Tevun-Krus #101 - The New Frontier

Playing Cowboys - A Story by @johnnedwill

Playing Cowboys

by johnnedwill

Barney loved it when his parents took him to Frontier Land. The other kids in his class liked to go to the Fantasy Kingdom, Space Academy or even Dinosaur Island. Frontier Land had been popular once, but not any more. Some of the children made fun of Barney because he wasn't 'cool'. Barney didn't care. As far as he was concerned, cowboys were neat. Every time he road into Frontier Land on the buckboard of the claptrap Deadwood Stage, Barney felt a deep-seated thrill. Grizzled prospectors, saloon bar madames and high-noon gunfights - these were the things Barney loved.

"Barnabus! Stop wriggling!" Barney's mother chided him as she adjusted the collar of his flannel shirt. Visitors to Frontier Land didn't have to dress up in period clothing, but Barney insisted on it with all the enthusiasm of a nine-year old boy. His mother went along with him. She was wearing a period-authentic dress and bonnet, while Barney was wearing britches and a shirt. "What will the townsfolk think of you if you aren't dressed properly?"

"But ma!" Barney knew he was in trouble - Barnabus was who he was when his mother scolded him. He held still long enough for his mother to finish buttoning him up, then ran as fast as he could to the stage coach that was waiting outside the visitor centre.

"Howdy li'l pardner! The driver of the stage coach, wrapped tight in his faded Union Army greatcoat, grey whiskers drooping over the collar, looked down at Barney and smiled. "Good ta see ya again. Ya goin' into town?"

"Sure am, Mister Cranford." Barney reached up for the leather strap to pull himself onto the buckboard, but the old man stopped him.

"Sorry Barney. Can't come up less'n your mother gives permission,"

Barney glanced hopefully towards his mother, who had hitched up her skirt to hurry after him. "Please?"

Barney's mother glared at her son for a moment before relenting. "Alright," she said to Mister Cranford. "I give permission." She turned back to her jubilant son. "But if you misbehave ... ." She left the threat hanging.

Mister Cranford leaned down and, with a strength that did not fit with his pipestem arms, lifted Barney into the seat beside him. "There you go young 'un." He glanced back towards Barney's mother. "Do you need a hand, Missus Dravid?"

"No thank you. I'm good." Barney's mother pulled herself into the cabin of the stage coach, with only a little help from the other passengers already inside.

"Independent woman, your mother," Mister Cranford observed. "Y'all strapped in, boy?" He checked that Barney's lap belt was secured, before cracking the leather reins to set the horses going. The stage coach lurched down the dirt track, away from the visitors' complex at the Frontier Land entrance.

"She sure is," Barney replied. He held tight to the rails on the side of the swaying stage coach. "Who's in town today?"

Mister Cranford's lined face froze for a moment before answering. "All your favourites are there today, Barney."

"Mister Ford?" "At his store." "Miss O'Leary?"

"You'll find her in the schoolhouse." Mister Cranford chuckled. "Not that you'll be wanting to go there on a fine day like today."

"What about Madame Fifi?"

"Barney!" Mister Cranford give his young passenger a look of mock outrage. "How do you know about her? You shouldn't be goin' anywhere near the saloon - never mind Madame Fifi and her girls!" Then he winked. "You're too young for that."

Barney's cheeks turned red with embarrassment. He knew all too well about Madame Fifi's girls. "You always say that."

"Say what?"