The Cat Easton Legend

When the crowd seemed settled, the MC took the stage and said they were going to begin with the auction. Ten Ladies volunteers would be auctioned first then ten men who had volunteered would be auctioned. They would alternate groups of ten until every volunteer had been auctioned.

The minimum bid was 50 dollars, there was no maximum bid, the other rule was that spouses could not bid on each other. I personally thought that it was a silly rule because most spouses would bid high to show how much they valued the spouse being auctioned.

The numbers of the first ten women were called and they went to the stage. Most were very attractive. The auctioneer called the first lady to the front and gave her name, age and home town. Then he presented a brief statement about the person. While he talked the girl paraded back and forth on the front of the stage. The first girl was a 23 year old cheerleader from the University of Georgia and was quite pretty. She received a lot of wolf whistles and cheers.

The biding was brisk and she went for $1950. The second lady was older at 36 and was a school teacher with 2 children. She was very, very, attractive and was cheered loudly. She went for $1050. The bidding went on like that until all the ladies were auctioned.

The first group of men were auctioned next, they were from all walks of life including Doctors, attorneys, pilots and police officers. They were all attractive. In the second group of ladies was a Movie starlet I had never heard of although the girls both said they had heard of her. She was a 'hottie' and brought $2250.

In the next group of men was a huge black man. He was wearing tight khaki pants that showed a large bulge extending a foot down his thigh, and a very tight muscle shirt. His body was magnificent. Angie and Cat whispered together about him as he walked back and forth. The auctioneer introduced him as the number one defensive end in the NFL and the MVP for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Pete Walker. The women in the crowd whistled and clapped for him. Our two wives were among those who rose and cheered for him. Angie waved her paddle and bid $1000. The bidding climbed rapidly and Cat surprised me by bidding $2500. He brought $3200. I told Catherine I was sorry she didn't win. She looked at me and blushed, "If I had really wanted him I would have gotten him. I wanted to jack the bidding up." I grinned and patted her thigh. She smiled and put her little hand over mine and held it in place.

Angie and Catherine were called for the next group, as were Andy and I in the men's group. We made our way to the stage and separated into female and male groups. Andy whispered in my ear for me to bid on Angie until he told me to stop. I nodded and told him to do the same with Cat. Angie was the first up and the whistling, clapping, and yelling where very loud. She was gorgeous as she walked back and forth. The bidding started at $3000 and rapidly went to $5000 and stopped. The auctioneer asked if there were any further bids, "Yes, I bid $6000.

The auctioneer said, "I have $6000, do I hear $7000?. . . "I see the bid for $7000 , do I hear $8000?"

He turned and looked at me, I held up my paddle and nodded.

"I have $8000, do I hear $9000?" He pointed to someone in the audience and said, "I have $9000, do I hear $10,000?" Everyone looked at me, I raised my paddle, "I bid $20,000."

The auctioneer grinned at me, "I now have a bid of $20,000, do I hear another bid? NO! I have $20,000, going once, Going twice. Last chance!. . sold to paddle Number 107 for 20,000.

"Now ladies and gentlemen, I have the great honor of presenting for auction a wonderful and glamorous woman. This woman is familiar to us all for her brave and magnificent battle with the monstrous world record fish she caught recently. Let's have a big welcome for this generous lady who interrupted her HONEYMOON to be here with us tonight. The beautiful Catherine 'Cat' Easton, now Mrs. Scott Murphy."

The audience surged to it's feet and a chant of "Cat! Cat! Cat! Cat! Cat!...We love Cat. We love Cat. We love Cat." The chant went on for several minutes. Cat raised her hands and smiled her wonderful smile. She blew kisses to the crowd then turned and blew a kiss to me. She raised her hands again and made a downward motion with her hands.

The crowd quieted and she said, "Thank you, thank you so much for your warm welcome. As this kind gentleman mentioned, this is the second night of my honeymoon, I want to get this over with pretty soon, I can hardly wait to get my hands on my sweet, handsome, husband again. Please help me!" There was silence as the crowd sat down. Cat grinned and gave them a thumbs up and blew them another kiss.

The announcer grinned, "Now that is what I call crowd control. OK, let's get back to the task at hand, getting 'Cat' back to her wedding bed."

The crowd screamed one loud "YES!"

The auctioneer said, May I have a generous bid for a dance with Cat? Yes, I see a paddle, what is your bid?"

The black football player rose and said, "I bid $100,000 for a dance with this lady." There was a gasp from the crowd.

The announcer looked over the crowd, "I have a $100,000 bid, do I hear another bid." There was dead silence. Everyone looked around.

Then someone yelled, "Look behind you." I glanced at Andy, his hand was held high with his paddle waving.

"I have a bidder behind me folks. What is your bid , Sir?"

Andy smiled, I bid $200,000 for a dance with Cat Murphy."

"$300,000!" Was the yell from the black man."

Andy yelled,"400,000!"

"Half a million, I bid half a million for a dance with Miss Cat."

Andy looked at me. I smiled and shook my head saying, "No, that is a fair price for a dance with her."

The auction went on for another hour before it was time for the high bidders to collect their dances.

The big black man who had won the dance with Cat jumped up on the stage and took the microphone from the auctioneer. "Folks, please give me your attention. I want to give my dance with 'Cat' to her husband Scott Murphy. All of you know about 'Cat', I would like to tell you about Mr. Scott Murphy.

"I know he doesn't recognize me, but I was in high school with him for one year, I was a freshman and he was a senior. He was kind to me, a little black kid! He helped me with math problems almost every day on the school bus. He was friendly with everyone. He was my hero.

"He went on to the Naval Academy. Then he became a Seal. He left the Navy several years ago with a chest full of medals for valor and heroism under fire and three Purple Hearts. I have a friend who served with Mr. Scott. My friend says Scott is the toughest man he has ever seen. My friend says Scott could whip my black ass in two seconds with one hand behind his back. I believe my buddy. Scott is his hero too. He was still my hero. Several years ago he bought and is restoring an old plantation on Lake George. I have about fifty relatives who live there and work for him. All of them worship him and his new bride. He is still my hero. Thank you Mr. Scott and Mrs. Cat."

He started the clapping. Cat walked up to him and kissed his cheek. He grinned, "I'll never wash my face again." She grabbed my hand and led me to the band leader and whispered something to him. Then she pulled me back to the auctioneer and whispered in his ear. He grinned and announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, please give me a second then we will get on with the dancing. Please be seated. "Cat' Easton Murphy and her husband would like the first dance alone on the dance floor. Thank you."

Cat pulled me out on the floor and the music started, it was a dreamy waltz. We swung gracefully around the floor. We did some twirls and deep dips and then I was surprised when the music changed to a fast jitterbug number. We got it on! Cat was laughing and really enjoying herself. The clapping was deafening when we finished. We took a bow and kissed for a long time. I signaled Pete Walker to come out on the dance floor. I bowed with a big flourish and presented Cat to him. They danced one number then he grinned and presented her to me. We shook hands and Cat and I returned to our table. We stayed until Angie and Andy finished with their dance, then slipped out the door and boarded the helicopter for our ride home.

We were almost home when Cat pointed to Angie and Andy, "Hey! Why didn't you tell me Scotty was a hero?"

Andy smiled, "Honey, are you surprised?"

Cat looked at me and smiled, "No, not a bit, he has been my hero since the first second I met him and he will always be my knight in shining armor."

As usual, her smile melted my heart.

Finis