Clovis and Cletus - Snake or Skunk??? It was hours before the roosters would be thinking about getting out of their roosts and calling to the morning sun. The early chill was setting in and the air was heavy with dew but the coffee was on the fire and bacon in the skillet so it couldn't be all bad. Clovis Dean Baker sat by his small fire warming his hands and thinking on the day to come. He'd gotten a wire from his niece Millie over at the SMR telling him she'd heard about a job out in Texas. She asked him to stop by the ranch on his way which sounded like a mighty fine idea, then she mentioned Cletus was livin' there these days and he decided he might linger at the SMR for a day or two. It was nigh on to dark when Clovis rode into the gate of the SMR and he could smell the wood smoke from the kitchen cook fire. He knew Betsy would have nice hot meal sittin' on the table inside so he hurried right along and got his tack put up, dusted off his clothes, washed in the basin outside the bunkhouse door and headed for the main house. When he walked into the dinning room you should have heard all the OoOoAhAh's from the old friends and family Clovis hadn't seen in his many years on the trail. The sound was enough to make a shy monkey blush. It warmed his heart to hear familiar voices and he sat down to a hot meal. After dinner Cletus and Clovis retired to the front porch to catch up. The other monkeys gave them some time alone but eventually couldn't resist wandering on over in hopes of hearing them talk about old times. Most of them didn't really believe all of Tumbleweed's stories so they thought this might be a perfect time to catch him in mid-yarn spin. As they all settled down and Clovis was introduced to the new hands, Dusty asked "So when was the last time you old boys saw each other?" "Well," Clovis began "we ain't seen one another since the big lizard invasion down in New Mexico territory about ten years ago. Those scaley things were runnin' ankle deep and the only thing that saved that small town was when I grabbed a rattle snake and used it as a bullwhip. Those lizards scattered like a shot every time that rattle snake whip cracked. Cletus had taken to squirtin' at em with the south end of a skunk but the townsfolk weren't sure which one was better...the lizards or the skunk smell." Cletus' expression didn't change. He replied "That skunk was sure a sight better'n that old rattler. But nevermind, we got that town cleaned out of lizards anyway." The other hands just stared at each other in amazed confusion. Were they BOTH tellers of tall tales? Or could these two brothers really have done some crazy things? Lucky stood up and walked off the porch muttering "I give up." Clovis and Cletus looked at one another. Mike thought he saw Cletus give his brother a wink.   <<<<< PREV JOURNAL ENTRY NEXT JOURNAL ENTRY >>>>> BACK TO TALL TALES INDEX