Posts : 882 Join date : 2012-04-22 Age : 59 Location : Birmingham
Subject: August 2022 The Guitar Mon Aug 01, 2022 12:09 am
Hello to you all!
Are we all lovely and warm after the heat wave? A bit too warm? Ah well, it will be something to look back on when the snows come.
Anyhow, I am taking a little break from work this week and will be off to the cinema later to see the new Elvis biopic and to ingest my own body weight in popcorn
SO, bearing in mind one particular episode where we learnt at least one of the boys can play ...
The topic is
the Guitar
Let your creativity run amok and awray ...
Last edited by Calico on Fri Aug 19, 2022 1:35 am; edited 1 time in total
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rachel741
Posts : 191 Join date : 2020-06-29 Age : 50 Location : United Kingdom
Subject: Re: August 2022 The Guitar Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:30 pm
The Kid heard the safe go boom and he looked round at the assembled passengers who'd been herded out in preparation for the detonation. He was relieved to see that not one of them appeared to have the urge to do something heroic. They were instead looking quite impressed to have been robbed by the Devil Hole's Gang. Well, thought Kid, guess if you gotta be robbed, it's less galling being robbed by the best.
He waited a few more minutes for his partner and Kyle to emerge with the money, and when they didn't, felt the slightest tendril of worry. He waved over to three of the gang, who were standing guarding a small group of passengers. “Wheat, I'm gonna go check on what's happenin' in there. Make sure no one does anythin' stupid.”
When Wheat acknowledged him with a grunt, he started to walk back towards the train and as he got to the blown door of the baggage car, heard a muffled conversation and carefully stepped in, his gun drawn, to be met by Kyle and Heyes kneeling by a large case, the money now carefully stuffed into bags, seemingly forgotten. Heyes hearing him enter looked up. “Hey, Kid, look it's a guitar! I ain't had the chance to get my hands on one of these, since, well, since Grandpa Curry used to sing all them songs from the old country, when the nights was too dark to do much else 'cept huddle round the fire. You remember how he used to let me play his sometimes Kid?"
The Kid sighed and bit down on an angry retort, he hated it when his partner got like this. Though always thinking and reworking his plans, to make sure everything was right in the week leading up to a robbery and never less than intensely focused. during the height of the job, sometimes once everything was from his side of things,successfully concluded, he got distracted by the strangest things and there was little chance of budging him until he was ready. The best course was to stay calm and attempt to get his attention back on what was important, so he only said. “Heyes, we got about fifty passengers, four guards, and a driver, who are all waitin' for us to leave with the money in those bags". He nodded over at the bulging sacks before continuing. "So they can get goin' again and you're admirin' a guitar! I gotta wonder 'bout you sometimes.”
Heyes said absently as he stroked the well worn case. “Ain't no different to you getting your head turned by some pretty girl. I know they ain't gonna cause us no trouble. I can read a crowd, you know that Kid.”
“I ain't sayin' you can't Heyes, but that dynamite weren't exactly quiet and folk at the next stop will be wondering exactly where this train got to." He turned to Kyle who was watching them in puzzled silence. “How much of the stuff did you use this time?”
Kyle spat his tobacco out and smiled. “Just a few sticks. Kid. About six, no seven.”
“Seven? We weren't tryin' to blow the whole damn train up, Kyle.” The Kid dismissed the little man and turned to his partner, saying urgently. “C'mon Heyes, we gotta get outta here!”
Heyes with a final affectionate, longing glance at the guitar case, scrambled to his feet. “I'm gonna get me one of these, Kid. Now c'mon we gotta leave, before we got a posse too close on our asses.”
The Kid gritted his teeth but said calmly enough. “Yeah, Heyes that ain't a bad idea.”
XXX
With everyone safely back in Devil's Hole, all the Kid wanted to do was sleep. But he was instead desperately covering his head with a pillow, as Heyes played Simple Gifts yet again, on the guitar he'd insisted on buying in a town near to where they'd robbed the train, despite there being the very real possibility of a posse on their tail.
