Cast of Characters:

Cody Schroder - main character of the book

Matt Cochran - Cody's best friend


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End of Chapter 6:


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The blond capon drove his shoulder into Matt's stomach.

"Omph!" Matt responded.

The blow extracted some of the wind out Matt's sails. Cody wrapped his arms tightly around Matt's waist in an effort to wrestle him to the ground.

"Let go of me!" Matt loudly insisted.

Cody would never attempt to justify their fisticuffs based on his past life of abuse in Palo Pinto. He knew none of those incidents would ever explain his unprovoked attack on Matt. Perhaps Cody's transgression was he reflected his experiences with Earl Anthony Schroder on someone who did not deserve to suffer those indignations.

Or, maybe Cody didn't know any better ways to handle unwanted situations like losing a bike race home to his best friend. Under the patient guidance and care of Sheriff Brock Daniels he would soon learn. An osprey flew over the boys' heads and released a disturbed, high-pitched squeal as if to tell them to cease their confrontation. Afterwards, the feathered creature soared out of sight.

The youngsters' braggadocious comments were made with their chests puffed out and their heads held high.

"I'm gonna beat you by a mile!" Cody had eartily boasted.

"I'm a-coming! I'm a-coming!" Matt responded.

Matt raised up off the seat of his bicycle and churned his legs faster. Cody had snuck a glance over his right shoulder to spot his adversary's location. There he was. Matt had speedily gained ground on him. His breathing was relaxed while Cody's grew heavier. An ear-to-ear grin crossed the little bulldog's face.

It was a happy smile that told Cody, "I'm gonna win!"

Deep in Cody's heart, he knew Matt would, too. Still, he thought to myself, 'Not if I have anything to say about it, you won't.'

By placing the edge of his bike's front tire on the grass before Cody did, Matt nipped him at the finish line. Like everything else they did together, the boys enjoyed the chase home and that should have been the end of the story: book, chapter, and verse.

However, Cody didn't cater to being the loser. His swagger swiftly dissipated. All of a sudden, two aggressive, diminutive grouses locked horns in mortal combat as soon as Cody yanked Matt off his bike.

"What are you doing?" a surprised Matt demanded. He had not expected Cody to pounce on him.

Freeing himself, the boys engaged in their fight. Matt threw a solid right jab. The punch landed flush on Cody's nose.

"Ouch!" Cody yelped. He grabbed his nose with both of his hands.

A slow trickle of blood dripped from his nose from where Matt clobbered him a good one. In return, Cody kicked Matt in the knee with the toe of his sneaker. Matt grimaced and grabbed his knee. The jolt from Cody's blow hurt and made him hop around on one leg for a moment.

Undeterred, he challenged Cody, "You wanna fight? Come on! Bring it! I ain't afraid of you!"

Cody bucked up and replied, "I'm not scared of you either! And, it's going to take a lot more than talk to get me off of you!"

A small contusion appeared on Matt's right cheek. It'd received a blow from Cody's forearm when he pulled Matt off his bike. The bruise quickly dissolved into a multi-colored rainbow of red, blue, yellow, and green. However, the skin did not break. Full of themselves, they continued their tussle.

Sheriff Daniels kept a brown wooden rocker on the front porch of his house he enjoyed sitting in. From his perch he could see the full length of Cassandra Boulevard and most of Astatula. Peonies planted in the ground in front of the wooden porch railing emitted the sweet aroma of nectar. The peonies were one of Beth's feminine touches.

Hickory trees, that produced yellow-green catkins and oval nuts in the springtime, decorated the lawn. Sheriff Daniels often burned their hard, dense, wood in the fireplace inside the house. Here, in his rocking chair on the front porch, he found peace and quiet. That was until Matt and I arrived home and our fight caught his immediate attention.

Consumed in our actions, we had not noticed the Sheriff and Buzz Cochran on the porch. They nibbled on a plate of chocolate chip cookies. Beth had baked them that morning before she departed to visit her cousin Erma Meyers in Dallas.

Their edges were crispy, and small morsels of sweetened chocolate provided their chewy middles. Chopped walnuts accentuated their flavor. The Sheriff had saved a couple for Matt and I when we arrived home from school. Come to think about it, we never did get our cookies that day.

