Suddenly, almost from one day to the next, “things started happening” in Diggertown, Oklahoma. Before then, it seemed fairly easy for Deputy Clint Mankiller to keep peace, protect the innocent and handle the level of crime in this rural hamlet in southern Oklahoma. It didn’t take long for Diggertown to become known throughout the State as “Weird Central.”

 Stories “too incredible to be true,” about Constable Clint Mankiller, his deputy, Chad GhostWolf, Jim Bob and Bubba Johnson, Grandfather GhostWolf, Cassie Snodgrass, Doc Jones, Sheriff Jim Sanderson, Judge Perkins and many more Diggertown, Oklahoma folks in the first of a series of Big Foot-Sasquatch tall tales peppered with lots of Bigfoot belly-laughs and just as much fun.

 “Tuklo Nashoba has the rare gift of knowing how to write a strong and engaging story in simple, humorous words… He also has a vivid imagination that moves gently like a good Oklahoma wind, going where it needs to go, bringing fresh air to where it is needed.”

            -- Joe Hector Beelart, Jr.

Author of The Great Sasquatch Conspiracy

 “Tuklo Nashoba’s characters are all larger than life, but believable…Sometimes you see the serious side, sometimes you roll with laughter. My hope for you is that you enjoy this book as much as I did.”

-- Billye McCarty, Retired teacher and editor for D.L. Tanner, author of Track of the Thunderbird and Track of the Bigfoot (soon to be released)

  Dandelion Books is proud to introduce the works of Tuklo Nashoba, a gifted writer and extraordinary human being. “Let a little adventure and some laughter enter your stressful world!” writes Nashoba.

 About the Author:

 Tuklo Nashoba has worn many hats in his life. Forensic investigator, criminal investigator, manhunter and professional tracker, commercial artist. Currently the hat he wears is as a budding author. He gives his heartfelt thanks to Carol Adler and her staff for giving him the chance to spin his yarns in print.

 Excerpt: 

Preface

Once in a great while there comes along a tall tale that touches not only a person’s funny bone; it moves something within their being. I wrote this tall tale to make people laugh, think, and to give them a vacation from their personal worries. I will try in all future endeavors of the literary kind to do the same things which I have attempted in this book.

 

I want to write so children, grandparents, mothers and fathers can sit and enjoy what they are digesting. Too often in the world of literature a book only appeals
to a certain type of reader. Though I am inexperienced in the world of literature, for years I have entertained many with my tall tales. I finally decided to approach writing books.

 

I sincerely thank Carol Adler for giving me a chance to broadcast the things which have remained bottled up inside me via this venue, literature. My greatest desire in writing my books is not fame, money, nor the things which these bring. My greatest desire is for you, the reader, to kick back, relax, and let me take you on a journey. I want the journey to be high adventure. I want you to experience the same thrill that I had at a young age. I would sit in the movie theater and
watch as my heroes, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and John Wayne held my undivided attention.

 

So please, take time to have a vacation from your worries. Let a little adventure and some laughter enter your stressful world. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my book.
                                                                            
Most humbly yours,
                                                                            
Tuklo Nashoba
  

Chapter One

One Drunk Horse

    

Diggertown, Oklahoma, population 1,785, is located just a mile north of the river which separates Oklahoma and Texas. Hills, verdant valleys, really hot summers and mild winters are the rule. Deer all over the place, and yes, there are still moonshiners in those hills.

On this particular hot September afternoon, Clint Mankiller and his deputy, Chad GhostWolf, were in a heated game of "horseshoes" with some local "shiners." The outcome would decide if charges were to be preferred for operating an illegal still. Clint was pitching the deciding shoe and was having a tough go of it. The local old timers in the "shine" business, one Jim Bob Johnson, and his partner, Alex Goodson, were the opposition. Alex had pitched a leaner, which meant that his shoe was leaning against the stake. Sweat rolled down Clint's forehead onto his nose. This was going to be a difficult toss. To win, Clint had to knock the shoe from its position and ring the stake as well.

Clint's particular talent in life was that his left hand and right eye lined up perfectly. He had perfect hand to eye coordination. Back came his left hand and then forward, back again, and forward again.

"Yew gonna throw that blasted thang, or jist stand there and look purty?" drawled Jim Bob. One might ask why Clint and Chad did not just arrest the men and be done with it. This would be a fair enough question except for one not so small detail. Clint was married to Jim Bob's daughter, Nadene.

Then the impossible happened! Clint's shoe soared through the air and landed perfectly. The only problem lay in the fact that Clint's shoe not only made a ringer; it knocked the other shoe into a ringer position as well.  Jim Bob and Alex immediately began to slap their thighs and belly laugh. Though Clint made a ringer, technically, Jim Bob and Alex won the match.

"Okay boy, I’ll move my still and yew won't find it this time!" exclaimed Jim Bob as he and Alex got into their truck and began to drive away.