The Kid had tried to talk him out of it to no avail. “It ain't gonna take hardly any of my share of that ten thousand dollars we just stole and we'll have plenty time, because I bet that posse went towards Rawlins, rather than heading here. We left them enough of a false trail and you know these posses ain't always real smart."
The Kid's remaining adrenalin rush from the successful job had faded about an hour ago, and a week of late nights listening to Heyes fine tune his plan, plus a six am start to the day, had finally taken their toll, leaving him exhausted and short-tempered and ill suited to humouring his partner. “Heyes, give it a rest! I ain't a horse like you. I need more than a few hours sleep in a month.” His partner either didn't hear him, or more likely simply chose to ignore him and continued to hum as he played.
After another five minutes, the Kid tried again. “I just wanna sleep for twelve hours, Heyes and not hear the word train or dynamite for at least another day after that.”
When he still got no reaction he tried to bury his head in the quilt to drown out the noise. He knew it was just Heyes' way of coming down from his own adrenaline rush, but it was well past one am and his patience was rapidly waning. He survived another ten minutes before he finally snapped, sat up straight and threw the pillow he'd been lying on, hard in Heyes' direction, hitting him on the head, eliciting a startled oomph from his friend as he snarled “Give it a rest, Heyes! I bin up for eighteen hours straight and my fist is is getting twitchier with every passin' hour!”
Heyes glared at him. “Ain't no need to be proddy, Kid, you coulda just asked!”
The Kid stared at him in stunned silence for a minute before saying grimly. “I ain't touchin' that Heyes, 'cos if I do I may be tempted to shoot ya!”
Heyes absently plucked at the guitar strings for a few moments. But as he obviously became aware of the Kid grinding his teeth, and tensing his body, realising perhaps just how close his friend was to leaping out of bed and grabbing the guitar out of his hands and hitting him hard over the head with it, stopped and looked up, the very image of hurt innocence. “Well, if you're gonna be like that Kid, I'll just go relieve the boys of some of their share of that cash we stole, before they blow it all at the weekend.”
The Kid grunted in relief as Heyes laid the guitar down and with another offended look in his direction walked out of their shared cabin.
_________________ The happiest conversation is that of which nothing is distinctly remembered but a general effect of pleasing impression. Samuel Johnson
Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. Carl Sagan
Last edited by rachel_74_1 on Sun Sep 04, 2022 3:54 pm; edited 6 times in total
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Penski Moderator
Posts : 1811 Join date : 2012-04-22 Age : 63 Location : Northern California
Subject: Re: August 2022 The Guitar Mon Aug 22, 2022 8:19 pm
Packing Up
An exhausted Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry scouted the small village of Pinedale near the Devil’s Hole. Pinedale had no sheriff and turned a blind eye to the paying outlaw customers.
“That looks like their horses,” Curry commented as he pointed out the animals tied in front of the saloon.
Heyes peered through the darkness to the inside of the well-lit saloon. “Yep, they’re all in there having a few drinks to drown their sorrows of missing out on that $50,000. They're going to be mighty drunk before the night's over.”
“We could go back to the lake and look for the safe.”
Heyes shook his head. “The posse saw us by that lake and may keep an eye on it or even look in it for the missing safe themselves.”
“Heyes, about that amnesty program…” Kid Curry pulled out the piece of paper the little old lady from Boston had handed him.
Sighing, Heyes took the paper and read it again. “Are you really ready to quit outlawing?”
The Kid nodded. “That last posse was too close and too big. We’re lucky we got away and neither of us were shot. We can’t be lucky forever.”
“Yeah, the odds are against us,” Heyes agreed as he handed back the flyer. “Come on, let’s just go back to the Hole and I'll give this some more thought.”
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
As they neared the Hole, Heyes abruptly reined in his mare so that Curry’s gelding bumped into it.
