Circa 1873

“The Boys are Back In Town”

It was (7) Ten til’ noon. U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon was preparing to take a posse on what would probably be a long, long journey. The Wilder Gang had terrorized towns from Dodge to Topeka. Matt was determined to put an end to their outlaw days.

As he said his goodbyes to Sunshine, he could sense her fear…… “I’ll miss you, too, sweetheart;But I’ll be home (2) In the wink of an eye. Promise me you’ll keep a stiff upper lip.”

Sunshine:” (3) I ain’t no sissy, Matt. Now YOU need to make ME a promise.” Matt smiled down at her as he kissed the top of her head. “Promise me you won’t be a hero. You have a lot of good men with you. Make sure you let them carry their weight.”

Matt:”I promise….. I need to go now, Sunny.” He smiled at her and then kissed her tenderly…… “In the wink of an eye, darlin’.”

For forty days and forty nights Matt and his posse searched an area covering 40 miles of Kansas territory.The weather was against them the whole time. (4) Forty days and forty nights of rain was taking it’s toll on everyone’s nerves.

Barney Fifer: ” I think we ought to nip this thing ! NIP IT IN THE BUD!!

Fonzie Winkler:” Ayyyyyyy !!! I’m with you, little man.”

BeaverCleveland :” Gee guys. I think this is neato.” ( The town fool seemed to have fun no matter what!)

Matt:” Come on boys. Settle down. You! Beaver! Glad you’re having fun, kid. Maybe we’ll get lucky and the sun’ll come out…..tomorrow.” No such luck. The next day was like all the previous…..lousy.

Just when they thought that one more day may just kill them all, they caught up with the Wilder Gang. Matt and his posse surrounded them …….

Matt:”Alright!! Drop your guns!! ”

Wilder:”Who the hell are YOU?!”

Festus:”This here is U.S.Marshal Matthew Dillon and we are…….. (5)The few, the proud…… THE POSSE !!!”

Wilder :” Dillon…..(6) It’s my life and I’ll do as I please.” He started to tip his hat, a signal to his men.

Matt:”Touch that hat and I’ll shoot your hand off.”

Wilder and his men started blazing their guns. A battle ensued. When the gunpowder cleared, Wilder and all his men were dead. Matt lost two men……. Dan and Steve Festrunk .

Matt presided over their burials……. ” I’ll miss all their SNL….

Saturday Night Laughter …They were really……

TWO WILD AND CRAZY GUYS!! ”

Matt wired everyone in Dodge that they would be home by Saturday afternoon. (1) The women cried, the children cheered .The townsfolk planned a celebration to welcome their brave men home. As they rode into town, Sunshine ran up to Matt who lifted her onto his saddle!!

Kitty Russell:”Oh…. dear…..GAWD!!!!! That woman needs to get a hold of herself!!”

Doc Adams smiled…..”Nawwwwww. She just needs to get a hold of Matt!!!”

When Sunshine finally got down off Matt’s horse, she ran over to her guitar….Then she and her band, “The Dodge Boys” played a song to honor their heros.

Matt watched with tears in his eyes…”Yes sir that’s my baby”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8ufiK8USxA

Dad, sitting next to her on the couch, gave her a nudge in the arm. “You gettin’ nervous?”

(2)“I ain’t no sissy,” she winked at him. “I just need to breathe,” she reminded herself.

“You’ll do great,” he reassured her. “and you won’t trip or anything.”

“You’re not comforting,” Sarah laughed. She glanced out her apartment window. “It’s raining! This is going to ruin my robe!”

“I’ll get an umbrella, and we’ll make it. Actually, I think the rain is going to let up soon. Don’t worry, we’re not going to have (3)forty days and forty nights of rain,” he stood up to stretch. “Relax, this is a good day,” he smiled.

“You’re right; I’m sorry. It’s just that college flew by (4)in the wink of an eye. And now what am I supposed to do? I’m so nervous about the days ahead.”

“You’ll be great. Your mother and I are very proud of you.”

“Mom. I wish she would remember this day,” Sarah sighed. She gazed over to her mother, sleeping in her wheelchair in the corner. Today was a bad day; she didn’t remember much at all. Sleep was the best thing for her.

