Cowboy Flunkies

The Sack's summer continues to grind itself toward an inevitable conclusion.

***

Jeff Christ has been having trouble finding a full-time job.

The young man is staying with his Sack relatives, Ben and Norma on a temporary basis. Jeff Christ will be staying there until He's either accepted into the Canadian Forces or the Second Coming begins, whichever happens first. At least, that's how Weed explains it.

In the meantime, He needs to save some money.

***

Weed says he's been trying to get Jeff Christ a job at the same call centre where he toils. He doesn't think Jeff will like it very much, but apparently the money is better than average. Unfortunately, there haven't been any openings lately.

Oscar says Weed's recommendation may be part of the problem. He could be right about this.

***

Nevertheless, Jeff Christ is a determined young man.

According to Ben, Jeff has found two part-time jobs to tide Him over until a full-time opportunity comes up. Apparently, the first job is with one of the old town's two Old Navy stores, where He'll be a sales associate. The other position is at the local Canadian Tire store.

Ben says Jeff doesn't know what He'll be doing at Canadian Tire yet. Oscar says this will give Him at least one thing in common with his new co-workers.

***

Never trust a pair of ten-year-old cowboys. They have no idea what they're talking about.

Two young Sack varmints were floating a story that Dora had been arrested at Burning Manor. It turns out that nothing could be further from the truth.

It was actually Dirk who was escorted from Burning Manor by the old town's peelers. Apparently, no handcuffs were used, so it's assumed that charges weren't laid. It looks like he was taken from the home as a way of cooling down a hot situation.

Ben witnessed the whole event. He just returned from a week of camping in Cape Breton along with his wife, Norma and their nephew, Jeff Christ. He didn't have the opportunity to tell anyone about the matter before he left.

***

According to Ben, the peelers took Dirk away while Dora stood on the porch spewing expletives at him. It happened early on a Sunday afternoon.

In the midst of this scene, the big, barking and bored dog escaped from Burning Manor. Dirk wanted to retrieve the dog, but the peelers wouldn't let him. Dora had to get the dog instead. For Dirk's sake, the peelers waited until she steered the animal back into the house.

As they finally drove away with Dirk in the backseat, Dora thrust her middle finger in the car's general direction.

***

The exact nature of the dispute between Dirk and Dora is unknown. It would be very unfortunate if violence was rearing its ugly head at Burning Manor.

Nevertheless, Dirk reappeared at Burning Manor within two days. This was confirmed by Elizabeth, who lives next door. She says it looked like things had returned to normal for Dirk and Dora.

"Or at least, what passes for normal," she added quickly.

***

Dirk has now returned to the oil rig for his next work period.

Ben said he saw Dirk when he left a few days ago. Dora walked him to the car with her arms folded across her chest. Apparently, she was wearing a light blue housecoat and pink flip-flops. A cigarette undoubtedly dangled from her lips.

It was about three o'clock in the afternoon.

Ben said Dirk and Dora didn't exchange a departing kiss. This is good evidence, he says, that only an uneasy truce has occurred between the pair. He thinks we can expect more shenanigans when the pair is reunited in three weeks.

I hope he's wrong about this.

In the meantime, Oscar says we have learned an important lesson from the whole affair. Along with Weed and Gordon, he says we can now add two child cowboys to the Sack's list of unreliable sources of information.

I think he's right about this.

***