"Dang it Clint, they is no way that coulda happened!" exclaimed Chad. "I know it, Chad, problem is that stuff like this just happens to me on a regular basis."  Chad and Clint got into the pickup truck they used as a combination patrol vehicle and general run-around, and drove back to the Constable's Office at Diggertown.

When they arrived at the office and were getting seated, the dispatcher walked over to Clint. "Clint, the mayor wants to know why yore daddy-in-law ain't locked up?"

"It's complicated, Sandy, really complicated," was all Clint replied.

Chad brought in two large glasses of iced tea and set them down on Clint's desk. "Ya know, Clint, I been thinkin' on what you said. Stuff just does happen to you, don't it?"

Yes, strange events seemed to follow Clint like the proverbial cloud of doom, made popular in the comics that one read in the newspapers. Three days ago, Clint's horse, Soba, out in the orchard ate some apples that had fallen to the ground and begun to ferment. Soba got drunk, slipped his halter and decided to see what the big city of Diggertown had to offer for entertainment.

Soba's first stop was the school yard during recess. Being a gentleman, Soba promptly entered the school yard and offered the children free rides. This would not have been any big deal, except he also wanted to see what the inside of that big brick building looked like. Just prior to entering the building, four little girls had climbed up the monkey-bars and onto his back. He figured this was just fine. He liked children.

Soba and his crew went into the building to have a look at all the wonders the school building contained. The clomp, clomp, clomp of the hooves of the big stud drew the attention of more children who were in detention for various crimes against the school system. Giggles and twitters became a loud cacophony. Soba stopped at a long porcelain drinking trough. One of the children in the hall decided Soba needed a drink of water and went to the restroom to gather some toilet paper to plug the drain. Slowly the child turned all five valves, which enacted the fountains into the open position. Soon, Soba was slurping up cool water from the trough.

Because it was recess, the only teacher in the building was Nanny Wisecough. Nanny heard the commotion and swiftly came down the hall to investigate.

She wasn’t prepared for the sight that greeted her eyes. There in the middle of the hall was this huge Percheron stallion, surrounded by clammering children.

"What in the blue blazes is going on here?" shouted Nanny. Soba's only reply was a large cloud of putrid gas which burst forth from underneath his tail. Children started running in all directions, the girls on his back jumped off, and Nanny ran to the teacher's lounge, gagging.

Never being one to hesitate, Soba left the building and headed toward the business district of Diggertown. Soba's first stop on Main Street was the public laundromat. Women ran shrieking out of the building. Soba took this as his cue to leave as well. His second stop was at the local Quik-E-Mart. He pushed his way through the front doors and headed for the candy aisle. Mr. Peveto was not amused and decided to shoo the big horse back outside with a broom.

Soba just would not tolerate being hit with anything. After receiving two whacks with the broom, Soba did a mule kick with his back legs and barely missed the store owner. Soba's rear hooves connected with the cash register and sent it flying, change and bills erupting all over the place. Cassie Snodgrass had just walked into the store when Soba let fly with the kick.

Cassie Snodgrass would have been known in earlier times as a spinster. Her one great love in life, other than her cats, was horses. This is what saved Clint's stallion from being executed for crimes against the public good. Cassie went to the aisle that had sugar cubes in little pink and white boxes. She gathered some sugar cubes into her hand and coaxed the big horse out of the store. Cassie led the huge stallion to her house and used one of her old halters and a lead rope to tie Soba to a tree. It was really strange to Clint how she could be so kind to his horse and so mean to him when he came to gather Soba for transport back to the farm. "Clint, you’re just lucky nobody got hurt. If you can’t contain your animal, I will see to it that he is made a ward of the town!" exclaimed Cassie.

Clint sat at his desk and pondered on all the strange things that had happened to him in his meager thirty-six years of life. For instance, his deputy, Chad GhostWolf. Chad had been a major league baseball player until his left knee blew out. He had a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard but had never practiced law. His great love in life had been the game which he could no longer play. Clint found him living under a bridge and had taken him home.

Nadene was not amused, but Chad had a natural charm which endeared him to anyone who visited with him for more than five minutes. Clint befriended Chad and, to his amazement, learned that he was not only well educated but had a mind like a steel trap. The minutest detail on a crime scene never escaped his notice. After Chad decided to go ahead and live life rather than hide from it, he became Clint's best friend and trusted deputy.

Due to the position of town constable being an elected one, and due to his being related to nearly every soul in Diggertown, Clint easily won the last three elections for constable. This fact alone made Clint difficult to discipline when the town council decided they needed to make him abide by their wishes. Like so many constables before him, Clint had difficulty dealing with the local politicians, yet somehow, Clint always managed to keep the peace, protect the innocent and keep crime to a level that was unheard of before he took office.

Little did Clint realize that in the days, weeks and months that lay ahead of him, he would have things and events unfold in the hamlet he protected which just defied belief. Diggertown was on the road to becoming known throughout Oklahoma as "Weird Central."