The Monkees: Gold Rush

I'm Gonna Pack Up All My Pain...

Davy and Peter glanced at each other. They didn't know how much they wanted to tell Micky.
"Yeah, what did happen yesterday?" Mike asked.
"You drank too much, Peter and I witness a murder, then we took you to the doctor," Davy said.
Mike spewed coffee everywhere. "You witnessed a murder?" He exclaimed.
Davy shushed him. "They caught the guy who did it," He said. "I suppose they'll be hanging him soon."
"Just as soon as the circuit judge gets here."
Mike turned to see Johnny Meeks. He was sitting with Colorado and Link Wray. Johnny smiled at them. He gestured at Davy and Peter. "You're those two fellows that helped us get here," He said. "Thanks about that."
"You're welcome," Davy said.
"Say, is there a place to buy guitar strings in town?" Johnny asked.
"Yeah, you play?" Micky said.
Johnny nodded. "Had to learn to keep Gene happy. He was a fright back in Virginia," He said. "He used to be the sheriff back there. I was one of his deputies."
"Why'd he come here if he was sheriff there?" Micky asked.
Johnny frowned. "Well, he was told his wife and daughter was dead, and he went sorta crazy, wrecked a saloon. He came here after that cuz he felt ashamed of what happened," He said.
"What a shame," Mike commented.
Johnny nodded. "He's a great guy, but he's had some damn tough luck," He said. "See like now for example, not long ago the guy that they got in prison, his brother stopped in the jail. He was all puffin' about how they had no right to have his brother locked up and all that crud. So when Gene told him otherwise that hound challenged Gene to a gunfight."
"A gunfight?" Aponi said quietly.
"Yeah, and of course Gene refused sayin' he don't slaughter people without a good reason. He say'd that cuz Gene's a trick shot, see. The guy called him chicken and Gene just let it slide cuz he know'd that fightin' him would be a waste of his time, but the scoundrel kept goin' and goin' 'til Gene had to boot him out the door. So that guy just kept makin' fit callin' Gene and the sheriff some things that aren't fit to be said in mixed company," Johnny said. When he said 'mixed company' he dipped his hat to Aponi politely. "The guy promised to be by every day 'til the circuit judge shows up. That might be as long as a month."
"Johnny..." Colorado said slowly.
"Yeah."
"What was the point of that?"
"Jus showin' how much Gene has to deal with," Johnny said.
Colorado rolled his eyes. "You're a better guitar picker than a talker," He said.
Johnny laughed. "I'm so lost without a string," He said.
Davy's food had come sometime while Johnny had been talking. He had already finished his plate and was finishing Aponi's plate as well. Peter was nibbling his toast quietly. His head was still throbbing from the night before. Both Peter and Mike were having regrets about the amount of drinking they did. Peter finished his coffee.
"I suppose I have to go to the saloon now," Peter said.
"Peter, I had a thought. We should probably buy a house or something. We can't just stay in the hotel all the time," Davy said.
Peter thought for a moment. "I don't think we have enough money for a house," He said.
"We don't, but I agree with Davy. The costs of staying in the hotel is gonna end up too much," Mike said. "Of course getting us all a home, would be too much too..."
"Why don't we buy some land then build houses on it then divide the land later?" Peter asked.
"Well, it isn't a bad idea," Mike said. "The only problem is, what if we argue when it comes to that?"
"Well, I think the only person that's got a problem is Peter. He only has ten dollars," Davy said.
"That's no problem," Mike said. "Peter deserves part of the gold we've got. We wouldn't have found any gold if he hadn't fed us before we got any money."
Peter smiled.
"I can help pay for the land," Micky said.
The three other boys looked over at him.
"See, I've got a pretty good amount of money saved up, and I do sorta need to buy some land," Micky said. "I was thinking of growing some crops and maybe raising some animals."
"How much money do you have saved up?" Mike asked.
"About five hundred dollars," Micky said.
Mike looked over at Davy. "We have about a thousand dollars," He said.
Micky thought for a moment. "I think with fifteen hundred dollars you can buy somewhere near a thousand acres," he said, "and if there are four acres in a mile that'll be a ranch of two hundred fifty miles."
Davy stared. "That's a lot of land..." He said.
Micky nodded. "If we were to get it just outside of town then it would be more expensive, but it would be easier to transport goods," He said.
"Is there land for sale around here?" Davy asked.
"Yeah, this rancher, I can't think of his name right now, he's trying to sell," Micky said. "He doesn't have quite a thousand acres, but he's got a lot," He said.
"We aught to go talk to him later," Mike said.
Davy and Peter nodded. Aponi looked at the four boys. They looked excited. She was happy for them, but she really wasn't sure what would happen to her. She would probably go back to the tribe she was living with. They had been kind enough to take her in after they heard what happened to her tribe. Her tale of woe was one shared by many members of that tribe.
"Is something wrong?" Peter asked Aponi.
She looked up at him. "No..." She said slowly.
"What are you thinking about?" Peter asked.
Aponi shrugged. "I was thinking about what I would do when my leg is healed," She said.
Peter smiled at her. "I hope I'll still see you," He said.
Aponi smiled a weak smile back at him. If she went back to the tribe then she probably wouldn't ever see Peter again. She wasn't sure if she would be alright with that. He had been so kind to her. Aponi looked down at the tablecloth. She started to feel very sad.

(I need to stay on subject, and I might need to start slowing down these updates. I starting to have trouble keeping up with them. I'll try to keep them up as long as I can.
Well, peace and love ~ Adde Away!)