Sunny Acres Salutes the Veterans
By Yankee 01754
"Riptide Detective Agency, may I help you?" Murray Bozinsky answered the phone when it rang.
"Hi Boz!"
"Cayce? Hi!" the computer whiz was always happy to hear Cayce's voice on the phone - even happier when his honorary sister came to visit them in King Harbor or they went to Sunny Acres - the town near her ranch - to visit her.
"I have a 'mission' for you guys - if you're not on a case," the young woman told him. "I'll pay you your regular rate to act as my personal messengers."
"You don't have to do that," Murray said.
"Yes, I do," she insisted. "It's going to involve a lot of running around and possibly even some research on your computer."
Cayce seldom argued with the slender scientist but she was adamant that they would get paid for acting as her private messengers. She trusted them and they were known at several of the places she needed them to go.
"Have you got paper handy? And something to write with?" she asked. "I've got a list of things I need you to get for me and there are several places I want you to visit to get them."
"Yes, I have paper and a pencil," Murray replied.
His partners came into the salon, from the galley, just as he started writing. Nick looked curiously at the list Murray was making.
"Uniforms? We working for a Scout troop now?"
Murray shushed him, "I can't hear Cayce with you talking so close to me."
"That's Cayce on the line?" Nick looked at Cody apprehensively. "I wonder what she's up to this time?"
"You're always so suspicious of her," Murray chided his partner as he hung up the phone. "As it happens she's paying us our regular fee to run around Los Angeles and pick up some things she needs for a show the town is putting on for its veterans. A salute to all generations she said. They need uniforms and props and all kinds of stuff. She said she called in some favors at some of the studios - including Colony - and there are several of them putting some stuff aside for her."
"With good reason," Nick responded.
"When does she need it?" Cody asked his partner in hopes of heading off a heated debate over Cayce's motives.
"As soon as we can round it all up," was the answer. "Their first rehearsals are just starting but dress rehearsal is a week from today. They need the costumes a few days early in order to make sure everyone gets one that fits."
Cayce hung up the phone satisfied. She knew she could trust Murray to get on the job right away and he, with Cody's help, would get the reluctant, and suspicious, Nick to work with them. She wasn't up to anything, no matter what Nick might think. She just didn't have the time to do all the running around that was required what with riding lessons,barrel racing practice and training sessions 4-H club meetings and her other normal activities. She'd had to temporarily suspend her visits to the music classes at the Roosevelt School on Fort Irwin in order to have time to practice for the show.
She, and her cousins - Erika Laasanen and Sarah Knox - were teaming up to do two numbers as the Andrews Sisters while Sarah was doing the female singer in the WWI skit taken from Yankee Doodle Dandy. Learning the songs wasn't hard but it was rehearsing the stage business such as pulling on a rope that turns out to be attached to an "apple tree" without hurting themselves or one another. They had roped one of Colonel McKenna's soldiers into being the guy who tries to get into the act with the girls. The three women figured a big strong soldier could handle the little slap and punch that Shemp Howard, of Three Stooges fame, gets from the girls in the movie.
Blessedly, she thought to herself many times - and her uncle had recently stated verbally to the men - she had a good crew working for her. They watched out for her, her friends, her ranch - and everything on it - and each other. They understood that she wanted to be as active in her community as possible so they would step in and take over anything they could to make it possible for her.
There was a knock at the back door and when it opened Alex McGregor, Cayce's foreman, walked in.
"Miss Cayce, Frank's got the van loaded with those boxes of material and whatnot." The big redhead handed her the key to the ranch's van as he spoke.
"Thanks Alex." She followed him to the door grabbing her sheepskin lined denim jacket and her every day Stetson as she did.
McGregor held the door for her and closed it behind them. The house wouldn't need to be locked as the ranch hands were all close by and Rusty, Cayce's Australian Shepherd would let them know if anybody came around be they friend, foe or unknown.
