Ben Reach

The Curse

October 21, 2021 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments

Ben and Sam had lived long and seen a lot. Ben practiced law and Sam medicine. But more than that they collaborated on trying to help solve families’ problems. Not a week passed that one or both of the curmudgeons were not consulted by a desperate parent or grandparent about a child or grandchild on the verge of ruining his or her life. The crises varied from substance addiction to academic failure to depression leading to attempted (or successful ) suicide, often in combination. And the cause was mostly affluenza: a lack of aspiration to make a worthwhile life brought on by lack of need to struggle. Mixed in were crumbling or crumbled parental marriages also linked to affluenza. Read more

Sweet Revenge

September 27, 2021 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments

Ben and Sam were savoring Friday afternoon drams of The Macallan in Ben’s library-conference room when the subject of back-hunters came up, and they recalled an incident. The curmudgeons agreed that the most dastardly of outdoorsmen were back-hunters, those unprincipled souls who, having hunted as a guest a host’s favorite covert, would alone or with others (but not the host) sneak back to hunt the honey hole. Read more

Advice on a Dog Sale Deal

August 30, 2021 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments

Ben Reach religiously followed a policy, preached to him by his father, not to get involved in law suits involving dogs. But ironically, he was asked for advice on bird dog matters constantly. This was because Ben had many friends in the bird dog world and was trusted. He had judged trials over many years and never shown favoritism. Nor did he ever decline to try to help a bird dog professional trainer-handler in distress, and there was never a shortage of them. The profession was by its nature highly risky. Read more

A Job Earned

August 5, 2021 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments

Ben Reach had always loved the prairie trials. When younger he had judged one most years. He was going to one this year as a gallery guest of Fred Dane, owner of Old Grove Plantation below Thomasville. They would fly in Dane’s private jet to an airstrip near Columbus, North Dakota, owned by an energy exploration company that one of Dane’s private investment partnerships controlled. Read more

What’s Fair

July 21, 2021 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments

Molly Bain was one of Ben’s favorite people. Widow of Sam Bain, also a favorite, Molly had soldiered on after Sam’s death twenty years ago. Molly had three daughters and eight grandchildren and doted on and worried about them all constantly. She professed no favorites and Ben knew she was sincere in saying it. They were certainly not equal in how they treated Molly. But Molly and Ben knew that was the universal fate of parents and grandparents. Read more

Found Love

June 29, 2021 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments

Ben Reach was not surprised by the call from Ann Cameron. “Ben, I need some personal advice. When could I see you?” “How about four this afternoon?” Ben said. “See you then” Ann said, and hung up. Read more

The Confession (fiction)

June 23, 2021 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments

It had happened in 1965. Forty-Five were entered, forty-one pointers and four setters. After eight had run the first two days, the National Bird Dog Championship was called off for too few birds. This despite the fact Highway Man for Bill Rayl had scored three finds and hunted to the Amesian Standard. The judges’ decision had many followers of the sport furious. Read more

Rivals

June 11, 2021 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments

They had been fierce rivals twenty years. Too fierce some said. The rivalry came to a head in the National Amateur Quail Championship run that year on the King Ranch. They had been top amateur handlers for years now, competing all over the country in regional championships with all-age dogs they bred and trained themselves. Like others in the top echelon, the semi-pros Ben Reach called them, they were serious as a heart attack about winning, so much so that many competitors dreaded being braced with them. They were generally good sportsmen, unless your dog was a threat to win; then sportsmanship went out the window, and you best be on the lookout, or so rumor had it. Read more

The Qualification of Reb

March 29, 2021 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments

For Billy Kell, it seemed the worst possible day of his life. It did not turn out that way. This is the story. It was 2004. Billy was an up-and-coming bird dog pro, age twenty-eight, a trainer-handler of pointing dogs for field trial competition. He’d grown up the son of a quail plantation manager near Thomasville, Georgia, who earlier had been the plantation’s dog trainer and hunt manager. Read more

The Transition ~ Part Two

March 13, 2021 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments

Allen Ames left Ben’s office at 5, Ben having told him he’d ponder how best to approach a deal with Ed Tate to take over his string. Doc arrived for the Curmudgeons’ ritual end-of-week shared libation. Ben explained Allen’s dream as they sipped their first drams of The Macallan. “What do you suppose Ed Tate has got to live on in retirement?” Sam asked. Read more