Why? Because our agitated disturbance brought the Sheriff and Buzz Cochran on the run to the cloud of dust we raised. They reached down, each grabbed ahold of their responsible charge and pulled us to our feet. Then, they separated their animated prepubescents.

Now, Matt and I laugh about this incident. Back when these events occurred, they weren't so hilarious. As we sat at the table in the Blind Pig Pub with our friends, who were engrossed in what we told them, we looked at one another. Both of us could hear those same thunderous words we heard that fateful day not so long ago. Particularly the consequences of our actions. Especially mine.

Buzz was the first to speak.

"What in tarnation do you two little primates think you're doing?" he demanded.

The authority in his voice rang clear. Icily, he stared Matt in the face as he spoke the words.

"Cody started the fight, Dad," Matt tried to explain.

Intransigent, and not about to abandon or compromise my recalcitrant attitude, I vehemently denied Matt's accusation, "Did not!"

Just as assertive, Matt responded, "You did, too! All I did was defend myself from your assault."

"Both of you stop arguing immediately! What's gotten into you anyway? You know better than to fight, especially with each other. And, on top of all that, I heard every word you said," Sheriff Daniels stated.

"We raced home to see who could get here first, and I won. Then, Cody jumped off his bike and bushwhacked me for no reason calling me a cheater," Matt said.

I brushed the dirt off the front of my shirt with my hands and wrangled to free myself from the tight grip Sheriff Daniels had on me. My struggles were fruitless. I wasn't going anywhere.

"You're the one who started the fight," I said, "you called me a liar."

"I did not. I called you a lion," Matt replied.

"That's enough from both of you. I just told you to stop your arguing," Sheriff Daniels exhorted.

His tone told us we'd better listen. Instantly, our squabble ceased.

"Neither one of you should ever call the other one by anything except your given names of Matt and Cody," the Sheriff told us.

Buzz cleaned the blood from Matt's nose with a folded handkerchief he removed from his shirt pocket.

As he wiped away the blood, he calmly asked Matt, "You two are supposed to be best friends, young man. And, I don't care what this fight was about. The rule is no fighting and you broke that rule. You do know what the consequences for breaking that rule are, do you not?"

Matt glumly stared down at the grass between his sneakers. All of a sudden this fun afternoon wasn't turning out to be so enjoyable. First, I'd swerved on him. Now he was in for a very sore bottom for fighting too. His shoulders sagged.

"Yes, sir," he replied.

I thought Matt would try to talk his way out of what awaited him, but he did not whimper about it.

"Home! Now! We will finish this conversation when we get there," Buzz told him.

Matt glanced at me.

"See what you did with your stupid act?" he asked, "You got us both in big time T-R-O-U-B-L-E! You happy?"

My eyes turned away from Matt. I did not respond. Matt picked his bike up from where it had fallen on the ground when I pulled him off of it and slowly trudged towards home. Buzz followed, one step behind him all the way.

Then, it was my turn. I knew it all too well.

"I'm very disappointed in your behavior Cody. I can not believe you would start a fight with Matt over some incidental bike race," Sheriff Daniels began.

"Disappointed". The word stung like a poked hornet's nest and was all the Sheriff had to say to deflate my countenance. I looked back at him but did not offer an explanation for my unacceptable conduct. Slowly, he shook his head in disbelief of the whole situation.

"Inside. Straight to your bedroom, Little Man. We will finish this conversation with you over my knee, where you will explain to me in minute detail the errors of your ways. Do you understand me?" he parentally asked.

"Yes, sir," I respectfully responded.

I snatched my wolf-imprinted schoolbag off the handlebars of my bike. Wolves reminded me so much of myself and had always been my most favorite animals. I left the two-wheeler where it laid and headed for the house and my bedroom.

That's when I heard the Sheriff utter words I will never forget, "I most certainly do not look forward to doing this, Cody. But, whether we like it or not, warming the seat of your jeans for starting this altercation, and then lying to me about it, is something we must attend to."

I knew there was only one way out of this pickle I'd entrapped myself into, and it wasn't going to be pleasant.