Cayce climbed into the van giving her foreman last minute reminders about feeding Rusty, horses in need of new shoes and the vet's pending visit to check on an injured gelding. With a friendly wave and a tolerant smile the redheaded cowboy sent her on her way.
"What's our first stop?" Cody asked Murray who was keeping the list of items and locations on him and checking things off as they went along.
"I think we should visit Mr. Malone at Colony Studios first," Boz said. "He's got some things for her for the Civil War and the Spanish American War. I talked to him a little while ago. He says he's got a list of places we can visit to find World War I, World War II and Korean War uniforms and such."
They climbed into the Jimmy and headed toward Los Angeles and the offices of Craig Malone - a former client who was now good friends with Cayce since her "invaluable aid" as he put it when he was filming a western a few months ago. She'd not only rescued his leading lady - twice (once by distracting her would be kidnappers and being kidnapped in her place) but had managed his horses and horse drawn vehicles as well as suggesting important rewrites of his script.
The guard at the gate recognized the vehicle, and its occupants, and waved them on through. He had already been alerted that they would be arriving at some point in the next couple of days to pick up the items he had promised to lend the folks in Sunny Acres.
"Gentlemen, good to see you," the agency's former client stood to shake hands with each of them.
"Mr. Malone. How goes the movie business? Still specializing in westerns?" Cody asked.
"As much as possible, Mr. Allen," was the reply. "Our mutual friend, Miss McKenna, has been a tremendous help in keeping us historically accurate in script, costume and horses - horse related issues as well."
"Cayce loves history and she loves helping people," Murray said.
"I can tell," the movie executive said. He led them to the conference room connected to his office. On the table were several boxes full of Civil War style uniforms and gear.
As the detectives gathered up the costumes and accessories Malone said, "You tell that young lady that she's welcome to anything I have that she can use. Oh, and one more thing..."
The detectives turned back from the door to face the man. He approached them with an envelope which he said contained the list of other studio contacts who had donations and/or loans of items the people in Sunny Acres needed or the studio thought they could use for their show.
"Thank you, gentlemen, for your service to your country."
Everywhere they went that day it was the same. People at all of the studios and shops were thanking them for their service.
"How the heck do these people know we were in the army?" Nick wondered.
"I think it's obvious," Cody said. "Cayce spread the word."
"Makes sense to me," Murray agreed.
"Why?" Nick asked.
"Because she's proud of any man - or woman - who has ever served in the armed forces and she wants to make sure we get the recognition she thinks we deserve." Cody told him. "You've seen how she is when she's at the VA hospitals. She greets everyone with a hug, a kiss and a thank you."
The Italian had to agree when he thought about it. Cayce made no secret of her support of all military regardless of how popular - or unpopular - the war had been that they had served in and whether or not they'd served overseas or at home. If they served they had her thanks.
A dozen more stops at studios and shops and the men were ready to head back to King Harbor. Since the weather, in Cayce's part of the state, was still decent - albeit chilly - they decided to pack a bag and fly up in Nick's beloved Screaming Mimi. When they got close enough to be in radio contact they'd let the Lazy M know they were approaching so that McGregor - or whoever answered the radio - could ensure that their landing spot was clear of obstacles.
The auditorium, at Sunny Acres High School was crowded and noisy. The Community Band was practicing. People were running back and forth looking for costumes, sheet music, coats etc. Some of the handier ones were hammering together platforms to be used in some of the skits.
Cayce, and her cousins Erika Laasaen and Sarah Knox, were ensconced in a back room with a television, a video cassette of the movie Buck Privates and the sheet music for the World War II song Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree made popular by the Andrews Sisters. They were doing two Andrews Sisters songs and Sarah was in the World War I salute to George M. Cohan playing the blond singer from Yankee Doodle Dandy's Over There number.
"That's the tricky part, right there," Sarah said as the final bit of the scene came up. "I'm having a little trouble with her kicks."
