Justification For Killing (80 page)

“
Yeah, yeah, I know,
through Saddlehorn Gulch...”

“
Right you are, Saddlehorn
Gulch, I said, ‘Penelope you know with what we have seen today I
believe the Captain has been telling us the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth...,’ I got that part from you...
remember? LJ was adamant you wouldn’t tell us nothing but the
truth, and that you stood for truth, justice and the American
way.”

“
By-ned Clem, the way
you’re talking I believe I need to get me a cape.”

“
Aw shucks Captain,
anyway, when we got back to the Ponderosa I pulled that piece of
writtin’ paper out of Penelope’s valuables box, and me and Lonnie
Joe went into town first thing Monday morning and mortgaged the
Ponderosa for all the money I could get. I even sold Penelope’s old
Nash Rambler, and I hate to say it Captain, I even sold your gold
Rolex watch that was give to you by your men in Vietnam.

“
We took the money we
raised and wagered every last penny of it on that Iron Bowl
football game between your Alabama team and those Auburn Tigers you
told me about. LJ hated to wager against his ole Crimson Tide, but
we needed the money, bad. And Penelope, she was mad jest because we
bet the money, you know she still gos to church and all, and don’t
believe in that kind of gamblin’ stuff, but Captain we made a
killin’. Penelope, LJ and I made so much money on that Iron Bowl
that I went to see Mr. Larry Brock, and I bought that cow-pasture
of his and all of the four thousand five hundred acres that went
with it, he even throwed in that old, green, Ford pick-up truck and
your Army Jeep. I still got’em – keep’em for sentimental
reasons.

“
A few months after I
bought the ranch a gigantic, new pond of oil was discovered right
under our land, in an oil field that them experts thought had been
pumped dry... we’ve been pumping oil there ever since.

“
You remember the spot,
with the stump, where your flying machine landed. Well, I built me
a brand new house right on that very spot, of course the view is
not as good as from the Ponderosa, but when I look out and see all
them oil wells I just return to the house and find me some purty
views in magazines, and if I get real homesick I go down to the
Ponderosa and spend a few days with LJ and Penelope. I give the
Ponderosa to them and I give a couple thousand acres to Lonnie J
and June. They built them a house in that grove of hardwood trees
on the way back to the main road. You remember it, don’t you? They
call their ranch ‘Red Oak’.”

“
Clem, you bet I do.
Lonnie J and June, that magnificent seventy-five foot red oak right
in the middle of that stand of trees was indescribably beautiful –
I can see building a home there and the name fits
perfectly.”

“
Once all that oil money
started flowing in, we got filthy rich. I hired a couple of people
to come over and teach Penelope and me how to act and talk like
proper city folks. They taught us how to talk, and how to hold a
cup with our little pinkie sticking out. LJ helped out a lot too,
you know, he was such a smart fellow. That was okay, but we used a
lot of our money to help other poor folks that needed help. We even
have a foundation that monitors and keeps up with finding needy
people, and givin’ them money. We call it ‘The SCAR Foundation’.
For all these past years, we have been waiting for you and your
flying machine to come back, but you never did; however, we never
gave up hope that one-day y’all would return. By the way, I found
that handsome metal plaque you left next to that stump when I was
building my new Ponderosa, which I now call the Ponderosa Too,
catchy name huh, Captain?”

“
Yeah, I get it Clem,
catchy!”

“
Well,
anyways, I had the architect mount that plaque on a marble pedestal
that sits in a flower garden in my front yard. I did not understand
what the symbols on it meant, but I knew that round hunk of brass
was important to you, so I made a special place for it. Underneath
the bronze plaque I had them write, ‘The
S
carburgs
C
an
A
lways
R
eturn’ and the date November 23,
1963. People have asked for years what the plaque and the S.C.A.R.
name actually means, we just grin and say, ‘that’s for us to know
and for you to find out.’

“
LJ told us, way back in
’63 that we wouldn’t be able to come see you until 2:57 on the
afternoon of the 7th of December 2012. Today is the morning of the
8th of December 2012 we wanted to get here bright and early.
Captain, we’ve been waiting forty-nine years to see you again. So
we just wanted to come by and tell you in person how much you have
meant to us, and how much Penelope and LJ appreciated what you did.
I just wanted you to know also LJ was a happy and contented person
living with us. I don’t believe he ever regretted staying with
Penelope.

“
Oh, one
other thing,” Clem said reaching into his pocket, “I want to give
this back – those fellows of yours thought a lot of you Captain,
and wanted you to have this.” Saying that he turned the watch over
and read
, “To Capt Robert Edward Scarburg,
Jr. 5th SF (ABN), RVN, 1968.”
Handing the
watch to Captain Scarburg, “Returned to its rightful owner, Captain
Robert Edward Scarburg, Jr., our friend then, now and for always,”
he said bowing. “And in perfect repair and running smoothly. We
would love to stay and talk, but now I’m sorry Captain, we must get
going.”

“
Wait, you can’t leave,
you just got here.”

“
Sorry we have to go, we
promised Trey we’d take him to Disneyworld, might even get to spend
them ten-dollar bills and quarters y’all left us! Just kidding, you
know I’d never part with them,” turning toward the door Clem looked
over his shoulder and raising his hand in a salute to Captain
Scarburg said feebly,

“♪
Tis
Grace that bro’t me safe thus far, and Grace will lead me
home
♪
”

“
Come on Lady, let’s go
home.”

With a wag of her tail,
out the door ran the little, sable and white sheepdog happily
walking beside her two, old, grey-haired masters.

The time was...
was...

Well the only time we have
is TODAY... the best day of anyone’s life... yesterday, the past,
is forever gone... and tomorrow, the future, might never
come...

Remember time is not a
straight line... we cannot live in the past, we have not seen the
future, we must only enjoy the present.

What is that sound heard
off in the distance – bagpipes...?

♪
When
we've been there ten thousand years,



Bright shining as the
sun,



We've no less days to
sing God's praise,



Than when we first
begun.
♪

THE END

Other books by Larry
Hunt

The P.H.O.T.O. –

The Search (Vol
1)

(A Scarburg Family
Adventure)

Print ISBN:
1456432192

“
Spell-binding novel written by a master craftsman of the
English language with a fathomless mind for science fiction, the
military, and somewhat of the occult. I could not put the book down
till I had consumed it and discovered the truth of the “The
P.H.O.T.O”!! If you believe in Alien technology and the U.S.
Government has secrets they do not want known, then this is the
novel for you! I do hope that there is a follow on book. Great read
and I highly recommend!”
L. J.
T.

The P.H.O.T.O. –

The Saga Continues (Vol
2)

(A Scarburg Family
Adventure)

Digital ISBN:
978-1458180094

“
The Scarburgs escape the
confines of the jungles of Southeast Asia with the secrets of The
P.H.O.T.O. and develop and staff a Washington based black-ops
facility know only as S.C.A.R. (Studies Concerning Antiquated
Records). This top-secret group uses S.C.A.R. to research and
explain events in the Earth’s past history that the Aliens help
create.”

21 November 2012 – The
Calendar Beckons

(A Scarburg Family
Adventure)

Print ISBN:
1463605226

“
This adventure finds the
Scarburg family, now working for the S.C.A.R. facility, led by
Captain Robert Scarburg, Jr., traveling to Mexico and Egypt to find
and unravel the mysterious message the Aliens left as a warning
thousands of years ago – 21 December 2012 and its disastrous
consequences.”