Ben Reach

The Handoff ~ Part III

May 2, 2018 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments

The back-to-back trials at Columbus were drawn together, and as soon as the results were out Bob used Arleigh’s smart phone to email the brace sheets to Mr. Brown and his dog man. Next morning Arleigh got a call telling him they would fly up in Mr. Brown’s private jet to see their Rebel derby run in the first derby stake. He invited them to come on arrival to the camp for a cook out and to see where their derby had been trained. After driving them around the training grounds in Arleigh’s truck they went back to camp for drinks and steaks on the grill. While the three adults talked, drinks in hand, Bob put on at Arleigh’s direction a hoop shooting and dribbling exhibition. In two minutes Mr. Brown had stopped chatting and was mesmerized watching Bob as he sank three pointers one after another from all angles and every few minutes drove the bucket and dunked. When fifteen minutes later Bob took a break, Mr. Brown and his dog man broke into applause. For the rest of the evening most of the conversation was between Mr. Brown and Bob. Read more

The Handoff ~ Part II

May 1, 2018 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments

Arleigh decided on a strategy for the remains of their summer. He would invite other handlers training nearby to come work with them for a day or two. It was a tradition in the game, gave the dogs a chance to hunt new ground, the handlers and help an opportunity to socialize and see how the competition’s prospects were coming along. While he had only been roading Rampaging, which he planned to sell by the end of the prairie trials, he would show the dog to select handlers he figured had an owner willing to pay a good price. He had for sale also the three derby siblings of Rampaging and they were coming along pretty well. They were also teaching Bob about training. Read more

The Handoff ~ Part I

April 30, 2018 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments

Arleigh Gant had campaigned two decades, but this would be his last season. He’d gotten the news from his doctor in June. He’d decided to go to North Dakota in July as usual, but with only one adult dog. That dog would be Rampaging, a first-year, and last season’s Derby of the Year. Arleigh still owned him. He’d told his four dog owners of his decision to quit the circuit but not the reason. He did not want anyone to know of his illness. He’d sent the owners’ dogs to other handlers of their choice. He would take also three coming derbies of his own, siblings of Rampaging from his bitch Hannah, sired like Rampaging by Miller’s White Powder, now banned. Read more

Ben and Sam’s Secret Sideline

April 23, 2018 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments

Ben Reach had a secret, a well-guarded secret. He constantly studied character. His law practice afforded the perfect laboratory for this game. Sam Nixon, MD played it with him. While they largely fished in silence, they made exceptions to discuss men and women who fascinated them. Very rich people particularly fascinated them. Not that they admired them — quite the contrary in most cases. Men and women who used wealth to push others around or drive too harsh bargains infuriated them. There were lots of them in Southwest Georgia. Owners of shooting plantations left them by Robber Baron ancestors tended to be demanding skin flints in their dealings with their help, black and white. They revealed this most amusingly when a new plantation owner dared to hire away a prized butler or cook or dog trainer by offering higher wages. Doing so was a sure way to be black balled in plantation society. Read more

Turkey Season Dilemma (with Epilogue)

April 15, 2018 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments

As soon as the spring burn was done the turkey hunting would begin on Bent Pine Plantation. Usually Amos King welcomed it, but this year it’s approach brought him dread. He sensed it could bring disaster. Amos occupied unique positions on Bent Pine. Hunting wagon driver, or mule skinner, in quail season, turkey caller in turkey season, boat paddler for spring bream fishing, bar tender at cocktail hour whenever any Read more

A Judging Dilemma

March 20, 2018 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments

As had become almost habitual, Ben Reach was a last-minute substitute for a reporter who failed to show. The stake was an end-of-season all-age qualifier being run on an iconic wild bird plantation near Albany. One of the announced judges had also flat rocked, and when on arriving at the plantation, Ben learned who the substitute judge was he almost claimed a health emergency to get out of his assignment. Read more

A Wise Scout

March 16, 2018 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments

Ben Reach lamented the disappearance of black scouts from pointing dog field trials. They were gone for economic reasons, not because of discrimination. Handlers simply could not afford employee-scouts, electing instead out of necessity to trade scouting duties with fellow handlers. It saved payroll and horse expense, but it had cost much of the heart of the game. Now instead of employee-scouts, handlers scouted for one another. It saved payroll Read more

Continuance, Continuance

February 13, 2018 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments

Ben did not take criminal cases to be tried much anymore, but he knew he could not refuse to take this one. Sid Miles was charged with assault. Assault with his fists. His victim and accuser was Frankie Weeks, son of the owner of Burley Oak Plantation, William Weeks. Sid was a Cracker, Frankie and William, Yankee blue bloods. William Weeks was plumb rich, a native of Boston, fourth Weeks Read more

Two Birds With One Hat

February 7, 2018 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments

Monk Baldwin was one of Ben’s favorite people. He was the long-time butler on Mossy Swamp Plantation, and the epitome of a gentleman. Always pleasant, always observant of the needs for help of family and guests and fellow employees at Mossy Swamp, Monk had come to Ben for help more than once when he sensed something needed to be done at Mossy Swamp and that Ben might be able to Read more

Boomerang

February 5, 2018 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments

Pete-Bob Dix called Ben’s law office and got Joanne, whom Ben called PIC (for Person in Charge). He wanted to schedule a meeting with Ben for the children of Albert Chance, whose obituary had appeared today in the Thomasville Times-Enterprise. Albert had owned Murmuring Pines Plantation, having bought it after a “Liquidity Event,” the sale to Amazon of the warehouse company he had developed over a fifty year career. “What Read more