"I think you're doing fine," Cayce reassured her cousin, "but it will be easier when we can use the stage to rehearse."
"And we'll all have to get used to wearing those heels," Erika said. "Cayce's used to heels on boots but those pumps are trickier."
"Yeah, but I still stumble a little over that fast line about home sweet home toward the end," the youngest woman said. "But we'll get it down and besides, the vets don't care if we're perfect." With a sly look at her cousin she said, "Unless, of course, you're worried about what one particular vet will say."
It was a well known fact that Erika dated Nick when he came up to Sunny Acres and it was just as well known that Sarah dated Cody and had ever since Cayce had introduced them.
The pretty nurse blushed as her cousins laughed. They all knew there was nothing serious between Erika and Nick but it was fun to give her the business about it.
"Back to work," Cayce said when they had caught their breath.
For the next hour the two young women rehearsed their Andrews Sisters routine before finally calling it a day. Cayce had some work waiting for her at the ranch and Erika was due to go on duty at the Silver City Hospital in a short while. Before she did she needed to go home and clean up and take shower.
"See you tomorrow," the young women said to each other as they left the high school.
Erika lived in Sunny Acres proper. She had an apartment in an old house on the edge of town. Sarah lived a few towns over with her parents, one sister and twin brothers. Cayce, of course, lived on the ranch that had belonged to her Grandfather McKenna. The trio split up in the parking lot each headed for their own home.
Upon her return to the Lazy M Cayce found a message on her answering machine from the Riptide Detectives. They had been able to round up a dozen uniforms and some props and would deliver them to her before dinner. Would she be able to put them up for the night.
"Hi guys," she said when Cody picked up the phone. "Your rooms are all ready for you and Josefina's holding dinner until you get here. It gives me a little time to get some bookkeeping done after I give Doc and Tam some exercise."
"We'll be there in a couple of hours," the blond told her. "We just have to pack our suitcases and take off."
"Great! I'll see you when you get here."
A few hours later the sound of the Screaming Mimi was heard as she came in for a landing beyond the barn in the clearing Cayce used for a landing strip for her own helicopter, The Red Baroness.
The young woman went out to greet the detectives, who were now acting as her private messengers and delivery boys. She was followed by Smokey Jim Kennelly and Brian Hays who helped unload the boxes and take them to the house.
"Good to see you guys," Smokey said. "There's a game in the bunkhouse tonight if you're going to be staying."
"We need fresh blood," Brian said jokingly.
"Meaning the boss has been beating them and they want to take you for everything they can get," Cayce retorted.
"That too," Smokey grinned.
"You're on!" Nick told them. "What time do we start?"
"Right after you've had your dinner," was the reply. "Oh, and Miss Cayce - keep Rusty in the house will you? We don't want another 'distraction' like the last time."
"I'll try," his employer said, "but you know how he adores Boz. He'll be very upset if he can't go with him."
The two ranch hands left the house and returned to the bunk house with the news that three new - sort of - players were joining the game that night. This news was greeted with cheers. Even having the detectives in on the game was better than just the regulars. It was always fun trying to outwit them.
Dinner, that night consisted of hamburgers sprinkled with onion and garlic powder and broiled in the oven, baked potatoes, corn, a green salad and chocolate cake with white frosting for dessert. The men did justice to the meal, helped Cayce clean up and then headed for the bunk house. Rusty, whining all the way, was sent to a corner of the kitchen to lie down until the men were safely out the door.
"Oh stop your whining, Rusty," his mistress said. "They'll be back."
Four hours later the three detectives came back to the house before Cayce locked up for the night. Nick was grinning like the cat that ate the canary.
"OK, smart guy," the young woman laughed. "Who'd you take and for how much? I have to plan on advancing him some of his salary if you took him for too much."
"It was Frank and I already gave him an advance for you," the Italian said. "How much I took from him remains our little secret so he doesn't get in trouble with you."
