fiction by Tom Carnegie
Butch is behind the retaining wall with his head down. Every
once in a while he hears a shot go off. He is surprised to hear
Joseph's voice.
"Yes, that is a Sharp's repeater. I can tell from the report."
It seems strange to Butch that Joseph can tell that the report
came from a Sharp's rifle and even stranger that Joseph
would say it was a repeater. Butch recalls Joseph correcting
someone just a few days ago at the Model T Garage. This
person had said something about a Sharp's repeater and
Joseph pointed out that although Sharp's made breechloaders,
they never technically were repeaters. Butch has been
wondering who the sniper could be. Someone is up in the
bell tower in the middle of the Baton Noir Town Square firing
a rifle. All the citizens are hiding behind fences and
bushes and such. As if Joseph is reading Butch's thoughts, he
continues on.
"It is Pete the Firehorse. He is up in the tower shooting at
people with a Sharp's repeater."
Butch can't imagine how Pete could fire a rifle, much less
load the thing. But it is enough to know that it is happening,
never mind how. At any rate, Butch feels somewhat safe behind
this wall. Now up the road a few blocks he sees a pair
of tigers running toward him. As the tigers approach, people
are panicking and being flushed out of their hiding spots.
Pete is still in the tower, shooting as fast as he can reload.
The tigers are coming straight for Butch and he doesn't know
what to do. He looks around and sees his mother standing
near him with her apron on and her hands on her hips.
"Ma, what should I do?"
Butch doesn't remember saying this out loud, but just the
same his mother answers him.
"Butch! Butch! You'd better get up 'cause Hayes and Jesse
need their instruments!"
Butch rubs his eyes as he awakens from this strange dream.
His mother yells a few more times and Butch finally answers.
There is a fiddle contest in Walleye today. Hayes and Jesse
have been out of town and rather than come all the way back
to Baton Noir, they have arranged to have Butch deliver their
guitar and fiddle to Walleye. Jesse enters most any fiddle
contest he can in this area, but was planning to skip this one.
He would have, except for an encounter he had a week or so
ago with Maestro, at the Model T Garage. As Butch gets
dressed, he recalls this encounter.
Maestro can tune a violin but comes to the Model T Garage
to get his model T tuned. Maestro, as he is known in Baton
Noir, is concertmaster of the community orchestra. On one
such day when Maestro needed his T tuned he found Jesse
fiddling during his noon break.
"Mr. Olson, you have a fine touch on your violin. Do you
play anything besides hillbilly music?"
"I don't know." Replied Jesse. I don't play notes, I just fiddle."
"I'll tell you what," said Maestro "why don't you come and
listen to our orchestra rehearse Wednesday night. You may
be inspired to learn to read music."
"I'll make you a deal Maestro, you enter the fiddle contest
weekend after next in Walleye and I'll give your orchestra a
shot." "You're on! In fact, if I don't win the contest, I'll give you
free lessons so you can learn to read music. I just need to
know how these fiddle contests operate."
Jesse explains, "They go in several rounds. Usually three,
sometimes more if there is a tie. Each round more fiddlers
are cut. The rounds are scored on such things as tone, timing,
danceability, that sort of thing.
Each fiddler goes onto the stage and plays three tunes.
The first is a hoedown. The second is a waltz, and third
is a tune of choice, which is usually a jig or schottische.
The judges are behind a curtain so they supposedly don't
know who is playing. In actual fact most of the judges
know who it is after about the third note.
The judges score each round and the points are carried over
from each round." "All right," says Maestro, "I will go home
and look through some of my music and become a fiddler by
next weekend." With that, Jesse felt committed to entering
the contest. After breakfast Butch heads over to pick up
Joseph to give him a ride to the Model T Garage. Butch had
borrowed the battery out of Joseph's centerdoor, in fact he had borrowed
every battery he could find, a total of six, which he wired in
series, so that he could recharge his mag using the thirty-six
volts produced. Since Butch had decommissioned Joseph's
car, he was now Joseph's taxi driver. The mag charging had
been successful so Butch can now return the six batteries to
their rightful places. When Butch arrives at Joseph's house,
Joseph is ready. Into Butch's T roadster and off they go. After
about a mile as Butch is shifting from low to high the car
makes a clunk and suddenly swerves. Butch struggles for control
as he pulls up on the throttle. The pedals are all askew and
the emergency brake lever can't be pulled back. Joseph reaches
down and turns the key off on the coil box. The T lurches to a halt.
"I think one of your pan ears has broken, Butch"
"Oh man! If I have to walk to Model T Garage, then tow this
thing back, I'm gonna be late delivering the instruments.
That is, assuming I can find a car to borrow to drive to Walleye."
Joseph jumps out and begins to survey the situation.
"What do you have in your tool box Butch? Maybe we can
effect repairs so we don't have to walk."