Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:49 — 13.2MB)
On the way to another ranching job, Brit stops in at a small town. Things seem to be running down, although the jail is in good shape with new improvements. Brit learns of the recent changeover in sheriffs. Young sheriff Billy has shown a lot of self motivation, and has made the new improvements at his own expense.
Sheriff Billy and Brit Poncet enjoy lunch together, and a heart to heart chat. Billy Riddle shares his story, and that he’s looking for his long lost father. The hope is that dad and son could have a happy reunion, and start a life together, despite any rifts that may have gone on before. Gunshots break the air as a known outlaw, Ben Reed is spotted.
Brit provides the voiceover commentary to describe the confrontation between Billy and Ben. Both men are determined, cool headed, and not opposed to resorting to gunplay. Tension hangs in the air, but when Billy tells his name, the crusty outlaw drops his gunbelt and goes along peaceably. I’ll bet I know why, but the answer awaits right after the commercial.
Brit gives a brief verbal description of life in the small town on a Sunday afternoon, then pops into the jail on an errand. Billy is set for taking his notorious prisoner on the trail for the penitentiary, but Billy admits to Brit what is already known. Ben is Billy’s dad, and he can’t bring himself to take him in. Then Billy plans to just keep riding, because he couldn’t face the town after his shameful action.
There’s a plot twist. Despite Billy’s reasons for thinking so, Ben adamantly claims that he isn’t Billy’s dad, and spins a tale of how he found the locket that Billy thinks seals the deal on his identity. The story, though hard for Billy to hear, keeps him on the straight and narrow and he is able to do his job. More plot twists. Brit has some secrets of his own that only the listening audience is privvy to, so I’ll keep it under my hat, and let you discover the ending for yourself.