"Uh-huh. Must have been a pretty good night for you all."
Murray giggled his trademark laugh. Cody just looked upset. Apparently it hadn't been such a good night for him.
Rusty came over from his spot in front of the fireplace looking for attention from Bozinsky. He got it and the dog was finally satisfied. Cayce laughed every time the men from King Harbor visited. Rusty and Murray adored each other and the Australian Shepherd went to him every night with his brush so that Murray could groom him.
When that was done they all headed for their respective rooms. Murray had the guest room next to Cayce's while the other two had the one nearest the back stairs.
Cayce had barn chores and some lessons to give before she put in a little practice on the new barrel racer she was training to take Doc's place - Doc being Blackfoot Medicine Man her now retired champion barrel racer. She had two mares in foal by him herself and was in complete charge of them. The local vet was checking on them once a week or so but Cayce made sure that they had plenty of clean, fresh water, all the hay they could eat and a warm bran mash now and then for a treat. Their regular feed was supplemented by vitamins the vet gave her for them.
The little group sat down to a breakfast of pancakes, sausage and fried eggs prepared by Cayce's housekeeper, Josefina Morales. The Mexican woman loved having the men of the Riptide visit for it gave her a chance to feed a group rather than just her employer or suggesting meals to the bunkhouse cooks.
With a little help from her "brothers" Cayce had all of her barn chores done, tack cleaned and bookkeeping up to date. Before she knew it it was time for the dress rehearsal of the show. She forbade the Riptide crew to go with her. She wanted it to be a surprise. They stayed behind - reluctantly - and helped with whatever chores and jobs needed doing. That included weeding, loosening the dirt around the plants and watering Josefina's big kitchen garden.
When Cayce got back, just before supper, she was hot, tired and badly in need of an invigorating shower. She emerged from her room, half an hour later, in sweatpants, an oversized tee shirt and slippers. A towel was wrapped around her hair while she ate. She was glowing with pride, though. She, Erika and Sarah had had a good rehearsal and found uniforms that fit them well.
"How was rehearsal?" Josefina asked her surrogate daughter.
"It was great, mamacita! We'll be more than ready when the show goes on tomorrow night."
"What's the show about?" Murray asked as he reached for his coffee cup.
"It's just sort of a variety show. We're doing songs - and a skit or two - from every war this country has ever fought. We start with the Revolution and go right up through Vietnam."
"Let me guess," Nick said, "you're playing a protester."
The look he got would have chilled a lesser man. He was wise enough not to follow up after getting similar looks from his partners. He knew Cayce would never protest a war. She was an army brat and she supported the military all the way.
"Very funny," she said sourly. "I'm in the World War II section with Sarah and Erika. You'll find out what we're doing at the show in two nights."
The two days passed in a blur. Cayce tended to what she had to around home and kept the detectives busy - and out of her hair as she said - by turning them over to her foreman, Alex McGregor, who found a lot of little chores they could do. Cleaning tack, cleaning stalls, loading hay in to the loft or bringing it down, mixing feed, cleaning the water trough. All mean little jobs that had to be done that he couldn't spare one of his regulars for at the time.
He did it because he could use their help but he also did it to keep Nick busy because he knew the Italian to be the biggest tease of the trio and Cayce was not in the mood to put up with it. She was out straight with her ranch work and 4-H meetings and rehearsals for the show. She loved every minute of it but it didn't leave her much time to relax. Fortunately the show would be over with in a few hours.
With her hair in curlers, hidden under a bandanna, Cayce suck out of the house, climbed into her truck and drove into Sunny Acres to dress for her part in the show. The uniforms the Riptide men had retrieved for her had already been delivered.
