A Potpourri of Fictional Short Stories

By Bernard Busovne

Both heroes and villains have lived among us for centuries. In an entertaining collection of short stories, Bernard Busovne offers a fictional glimpse into history through the eyes of diverse characters who teach through their experiences that life is often more unpredictable than not.

Forty-five minutes into the first battle at Bull Run, Edmund Personage is hit by a rebel musket ball that ends his military and firefighting careers. As his unhappiness leads him to a new beginning as an apple farmer in California, he has no idea that a gift of several camels will eventually change everything again. It is 1846 as twenty-two-year-old Simeon Thatcher attempts to survive the perils along the Oregon Trail. When he spots something shiny just off the trail, Simon is about to realize that friends sometimes appear in the most unexpected ways. Hans Schuckers is an eighteenth century clockmaker who lacks skills as a businessman. When his failure to pay his debts lands him in jail, something mysterious begins happening to all the clocks in his town.

A Potpourri of Fictional Short Stories shares imaginative tales that lead others back in time as a variety of personalities attempt to tackle lifes greatest challenges.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Nov 10, 2016
• ISBN: 9781480839007

Bernard Busovne

A navy veteran of World War II, Bernard Busovne is retired from Penn State University, where he served as director of graduate admissions. Prior to his tenure at Penn State, he was catalog librarian at St. Francis College, Loretto, Pennsylvania. In addition, he has taught Latin at Moorestown and Burlington High Schools in New Jersey. He lives in Niceville, Florida, with his wife of sixty-two years, Madeline Setzer Busovne.

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Copyright © 2016 Bernard Busovne.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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ISBN: 978-1-4808-3899-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-3900-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016917623

Archway Publishing rev. date: 11/10/2016

Contents

The Apple Butter Caravan

Bambino

Black Tom Island

Canary

Conspiracy

Dedo

Honeybees

Mitri

Oregon

Posse

Symbiotic

The Journey

Ticktock

About the Author

This literary endeavor is

dedicated to my wife, Madeline Setzer Busovne and my daughter, Michele Ann Newton, who have supported my efforts with love and understanding. Also, I would like to thank Larry Landry for his help in preparing this manuscript for publication. I could not have done it with out you, Larry. You are the best.

The Apple Butter Caravan

T he Civil War ended on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House in Virginia with the surrender of Robert E. Lee. But for Edmund Personage, the Civil War began and ended on July 21, 1861, at a place named Bull Run. This battle, officially known as First Manassas, First Bull Run, would lead one to think there was a subsequent battle at this location. Of course, that would be a correct assumption.

Forty-five minutes into the battle, Edmund Personage took a rebel musket ball in his left thigh that ended his military and firefighting careers. Big Ed Personage was a member of the First Fire Zouaves; this unit was composed of New York City firefighters. The regiment was noted for its distinctive uniforms of red firemen’s shirts (the perfect color for battle), gray jackets, and baggy gray trousers tucked into boots. The regiment was less than three months old when it encountered the Confederate Army at Bull Run. By the next day, July 22, the devastated Union forces had retreated to Washington. Big Ed was discharged from military service.

With a Purple Heart and gimpy leg, he returned to New York City to continue his life with his wife, Helen, and their three children, Arlington, Edmund Jr., and Florence. The prospect of a less adventurous career than firefighting did not appeal to Big Ed. Spending his remaining days at some sedentary job seemed like a prison sentence.

For some years, Ed had considered moving to the West, but not with much intent. Now that his situation had changed so drastically, he began to consider westward movement more seriously. After discussing the matter with his family, who were receptive to the idea, he made the decision to migrate. Not only would the family journey west, but they would be joined by Big Ed’s older widowed brother, Richard, making the Personage migration an even half dozen.

