Horner Springs Retirees #1
Authors note: Horner Springs is a collective concept as discussed in thread "The Birth of Horny Town U.S.A" thread started by litfan10 in the Authors' Hangout forum. Authors who add to this town will pay at least lip service to the other Author's creations and may share characters. My contribution is part of a series of stories that will use your feedback to advance or reduce a character, depending upon how you, the readers respond. Tell me what you think.
JackLuis
*
Taking It Easy
Lester Murphy was 52 years old and had just left the Army after almost 32 years of service. He had taken all the veterans benefits that were offered, including the promise of a government job. That was how he ended up working as a postal deliveryman in Horner Springs.
He had told the VA lady that he'd like a calm job, eight combat tours and he was ready for taking it slow. She nodded and tapped at her keyboard for a while, totally ignoring Les, then she smiled, "Ah here you go, Rural Mail Carrier, doesn't pay much but with your retirement pension and the cost of living out there, you should make out all right."
She handed Les a printout from her printer and said, "Veterans Administration," her eyes told Lester she was talking to her headphone, so he looked at the printout. The pay would be less than he was making as a Master Sergeant, but he would be making more with his pension and he could live with that. He looked at the location, Horner Springs? He smiled,
"Never heard of it, sounds perfect."
"Well, call me in three or four days and I'll let you know if, or when it's confirmed, Okay, Mr. Murphy?"
Lester looked at her nameplate and said, "Thank you, Mrs. Fauquier.
A few days later, Lester found out that he'd got the job, but he was shacking up with an old comrade outside of Ft. Dix and was, quite frankly, too drunk to care.
It took Lester a week to drive out to Horner Springs. He had arranged a moving company to move his things, there wasn't much, but he couldn't get much of it in his car. The used Cadillac he bought, had a large trunk, but his case of M1 rifles would not have fit in it.
The trip, in the Caddy was long and pleasant; he had decided to stop at the National Parks and sights along the way, so it took several days before he was at the top of the pass that led down to Horner Springs. He pulled over at a lookout point and gazed at the river valley that held the town.
Ranches and farms seemed to reach all the way to the city limits. The river ran sinuously though the valley floor through green fields and down thru town. The lake, which was the source of the river, was surrounded by trees. Lester drove down into this bucolic heaven and found the motel he had booked on line.
The Sleazy Eights didn't sound like much, but the pictures of the vintage cabins and knotty pine interiors intrigued Lester. When he pulled in to the Sleazy Eights that Friday night, he saw its distinctive sign, a poker hand, a pair of eights and four deuces. He found that the restaurant was open until ten pm and there was a bar as well in the comfortable lodge that housed the office.
He checked in, arranged his room, had a shower and in completely civilian clothes walked to the lodge to eat as a free man for what seemed like the first time. Even his hair was contributing to the new Lester Murphy as it was growing enough to almost be considered fuzz. Lester sat in the bar and had a burger and a few beers as he listened to a girl sing country western at the Karaoke. He was grinning as he walked back to his room and went to bed in his new town.
The post master had Lester do the downtown route for his first few weeks, "Ms O'Reily is going on her honeymoon and it'll let people get used to you and you can get to know the town," the Postmaster, Lynda Lust said, and handed him off to the flustering bride to be. Guadalupe O'Reily was neither Latin or Irish as far as Les could tell. She was a brunette in her forties, and best described as pleasantly plump if you were going to be kind.
"We're going to Denver and then down to Santa Fe! My Donald, has it all booked and we're staying in a Spa!" Lester cringed at her shrill enthusiasm for her projected honeymoon as they walked the route around town, and she showed him how to bag the mail. Les caught a bit of cleavage as she bent to open the bag for him to drop in the mail they had collected from the bank building. A slight stirring at the base of his stomach reminded him that he hadn't had sex recently and should be looking for a woman.
When they got to the Acme Building a surprising number, to Lester's mind, of long narrow boxes, being sent all over the country, were tied with a red ribbon and had a Card attached addressed to "Lupe". Lupe took the card and opened it, smiling and rocking side to side as she read it. She blushed and closed the card, untying the elaborate ribbon and dropping the long narrow boxes into the bag. "It's from a friend of mine, here in the building." She giggled tucking the card and ribbon in her back pocket while Lester finished collecting the mail. They made the circuit in about an hour and took the mail back to be sorted, that took less time than picking it up, so Lynda told Lupe to, "Go take your happiness to home, Honey," and patted her on the cheek. Lupe left without a word, but was laughing as she fished her keys out of her pants and skipped out the back door of the small post office.
Les had met a lot of people and most were real nice, though it was hard to shut them up sometimes, but Lester could always hold up some mail, smile, tip his cap and be on his way. By the end of the first three weeks he had met most of the 'eligible' matrons in town it seemed. A few had more than obviously flirted with him, but he hadn't really fancied any of them. He did enjoy making small talk instead of Tac reports though, and nobody had shot at him in weeks! Lester loved this job. In his rounds, Les had found a cheap apartment above a bakery. He figured the warmth from the ovens would make up for the cold of the coming winter.
After he had been in town a few weeks, he decided he ought to look for a permanent place to live. He was still covering the Downtown route, because Lupe Regan, nee O'Reily, had called in her additional three weeks of leave time. She and Donald were going to Arizona before they came home.
There were several Real Estate Agencies on his route, Lester had seen a few places that he might be able to afford, but hadn't really looked since he had been in town.
He paused at the window display outside one of agencies and checked out the properties for sale. He realized that there were few that didn't also have large acreage attached and he didn't need a "house, barns, equestrian arena and a pool, on 500 acres in the heart of the Valley" The price was marked down two hundred thousand, but that was just a few percent of the asking price.
He glanced at the pictures and passed on by. The next agency was more in his league, still the rural attachment to land was evident, and most small places were ten to twenty acres. He took the mail into the agency and the attractive woman behind the desk smiled and got up to meet him.
"I'll bet you're Mr. Murphy, we haven't met. May I see our mail?"
Lester handed her several envelopes and a few magazines.
She tossed the magazines on her desk, fanned the envelopes, and laughed, "It's here Louise," she called out.
"Hallelujah," a voice from a rear office shouted.
A large woman in a blue suit, came rushing out of her office and took the letter, opened it and laughed. Louise, apparently, ran back into her office and came back out with a large purse. "I'm off to the Court House; I'll be at Bennies after." Louise left the door open as she left.
"I'm sorry I didn't catch your name." Lester said and removed his hat.
She smiled, "Sorry but Louise was waiting for a deed to transfer so she could collect the fee. I'm Maureen Sorbados."
"Lester Murphy, pleased to meet you Mrs. Sorbados."
