Awestruck Comments

Penski - I love stories where history is intertwined with the action. I wonder who really did teach him to shoot, but it certainly won't be a better story than this.

Maz - Ice hockey? In August? It certainly fits the 'sporting chance' theme and with Ben's sporting prowess in real life he'd certainly take to it like a duck to - well, ice. Great take on the prompt.

Maz - I think last year, in the heat of August, you gave us a wintery Ranch story - is that your way of keeping us cool when it's and hot? Don't think poor Jed knows what he's in for; hockey is a rough sport. Then again, if he's hurt (and we know Maz likes to hurt Jed/Kid), Emily will have to kiss the boo-boo and make it better. Very nice addition to the series!

Maz; Oh yes! The best way to get a young man to do something is let him know the lady of his choice will be there to watch! Hope he gets through the match without making a fool of himself--and maybe they will even win that game! Cute story.

Silver...that was a tall story..or was it a short one? :) The boys playing matchmaker. Sheesh

Oh and for those of you wondering..I'm just back from Canada hence the ice hockey link..gotta love that sport!

SILVERKELPIE - So much to love about this story from Kid's comment about Kyle to Heyes' damaging the counterpane! One of my favorite lines was "Men should give up when they can’t reach the cookies on the top shelf.” I laughed all the way through this. Thanks !

I always love your storyies Silverkelpie; there are always so many new things in them--like 'counterpane' and ' grappa'. One has to be so careful about what they partake in! Your heroines always remind me of MM Kaye's stories. Always a fiesty lady getting in here and getting after it! A fun read, thank you.

Penski - There have been a variety stories that have Heyes and Butch Cassidy interacting, but I do believe this is the first I've ever read with just Kid Curry and the Sundance Kid. Thank you for remedying this situation. It's a great story even without the historical reference. One can easily see Curry spending time honing a adolescent's marksmanship, although he probably wouldn't be too happy with Sundance Kid following his vocation.

Maz - Oh, I'm familiar with the Ranch Days Series, I've only read them too many times to count. You ARE GOING TO write the complete, expanded version of this challenge - pretty please! The last ten lines were the clincher, not only Emily watching but a chance to beat William, Emily's handsome soldier's team. Very devious of Jeff and Nathan.

Silverkelpie - Never mind what's a counterpane - I know what that is, but what is a hobbledehoy? 'Men should give up when the can't reach the cookies on the top shelf", Kid's speaking in metaphors, that is a great line. Matchmakers, this aught to be good, although, I thought it's Heyes who has the silver tongue when it comes to explaining love to women. Grappa - I had a friend growing up whose father made it, they're going to sorry in the morning. Oh my, the counterpain used to clean up vomit! To bad there wasn't a dictionary lying around. Great story, funny dialogue a little comeuppance for the primadonna and a life lesson. Nicely done.

Silverkelpie -- glad to see you're back and in fine form. Great story with many funny moments. The boys should be careful with grappa -- a little goes a long way. You'd think they'd have learned with homemade liquor before that but that's our boys for you. Too many good lines to quote them all and others have quoted several. Great job!

Remuda -- a wonderful saddle talk. You make the dialogue seem so easy -- which is very difficult to do. Love the going around in circles about sporting chances or not. Wonderful!

Remuda- You excel at these saddle talks and this is another wonderful example. It was so much fun following this conversation in ever decreasing circles before something would start the cycle all over again. You're just so damned clever!

Always like you saddle talk's Remuda. They always flow so easily and sound very much like the boys chatting away to pass the time. Like I said before, they often remind me of times when I've been doing the same. Funny how just riding casually along a trail with the friend can get a conversation going!

Penski: Love Kid's “Isn’t it too late to be the 4th of July?” question! Really liked this story. Kid giving pointers to a youth seemed very natural. And it made the story even more enjoyable when you revealed the boy's name. I didn't know the family background info, so thanks for the end notes. Great use of the prompt!

Maz: Not sure I wanted/needed to read more after the title! (But of course I did anyway.) Oh, you naughty girl! Using Emily to rope Jed in. Boy, is that boy easy to lead! Loved these lines: Jeff stood beside Nathan. They waited. Cogs whirled and wheels turned inside Jed Curry’s blond head. I hope we get to read more about the actual game.

Silverkelpie: Clever story. I really liked the jockey--he sure knew how to cut someone down to size. The subplot with the counterpane was fun, though I didn't know for sure what it was and deliberately didn't look it up as i wanted to be surprised. Really liked this exchange: People started booing and hooting at her to get off, before somebody threw popcorn. “I saw that, Thaddeus,” hissed Heyes.