Dad motioned to the clock. “Noon. It’s time to head out. Time for you to graduate.”

The family loaded into the van, Mom was still so groggy, and drove to the university’s auditorium. This was it.

The next hour was a dream sequence for Sarah. She kissed her parents and joined her classmates backstage. She held idle conversations, shuffled to where she was told, and came to consciousness while shaking hands with the dean of her department, receiving her diploma. This really was it.

As the final words of the ceremony were spoken, Sarah studied the audience of families before her. (5)The women cried, the children cheered. She found her own family in the sea of faces. Dad was holding Mom’s hand and they were both smiling. Was Mom aware right now? Did she remember? Did she know?

Here, the graduates stood. (6) The few, the proud. And Sarah was one of them.

As the students filed off the stage, Sarah pushed past shoulders to find her parents. “I didn’t fall! I made it!” she shrilled, rushing up to her father and throwing her arms around him.

“You did it!” he cheered. “We’re so proud of you,” Dad gently turned Sarah to face her mother, who had tears in her eyes.

(7)“Yes, sir…that’s…my…baby,” Mom drew the words out with determination. “I…love…you.”

“Oh, Mom!” Sarah cried, and bent down to hug her. “I love you too! I’m so glad you guys are here!”

The moment drew out until Sarah and her family were one of the last groups to leave the auditorium. And as they stood on the building steps, overlooking the campus, Sarah pointed just beyond the hill, “Look guys, there it is. There’s my future. (8) It’s my life, and with it, I’m going to make you proud.”

I ran a small overnight touring ship named, “Sailing with Sheila”, after my wife. After all she did help me get started and did most of the interior decorating aboard. We had ten small rooms for sleeping, a cook, and the three of us to run the ship as we toured the islands, me being the skipper of course. Mike is the name and my partners were George and Larry. The sites were great and I never seem to get tired of seeing the rare birds, trees, and the fish you could actually see as one leaned over the rail. A lot of women brought their children on our tours during their summer holidays. We even had extra activities for the kiddies incase they got bored along with a lovely spot we found to anchor and go swimming.

Well it was TEN TIL’ NOON and we were just about ready to embark on our next little voyage. It called for bright, sunny days ahead which is always great to hear when you’re going to be gone for a couple of days. We had eight women, fourteen children, and three Dads along for the trip.

Twelve noon sharp we sailed off with Sheila waving good-bye as always. The first day went as usual. Women relaxing and taking in the sites as the kids ran around getting to know one another. Within hours it was always like a big happy family coming together once everyone got to know each other.

Just after supper the winds picked up which had me puzzled because it wasn’t called for so I radioed in to find out what was happening. We were at our farthest point out when the coast guard said I should be heading for land because of an unexpected storm coming in but IN THE WINK OF AN EYE we were facing it before we had chance to do anything. The ship started swaying with the waves that were getting bigger by the minute from the high winds and the rain was unbelievable. Above the winds I could hear screams and everyone running to the main room down below. This had to be the worse storm I had been in and there were a few but never with a load of people aboard.

All night we hung on with everything we had as we tossed around and secretly the three of us knew we were sailing way of course. I tried to keep it light as I went down to talk to everyone. “Well,” I started, “at least it doesn’t call for FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS OF RAIN.” I knew by their faces being “light” was not working so I just tried to reassure them that help was on it’s way and we need to stay calm until we were rescued which wasn’t easy saying the same thing the next day when I had know idea where we were. It had settled down some but by then our radio didn’t work for some reason and many of them were sick and of course still frightened.

Two days later someone spotted a ship in the distance and yelled out to us. Sure enough help had arrived and I could see THE WOMEN CRY from sheer relief and THE CHILDREN CHEERED along with the three dads as the coast guards came closer to us. They had braved the storm as usual to help find lost vessels. As they neared us I could see THE FEW, THE PROUD guards smiling just as much as we all were.

Afterwards I said to George and Larry, “YES SIR THAT’S MY BABY. I never had a doubt she wouldn’t keep us safe.” At the same time, even though its MY LIFE sailing my ship, I never let on I was terrified but I AIN’T NO SISSY either so join me on my next tour.