“Why’d you do that?” a tired Curry grumbled, irritated.
“You’re really serious about giving up outlawing and going straight?”
Kid Curry didn’t even have to ponder about it. “Yeah, Heyes. I want a chance to live until I’m old and not get gunned down. I want a chance to have a wife and some kids. Can’t have any of that goin’ down the road we chose.”
“We can’t just walk into the governor’s office in Cheyenne and ask for amnesty. We’d be arrested on the spot. What we need is a go-between us and the governor,” he added thoughtfully.
“A go-between,” the Kid repeated. “Who do we know that could see the governor for us?”
“I was thinking... remember Lom Trevors? He was leaving the gang right after you joined. Decided he didn’t want to be an outlaw.”
“Yeah, he was tall, dark hair and had a mustache. Was quiet in the bunkhouse.”
Heyes nodded. “Well, he’s the sheriff in Porterville now.”
“Is that why we don’t rob that bank?”
“Yep. Just don’t want to make it hard for an old friend.” Heyes kicked his horse and started heading into the Hole.
“You think Trevors will be willin’ to talk to the governor for us?” the Kid asked as he followed his partner.
“Can’t hurt to ask… and we'll remind him he owes us a favor since we've stayed away from his town and never robbed his bank.” Heyes grinned.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Heyes and Curry arrived at the Hole and took care of their horses. They walked to their cabin and fell into their beds, barely taking the time to pull off their boots and gun belts. Moments later, they both fell sound asleep.
Later in the morning, Heyes padded around the cabin in his socks as he made coffee. He looked out the window and noticed the rest of the gang wasn’t back from Pinedale.
Kid Curry yawned as he walked out of his room ruffling his hair. “Not back yet?”
“Nope. Probably too hungover to ride back yet.” Heyes got a cloth and took the pot from the stove. He poured two cups of coffee and handed one to his partner, who just sat at the table. “Still ready to…”
“Yep.” Curry gave a decisive nod. “I want out, Heyes. Don’t wanna see you get killed.”
“And I don’t want to see you get killed, either.” Heyes looked around the cabin. “Maybe we should just pack up and leave before the gang gets back. They sure weren't happy with losing that money; they were plenty mad when that safe went into the water and we couldn't find it. They blamed everything on me and you. Which, I might add, isn't either fair or true.”
“Nope, it isn't and I think that’s a good idea about leavin' now.” The Kid nodded and turned to glance into his room, then turned back to look at his partner, his expression thoughtful. “Don’t know what’ll happen, how or where we’ll live. What do we take with us?”
Heyes shrugged his shoulders. “Just plan on living on the trail for now, I guess. Won’t be able to take much. Clothes can go in our bedrolls. Fill the saddlebags with a pot and frying pan, along with some food.”
Curry nodded and stood up. “And a few boxes of bullets. Let’s start packin’.”
Heyes went to his room and opened up his bedroll. He placed an extra blanket, a few shirts, long johns, socks, a jacket and a pair of pants on it before rolling it up tight and tying a string around each end.
Curry also packed similar things inside his bedroll, grabbed his saddle bags, and looked around his room. What else could he take? He placed a few boxes of bullets, soap, a shaving kit, bandanas, a compass, and a new set of gloves he just bought. He smiled. “Can’t forget my lucky rabbit’s foot. We’ll need all the luck we can get with this new adventure.” He placed it in his pocket.
Heyes looked at his shelf full of books, sighed, and reached for just his favorite one. He put it in the saddle bag, along with a deck of cards, a pair of binoculars, his shaving kit, toothbrush, and several bandanas.
Curry went to the kitchen and started putting supplies on the table – a small pot to heat water, a frying pan, two plates and mugs, eating utensils, biscuit mix, coffee beans, a few cans of beans as well as peaches. Heyes joined him and added a full pint of good whiskey.
