Saturday, March 30, 2013

Phil Did What?!




Gill wiped his mouth, quaffed half of his open beer, and belched.  “Damn good eats,” he called out, reaching for another roasted corn ear. Grunts and nods sounded as the clatter of forks and knives continued.  

Ranger sat at the head of the table near the grill which held the day’s catch.  Filleted trout, blue gill, and bass covered on portion of the grill.  Next to them skewers of pineapple and veggies warmed and finally T-bone steaks ranging from well done to damn near rare lay cooking.  Louie sat close to Ranger and not far from his beloved grill.  

No fights had broken out in the two days they’d been on the road.  Ranger took orders and prepped food with a keen insight.  Louie’s comments about finding a new assistant had Hadley spitting beer across the table more than once.  Gill wondered how many times he could stifle his mirth before anyone caught on.  They were an unlikely group of friends.   He wanted them to remain friends after the road trip.

“Gents,” Louie began tapping on his beer can.  “I salute the chef and his assistant.”  Louie raised his can and shook it.  “Thank you Hadley for bringing Ranger along.”

Hadley looked up, sneered, and went back to eating.  Ranger lofted his can and cleared his throat.

Gill damn near choked on his own spit.  Ranger was going to speak?  He’d barely said two words since they’d hit the road. Gill braced himself for what he hoped wasn’t a fight spoiling to happen.

“Hadley put me in charge of reconnoitering.  I got Phil news.” Ranger set his can down and reached into his jeans jacket pocket.  He pulled out a crumpled newspaper and tossed it on the table.  “Phil made the headlines.”

“ Again!”  Hadley tossed his knife on his plate.  “Blasted groundhog.”

Gill caught his tongue between his teeth.  They all knew they weren’t going to bother with catching the vermin.  Why couldn’t Phil lay low like they told him to?  He was supposed to hunt and fish with them down south for a few weeks and then sneak back to Pennsylvania for the summer. His missus was due near that time to whelp their litter of younglings.  She knew he’d gone into hiding.

Louie pulled the paper to him, smoothing out the page.  He shook his head as he read, snorted and handed it to Hadley who reacted similarly before tossing the page at Gill.

Gill grabbed the sheet, read, and burst out laughing.  “Well you got to admit he’s clever.  Trying to get the heat off him makes sense.  Even if he didn’t succeed.”

A burst of wind billowed the sheet, exposing the other side.  Gill swallowed hard and looked wide eyed at the others as he turned the page over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Weekend Gang!

Well well looks like Phil is trying to make amends for his lousy forecasting ability.  Maybe if he'd studied his science better, he might not error so much?  

The end of March is here and with it comes buds and pollen.  My allergies are making their visit known.  Buying stock in tissue manufacturers might be a worth while investment this year.

How ever you celebrate the seasonal change, remember to take time to share a good book or two with your loves and spice.  I am!

Smiles,
Solara

2 comments:

Pat C. said...

Liar, liar, tail on fire! Spring is finally inching its way into my neighborhood, though winter insists on hanging on. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing, because as long as it stays cold I don't have to mow the lawn.

I'm glad the boys are having a good time. Oh, and trout season starts today!

Savanna Kougar said...

Yeah, Spring is inching its way here, too. But, hey, I bet someone snookered Phil into giving bad info.

Glad Gil and the gang are having a good time!

Solara, take care of yourself. I'm feeling the allergens today.