Twirl: Special Edition

You asked, I delivered. To read what scandalous events inspired this special edition of "Twirl", go here.


Wade stared at his bleeding fist, then at the hole in the wall. His mouth opened. Before he could speak, a burly red-faced man shoved through the crowd that had gathered around them. The musicians peered down from the stage and people stood on top of the bar to see better over the crowd.

"WADE!" the burly man bellowed. "What the hell did you do to my wall?"

"I didn't do anything," Wade replied, giving his hand a bewildered stare. "I was just talking to Vivi and I leaned against it. Next thing I know, my fist is through the wall with about a billion splinters in it."

"That's a lie!" the burly man snarled. "This building is solid. It's been here since the 1800s." He narrowed his eyes and looked at Vivi. "Was he trying to pull something on you, darlin'?"

Vivi's eyes flashed and her cheeks bloomed red. "No! Wade would never do that!"

"You been drinking, Wade?" the burly man pressed on, ignoring Vivi's indignant gasp. "You know, your grandpa used to"--

"Leave him out of this!" Wade snarled, his blue eyes flashing. Vivi's throat went dry as she watched his normally serene face crease into hard lines. She had never seen him mad.

As the two men snarled and cursed at each other, a pot-bellied sheriff shoved through the crowd. "All right, all right," he yelled over the noise. "What's going on here?"

"Sheriff, I leaned against the wall and my fist went through it," Wade informed him, cutting off the burly man's attempts to speak. "I think the wood is rotten. But now Burt thinks I was intentionally trying to damage the wall. I just pulled Vivi back here to tell her something real quick, leaned against the wall and boom!"

"Why were you pulling her back here?" Burt bellowed. "This isn't a football field. Go to the front of the dancehall if you want to talk, not behind the bleachers. You were distracting the band! You're cutting into my profits!"

"You would have charged me re-admission!" Wade argued.

"That's true," the sheriff commented. "He's done it to me before.

"I've got a dancehall to run, not a charity!" Burt bellowed.

"We didn't even know they were back there," the lead guitarist interjected. "Until he went through the wall."

"It was really cool though," the drummer said with a big grin. "It happened in sync with the music." Vivi stared at him. She felt like she was in a bad Western movie. All she needed was a satin dress and some jewels--never mind, that's what saloon girls wore.

As Vivi pondered the proper dress for a proper lady in a B-movie Western, the sheriff shifted and pulled his slipping pants over his enormous stomach.

"Oh Burt, hush up," he growled as Burt continued to squawk about the wall. "You'd fuss if someone gave you a million dollars. I've known Wade since he in diapers and he's been here a million times. You know as well as I do he's the only cool headed one in his family. I think you're just trying to rope him into paying for the wall. If you would keep this place up, people wouldn't be falling through walls."

Burt's face turned purple as he huffed away, his feet slamming so hard into the wooden boards with every step that Vivi could see them bend over the pressure. Some of the crowd drifted back to the bar, and the band started to play again. Wade grabbed the sheriff's arm and pointed to the hole.

"Look, sheriff," he murmured, glancing around at the few stragglers hoping for a fight. "There's something in the wall." Vivi stepped on her tiptoes, trying to peer over the men's shoulders. All she saw was a dark hole in the wood.

The sheriff pulled a flashlight off his belt and clicked it on. Shining it over the broken wood, he peered into the dark space behind the wall.

"I'll be damned," he muttered, reaching his hand in. He pulled out a yellowed envelope. Peeking inside, he sucked in his breath. The sheriff glanced back and forth. He shoved the envelope at Wade and grabbed his shoulder.

"Do me a favor," he muttered. "Meet me at my office tomorrow around two and we'll talk about this. Right now, you got to get this out of the dance hall. See you then."

Whirling around, the sheriff plastered a smile on his face and lumbered onto the dance floor. He scooped up one the ancient town librarian and twirled her around the floor. Over her shoulder he motioned for Wade to leave. Wade nodded and grabbed Vivi's hand, clutching the envelope in his bloodied hand that had gone through the wall.

"I don't get it," she murmured in his ear as they ran out of the dance hall. "What's the big deal about an envelope? Why do we have to meet the sheriff tomorrow?"

"Dunno," Wade muttered. His grin was white and bright in the early dusk. "But we're about to find out."

To be continued....


Stay tuned, Invisible Friends! We have a busy week coming up at the Pond. We've got another Twirl, the search for Bear's moose and a brand new BBQ chicken recipe! Also, tomorrow we learn what was in the box!