Remuda: Really liked the first part where Kid and Heyes are discussing the differences between gunplay and playing poker--very well done there. I wonder if the boys were travelling in circles, as their conversation seemed to be going that way, too!

Riders57: Very interesting story; I liked it a lot, especially using the historical Mr. Goodnight. He really helped them out that day. It would be great if this story morphed into something longer or even a series of adventures the boys have.

Riders - As others have said, this would make a great longer story. I really enjoyed the way the story built up as he helped them to walk out of trouble. I really hope to read more of this, especially as their decline into criminality is an area which intrigues me.

Remuda...More of our boys in the saddle just talkin'. What's not to like?

Riders..Oh I agree, this needs expanding!! What happens next...we wait with baited breath.

Thanks for the comments folks. Yes this is the beginning of a longer story I'm working on. But Maz, don't hold your breath waiting, you'll turn awfully blue. The prompt gave me the idea of how to start it, but I've been thinking about this story for a while and I know the character development I want and basically where/how it ends but everything in between is a total blank -- so it won't be coming anytime soon. ALso I'm still researching things.

Penski yes the fever cattle are real. The southern Texas/Mexican longhorns were themselves immune to the disease but they were carriers. As they passed through lands the ticks dropped off and infected the local cattle. Farmers in Missouri moved to ban Texas cattle from the state. Kansas farmers met them at the state border to drive them off. In the Panhandle of Texas -- Charles Goodnight and his fellow ranchers posted hands armed with rifles to keep the southern cattle from passing through their range lands -- it became known as the Winchester Quarantine -- because that was the rifle of choice. (The disease first started spreading with the earliest drives in the 1850s but because the longhorns themselves remained healthy it took some time to realize they were the cause of the problem but by the late 1860s that was no longer a question). -- At least that's what my research tells me.

REMUDA - Really enjoy the saddletalks! I liked how this one went round and round to almost back where it started. Very nice :)

RIDERS - As others have said, I look forward to reading more about this. The beginning of the legend of the fastest gun in the west is always interesting! Well-written :)

Insideoutlaw nice to see the boys setting another lost soul on the right track.

Inside'Outlaw; That was a nice little story, and funny how sometimes they grow in the telling. So the boys gave her a sporting chance to get her life back 'on track', and then they end up getting robbed! This could have fit under the 'No good deed goes unpunished' catagory too.

InsideOutlaw: Kid jinxed it at the end! Nicely-written story and I enjoyed seeing the boys do a good deed. And Molly sure was lucky! I bet the doctor ends up marrying her in a few years.

Half of August disappeared without my noticing, and I am way behind here!

RIDERS 57: No, you shouldn't give dinner a sporting chance! Nice version of saddle talk, or, more appropriately, canoe talk. Good thing all that talking didn't scare the fish away!

PENSKI: Kid just has to get involved, doesn't he? And everybody got what he wanted: Harry won the contest, Heyes kept Kid out of trouble, and Kid gets a meal. This is a fun vignette.

MAZ: Of course I know "Ranch Days!" Gotta admit, I never thought of Kid learning to play ice hockey. But, given the proper motivation, he might actually do it. I hope you're going to let us know what happens.

SILVERKELPIE: I love the idea of Heyes and Kid as matchmakers. Some great lines here: "Men should give up when they can't reach the cookies on the top shelf." and "There's all the difference in the world between short and small." You packed a lot of story and interesting characters into less than 3,000 words.

REMUDA: The Master (Mistress? . . . Nah. Sounds weird.) of Saddle Talk strikes again. Interesting conversation about skill and luck, and how they both work, or don't work, for the boys. And they keep on keeping on.

RIDERS 57: Even as youngsters, using their skills for survival prooves to be a double-edged sword. They can make a few bucks in a shooting contest, but it's already gone wrong once, and Kid killed a man. And Heyes has already learned to doubt kindness and goodwill. It sounds like Mr. Goodnight's offer is an opportunity, but so much has already gone wrong for our boys. I hope you are planning to continue this story; seems like there are lots of possibilities here.

INSIDE OUTLAW: Molly is such an interesting character! I hope things work out for her. But our boys are being robbed? Please, tell us what happens next!

Inside Outlaw - Love the character of Molly and how Kid & Heyes helped her out! Heyes comes up with some great plans - why, some might say, including himself, that he's a genius. Wonderful story and you're planning on continuing it somewhere sometime, right?!