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We walked by the bookstore for a couple of days before Doc
finally went in to talk with Sarah McKinley, who owns the place.
After several days of speculation down at the Mule Barn truck stop,
none of us could recall any local couple known as Jimmy and Liz. We
hated to admit defeat, but there was just no getting around it. We
thought Doc would be the perfect one to find out about the
mysterious couple.
When Doc walked up to the counter, Sarah was ready for him with
one of those Mona Lisa smiles. Oh... she knew. She knew all right.
"Hi there, Sarah," said Doc. "Big sale, huh?"
"It's the season, Doc. Love books. Right over there in the ‘Love
and other Fiction' department. You need some love books?"
"Well, not really, Sarah. It's just that we've been trying to
figure out who Jimmy and Liz are, and we haven't been successful, so
the boys thought..."
"Now, Doc, don't tell me you didn't realize that Feb. 16 was the
Monroes' wedding anniversary."
"Monroe?"
"Sure. You remember. James Monroe? Monroe Doctrine? Keep foreign
influence out of the Western Hemisphere? Jimmy married Elizabeth
Kortright on Feb. 16 in 1786."
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"President Monroe?" Doc shook his head. "I hate to spring this on
you, Sarah, but I was too young to remember when Jimmy and Liz got
married."
"She was only 18, you know."
"Well, no, I didn't realize that."
"They were married in New York. It was a big deal at the time."
"Are you... related to them, maybe?"
"No. Just thought it would be nice to celebrate their anniversary
with a sale on love books."
Doc smiled. "Well, now, we'll all raise our cups to Jimmy and Liz
down at the Mule Barn tomorrow morning."
Sarah smiled. We're still trying to figure her out, you know.
"Two hundred and twenty-two years," Sarah said. "And they said it
wouldn't last..."
[Text from file received from Slim Randles]
Brought to you by "Sun Dog Days," at
www.slimrandles.com, soon to be a minor motion picture.
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