The Other Side of Lone Mountain

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Founder’s Day – It seemed the entire town had gathered at the lake at the end of town. There were all sorts of games and contests. There was a pie-baking contest for the women, and a pie-eating contest for the men, a logrolling contest, mainly for the men although a couple of women from the logging-camp decided to give the men a run for their money along with many games and rides for the children. There were a variety of foods available; each family contributing their favorite dish.

Even the weather seemed to cooperate, the sky was clear and the sun was shining brightly. The temperature was a perfect eighty degrees. Everything seemed to be going perfect when suddenly a fight broke out between two of the men from the camp. It seemed they had just a little bit too much beer and got into a dispute that turned ugly. Jeff and a couple of his deputies quickly quenched the fight. The logrolling contest was announced and everyone moved to the lake to watch the contest and several of the men placed some friendly bets. Most of them were betting on Gill to win. He had held the winner’s spot for the last four years. However, there was a new guy in the contest this year that claimed he could beat Gill. No one really believed him of course, but some were hoping he would. Paul, Mark, Mandy and Jeff were especially interested in the contest. Not so much as to who would win, but they wanted to keep an eye on Gill. The contest begun and immediately the two men found their stride and started. As the speed increased, Gill, who had had a few drinks started to lose his balance. Suddenly, Gill moved closer to his opponent and tried to knock him off balance, but he wasn’t successful. The man kept his balance and continued his even pace. After what seemed like an interminable time, Gill finally lost his balance and fell into the lake. He got himself out of the water and headed straight for the man who had taken his title away from him. He walked up to him and sucker punched him knocking the man down. He looked down at the man and said, “Watch yourself up on the mountain; there have been a number of accidents up there. Be careful you don’t end up being one of them. Everyone heard him including Mandy and Paul who were standing just behind a group of people.

Paul asked Mandy what she thought about Gill’s comment. “It sounded more like a threat.”

“That’s how I read it too” said Paul. “Kinda makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”

Mandy agreed, “I think we need to keep a closer watch on Gill. Maybe I’ll talk to Lone Wolfe about that.”

They heard the Mayor announce that the story of Hickup Falls was about to be told. Paul told Mandy he wanted to hear the story again. Mandy said teasingly, “What! You don’t believe the story I told you?”

“Oh, I believe you alright! I just want to hear it again, I think it’s so interesting and funny.”

“Don’t be so serious. I was just kidding”, she said. Vickie and Mark said that they wanted to hear it too since they have never heard it. They gathered the children and headed to the stage where the speaker was ready to begin.

The story was told almost verbatim as she had told it to Paul. Paul couldn’t help laughing again. “I have to admit it is a very original way for a town to get its name.” Mark and Vickie couldn’t stop laughing.

The picnic was a big success and everyone enjoyed it despite the incident with Gill. At the end of the day everyone pitched in and helped clean up before going home. Vickie and Mark left early because Mark had started feeling very tired and his leg still ached at times. Vickie wanted to get him back to the B & B and in bed. Mandy and Paul left after they had helped with the cleaning and checked with the sheriff.