I have derived from an extremely reliable source the reason Bo has given for resigning as sheriff of Blight County. The source told me that Bo had explained to him that he had started distinguishing between bad people who kill good people and good people who kill bad people. The law, of course, requires that they all be treated the same, according to their guilt or innocence. This brings us back to the Blight Way. It is a mysterious concept that allows, as far as I can make out, a certain degree of elasticity in the execution of legal matters.
But Bo Tully is not vanishing from Blight County public life. I am informed by a reliable source that he will soon open the Bo Tully Private Detective Agency and thereby go on solving assorted crimes without the Silver Tip Miner peering over his shoulder. Well, good luck with that, Bo.
I have just received a letter from Sasha McBride, the former chef at Silver Tip, our local hotel for professional ladies. Sasha reports that she is working hard on her doctorate in ornithology, specializing in eagles. She says she has just made an amazing discovery, which is that it appears there is a causal relationship between eagles and circles in the snow. She reports that she has discovered that circles in the snow are a worldwide phenomenon, but only in areas that receive snow and are visited by eagles. Sasha has explained the circles as an expression of the eagles’ gratitude for some action they interpret as a favor done for them by humans. Since the circle that occurred in the Silver Tip area was in close proximity to the murder site of Morgan Fester, an alleged suspect in the shooting of eagles, Sasha is of the opinion that Fester’s murder resulted in a circle in the snow, an expression of gratitude for that service from our visiting eagles. I will reserve my own opinion about this theory, except to say that Bo Tully may be right in his opinion about the state of modern higher education.
Erin McManus and the Blight County Jail Kitchen
What is the very best place to eat in all of Blight City? Here is a surprise for all of my readers. It is the Blight County jail, where Chef Erin McManus holds forth as the supreme culinary artist of the entire Blight region. Erin has worked as a chef in nearly all of the finest restaurants in the Pacific Northwest. When her car suddenly imploded while driving through Blight City, she found herself without anything to do while her vehicle was undergoing massive repairs. It was then that she heard the Blight County jail was looking for a new head cook. She applied for and got the job. The jail almost instantly became the favorite eating spot of the city’s denizens, with meals available to the general public at rates of $5 for breakfast and lunch and $10 for dinner. Suddenly our local citizens found themselves dining beside our local criminals, the criminals eating for free and the public eating for the above-mentioned charges. Much of the meat for the restaurant comes from local poachers arrested for the crime, several of whom are currently enjoying meals prepared from game animals they themselves poached. The money paid by the dining public goes to finance the jail kitchen. The new jail chef has provided me with a list of dishes she is offering to diners over the following week, along with snacks. Here they are:
DINNER
Monday: Grouse gravy with biscuits
Tuesday: Fried cutthroat trout and toast with a side dish of huckleberries
Wednesday: Corned moose and baked potatoes
Thursday: Elk burgers and fries, wild-berry cobbler
Friday: Largemouth bass and chips
Saturday: Antelope spaghetti with walnut pesto, garlic bread, and homemade ice cream with huckleberry sauce
LUNCH and SNACKS
Elk jerky
Deep-fried frog legs
Pheasant liver pâté
Creole sauce and crawfish
Deep-fried whole wild morel mushrooms
Black bear tartare and toast points
Moonshiner fry bread
BREAKFAST
Monday: Elk sausages and waffles
Tuesday: Huckleberry pancakes and bacon
Wednesday: Country scrambled eggs with wild mushrooms
Thursday: Fried deer liver and French toast
Friday: Fried wild trout and fresh-baked biscuits
Saturday: Fried mystery meat (supplied by Old Gabe Hawkins, who is serving thirty days)
Bo Tully to Wed
Bo Tully and his secretary of many years, Ms. Daisy Quinn, have announced their engagement to be married the first week of spring. Their honeymoon will consist of a leisurely drive through our beautiful state of Idaho, accompanied by Miss Etta Gorsich, Blight City’s most prominent fortune-teller.
Until next issue, I am
August Finn, Editor and Sole Reporter, the Silver Tip Miner
Circles in the Snow Page 16
