usVerse: The Unfinished Sentence-Verse # 9

[Tom Russell]

 The Unfinished Sentence-Verse # 9
--Tom Russell

Meanwhile, back at the teddy bear picnic, the last scion of the
Rancherson fortune, Ronald "Hank" Rancherson, squeezed his moth-eaten
teddy bear, like so many of the other small children-and-teddy-bear
couples picnicking on this glorious Sunday morning; they all clapped
their hands and laughed at the tax accountant who had been chosen to
entertain them.

He straightened his tie and cleared his throat, not for the first, and
not for the last time.  "Well, the long and short of it, boys and
girls, is that this woman thought she could claim both the
homesteader's exemption _and_ the standardized exemption, and you
should have seen her face when I told her this was sadly not the way it
works."  He chuckled; the children laughed and clapped some more.

Poor Hank!  This is his last happy moment.  For soon the news will
spread that his father has died.  He stands to inherit the Rancherson
fortune, the Rancherson Secret, and also, the Rancherson enemies.

He will be able to trust no-one.  No-one except his teddy bear, Oswald.

Enjoy this last happy moment, Hank: for within seconds, it will spoilt
by gunfire.

The tax accountant adjusts his tie and clears his throat for what will
prove to be the last time.

"Now, children, here's a funny story about a small business owner who