Birthday Surprise

Birthday Surprise

         The reverberation of the cannon’s blast shook the ground, startling the stallion which proceeded to throw its rider to the ground. Sam landed with a thud, knocking the wind out of him. Gasping for breath he watched as the hooves of his mount came perilously close. Adrenaline kicked in, Sam rolled out from under the hooves as they crashed to the ground where he’d just been sitting. He was on his feet in a split second, trying to calm his usually gentle friend.

         Sam cringed as the pouches hooked to the saddle horn flew wildly, bouncing back on the sides of Storm. Sam’s hand reached for the reins and Storm dodged his grasp. Whispering, talking to Storm, Sam slowly began to reach the frightened animal. Another blast from the cannon made the fear return to Storm’s huge brown eyes along with his violent behavior. Sam continued his dance, knowing that Storm had to come to grips with the cannon fire if he was ever going to be useful to him.

         Storm tired himself out and Sam grabbed the reins regaining control of his normally gentle giant. “Sh, sh, it’s OK buddy.” Storm nuzzled his head down to Sam’s shoulder. Sam checked his mount, finding no major injuries, he began checking his cargo. Deftly, his fingers loosened the leather strap, his eyes lit up when he spied the gold painted bricks inside, soon enough there would be real ones in the sack. He ran his fingers along Storm’s sides checking for bruising caused by the bag slamming into him. Sam breathed a sigh of relief, he moved on to the second sack. His fingers loosened the top of the sack, a whimpering bundle of fur looked up from the darkness of the sack. Sam marveled at seeing a dog so small. He scooped the dog up and placed him on the ground. The Scottie walked around and started to nip at the gigantic horses hooves.

         “Dag-gum, Shortie, you’ve got a lot of nerve fussing at Storm.” Sam just watched shaking his head, as Storm nodded playfully at the Scottie, taking his lumps for the rough ride.

         A loud clattering noise interrupted the playful scene between the horse and dog. Sam turned to watch the cloud of dust coming toward him. He knew the unusual noise would rile up the animals again just as the car’s occupant would rile him up. He focused on keeping the horse and dog calm while the magician with his motorized car slowed to a noisy stop.

         The Magician in his duster and goggles exited the car, picked up his top hat from the front seat. He placed the hat upon his head. Sam knew the magician muttered to himself all the time, this was no different, other than the tirade of expletives coming out of his mouth. His anger about the lack of control Sam exhibited over the animals obviously annoyed him.

         “I don’t understand! How can someone with all the animal expertise as you have, be so inept?”

         Sam laughed looking at the magician standing before him. “If you can do it better, go ahead and try. After all, you’re the one shooting a dag gum cannon at the three of us. You just have to disappear in all the commotion. How hard is that for a magician in his dirty top hat?”

         “But, you carry the loot in your escape. We’ll meet at the train station where we’ll be paid generously for our successful efforts.”

         “Trust between thieves? You really think this is a fool proof plan?”

         “Indeed. Hopefully, we’ll only need one more rehearsal, so that you can get control of that beast. Then we’ll perform our feat of prestidigitation for the Vanderbilt family, make off with the real gold, and that obnoxious little dog. Once we drop it all off at the train station, pick up our payment from the boss, then we can go our different ways.” Sam nodded, the Magician made the plan sound foolproof.

         The next day, the second dry run went off without a hitch. Storm pulled himself together, the rider, fool’s gold, and pooch made it to the drop site in record time. The magician, pleased that his plan seemed to be near perfection, declared that it was time to get all of the players into position.



         The Vanderbilt family opened their home for their daughter’s birthday party every year, the event of the season for the whole township. Papa Vanderbilt had hired craftsmen from all over the world to make his darling daughter’s birthday the most beautiful and fun day anyone could imagine.

         Some of the workers prepared for the trick rider, Sam and Storm. Loads of sand and sawdust were shipped in for the occasion. Sam checked the lot before he brought Storm. He quickly found the weak parts of the course, adding wheelbarrows of fill to weaker parts of the course. He had no desire to injure his horse during this event. He knew he needed Storm in top form for the escape. He walked the field with Storm, talking through every trick they would perform together as if the horse understood his every word.