“I’ll go get some jerky and a small slab of bacon.” The Kid left the cabin for the food storage shed
Heyes pondered as he looked around the room. In the corner were two fishing poles. “Can’t take the poles, but we can take some line and hooks.” He added them to the table.
He checked the inside lining of his boots and hat and smiled. “Taking my lockpicks for sure. They might come in handy for something.”
Curry came back and put the food on the table and then added a small box. “Can’t forget a tinder box.”
“Soap?” Heyes asked.
“Packed. Knife?”
“I have my boot knife. “We better start putting all this in the saddle bags and make sure we have room.”
Together they added the items on the table into their bags.
“No room for the pot and frying pan, but we’ll need them,” Heyes stated.
“I got an idea.” Curry left the cabin for a few minutes and returned with two pieces of fabric. “Got old flour sacks, one for each. We could tie them to our saddle horns or on top of the bedroll.”
“Perfect.” Heyes placed the frying pan in one bag and the pot in another, cinching up the tops.
“That’s about it. Don’t have room for anything else,” the Kid stated as he buckled his bags closed.
“Oh, my pocket watch and luck…” Heyes stopped mid-sentence and patted his pockets. “Got them.”
Curry gave his partner a look. “Your pocket watch and what? Did you just admit to a lucky coin? Is that why I always lose the coin toss?”
“No, no.” Heyes shook his head quickly. “I have a lucky coin, but don’t use it for coin tosses.”
“Let me see it,” the Kid demanded, holding out his hand.
After a moment of hesitation, Heyes begrudgingly pulled a coin out of his pocket and put it in Curry’s extended hand.
“This one?”
Heyes nodded. “Yep.”
Curry cocked his head as he examined it. “You sure? Looks like just an ordinary one.”
Heyes took it from the Kid's hand and put it back in his pocket. “That’s the one.”
“Guess we'd better get goin' before the boys come back.” Curry put the bedrolls and bags by the door. “Goin’ to look one more time around.”
“I’m gonna write a note to the boys telling ‘em we left. Wheat can be in charge.” Heyes took some paper and a pencil from a shelf and sat down at the table. “He'll be the one person glad that we're gone.”
“Can any of them even read?” the Kid asked sarcastically.
Heyes grinned and began writing.
Kid Curry walked around the cabin, including both bedrooms. He saw newspaper clippings of their first job and a small wooden cross on Heyes’ shelf. “I remember Grandpa Curry whittlin’ this when we were young. Didn’t know you still had it. Why aren’t you takin’ it?”
Heyes shrugged his shoulders. “I gave up believing.”
Curry pocketed the cross and went into his own room, his brow furrowed. After another cursory glance around, he sighed. He didn’t see anything else worth taking, nor would what he'd leave behind be missed.
Heyes finished the note and stood up when the Kid began walking around the main room as he made one final check.
“Aww Heyes, your guitar!”
“No room for it.” Heyes picked it up and strummed a few minor cords. “Maybe someday I can get another one.” He sighed and placed his beloved guitar in a corner of the room, with the thought that he’d never see it again.
They both took a final look around the cabin.
“Guess this is it.” Heyes picked up his bags and roll.
“Yep.”
Heyes opened the door. “You ready?”
“After you.” Curry picked up his things and shut the door behind them.
_________________ h "Do you ever get the feeling that nothing right is ever going to happen to us again?" - Kid Curry
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Kattayl
Posts : 45 Join date : 2021-08-01 Age : 69 Location : Los Angeles, Ca
Subject: The Guitar Thu Aug 25, 2022 9:10 pm
The Guitar Challenge August 2022
The room grew quiet as parents and grandparents waited for the children’s end of the year show to begin. All were crowded into the schoolhouse, the temporary wall that separated the older class from the younger class had been removed. The double front doors and the side door were propped open, and the expectant crowd filled the space.
