Scandal Rocks Littleton

"Well I'll be, "said Chet Hawkins, talking over a steaming bowl of Mom's Tuesday special," We'll I'll be," he reiterated.

"Yep," replied George," obviously relishing the opportunity to be the one to break the news, "he's a 7th generation descendant of General Street."

"A seventh generation descendant," Chet replied with astonishment, as they both looked out the window at the weathered and tarnished statue of General Erasmus Street, the beloved town hero, staunchly standing in the midst of town square on Main Street in Littleton.

A sense of relief washed over the two men, as the tumultuous scandal, which had rocked Littleton for more than 6 months, was finally at an end.

"You know, "Chet added, really getting into this now, "when he came out here, with that swank city car and proceeded to make ogle eyes at Betsy Pritchard, I never would have given it any chance of ending like this."

Everyone knew who "he" was, the city slicker who had come out to Littleton to buy up all the businesses on Main Street, as an investment, and take over the town. And everyone knew Betsy, the beautiful daughter of Matt and Mary Pritchard, the owners of Mom and Pop's Drugstore on Main Street.

"Why the Pritchards were the very ones to have put a stop to this, and yet here he was, picking up their darling daughter Betsy, and taking her out to fancy restaurants and shows. Everyone knew he didn't care a whit for her, he was using their daughter, for his own ends."

"I talked to Matt about this last March," George responded." Matt, I said, you've got to do something. If you don't put your foot down, that wheeler and dealer is gonna' take over Littleton, and in the end, he'll put every one of us out of business. You've got to talk to her, and tell her to have nothing more to do with that smooth talking big shot. And you know what he told me?"

'She's head over heels for the guy, He's taken her to shows, and dances and restaurants, and buying her gifts, and we just can't get a word in edgewise. We just have to tell ourselves that she's a big girl now and can take care of herself.'"

"And that sad look of resignation, in his eyes. That's when I knew things were really getting out of hand. And it wasn't two weeks later that Slick bought up the Littleton Locksmith Company from the Hamiltons. 'Joe,' I told him, 'Your family's had that locksmith company for 4 generations, how could you sell it to that money wielding invader?'

He replied to me, matter of factly, 'Terry and I can have a comfortable retirement with the money he's paying us for the store.'"

"But what about, little Sammy your boy, Joe, what will be left for him."

Sammy's not so little, any more, he's going off to the University next year and he wants to be Doctor. He doesn't want to work in the locksmith business.

"And after that, it was the town moving company, the town flower shop, the town hardware store, and the Littleton Furniture Outlet." At that point," I'll be honest; I began to think about selling Main Street Bakery, if he had asked me.

"Is that so," replied Chet," evincing astonishment." It had gone that far." He quickly changed the line of conversation. "So how exactly did they learn about his relation to the General?"

"Well, the Pritchards finally hired a private investigator to look into the matter. He went to the slicker's city, and apparently looked into every corner of his life. He's the one who discovered it."

"I'll bet Mayor Street was surprised, being as his family has been the only direct descendants of the General, for many generations.

"Oh yes. At first he didn't believe it. When Matt called him to break the news, he told him flat out, it couldn't be, must be a mistake. But he got over it though. Finally he even invited him over to City Hall for a chat. And I think he even had 'em out to his house. And the big news is that Matt and Mary have finally given their consent to their daughter to marry him."

"Well if that don't beat all? Imagine that, the General's descendant turned city slicker marryin' Matt and Mary's daughter. We'll things really have turned around, haven't they."

"Yes they have," replied George."

And so the scandal of Littleton, which had shaken the town to its roots, finally came to an end, and peace descended once more on the small rural community. And if you look close at the old weathered statue of General Street, it seems to be wearing a countenance that's a lot more peaceful than it was a few months earlier.