Backstage, at Sunny Acres High School, bedlam reigned. Performers were struggling to find space for last minute practice, musicians were tuning instruments or looking for music. The director, of the show was trying to bring order to the chaos without much success until one military - real military man showed up. That was Cayce's beloved uncle, Brian McKenna. Brian James McKenna had joined the army when he was eighteen. He'd risen through the ranks through hard work and courage. He had gotten custody of his niece, orphaned at ten, when he was twenty-eight. They were devoted to each other as much as if they were father and daughter - which he had been to her for the last fifteen years. He was commander of the military police at Fort Irwin and could often be found in Sunny Acres, visiting the family ranch. The senior Riptide detectives had served under him in Vietnam and when he was reassigned to the Ms, stateside, after gaining custody of Cayce.
"Settle down!" Brian commanded when he came on the scene. "Mr. Scabies, the band's music is in the orchestra pit waiting for them. Didn't they even look there?"
Turning to the costume people he said, "Take the Revolutionary War group into those two rooms," he pointed to three small rooms on the far left side of the stage,"and get them ready. They go on first."
He handed a box of programs to two high school students and told them to go wait by the outside doors of the auditorium to hand a program to each person as they entered. To two others he gave orders to go sit at the table where the last minute tickets were being sold and assist the members of the Band Parents who were selling.
In short order Colonel McKenna had everybody organized - with a little help from his niece and a couple of others.
"That's what I love about Uncle Brian," Cayce joked to her cousins. "He moves in and takes command and brings order out of chaos."
"I heard that young lady!" Brian squeezed his niece around her middle and gave her a kiss. "What would you do without me and how do I let you talk me into these things?" He acknowledge the other two women with a smile and a kiss on the cheek. They were the sisters Cayce never had and he was quite fond of them as well.
"You love it and you know it!" Cayce retorted. "It takes a strong hand to get this group moving in the right direction. You didn't yell, you didn't swear but everybody knows you meant business."
"I hear that even Nick, Cody and Murray pay attention when you speak," Sarah said with a smile. "Without argument."
"That's because they still have a military mindset and I was their commanding officer," Brian replied. "Especially Ryder since he stayed in by joining the Reserves."
They all laughed. It was true that Nick was a captain in the reserves but nobody could say, with certainty, that the guys were good at following orders. Brian could think of a few times when they got in trouble for not following orders - or disregarding proper procedure.
It was while they were joking around that Cayce was called to the telephone. When she returned her face wore a worried look and she looked ready to cry.
"Cayce? What's the matter?" her uncle asked when he saw her face.
"That was Mark Halloran on the phone - the guy who's supposed to play the part that Shemp Howard played in Private Buckaroo. He's not going to be able to make it. He was in an accident this afternoon and he's in the hospital. He's not seriously hurt but he's not going to be able to do his part."
"Oh no!" Sarah exclaimed.
"We can't properly do Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree without a 'Shemp', Erika said. "What'll we do? We didn't have an understudy for Mark because he was so good and he planned on being here. He was having a good time playing the part."
"He was good at it too," Cayce added. "Now we're sunk."
"Where are we going to find a replacement?" Erika worried. "We've put too much into our act to not be able to do that song."
"I don't..." Cayce's voice trailed off and her eyes lit up when she looked out into the audience and saw her three "brothers" walking in the door. Her eyes lit up at the possible solution to their problem. "Do you see what I see?" she asked her cousins.
"Nick, Cody and Murray," Erika answered.
"Look again, cuz," Cayce said. "I see the solution to our dilemma."
"You mean Murray?" Sarah asked catching on quickly to what her cousin was thinking. "Playing the part Shemp played in the movie?"
"Yeah! Do you see anybody else around here that could fit the part?"
"Oh, now, Cayce..." Brian started.
"Uncle Brian! We're desperate here! We have an hour before we go on to do the Andrews Sisters parts in the World War Two segment. He doesn't have to do anything but jump back and stagger a little when he gets slapped and punched and you'll be waiting in the wings to catch him - just to be on the safe side."
Cayce knew Boz well enough to know that, without backup waiting for him, he was very likely to take a spill.