The Curry and Heyes families were no different. The mothers had dictated that everyone wear their Sunday clothes, and no one objected. Of course, this was the only year that all of their children would be in the show. Grandpa and Gramma Curry were there to see their six grandchildren and had brought a special little bag of candy for each. The smaller children went first, and little Maggie Curry was in her first show. Her class had been combined with the next older children all year so her sister, Mary, would perform at the same time.
Old Mister Ford played his old guitar as the class walked onto the makeshift stage. Maggie, being the littlest one, was in the front row and pulled her sister to stand in back of her. The audience laughed and Gramma Curry smiled and waved at them. The girls curtsied and the boys bowed. Mr. Ford played a few chords. The children sang “Oh Susanna” with a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of smiles, and little regard for singing the right notes.
The parents loved it. The grandparents cheered. Maggie was so occupied with waving to her ma that she tripped going down the two stairs, but righted herself and kept waving. She led her group to sit on the floor at the side of the stairs.
“I don’t see Jed,” Gramma Curry whispered to her husband. “He should be in this group singing now.”
Grandpa moved around in his seat to get a better look at the stage. When he couldn’t find Jed, he nudged his son, Jed’s pa. “Where’s your son?”
The song was almost over when the two men spied Jed quietly sneaking up the back steps just in time to take a bow with the rest of the group.
“Don’t remember him wearing a white shirt when we left home. Thought it was a blue plaid,” Jed’s ma said out loud, then quickly said, “Sorry” to those around her.
Han’s ma looked closer. “I think Han was wearing that white shirt earlier.”
“And Han’s wearing my good white shirt now!” Arthur Heyes grumbled as the oldest kids including Han, Ruthie Curry, and Han’s older sister Gwen took the stage. Arthur heard very little of the song or the poem they recited as he glared at his only son.
When the class had finished, Grandpa Curry reached across and tapped Arthur on the knee. “Your boy there’s got a nice voice for singing. Don’t worry about him. He's just high spirited as a child should be.”
Arthur tried to hide his annoyance and smiled as his firstborn, Gwen, was presented with her diploma. He had been looking around at Eastern finishing schools for her, but his wife wanted her to stay home so she was enrolled in a continuing education school in the next town for next year.
Grandpa Curry assumed the show was over but the teacher, Mr. Patterson, walked to the stage center. “We have a special treat to end the show today.”
Grandpa let Gramma pull him back down into his seat. Gwen, Ruthie and Jed walked to the center stage. The girls wore white dresses and Jed a white shirt. Jed put down the small stool he had carried and waved to Maggie and Mary to hurry up on stage. Then, waving, Han walked to center stage with Mr. Ford’s guitar in his hand. “Hi ya all. In case you don’t know, today is my grandparents' fortieth wedding anniversary. I think that’s a long time to keep doing the same thing, but they sure look happy. So, we have prepared a special song and Mr. Ford showed me how to find the right chords on the guitar. Gramma and Grandpa, this is for you. Love you always.”
As they sang “Simple Gifts”, Grandpa reached over and held his wife’s hand. He knew there were tears in her eyes because he was trying to keep his away. Looking at his son and daughter and their spouses, he smiled at the happy loving matches they had made. His six grandchildren added even more love to his overflowing life; a life with his wife of forty years that was happy.
When they’d finished, the Curry/Heyes clan gathered outside at the refreshments while Han explained, “We wanted to all be in white.”
“Like wedding white,” Gwen added.
Han moved her aside. “Well, Jed didn’t have a white shirt to wear. So, I figured it out. I gave him mine and I wore Pa’s, exceptin’ Jed had trouble buttoning my shirt and he was late for his song.”
Maggie pulled on her grandfather’s pant leg, and he swooped her up in his arms. “Did you like it, Grandpa? We practiced after school every day for a whole week.”
He looked around at his grandchildren, all so loved, saying, “It was perfect, deary, made your grandma cry.”
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Mon Aug 01, 2022 12:09 am
