Caesar Rodney Rides Again!by Captain Outrageous
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Title: Caesar Rodney Rides Again!
Warnings: None. It's wouldn't be fun that way.
Jim pulled away from the drive-thru window of the local Wonder Burger and parked in an empty parking space. Passing the change over to Blair, who had bought this magnificent feast, he started to sort through the bag. Blair pocketed most of the change, but was looking at a quarter in his hand. "Hey Jim." Jim looked up. "What?" "Have you seen the new Delaware quarter?" Pulling out his burger, he passed the bag over to Blair. He answered Blair absent-mindedly as he unwrapped the quarter pound of chopped up beef, fat and cholesterol. Death never smelled so good. "Yeah, it's the one with the guy riding a horse." Blair's hands stilled as he shot Jim an offended look. "Jim, it isn't just some guy, it's Caesar Rodney!" Jim nodded and took a big bite out of his burger. Liquefied fat spread out over his taste buds, sending bursts of pure flavor to his brain. He groaned in enjoyment. Being a Sentinel meant mealtime was sooooo enjoyable. He noticed belatedly that Sandburg was awaiting his reply. "Caesar Rodney, huh. Who's Caesar Rodney?" Popping his straw out of its paper wrapping, he speared it into the drink top on the first try. Taking a big mouthful of his soda, he let the carbonated syrup swish in his mouth before swallowing. Definitely what the doctor ordered. Blair sighed, shaking his head. "Caesar Rodney was one of three Delawarean delegates to the Continental Congress. He held more public offices than any other Delawarean before or since. He was a soldier, a judge, the Speaker of Delaware's Assembly, President/Governor of Delaware, a Justice of the state's Supreme Court; He held a whole bunch of local offices and, of course, was the Delegate to the American Continental Congress. They don't really have a portrait of him, but they put him on the quarter anyway." "Fascinating Blair. Pass the fries, will you?" "Sure. You do know why Caesar Rodney is riding a horse, don't you?" Jim paused in the act of scarfing down his fries. "Hmm? Nope. But I bet you do." "Yeah, I do. On July 1-2, 1776 he rode from Delaware to Philadelphia to cast his vote for independence for Delaware, breaking the tie between the other two Delawarean delegates. See, at the time he was a Brigadier General in Delaware's militia and had been called away to put down a loyalist riot. The other two delegates, McKean and Read, were deadlocked on whether Delaware should vote for or against independence. McKean, the pro-independent delegate, wrote Rodney letting him know that on July 2 the congress was going to vote on its independence from the British. McKean knew that Rodney was needed to decide the vote for Delaware and he asked Rodney to ride up to Philadelphia to settle the issue." Jim looked interested, despite the siren's call of deep fried food. "What happened next?" Blair smiled. Jim was hooked. "Rodney rode an agonizing 80 miles on horseback through the summer's heat, an angry thunderstorm and torrential rain. The dirt roads were choked with mud, streams were swollen with the heavy rains and the cobblestone streets of the towns were slippery. Not only did Rodney suffer from a severe facial cancer, which would later prove fatal, he also had asthma. Despite all this, he reached Philadelphia just in time to vote for independence!" "Wow, he sounds like he was an interesting guy." Blair smiled as Jim continued to wolf down his food, savoring the artery choking food. "You do know what kind of horse he's riding, don't you?" Jim paused in his gluttony and looked at the horse on the coin. When he was young he had ridden a lot of different horses, but this one didn't really strike him as being any different from any other horse. "I don't know, a thoroughbred?" Blair smiled as Jim took another long draft of his soda, holding it in his mouth, enjoying the feeling of the bubbles popping. "No, man, it's a quarter horse!" Soda spewed out of his mouth over the steering wheel and his shirt as the full import of what his partner had said sunk in. A quarter horse!! "Blair, you are dead meat. I can't believe that I fell for that. A quarter horse!" Blair handed him a bunch of napkins from the bag. Jim snatched them and started to blot as his clothes. Cursing under his breath, he gave up and cleaned off the steering wheel. "It's true man, it IS a quarter horse." Blair grinned madly as Jim continued to clean up the spilt soda. He knew that there would be some major payback, but it was worth it to see Jim spew his drink after last week's fiasco with the horses. Now all he needed to do was to get to Simon before Jim did.
The End. Curious as to why Blair felt he had to get Jim? Check out Horse Sense. Comments, Criticisms??? Email me at wildeskind@surfree.com. I can take them!!
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