NOTES: A little bit of fun inspired by The Old Farmers Almanac website for July 13. Reference supplied at the end of the story. Full Buck Moon is a missing scene from Sins of the Past


JD and Josiah sat on the veranda in front of the saloon. Normally they would be sitting in companionable silence or discussing town business or life in general; but today was not a normal day. Vin Tanner had been arrested by a US Marshall and was on his way to Tascosa to be tried and hung for a murder he did not commit. Chris Larabee had gone after them to bring Vin back. Meanwhile, there was nothing they could do until Chris returned, but wait.

JD picked up a dog-eared copy of the Farmer's Almanac that someone had left on the table and began thumbing through it. He stopped when he reached the page that contained the weather prediction for the day and the phases of the moon.

"Hey, Josiah, listen to this," he said as he began reading aloud. "July 13th. Says here there's going to be a full moon tonight."

"Is that right?" Josiah set his beer mug down on the table and turned toward JD. "You know the Indians have a name for each of the full moons. They kept track of the seasons by naming the full moons that occurred within each month. January is the Full Wolf Moon on account of the hungry wolf packs that howled outside the villages on cold winter nights."

JD looked up in astonishment. "Really? What's the July full moon called?" he asked.

Josiah tipped his head sideways as he thought a moment. There was a twinkle of amusement in his deep-set gray eyes when he finally answered.

"The Full Buck Moon."

JD's mouth dropped open. "You're making that up."

Josiah shook his head. "Nope. The Indians called it that because July is the month that young buck deer start growing their antlers. It's also called the Full Thunder Moon.

JD laughed, "That sounds like Buck too. Full of thunder."

For the past several months, JD had experienced quite a bit of Buck's thunder. Besides his reputation with the ladies, Wilmington had a temper that was usually aimed at him, as well as a talent for telling tall tales.

Josiah continued, "And the early settlers called it the Full Hay Moon."

"Nobody knows his way around a haystack better 'n Buck Wilmington," JD snorted.

He looked up from his reading as Josiah tapped the table. The former preacher nodded his head toward a pretty, young blonde woman in a flowered hat and calico dress moving along the boardwalk on the other side of the street.

Earlier that day, Miss Lucy had wandered into the saloon and announced that Buck was the father of her unborn child. Visibly shaken, Buck had laughed it off denying any part of Lucy's condition. Since then, the remaining seven had watched in amusement as the persistent young lady pursued the ladies' man all over town. The reluctant groom had finally found refuge in the men's bathhouse, normally off limits to the women of the town. That didn't appear to deter Miss Lucy. Both men watched with interest as she moved in on her quarry.

Lucy paused a moment with her hand on the doorknob, then disappeared inside and they waited for all hell to break loose.

They didn't have to wait long.

After a few minutes, the bathhouse door burst open. Buck emerged wearing nothing but his hat, boots and a smile. He edged along the front wall of the bathhouse, then took off running toward the boarding house. Suddenly, the towel he clutched about his waist slipped. He snatched his hat off his head and used it to cover himself, but not before he had given all on the street a good view of his assets, and elicited outraged squeals from several of the town's gentlewomen.

JD and Josiah watched as Buck disappeared around the corner with Lucy trailing along behind as the townspeople looked on in shock, the women clucking in outrage like a small flock of chickens.

JD turned to Josiah, his mouth hanging open in amazement; "Did we just see that?"

Josiah regarded him a moment, his wide mouth twitching at the corners.

"Yep. Looks like that Full Buck Moon is rising a might early tonight."

Reference: The Old Farmer's Almanac Website - The Full Buck Moon July is normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, for the reason that thunderstorms are most frequent during this time. Another name for this month's Moon was the Full Hay Moon.