The next decision was how to get there. An overland coast-to-coast journey of that distance was not possible for Big Ed. The transcontinental railroad would not come about until seven years into the future. At that time, the narrowest point where he could cross the continent with celerity and ease was the Isthmus of Panama, a unique route established in 1848. The origin was New York, and the terminus was Astoria, Oregon. The first section would involve a sea journey from New York City to Chagres, Panama, a port on the Atlantic side of the isthmus. From that point, the passengers took a riverboat to Gorgona. From Gorgona, they took a short, treacherous mule trip over the mountains to the Pacific Coast, where a ship was available to take the travelers north to California and Oregon.

By 1862, San Francisco was the most popular place to end the journey, so it was there that the Personage sextet was deposited, bag and baggage, on a pleasant February day. With San Francisco as their temporary base, Big Ed and his brother, Richard, embarked on an exploratory trip around California to size up the state. When they arrived in San Bernardino County, Big Ed knew he had found his new home. As a Civil War veteran, he was entitled to a land patent. He selected a 160-acre homestead located on the east side of the Mojave River. Having been raised on an apple orchard in Upstate New York, Ed decided to pursue apple farming, never realizing that one day, this area would be named Apple Valley, California.

The high desert, at an elevation of almost three thousand feet, proved to be a place of good fortune for the Personage family. Everyone thrived in this environment. Richard and Arlington, who opted to live in Los Angeles, were frequent visitors. Extra hands were always welcome to help with the harvests. Big Ed had four acres of apples, irrigated by the Mojave River. He devoted some of the acreage to dry farming, cultivating crops dependent upon rain. The livestock consisted of three horses, two cows, and some chickens.

The Personage Apple Farm’s primary market was San Bernardino, twenty-five miles distant. The bumper crops of McIntosh, Rome, and Delicious apples yielded tasty by-products, such as cider, applesauce, and apple butter. The apple butter, a recipe inherited from Grandmother Seitzinger, proved to be the most popular item. The biggest issue that confronted the Personage Apple Farm was a problem indigenous to every business: marketing.

On a scorching hot day in August 1866, P. J. Fretwell, an entrepreneur from nearby Victorville, came riding up to the Personage farm with three smelly camels in tow. P. J. and Big Ed were friends, although friendship was not the motive for this visit. Fretwell wanted to unload the three army surplus camels, for which he had paid the handsome price of $30.31 each. P. J. had been unsuccessful in selling them, so the visit to Big Ed was a desperation stop.

P. J. had a plan of action. He knew that Big Ed would not be receptive to buying the camels without a little subterfuge, so he asked Big Ed to take the unwanted camels out to the pasture to shoot and bury them. Big Ed declared it would be a sin to destroy such healthy, robust animals. P. J. had anticipated and hoped for this reaction. P. J. lamented, What alternative do I have? No one wanted these poor, forlorn creatures. After some dickering, Big Ed became the not-so-proud owner of three bargain-priced dromedaries. Big Ed put his $3.33 camels out to pasture, having no idea what he would do with these critters.

Actually, these animals had an interesting history. In 1855, the US Congress approved a plan to purchase camels for the US Army. The instigator of this proposal was Mississippi Senator Jefferson Davis, who would be remembered not as a senator from Mississippi but as president of the Confederate States of America.

Someone once defined a camel as a horse designed by a committee. Well, the committee did a rather good job. These animals can carry seven hundred pounds, travel thirty miles a day, and abstain from food and water for a week. They come in two styles: the one-humped dromedary and the two-humped Bactrian camel. The dromedary, which is found in the Middle East, is best suited for riding, while the Asian or Bactrian camel is better for transporting loads.

The first shipment of thirty-three dromedaries from Egypt arrived in Indianola, Texas, on April 29, 1856. Another shipment of forty-one came later in the year. Sorry to say, this noble experiment was doomed to failure. The horse soldiers had a natural antipathy to these fine animals. Although camels are strong and adaptable and can endure long marches on little sustenance, they do have some unfavorable characteristics. They have a tendency to spit and regurgitate on unsuspecting handlers and to kick and bite without provocation. In fact, some of the soldiers stated that the camels held grudges against them.

Temperamental though they could be, the thing that endeared the camels the least to their soldier handlers was their smell. A blind man could identify a camel by its