Gator Bowl Read Free Page A

always buy you new chickens, Norman. What’s the big deal?”
    Norman Lowder was a man of medium height and weight with thick brown hair that looked as though it had never seen a comb. He was wearing worn bib overalls without a shirt (or maybe anything else) under them. His face and clothes were covered in mud. “You can’t replace these, Saul. I’ve been grooming them for the county fair. They were a special breed—had to send all the way to Nebraska to get them. Biggest eggs in the county.”
    Uncle Saul shrugged. “So we’ll send to Nebraska to get more.”
    â€œYou just don’t get it, do you? You can’t let that
thing
wander around free eating whatever it wants to. Suppose I had something that could eat that gator. How would you feel then?”
    â€œTo start with, Alabaster is a rare reptile, not a
thing
. And there isn’t anything that could eat her short of an anaconda, or a bigger gator. So quit flapping your lips, and let’s go up to the feed and seed and order more chickens.”
    I peeked carefully out the window as a police car rolled slowly into the yard. “I think this time might be more serious.”
    A short man in a uniform—he always reminded me of Barney Fife from
The
Andy Griffith Show
—got out of the old white Chevy marked
Farmville Police
. He hitched up his tan pants. “What’s going on out here, gents? Norman, put that gun down.”
    â€œThat’s the first sensible thing I’ve heard anyone say,” Ollie remarked.
    â€œThanks, Billy.” Uncle Saul nodded toward the police officer as he started down the stairs.
    â€œDon’t thank me yet,” Officer Billy Smith cautioned. “This isn’t the first time we’ve had this problem, Saul. I’m guessing Alabaster ate a few more chickens.”
    Norman went off again on how the chickens weren’t ordinary and that he wanted to press charges against Saul and Alabaster. “Take them into custody, Billy. I’m tired of playing this game.”
    Alabaster, by this time, was at Saul’s feet. The alligator followed him around like a puppy, except for when it went off and ate chickens. She hissed and growled at Norman and the officer. Both men took a step back.
    â€œI’m not taking an alligator into custody, Norman,” Officer Smith told him. “And we don’t arrest people for the stupid things their pets do, or I’d have to arrest my wife for her cats tearing up the house all the time.”
    Everyone knew that his wife, Marlene, had twelve cats living with them. Billy was always complaining about them to everyone—except his wife.
    â€œBut this can’t continue, Saul. You have to find some way to keep Alabaster out of Norman’s chicken coop. You might need to tie her up, or build some kind of enclosure she can’t get out of.”
    Norman wasn’t satisfied with that. “That gator is
not
a pet. It’s a wild animal. I’m calling the game warden if you won’t man up and do something about this, Billy. I’ll see you in court, Saul.”
    Ollie and I stepped out on the porch with Uncle Saul as Norman stalked out of the yard. Officer Smith shrugged his shoulders as he approached. “You got to do something else, Saul. This isn’t working. She’s bigger now, and she eats more.”
    â€œI know,” Uncle Saul admitted, his face downcast. “I’m gonna have to lock her up. She’s not gonna like it.”
    â€œAt least she doesn’t have a shotgun and a big mouth,” Billy said. “I think Norman is serious this time. I hope you’re ready.”
    Officer Smith nodded to Ollie and me before he went back to his car.
    â€œNow what?” Ollie asked as the old Chevy chugged out of the yard.
    â€œNow life goes on.” Uncle Saul grinned. “I think you all came up to work on the Airstream, right? Let’s take a look at