A new cache named Rock Hard was published a few days ago.  No one had found the cache yet.  It was unusual because of all the FTF chasers in the area.  The cache page said the cache was five feet high and was the size of a large pill.  I told the wife we could try to find it but there had to be something wrong and we might just fail like all the others who had searched for it.

Wife:  “It’s a nice day and my work is caught up, so let’s go for it.”

When we arrived at the cache site we could see others had searched the area thoroughly.  After searching for a few minutes we stopped to discuss where we thought the little bugger might be and came to the same conclusion.  We figured it was no longer up but may have fallen down.  The wife used her cane and I found a stick then we tried to find it in the matted down grass.  We hadn’t looked long before I searched by the trunk of the tree and what do you know there it was on the ground under some sticks.  We high-fived each other and I wrote our name in the log book. 

Here is where the festivities ended.  The wife saw a group approaching us.  I looked up to see the X-4 gang.  The leader yelled to us.

Leader:  “Did you find it?”

The tone in his voice was not congratulatory but rather menacing.  Well, I thought the only reasonable thing to do was to put the cache back and yell to him, no we hadn’t.  My thinking was we could make our getaway while they were looking.  Of course my plan was immediately quashed by the wife yelling back excitedly.

Wife:  “Yes we did!”

I don’t know if you ever met this band of hooligans X-4 hangs with, but let me tell you; if you happen to snatch a FTF from them it would be best if you were a long ways away when they found out.  The gang consists of X-4, JBExpress (X-4’s mom and dad) and their two sidekicks Sparkles 7 and Sprinkles 4 (X-4‘s two daughters, I think the numbers are their ages).  The last two are the meanest of the bunch.  They would grab a FTF from your hands quicker than snow melts in Arizona on a hot day in July.

Sparkles  7:  “You were planning on sharing that FTF with us weren’t you?”

Me:  “Share?  Oh my yes, certainly.  It seems only fair.”

Wife:  “Just a second.  I’m not sharing the FTF with them, we found it while they weren’t here.”

I’m not sure what proper etiquette is for sharing FTFs but I could see that even though I was willing to be flexible the wife would not be moved.

Sprinkles 4:  “I think you ought to listen to your husband lady.”

Wife:  “Dear, give them one of our path tags.”

I obeyed.

After the gang had a chance to examine the tag they looked at the wife who was holding her cane in a very threatening manner.  She resembled a Samurai preparing for confrontation.

Immediately the whole gang retreated to at least a two-cane distance.

Leader:  “We don’t want no trouble lady.  We’ll just sign the log and be on our way.”

Wife:  “And.”

Leader:  “What?  Oh, congrats on the FTF.”

Wife:  “Why, thank you.”

In the car and racing away to another cache…

Wife:  “Wasn’t that fun?”

If you can't see the pathtag image clicky here or go to http://pathtags.com, click Site Nav then Search Gallery and look for tag 12658.

By nanncyan

The wife and I have been geocaching about three years now.  We enjoy the exercise and great scenery.  We are surprised by the parks that we never knew exsisted right in our own back yard.  We live in Comstock Park Michigan.  We are fortunate to have thousands of caches within a short drive.  We are recently retired and plan to cache around the country.  Who knows maybe we will be in Washington next July for GW VIII!  Our goal is to keep geocaching fun.  I hope our stories relate that to others.

Marvin Altena

Comments(1):

1. Re: The X-4 gang

   Love it!! Funny story, and thanks for sharing it!!

   Monday, September 06, 2010 Mary