"His reward will be to appear in the Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy skit as one of the soldiers in the crowd. He loves music and he'll really enjoy the song!"
Brian McKenna had his doubts but his niece could be pretty headstrong and the other women were nodding their heads enthusiastically.
"OK, you win," he said. "Better go get him."
"I have a better idea," Cayce told him. "We'll send Bret to get him. Your job will be to make sure that Nick and Cody don't follow him. Distract them. If they find out what we're up to - we can start without you - they're apt to interfere."
Shaking his head, Colonel McKenna went with Bret King to speak to the detectives. They found them sitting in seats about halfway back in the middle section of the auditorium.
"Gentlemen, nice to see you here," Brian said to his former subordinates and their partner. "Bret, here, has a message for Colonel Bozinsky."
"Colonel Bozinsky, sir, your help is required backstage. If you would follow me?"
Exchanging puzzled looks with his partners, the computer whiz, rose and followed the teen as he led him to the backstage area.
"Murray you're the answer to our prayers so to speak," Cayce greeted him.
"I am?"
"Yes. We need you desperately," Erika told him with a big smile guaranteed to melt the little guy's knees.
"Here's what we need..." Sarah started to explain
"What's taking Murray so long?" Nick wondered as the time for the show to begin drew closer.
"It's too technical to explain," Brian McKenna told them. "They needed him badly for something or other."
"He'll miss the show if he doesn't get back here soon," Cody remarked.
"No fear of that," his former commanding officer said with a smile. "He's not going to miss a second of it."
He stood up from the seat he had taken while talking to the Riptide detectives.
"I have to get back," he told them. "I'm announcing the first couple of segments. They're probably ready to start and wondering where I've gotten off to. I'll see you later."
When he was halfway down the aisle it suddenly occurred to Cody that Colonel McKenna had seemed awfully sure that Murray wasn't going to miss anything and yet the Boz was still not back to their seats.
"Hey Nick?"
"Yeah?"
"I think the colonel - and Cayce - are up to something. Did you notice how vague he was in his answers and that sort of half smile that Cayce sometimes gets when he said Murray isn't going to miss anything?"
"Yeah. You're right," the Italian answered his friend. "I wonder what they're up to and what they did with Boz."
"Maybe we should go find out."
"I'm not so sure about that," Nick said. Not normally the voice of reason he wasn't so sure he wanted to do anything to get his superior officer upset with him. Colonel McKenna may have been regular army while Nick was only a reservist now but that didn't mean he might not find a way to make life miserable for the junior officer.
"Is this Nick Ryder talking?" Cody was surprised. Normally Nick was the one who was suspicious of the McKennas.
"We're talking about Colonel McKenna here," the brunet said. "We're not talking about Cayce."
"Yeah, but Cayce hasn't talked to us since before she left to come here and she's conspicuously out of sight right now."
"That's true, but still - it's Colonel McKenna we're talking about."
"Exactly. A McKenna and all the McKennas are devious from the colonel on down through Josh, Cayce and all their relatives."
"Sssh!" the person behind them said. "The show is about to start."
The lights went dim and a spotlight shone down on Brian McKenna as he came out to announce the opening acts.
"Good evening everyone. Thank you for coming. I must admit I feel a little strange announcing a salute to the troops put on by civilians but what can I say? My niece can be very persuasive as you folks of Sunny Acres can attest."
The detectives grinned as the crowd laughed. Cayce was well known and beloved in her home town.
"I know, I know," Brian laughed. "I always was a sucker for that girl's pleas - even when I was a teenager and she was a baby."
The curtain behind him rustled as someone - most likely Cayce Nick and Cody thought - told him to quit telling stories and get on with it.
"The first group will now perform songs from the Revolution. They hope you all will join them in Yankee Doodle and listen closely to the other songs of the era."
For the next half hour they sang songs of the Revolutionary War Era. The audience broke up laughing when it came time for The War of 1812 for the group had chosen to do a little skit to acting out the Battle of New Orleans using Johnny Horton's popular song. The alligator "cannon" had everyone in stitches.
