and headed to town. Jason drove and Chance stayed behind to keep an eye on the ranch.

  They pulled up in front of the police station at 7:20, and Janice, Lauren, the girls and Billy headed on to the restaurant.

  “You need a push?” asked Jason.

  “Nope, this chair is not the best, but I’ll be the one to roll it.”

  “Hopefully, we can fix that sooner than later,” replied Jason. “Maybe it’s locked,” he announced, as he tried the front door.

  “Give it a couple of knocks; maybe the Sheriff is inside.”

  Jason knocked on the door, getting a loud response from more than one man inside.

  “Sheriff, are you in there? It’s James VanFleet and Jason Davis.”

  The announcement set off a chain of overlapping responses, the loudest one announcing he was Judge Lowry.

  “Well, there’s our response to the Sheriff when he asks how we knew about the Judge being here,” said James.

  “James!” came the call again from the Judge. “You need to get me out of here. He’s going to kill me! You owe me that much after all I’ve done for you.”

  Jason was getting nervous. James didn’t respond.

  “Aren’t you going to say something?” Jason asked.

  “No, Jason. This is where we stay quiet and don’t say another word.”

  There was ten more minutes of Judge Lowry’s ranting before Sheriff Johnson pulled up in his truck.

  “James VanFleet,” he said, smiling as he exited his truck with his lead deputy. “Already back from the dead, I see. Hello, Jason.”

  “We stopped by to say hi,” said James in a casual tone.

  “Did you now? Have you heard anything interesting this morning?” he asked, as Judge Lowry continued shouting in the background.

  Jason’s stomach tightened, but he did not speak. He would not speak unless James needed help, he thought.

  “Just that,” replied James, pointing inside the building.

  “Yeah, that’s complicated for sure, don’t you think, James?”

  “I couldn’t say, sir, because I don’t have all of the facts yet.”

  “Spoken like a true politician!” replied the Sheriff, laughing. “The funny thing is, I haven’t even talked to him yet.”

  James gave Jason a look that said let’s take it slow and only reveal what he thinks we already know.

  “What do you think I should do with him, James?”

  “I don’t know; I’m not sure why he’s even in there.”

  “That’s a fair statement, I guess. Maybe you have an idea, though, since he was at your ranch right before we picked him up.”

  “Excuse me,” said Jason, exiting through the front door and running towards the building’s side with his hand over his mouth.

  “I’m not sure he’s got the stomach for all of this business,” said the Sheriff, laughing.

  “He’ll be all right,” replied James. “So, what now?” he asked, wanting to get to the nuts and bolts of the issue and how it would affect their families.

  “Well, now… What’s next is up to you, James…well, partially. Come on in, and we’ll talk a bit. Can I help you inside?”

  “Nope,” replied James flatly.

  James rolled in, following the Sheriff. “Let’s talk in my office,” the Sheriff suggested.

  “Sheriff, is that you?” called out Judge Lowry.

  “Yep, just me and James having a little talk about the future of my town,” he replied, knowing it would set the Judge off.

  He was right. Judge Lowry started hollering and threatening both him and James.

  “All right, James,” the Sheriff said over the shouting down the hall. “Today is the day. You knew it was coming one way or the other, didn’t you?”

  “Sir, with all due respect, everyone in town knew this day would come.”

  Sheriff Johnson smiled without a response, pausing briefly to listen to Judge Lowry’s rant.

  “When I told you, Sheriff, that your election was a landslide victory, it was true. What I didn’t tell you was that Mr. Grimes got all the votes,” said the Judge. “Do you hear me? He beat the crap out of you. Do you know the one man who could have beat Grimes? Do you?!” he screamed. “He’s sitting right next to you. That’s a man who can win an election. That’s a man who has the respect of this town. That’s the man who should have your job. And that floozy girlfriend of yours is nothing but trouble for this town. She might as well be the Sheriff because she runs you around like her little monkey, and you don’t have the cojones to do crap about it!”

  Sheriff Johnson turned red and called to his deputy to quiet the Judge.

  “You shut him up, or I will,” the Sheriff called to his deputy. “I need a minute, James,” he said, stepping outside.

  “Were you coming to find me, sir?” asked Jason when the Sheriff exited the jailhouse.

  “No, not exactly. I’ll have James back out in just a few.”

  * * * *

  “James,” he said, walking back inside, “did you know about the election results?”

  “I heard it just yesterday from Judge Lowry. Before then, I had no idea.”

  “Who else do you think knows? His secretary, I’ll bet,” stated the Sheriff.

  “I don’t know of anybody else who does, except maybe Mr. Grimes. But he left town, never to return. Right?”

  “You know better than that, James.”

  “Yeah, I guess I do,” replied James.

  “Bring Ken back to the office,” Sheriff Johnson told a deputy. “I want him to meet our new mayor…

  “Ken, this is our new mayor, James VanFleet.”

  “Hello again, sir,” said Ken, shaking James’ hand.

  “You know each other?” asked the Sheriff.

  “Yes, the city council had one meeting with him and the deputy mayor right before... Well, you know.”

  “Oh, I forgot about that,” the Sheriff admitted.

  “Anyway, James, I’m sure you already heard about the jump he’ll do on Saturday over the courthouse.”

  “I did hear something about that,” replied James.

  “He’s also been working on something else that I won’t go into right now, but I think you will like it. You’ll see it on Saturday. So, my point is, assuming Ken here doesn’t fall off the roof or completely miss the landing, there is a good chance that he will be joining my team. He fixes things, is a good way to put it. Isn’t that right?”

  “Yes, sir. Whatever you need fixing, I’m your guy.”

>   “He’s loyal from what I can tell so far, and that’s exactly what I need right now,” the Sheriff said, once Ken had left the room. “Are you, James?”

  James paused, being careful of his next words. He was glad Jason was outside.

  He rubbed his scruffy chin with his hand and nodded his head. “Sheriff, I am loyal to this town and its citizens. I always have been, even when I was technically outside the city limits.”

  “Okay, that’s good enough for now,” he replied, patting James on the shoulder.

  “I’d better check on Jason,” said James, “unless we have more to discuss.”

  “Not today. I would see what you thought I should do with the Judge, but I remember you don’t particularly have the stomach for that. Thanks for coming in, James. We’ll see you on Saturday for the exhibition. Don’t be late.”

  * * * *

  James rolled out of the jailhouse with his head feeling heavy, like every time after meeting here.

  “What happened?” asked Jason. “Are we all good?”

  “I’m not sure we’re all good, but we showed our faces and that’s enough for now. They have a surprise for me on Saturday, I guess.”

  “I’ve got to make a quick stop downtown,” Jason blurted out, “before breakfast!”

  “All right,” replied James, not asking why.

  “Be right back,” Jason told him, ducking into the hardware store.

  “I haven’t seen you in a week, son,” said a scruffier, somehow slower Cal.

  “I know. It’s been busy is all. The chair—is it done?”

  “Nah,” he said, laughing. “It’s going to be another two or three weeks, near as I can tell. Plus, I’m over budget now, so tell the Judge I’m going to need more coins to continue.”

  “We had a deal,” said Jason. “Judge Lowry and I both gave you money, and the other guy is nearly done with his chair.”

  “Well, he’s a jailbird. Got nothin’ else to do all day. I’ve got other things I’m responsible for, and most of ’em are higher on my priority list than this here chair. I’m clocking out by noon today, and if you want me to continue, I’ll need six more silvers.”

  “Six? I don’t have that many,” said Jason.

  “Judge Lowry does, so pass on the message.”