And so, the rest of the day went well—especially for Bess and Charlie who had been volunteering at Emmy Lou Custer’s Nimble Thimble Quilt Shop. They had sold all their tickets.
After thanking Emmy Lou and everyone else who happened to be in the shop, they left with the cash box tucked safely away in a leather bag which Charlie was carrying. The duplicate raffle tickets had been placed carefully in a waterproof folder which Bess had put in her quilted bag.
As they walked to The Meets N’ Treats coffee shop four doors away where they were to wait for the shuttle, they were discussing how successful the quilt raffle had been when all of a sudden, a figure rushed up behind Charlie, grabbed the leather case and shoved him to the ground. The assailant then took off down the street. It happened so fast that Bessie just stood there in shock. She then bent down to see if Charlie was alright.
Suddenly, she began yelling, “Help! Help!”
Customers, at the quilt shop as well as several pedestrians gathered to see what had happened.
In the meantime, Loretta Jimson, who had just parked her car further down the street past The Birder’s Nest noticed a small crowd in front of the quilt shop and saw a figure running towards her hugging a leather bag.
Quickly assessing the situation, Loretta threw her purse onto the snow bank beside her, bent down, picked up a rounded chunk of icy snow and, as the assailant passed her, she pitched it squarely at the thief’s back. The velocity of that pitch was so great, it knocked the assailant off his feet causing him to lose his grip on the leather bag. As the bag slid off to the edge of the snow bank, the assailant staggered to his feet only to be pulled down by two men. A third man who had also been chasing the assailant came up to Loretta who was just recovering her handbag.
“Wow! That was some pitch, Ma’am. “Where did you learn to throw like that?”
“Four Corners County and Provincial Women’s Baseball Championship team 1969,” Loretta gasped, recovering her breath. “I was the pitcher.”
Hearing her gasping, the man asked, “Are you sure you’re Ok?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Just a little out of practice,” she joked.
The man shook his head in wonderment. “I’d say that pitch was one for the books. We could sure use your expertise on our team!”
At that moment, an R.C.M.P. vehicle, blue and red lights flashing, pulled up to the curb. Two officers stepped out and while one headed over to where the two men stood guarding the assailant, the other strode over to get a statement from Loretta.