         Decorators prepared the veranda for the birthday party complete with a wonderful magic show. The house servants used heavy irons and starch to prepare the table clothes for the tables, while the ladies of the township used their thimbles and needles to quickly stitch the birthday girl’s initials on each napkin. Amelia jumped for joy when she saw the Scottie embroidered onto her very own special napkin her mother was stitching for the party.

         Gardeners prepared arrangements for the whole affair, both inside and out. Their work started weeks ago, forcing so many blooms to open for this special child's birthday. The displays were beautifully scattered along the tables on the veranda.

         Other groups of workers prepared the fireworks display for the evening’s grand finale. Sam watched the men gingerly load the balls into the frames. He wondered if they ever thought of the danger of their work while they were dropping the balls into place. He certainly hoped nobody decided to take a smoke break around here.

         The stage hands prepared the props for the magic show. The magician, in his top hat, button up boots and fancy clothes, wore a kind and gentle face, pulling coins out of the seamstress’ ear while they finished the hem on his robes for tonight’s show. He knew his act by heart, but he knew the boss' plan for tonight’s events even better.

         The time was drawing nigh. Sam’s nerves started kicking in. The magician watched his face as his makeup transformed his face into his character for the evening. Last minute orders from Papa Vanderbilt had the house staff scurrying around so busy that they never noticed anything out of order. No one noticed the magician slip down the hall to the supposedly secret Vanderbilt vault or the leather bags he returned with.



         Finally, Amelia opened the doors to welcome all of her guests. So many people flocked into the home, escorted by the staff to the veranda. The guests sat spell bound as Sam and Storm performed feats of speed and skill. Applause rang out as he dipped and flipped on the horse’s back. When the show ended, Sam rode Storm up to the veranda to give the birthday girl a small carved horse that he whittled especially for the occasion. Amelia hugged Sam tightly and grinned from ear to ear every time she looked at her little version of Storm.

         Papa Vanderbilt clapped for attention, and proceeded to introduce Blackstone the Magician. Blackstone appeared in a pouf of smoke, the crowd broke into applause. He amazed the children with sleight of hand tricks; he used larger props to amaze the adults. He worked the crowd, keeping their attention directly upon him. He smiled knowing that his part of the plan worked out perfectly. The sacks were exactly where Sam expected to find them. Sam would already be on the way to town.

         The Magician knew that his show must last until the birthday cannon blast, which always occurred at the exact time of Amelia's birth. His disappearance wouldn’t be noticed, since the blast signaled the start of the fireworks display. At that point, the mission would just about be accomplished. He’d meet Sam, drop the goods into the box as planned, retrieve the payment, and finally leave this hick town.

         Sam rode Storm hard toward town. The Magician’s plan depended upon the honor between thieves. Sam laughed at the thought. His greed gained complete control of him. He dropped the frightened Scottie off in the box, grabbed the payment, and took off with the wind at his back. While hidden eyes watched the exchange, the boss pondered the change of the plan. The boss immediately dispatched one of his henchmen to deal with the greedy cowboy, and continued to observe the drop box.

         The Scottie whined and barked incessantly. He scratched and clawed at the box, desiring only to get out. Deputy Johnson heard the commotion coming from the box, and decided to investigate. Blackstone arrived at the scene as Johnson was pulling the dog out of the box. Blackstone backed back into the alley.

         Hiding in the shadows, he realized he’d been duped by a dumb cowboy. His plan so perfectly laid out, had a huge flaw; in his arrogance he never even contemplated his partner would take advantage of him. Blackstone felt a heavy hand upon his shoulder. He knew that he would pay the price for Sam's change in plans.

         Something snapped in Blackstone. He sat down in the alley, swearing and laughing at the top of his lungs. “Cowboys and scaredy cat horses. Cannons firing and death defying escapes,” more expletives colored the night air, “flashes and booms,” his cackling laughter filled the dark alley. Two shots from a handgun ended Blackstone's perfect plan, and the boss disappointedly slunk back to the party.