The Ring

by Mara-snh

In "Stage Stop," the introductory episode of "Laramie," we see young Andy Sherman fiddling with a woman's ring, which is never discussed. Here's what I thought about that. As I fall farther down the "Laramie" rabbit hole, I intend to share scribblings of greater length. This is just to get my toe in the creek.

The watch was his, no question. Slim gave it to him on his twelfth birthday. Jonesy had later told him privately it was a sacrifice made out of a brother's love because usually, a thing like that passes to the oldest son. He'd said Slim wanted Andy to know he was an important son, a partner, equal to him in owning and running the family ranch. That was the story, anyway.

But the ring, that was Ma's. Slim would find a girl to marry someday and then it would be hers. He figured until then, it was both his and Slim's, a symbol of why they lived under the same roof — one he was thinking of right then as the lid of an entrapping box. Kicking at it didn't change a thing. Twisting the ring around on his finger while he guessed what it might be worth didn't help, either. It made him sad he could even consider such a thing. So he put it back where he found it and left it there.

On a trip home a dozen years later, he announced he was finally going to propose to Susan Vehrs and that night, after dinner, Jess gave it to him.