The boys in town knew better than to test fate and come calling on Roseanne without making sure that her old man was not still around. Over the years he had only become more ornery and suspicious, and vented his anger toward whomever dared to come calling without hearing them out. With growing trepidation, Cornell decided to take a chance and come calling, and as luck would have it the cantankerous bastard had ridden into town with a neighbor to claim his package from the combined post office and general store and they experienced some trouble with the old truck’s starter. He grew increasingly irate with the neighbor and belittled him relentlessly until the neighbor had had enough and once the starter was repaired he left the old buzzard behind. This left him with no option but to phone his daughter and demand she drive to town to pick him up even though she was only fifteen and had limited driving experience. The phone rang several times, hung up, and rang again and again, but there was no answer as Roseanne experienced her first big thrill with the opportune Cornell, Johnny-on-the-spot like a fox in the chicken coop savoring his supper whilst the farmer is away.
V
