The Rest of the Story and Another Caption Game Picture

“I can feel infinitely alive curled up on the sofa reading a book.” ― Benedict Cumberbatch

All of you are making my Caption Game so much fun. You had some great captions for the first two pictures, but you outdid yourselves for Sunday’s picture. Yeah, I know I accidentally published it on Saturday, but it was supposed to be Sunday’s post. I was heading out of town for a family vacation and intended to schedule the post to publish on Sunday, but I hit publish instead. Oh well, that just gave you more time to come up with great captions – which you did!

I loved Lisa’s about whether the lady in the picture had Barney Fife’s seat. Donna Jean’s idea of the sheriff carting about the Welcome Wagon lady was fun. Hope’s was great where she suggests somebody got a great deal on the sheriff’s car but that made every trip easier as folks would look in their rearview mirrors, spot a sheriff’s car, and get out of the way. Ann suggested the lady was simply riding along to see what sheriffs did. Actually, I have heard of some writers doing that very thing before they write a book that has sheriffs or law enforcement officers in their stories.

I have a deputy sheriff character, Michael Keane, the main character, in my Hidden Spring mysteries. I should have asked a deputy if I could ride a few hours with him or her, but I didn’t. Instead, I simply imagined a deputy sheriff’s day in my small town of Hidden Springs. I did ask a local deputy for some input about radios and more.

But on to the actual story of my friend, Mary. Back in 2010, Mary and I picked a day and time to meet at the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill that is about forty minutes from my house. My third Shaker book, The Seeker, was published that year.  So, the Shaker village seemed a great place to meet. Mary wanted to talk to me about my Shaker books. As best I remember, she came from Louisville which was well over an hour’s drive for her.

Anyway, I got there at the appointed time. She wasn’t there. I walked around looking at this and that while watching for her. She still didn’t show up. I don’t know if we hadn’t exchanged numbers or if her phone wasn’t working or if there was no signal or if… There could be many ifs and maybes. Whatever the reason, she hadn’t come and I hadn’t heard from her. I began to wonder how long to wait. Perhaps something had come up and she couldn’t come. Perhaps she forgot we were to meet. Again, many possibilities came to mind.

What actually happened did not come to mind, but several of you almost hit on it in your captions.  Lee’s “you won’t believe what I did” was good. Marji’s “the car broke down” was very close to right. Mary’s car didn’t break down, but at the intersection where Mary was turning to head toward Shaker village, she was involved in an auto accident that left her car undrivable. Naturally, she had to wait for a policeman to come write up a report about the accident. She had to get her car out of the road. She and the other driver had to determine if they were injured in the collision. And then, she was stranded, a long way from home.

A small town sheriff is always ready to go beyond the bare mininum of what needs doing in his town. He noted my friend’s dilemma and her worry of not showing up to meet me. He said, hop into his sheriff car and he gave her a ride to Shakertown. That’s what most local people call the Pleasant Hill Shaker Village. I happened to be in the right spot, perhaps where we were to meet, when I saw a police car pull up. That let me snap a picture of my friend as she got out of the car. She laughed when she saw me. That just showed what a great attitude she had. She just had a wreck. She had to try to find a way home. Yet here she was laughing and still ready to tour the Shaker village with me. Despite Mary’s unfortunate accident and unusual way of getting to the village to begin our visit, we had a good time walking around the village and taking in all the Shaker history.

And now you know the rest of the story!

But do you know a great caption for this last picture for this caption game? I can’t wait to read what you will come up with next. Remember, if you leave a comment here before midnight EST on Saturday, October 14, 2023, you will get an entry into the drawing to have a chance to win your pick of one of my autographed books. If you’ve already commented on other photos, you’ll get another entry if you come up with a caption for this one too. I will pick 3 winners and contact them by email on the 15th and announce the winners here on my Sunday post.

What caption do you suggest for the story up top of the girl reading?

All right. Ready, set, go! Let’s hear those best captions, although I don’t know how you’ll match the ones you came up with for my friend and the sheriff’s car.