A few nights later at Sherman' s house, a poker game is going on, Sherman is at the head of the table a tall man sits at his right in a vest sweater and on his left is a black haired man then Radar then a man who reminds us all of someone without a chin. He asks, "Can I have another lemon squash?" The men all groan and Sherman says, "No, no more, let's keep our wits about us right now" The man makes a groan then puts it the martini glass down and he asks, "Why do you call it this?" Sherman looks up briefly from his cards then says in a gruff voice, "I just do, you don't have to worry about it Fendoer-wassay , you're not having another one and I just won this hand" All the men groan and Sherman gives his cackle and puts down his winning hand then rakes in his winnings and little Misty walks in and she asks, "Grandpa, are you going to read to me tonight?" He forgets everything else and looks at her with the love of a grandfather and asks "Do you want me to?" A little frustrated, she says, "Yes, Grandpa!"

He smiles and gets up from his seat and says, "You boys will have to cut me out of the next round, I got things to do" Sherman gets up and when he leaves, the man who reminds us all of Frank burns asks, "Why does he not like me? Because I am French?" Radar gives a 'hmpf' to that and says, "Col. Potter isn't that way...if he didn't like you, you wouldn't even be here. You just remind us both of somebody from our unit" The black haired man says, "That is one of the greatest men alive ! I'll challenge anybody to say different " The other man asks, "Are you sure he won't be back? We're going to play a while longer" Radar shakes his head then says, "He won't , see, he reads to her whenever she wants...not every night but when he finishes, he just goes straight to bed. Guess it tires him out" The black haired man asks, "Has Sunshine tried to stop her?" "Yeah, but it's no good, he insists" "I've always meant to ask you...Sunshine? Is that her real name?" Radar looks at him then says, "Yes, her parents gave it to her as a given name and she uses it. I love it" All the men laugh and the man says, "I'm just glad my wife's name is Millie" The other man says, "And my Laura" The French man then says, "I love all women...all thier names" The men laugh then one of the men says, "Walter, I'm glad you are here" Radar says, "So am I, Sunshine and I are talking about moving down here" The men smile and laugh then one says, "Hey, that will be great! Hannibal can use a good weather man" Radar then says, "Well, the T.V. station just down the road has hired me, I'm supposed to start next week" One of the men asks, "Where will you live?" Radar shrugs his shoulders then says, "Here I suppose, Col. Potter wouldn't have it any other way...at least until Sunshine and I find a house" Just then the black haired poker player says, "Hey, let me tell you about the first time I met Sherman...this will tell you the type of man here" Radar says, "We already know he's the best but go on and tell us Jerry" He clears his throat then says, "Well, it was two weeks after the war was over, Millie was pregnant with our first boy and she had been telling me for days she was in labor but I didn't believe her so..." Jerry goes on to tell them while Sherman and Misty settle in to read the 2nd chapter of the story.

Sherman was a little hesitant to read this chapter to his granddaughter but he reasoned that it was just a story and this was much easier to read than what death he has seen in in every war. The little girl settled in beside him sitting Indian style and looking at him with expectation, Sherman took a breath then read, " ' Before I was two years old, a circumstance happened which I have never forgotten. He looked down and the little girl was just looking for him to continue and he did and when he got to the part on page 7 where he read , "His neck is broken," said my mother, he looked at her again and the little girl only yawned and she asked, "Is something wrong Grandpa?" He just smiled and said, "No Munchkin, nothing's wrong at all, I was just seeing if you were paying attention" She shakes her head and says, "Yes, I am. Please go on!"

He chuckles a bit then he reads the rest of the chapter and when he get to the last paragraph and he looks at her again and she is sleeping heavy already and he smiles and shakes his head then reads it to himself, ' Not many days after, we heard the church bell tolling for a long time; and looking over the gate we saw a long, strange black coach that was covered with black cloth and was drawn by black horses; and after that came another and another and another, and they were all black, while the bell kept toilling. They were carrying young Gordon to the churchyard to bury him. He would never ride again. What they did with Rob Roy I never knew; but twas all for one little hare.

He closed the book and quietly went out of the room after making sure she was covered again and he went to his room and sat down on the bed and put his hands on his old knees and was in thought when Mildred came in and she looks at her husband of nearly 40 years and she smiles and just goes over to the dresser to take off her earrings then she calmly asks, "Are you going to go sit out on the poarch?" He shakes his head and he gets up and goes out. He just gets to the kitchen when he hears the laughter of the men and Jerry says, "And that's how my son was born...he won't go see another doctor...my only worry is will we go get him to see another one when he's 32?" They all laugh and Sherman smiles knowing what they are talking about so he quietly turns and goes out the back way. He goes and sits in a red swing with a matching red cover and he remembers...

His pop had got him that large white horse when he was 9 and he did teach him everything he knew but by the time he was 10 1/2, he remembers he was in the house with his mother helping her clean their log home when they heard horses whinnying and trompling up and they went out there and they saw about 4 men and over one painted horse was a large man sized bag and Sherman somehow knew.

He remembers his mother sniffing then just turns and goes in the house to start supper. The men stood around looking at each other like ducks on a pond then they go over and take down the body and go into the barn to start making the coffin he supposed. After about 30 minutes of standing by himself in the cold October winds, he opens the house door to the smell of supper being prepared and he says, "I'm going riding maw" She stands up from cutting potatoes and she goes over, as tall and proud as any mother and woman could be and she says, "Don't go far, I'll call you for supper" He starts to leave but then he stops and says, "Maw, how did he die?"

She stiffens but doesn't blink a eye and says, "They said he broke his neck...the bridge collapsed he was working on with his crew" He shakes his head and leaves. He gets on his horse, "Luke", his pop taught him to name his horses people names because they didn't deserve no less, most horses were smarter than human beings than much was clear in a lot of cases.

He got on Luke and rode and rode for a long time, it felt like he had rode for miles but he clearly heard his mother's crystal clear voice hollering, "Sherman! Suppertime!"

He rode back to his house in a trot and thought some more as he went home.

Back on the swing, in November of 1965, Sherman stands up and says, "Thanks Pop, you taught me a lot and I loved that horse"

He goes back into the house.

On one episode, Sherman and company had dreams or rather nightmares of the past. I wanted to use that little snippet in this chapter. Please read and review.

Sand 'N Sable