This episode of A View of the Town is brought to you by a pumpkin. It's neither a pump nor a kin. But it has tough outer skin and a soft inside. Just like that one cousin who was never a bride with skin like tanned leather. Pumpkins.
Roasted turkey, oysters on the half shell, baked squash, mashed potatoes, mincemeat pie, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, baked carrots, parsnip fitters, cheese, fruits... This was Mrs. Hornbrook's Thanksgiving meal. I hadn't eaten so well in a long time. It was my first Thanksgiving in Misty Cove and everyone wanted me to spend the day with their families. Especially the ones with single daughters. I personally wanted to spend the day in quiet solitude reading that stack of books that I had ordered from New York, but no such luck.
Although I remember the mean well, I also remember how I had spent three weeks before Thanksgiving. Attending to injuries sustained from, what we now call, "The Great Turkey Round-up of 1920." Not to be confused with "The Great Turkey Debacle of 1921" which involved Richie Williams, or "The Mighty Thanksgiving Feather Storm of 1931." The 1920 escapade involved a wagon from Portland loaded with over twenty turkeys, a stubborn and impatient horse named Cyril ridden by the young and attractive Ms. Latham visiting from Boston, and a wagon driven by Earnest Simpson, Misty Cove's know-it-all.
Twenty miles south of Misty Cove, a man by the name Big Jim Worth owned and operated a poultry farm with chickens and turkeys. He had been raising and suppling the area with poultry for the past thirty years. And in early November he would offer Thanksgiving turkeys. Ebenezer Forthright, a local meat merchant, would send his two sons, Barney and Harvey to Worth's farm to purchase twenty turkeys to sell in his shop. It would be a family affair with all the Forthrights involved. You could pick out your turkey, have it cleaned and dressed, and delivered. Many took him up on this offer.
So, one early November day, Harvey and Barney, the two bachelor sons of Forthright set off for their turkey purchases. All went well. Big Jim even threw in two extra turkeys for free since Forthright was a in-good-standing customer. And so the boys began their journey home. It wasn't until they were two blocks away from their father's shop. Now Mr. Forthright had a plot with a barn where he would pin up the turkeys in order to feed and take care of them. It was not far from the shop, within walking distance.
On this particular day, Misty Cove was lucky to witness the arrival of the young and attractive Ms. Annabelle Latham, actress, singer, and cousin of Mrs. Mathilda Upthank. Ms. Latham had arrived from New York City where she has just finished her role in a play named "Love is the Only Word." A two-bit comedy that she took too seriously with it closing only after three weeks. At least that is what the New York Times reported. (I have a subscription.) Ms. Latham was greeted at the train station by Mr. Upthank with his horse Cyril and carriage. With word that a famous actress visiting, a word that undoubtedly started Mrs. Upthank bragging, two young Misty Cove ladies with acting aspirations waited for her arrival on the three o'clock train. Now to make this story a little shorter, let's just say that Ms. Latham, on a dare, was going to show off her horsemanship. And Cyril was the horse on which she would do that.
Now to make this scenario complete, I have to bring in Earnest Simpson, the man about town who knew more that you do about just about anything. Even I got a lecture on "doctoring" and how to do it better. But on this day, Simpson had been lecturing a couple of young men on the art of sailing, even though it wasn't sailing weather, from the seat of his wagon. He had blustered on for some time. Right in front the gate that led to the Forthright turkey barn.
As the Forthright brothers made there way towards the gate, little did they know that Ms. Latham who on a dare attempted to show off her horsemanship has accidently slapped the stubborn and impatient Cyril one too many times. And Cyril became annoyed with his show-off of a rider and decided that she was no longer welcome and bolted. Right towards the Forthright barn.
Now what happened next is still unclear but remains a topic of conversations at the local cafe. But what we do know is that the horse hitched to the Forthright brothers' wagon was spooked by the fact that Cyril came racing by and skidded to a stop. Ms. Latham, who was admired by the bachelor Forthrights for just a brief moment, was thrown up over Cyril's head, feet first, and landed straddling Simpson's shoulders. Simpson in turn bent over so far and fast that Mr. Latham accidently kicked the two young men in the heads since they didn't have time to run after being trapped by Simpson and his so-called sailing advice. The Forthright's horse reared up causing the wagon to bounce up. Barney and Harvey fell backward crashing into the crates of the turkeys. The turkeys, who had been contently enjoying the wagon ride, became startled as their crates crashed to the ground. They took flight in all directions with feathers flying.
Everyone knows that turkeys can't fly, but they flew. I saw that part with my own eyes. What I saw when I ran up to see what the commotion was was this. Barney and Harvey Forthright laying among now busted empty crates. The two young men who had the luck of being kicked were leaning against the wooden fence, rubbing their chins and heads and trying to stand. Ms. Latham sprawled in a water trough along the other side of the fence after being thrown from Simpson's shoulders. Simpson himself had been knocked silly by at least three flying turkey and was disoriented, arms flailing. I watched as he knocked himself out when he ran right into a telephone pole.
After Forthright announced that the turkey you caught would be turkey you could buy and believe me the word spread quickly, many of the town residents ran amok attempting to catch the turkeys. All the turkeys were of various size and this in turn led to a few fist-fights and arguments with the most famous fist-fight between Mrs. Peacock and Mrs. White. Needless to say, I spent much of my time at the hoosegow and making house calls.
To be honest, I can't recall one Thanksgiving in Misty Cove that wasn't peaceful.... I'm not so sure that I am thankful for that.
This episode of A View of the Town is brought to you by a pumpkin. Their round and orange and make delish pies. Just like that one cousin who is also round and orange and makes delish pies. Pumpkins.
CSM
.jpg)