Last Time: Earl Anthony Schroder dropped off the boulder and vanished into a ravine leading away from Miller's Cave. Sheriff Daniels and Cody watched him disappear. The games had just begun.


********************************************************************************************
********************************************************************************************


Fernando Augustus, the broad-faced, vertically challenged, Italian who operated the Pasta Fairre Italiano Ristorante, wiped the table off with meticulous aplomb. Business was steady. That was good for Fernando. Ringing cash registers brought a smile of pleasure to his face.

The restauranter wore a long sleeved white shirt, and a black bowtie, every day Pasta Fairre was open. He also trimmed his pencil-thin mustache weekly. Soon, he'd have none left. Fine linen tablecloths, and attractive round tables, adorned Pasta Fairre.

Sheriff Daniels knew Fernando appreciated formality, even in his conversations. He entered the fashionable establishment with Cody and Beth by his side. Since Earl Anthony Schroder was still on the loose, Cody was kept on a short leash for his own protection. Tonight, the three of them were dining out together.

"Buon pomeriggio, Signore Augustus," Sheriff Daniels warmly greeted the proprietor as he approached their table.

Fernando Augustus nodded a stiff "hello!" in return.

Cody sat quietly at the table taking in his surroundings. Since his encounter with Earl Anthony Schroder, he feared the lunatic lurked somewhere in the shadows watching his every little movement. Lately, the boy's once vibrant personality was docile. The stitches he'd received from smashing his head on the counter at Buck and Doe's had been removed that morning. He had another little scar to add to the collection of them he'd previously received at the hands of Earl Anthony Schroder.

Noticing Cody's sour disposition, Fernando Augustus commented, "Under the circumstances it is too bad a certain, unnamed, somebody is not dead!"

"He will be if I ever see him again!" Cody blurted out.

The remark produced a stern look of consternation from Sheriff Daniels. Cody sipped water from the glass Fernando had placed on the table upon noticing their arrival.

"Fernando, do you still have that flier on the Wilson County Cattle Drive Extravaganza and Camp you showed me the other day when I was in here for lunch?" Sheriff Daniels inquired.

"Dad, I'm not leaving you and Astatula!" Cody protested. His tone was emphatic.

"It's only for ten days, Little Man. A change of scenery will do you good," Sheriff Daniels replied.

Fernando passed them each a dinner menu. He departed the table to fetch the flyer Sheriff Daniels asked him about. Not desiring to be caught in the middle of the disagreement between Sheriff Daniels and Cody, Beth reclined back in her chair. She opened her menu and scanned the offerings.

Cody sulked. He'd just lost his appetite. He said to himself, 'At this rate, thanks to Earl Anthony Schroder, I won't have anything left.'

"Sit up straight in your chair, son," Sheriff Daniels instructed him to do, "you know there is no slouching allowed at the dinner table, especially when we are out in public."

Cody repositioned himself. Upon Fernando's return with the aforementioned flyer, he closed his menu, laid it in the middle of the table, and announced, "I'm not hungry. I don't want anything to eat."

"Suit yourself, son," was all Sheriff Daniels told him, "however, remember, I do not run a fast food restaurant at home."

Beth felt the tension between the two of them escalate. In an effort to diffuse the situation, she glanced up from her menu and asked, "Cody, I thought Earl Anthony Schroder was dead?"

Her question seemed odd and Cody's response was brusque, "So did me, and Dad, and everybody in Palo Pinto, and everybody in Astatula, too."

Continuing her train of thought, Beth wondered, "I thought he died when he hit that embankment head-on at ninety-three miles an hour?"

Cody just shrugged a quizzical "I don't know" as if he was saying, "beat's me."

"You were at his funeral weren't you?" Beth inquired.

"Yes, I was," Cody responded. He took another sip of water from his glass on the table and said, "but, they said I was too young to see the body. All I ever saw was the closed casket."

Sheriff Daniels interjected, "Well, the bruises on Cody's face certainly didn't get there by themselves. They prove Earl Anthony Schroder is very much alive. Somehow, he faked his own funeral. Now, can we order our dinners?"

"What kind of a pathetic, worthless piece of garbage, son-of-a-bitch would make his own ten-year-old son attend his funeral when he's not even dead?" Beth snapped.

She realized the vulgarity of her comment, and knew it wasn't her usual nature. She always tried to keep her language clean, particularly around Cody, who she turned to and stated, "I'm sorry I said that, Cody. So, forget you heard that word, okay?"

"I've called him a whole lot worse than that, Beth," Cody responded twirling his fork in his fingers. He looked at the Sheriff and said, "Maybe you should have his grave dug up, Dad."

His comment sounded as though he knew a deep dark secret that had never before been revealed, and he continued with, "You know, to find out who, or what, is really inside that casket. I wouldn't put anything past that son-of-a-!"

"Watch your mouth, son," Sheriff Daniels cut him off.

However, Cody's remark grabbed Sheriff Daniels' attention. Curiously, he pondered, "Something I should know about, son?"

Cody dropped the fork he'd been playing with. He reached over and picked up the bottle of ketchup, as well as the salt and pepper shakers. He set them back down on the table in front of himself and said, "If I had a cup of hot water, I could make delicious tomato soup."

He wondered if his cryptic message sailed over the Sheriff's head?


*********************************************************************************************
*********************************************************************************************

Cast of Characters:

Cody Schroder - Blond munchkin and main character of the book.

Sheriff Brock Daniels - Long time Sheriff of Astatula and Cody's Dad.

Beth Sorenson - Sheriff Daniels' lady friend. Brought Cody to Astatula.

Earl Anthony Schroder - Cody's biological sperm donor. Put Cody through ten years of hellacious physical, mental, and sexual abuse in Palo Pinto.

Fernando Augustus - Proprietor of the Pasta Fairre Ialiano Ristorante.

Chapter Word Count: 1,024

Book Word Count: 6,328