A Catered Fourth of July Read Free Page B

was.”
    â€œHarsh,” Libby commented.
    â€œNo. Tough love. Although, it might be worth it to see him in breeches.”
    Both sisters stopped talking as they contemplated the spectacle that was taking place on the hill. Nine adult wing-wearing women were dancing around in a circle, twirling as they went.
    â€œI don’t think I could do that,” Libby observed.
    â€œThe wing part?” Bernie asked.
    â€œThe twirling part.”
    â€œSo you could do the wing part?” Bernie asked her sister.
    â€œHa-ha.”
    â€œHow about if the wings were black?”
    Libby grimaced. “Even if they were purple.”
    â€œYou know, I didn’t think Wiccans wore wings in their ceremonies. I thought they ran around naked in the forest under the full moon.”
    â€œObviously, not these. Maybe they’re inspired by Tinker Bell.” Libby changed the subject. “Given the temperature, I think the deviled eggs should go on a bed of ice when we serve them.”
    â€œDefinitely. Giving everyone food poisoning would not be a good thing,” Bernie noted.
    â€œNot if we want to stay in business.”
    The sisters spent the next fifteen minutes setting up the tables, putting tablecloths on them, and laying out the decorations and condiments. While they worked, the redcoats and the colonists began their skirmish. Three of the redcoats snatched growlers of beer away from the colonists. The colonists grabbed them back. Something, Bernie presumed it was water with caramel coloring, sloshed over the sides.
    â€œYou have no business doing this,” one of the colonists (vacuum cleaner salesman Tony Gerard) declaimed.
    â€œI have every reason,” Marvin replied.
    â€œState it,” another colonist (Samuel Cotton, a third grade teacher) demanded.
    Marvin drew himself up to his full height and sucked in his stomach. “I do it by the authority the Crown invests in me.”
    â€œThou shalt not trample on our liberties,” Elise Montague, the only female colonist in the reenactment, proclaimed.
    â€œThou speakest treason,” Marvin roared.
    Libby smiled. “He’s not bad.”
    â€œNot at all.” Bernie watched a fourth colonist (Sanford Aiken, plumbing supply store owner), who was holding Hilda under his arm, tell Marvin to “bugger off.”
    Jack Devlin stepped up to Marvin’s side. “For your misdeeds, we take the pig in the name of the Crown,” Devlin pronounced.
    â€œBy God, you shall not,” Aiken thundered.
    â€œWe shall, sir.” Marvin tried to lift his arms up in a menacing gesture, but his jacket was so tight he couldn’t.
    â€œYou did say the jacket was a tad snug,” Bernie noted.
    â€œI’m afraid we might have to cut him out of it,” Libby replied as David Nancy, redcoat and industrial designer, stepped up and pretended to wrest the wriggling Hilda away from her owner.
    â€œGive me that sow,” Nancy ordered.
    â€œI shall not, good sir,” the putative owner replied.
    The two men began circling each other while Marvin made suitably menacing noises. Libby clapped. Marvin stopped and took a small bow before reentering the action.
    At that point, Aiken put Hilda on the ground. “Go. Seek safety.”
    Hilda sat down.
    Aiken lifted up his arm and pointed to a willow tree twenty feet away. “Moveth.”
    Hilda lay down.
    It was an impasse.
    After a minute, Elise Montague lifted her up and put her under the tree Aiken had indicated.
    â€œThou art a traitor to the king,” Marvin said once Hilda had left the area. “And thou shall be punished accordingly.”
    Libby clapped again and Marvin paused to take another bow.
    â€œHe’s really enjoying this,” Bernie said.
    Libby shook her head. “Who would have thought he was such a ham?”
    â€œIt’s comforting to know that if Marvin’s father’s business fails maybe Marvin can find an acting job. Not