The Richard Jackson Saga: Book: 9 Cold War

anything. Since he was only three feet away from me and faced the other way I jumped on his back and took him under.
He had no fight in him as I brought him up. He still had his six-shooter in hand. Once I got a look at it I realized he had got the paper roll of caps wet so we were in no danger.
I brought the kid to the edge where he was seized by the Police. The other guys sobered up quickly and surrendered at once. I felt silly for not realizing it was a toy gun but the Sergeant in charge assured me that better safe than sorry. The guy was lucky they hadn’t shot him. The Police were drawing their arms when I jumped him. I probably saved his life.
I was wet from my waist down but luckily my weapon didn’t get wet. My Texas Ranger Badge was recognized as being the real deal so I was questioned about it. I ended up showing my US Marshal ID and Badge to show that I was allowed to carry a concealed weapon.
As far as they were concerned I could have tied a hog leg to my hip and it would have been okay.  This was Texas.
The hoorah had collected a crowd and a crowd had collected a reporter. The Police told me that they weren’t authorized to give interviews. It was all mine, I might have believed the Sergeant if the reporter didn’t know him by name.
I did the Ah Shucks routine, but the reporter didn’t buy it. He knew who I was and my national reputation so it became another Ricky saves the day story. Well, I was on a publicity tour. At least Sharon would be happy.
I squished my way back to my room in a very wet pair of boots. It would take days to dry them out and they would never look the same.
It wasn’t that late when I got back so I called Sharon and let her know about my latest adventure. She made sure she had the reporter’s name and newspaper correct. She would call him for all the details and make certain the story had wide dissemination.

Chapter 7
The next morning, Tuesday, I met Marshal Elliot for breakfast. I had gone for my run around the Riverwalk. It really looked different with no people or entertainment. It was pretty but seemed like it missed the excitement.
He had driven by the Majestic on the way to the hotel. There was already a line forming to get in. That led to an immediate change of plans. I had dressed in my California casual for the day, chino, polo shirt, and dark blue blazer with the Oxford emblem on it.
Taking a box of the autographed pictures along with me, arrived at 10:00 instead of the scheduled 12:30. That would have been an hour and a half prior to the 2 pm showing.
The ones who were in line early were my true fans. It didn’t take long to figure out that the time we had allowed would not have worked out. There were over a hundred kids in line when we got there.
Mr. Elliot went far beyond his duty as a bodyguard for the day. There was no table or chair set up; though they would be in the lobby later. He took one look around and then asked the two young ladies in the front of the line if they would help him. They looked thrilled and said yes.
It probably helped that he had dressed for the part today. With his badge on display, gun on hip, Stetson on his head, and his big drooping white mustache he looked every inch of a US Marshal. I just thought I looked like a cowboy when in costume.
He asked them to go to the furniture store across the street and ask the owner or manager to join us. It didn’t take long and a portly gentleman joined us. Introductions and a handshake later two workers carried a table and chair over to us.
They also brought a sign for the table, the sign had the store’s name and a handwritten addendum of, “Provided by”.  That and I posed for a picture with the owner. I told him he could display it in his store but not use it in print ads. He was fine with that.
He told me the table and chair wouldn’t be sold as his granddaughter, who was in line would want it for her room. That explained the girly chintz covering the chair. Granddad was no dummy.
He brought her up for a special signing and picture taking. I could see we missed a bet on having pictures taken.
Actually, I could see we hadn’t taken several things into account. A quick discussion with Mr. Elliot resulted in the flagging down of a passing police car. They had been going by with an increasing frequency as the crowd grew.
I explained to the Corporal that things had grown quickly. I realized that we should have a permit for this gathering, who should we contact?
Also, could he recommend a photographer we could hire for the day? Plus did he know where we could rent some portable toilets?
He didn’t know anyone who could get toilets here quickly. My new friend the store owner stepped up and volunteered the use of those in his store. I think he saw a line of future customers. Things were already falling into place when the Theater Manager showed up
I asked if the people in line could use his toilets but he didn’t want them in the theater before time. There were some bad experiences from prior events.
He and the store owner knew each other so very quickly brass poles with red velvet rope were carried across the street to keep things orderly in the