The Civil War era brought out men in uniforms singing "When This Cruel War is Over" and "Always Stand on the Union Side", "Rally 'round the Flag, Boys" and other songs of the time. They were quite well received.
There was a short intermission at this point. The Spanish American War would be followed by World Wars I and II and it would take a few minutes to set up. Nick and Cody got up to stretch their legs and see if they could find Murray. They would later find out that word had gotten around to keep them from going backstage and find out what the McKennas, Sarah and Erika were up to. All they knew at that time was that someone always seemed to want to talk to them or show them something.
When the curtain rose, after intermission had ended, it revealed a group of tents and a soldier dressed in a dough boy's uniform.
"The year is 1918," Colonel McKenna, as narrator, informed the audience. "A sergeant, by the name of Berlin, has been in the army long enough to know he hates reveille - he's used to being up until all hours of the night working on music. His bunkmates aren't happy with him. He's not complaining about everything army related. "
Nick, Cody and all the other vets in the audience grinned. It was true of almost every recruit. Reveille was detested by those who were used to sleeping late.
"To prove to them how much he hates it he has written a song. Listen now to Sergeant Berlin as he explains how he really feels about the army."
The spotlight turned from the colonel to the "dough boy". The audience grew quiet and listened closely.
"I've been a soldier quite a while
And I would like to state
The life is simply wonderful
The Army food is great
I sleep with ninety-seven others in a wooden hut
I love them all
They all love me
It's very lovely but
Oh! How I hate to get up in the morning
Oh! How I'd love to remain in bed
For the hardest blow of all
Is to hear the bugler call
Ya gotta get up
Ya gotta get up
Ya gotta get up this morning."
The soldier punctuated this part of the song by swinging his right arm out and pointing.
"Someday I'm going to murder the bugler
Someday they're going to find him dead
I'll amputate his reveille
And step upon it heavily
And spend the rest of my life in bed."
At this point the dough boy was joined by a dozen or more other "dough boys" who picked up the chorus as they marched onto the stage.
"Oh! How I hate to get up in the morning
Oh! How I'd love to remain in bed
For the hardest blow of all
Is to hear the bugler call
Ya gotta get up
Ya gotta get up
Ya gotta get up this morning
Someday I'm going to murder the bugler
Someday they're going to find him dead"
Here Sergeant Berlin continued the lament.
"And then I'll get that other pup
The guy who wakes the bugler up"
The chorus joined in on the end.
"And spend the rest of my life in bed!"
While the World War I group was performing the World War II group was frantically putting Murray through the paces for his part in the "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" number. Cayce was still concerned that Boz would get hurt because he couldn't quite make himself relax when Sarah, and then Erika, slapped and pushed and punched him.
During all the World War I numbers - including George M. Cohan's "Over There" and "Yankee Doodle Dandy" followed by "You're a Grand Old Flag" - the girls, and Brian McKenna, coached the skinny scientist until they were relatively satisfied.
"It's not like you're going to get hurt, Boz," Cayce told him. "Uncle Brian - or one of the other guys - will be right there to catch you."
After ten more tries, Cayce was satisfied that her friend would do OK After all, he wasn't really going to get slapped or punched. Shoved, yes, but not hard. It would be just hard enough to put him in the arms of whoever was waiting in the wings for him. Sarah, and Erika, had practiced this bit for a long time and knew just when to pull their punch.
After a brief intermission, it was time for the World War II segment of the program. Nobody would ever know how much the three cousins seated this out unsure of how their new partner would work out. They needn't have worried. Brian McKenna had come up with a foolproof plan to make sure Murray wouldn't be hurt. He found some wire and wrapped it around the slender computer whiz's waist. A couple of the younger men in the show would control the tension and pull back when the girls did their part. There was no way he was going to be hurt.
Three young women, in World War II army uniforms - jackets, hats, heels and all - came out on stage just seconds after Murray was pulled back from the falling weight.
Pulling a rope, while pretending that what was on the other end was too heavy for them, they were heard clear across the auditorium.
"I wrote my mother, I wrote my father
and now I'm writing you, too."
"I'm sure of mother. I'm sure of father and now I wanna be sure - very, very sure of you."
At this point, after Cayce and Erika "gave up" pulling Sarah fell flat on her backside, grimacing as the apple tree they'd worked so hard on was released and rolled out to where it could be seen by the audience.
The girls continued on and, when the song was over, and the girls fell to the floor in a well-rehearsed collision, it brought the house down to see the apples falling from the tree and the soldiers (in reality the Sunny Acres Community Band) rush to their aid and to collect the apples.
After this performance the girls ganged up on Murray to give him hugs and kisses for playing his part so well. Brian got them as well for making it all work so that Boz could take part and not be hurt.
There was a quick change of costume required before their next number which they did while the act after theirs was performing and the stage set up like a soda shop of the forties. As promised, Murray got to be in the crowed of soldiers at the soda shop that saw the girls perform.
The joint was jumping, as they would say, when they launched into Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. There was a standing ovation when they finished. The girls, flushed and happy, dashed backstage to remove the costumes and makeup and put on their regular clothes again.
It was going on ten o'clock, and the show was almost over, when Cayce Jillian McKenna pulled one of her famous surprises out of the hat. She shooed her uncle to a seat in the front row near the Riptide detectives - she wanted those she cared about the most to literally have a front row seat.
"Attention! Attention everyone!" She took the microphone to get the audience to settle down. "I've got a surprise for you. I wasn't sure if I could pull this one off. Uncle Brian says I'm getting to be notorious for these kinds of surprises given what I pulled off at the Christmas show at Irwin a couple of years ago." She grinned and wrinkled her nose at him as he laughed at her. "A year or so ago I met a man who honors you veterans in music. He's here tonight to help Sunny Acres honor its vets." She looked off into the wings where her surprise guest artist waited.
"Before I introduce him though, I want every vet in the audience to stand up so we know who you are and where you're sitting. I've been planning this ever since our next guest agreed to appear at our little show."
The men and women, in uniform and out, looked at each other but stood. They all wondered just what it was Cayce had up her sleeve now.
"Thank you." She nodded to someone backstage and the lights went dim. A projector came on showing the American flag being saluted by a group of Marines. A spotlight came on and highlighted a man in his mid-forties.
"Ladies and gentlemen Mr. Lee Greenwood!" She backed away from center stage to a place on the side as the music started. Everybody in the show silently disappeared from the backstage area and found a place to sit on the side of the auditorium.
"If tomorrow all the things were gone,
I'd worked for all my life.
And I had to start again,
with just my children and my wife.
I'd thank my lucky stars,
to be livin' here today.
'Cause the flag still stands for freedom,
and they can't take that away.
And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.
From the lakes of Minnesota,
to the hills of Tennessee.
Across the plains of Texas,
From sea to shining sea.
From Detroit down to Houston,
and New York to L.A.
Well there's pride in every American heart,
and its time we stand and say.
That I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.
Here the music slowed just a bit
And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA
As Greenwood got to the last part of the chorus every person in the audience, plus the earlier performers jumped to their feet to stand next to the veterans.
When Greenwood had finished the auditorium erupted in applause. Cayce was smothered in hugs by her uncle, the Riptide detectives and everyone else who could get near her.
Returning to the stage at Greenwood's insistence, he and Cayce had one thing to say to the veterans in attendance - a great big "Thank you".
Author's Note: Being a 50 year member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, daughter of a WWII vet, sister to a deceased Vietnam veteran and sister to a 24 year veteran of the Air Force I want to say "thank you" to all vets for their service. And, to quote a friend, if you haven't yet thank a vet.