MAIN STREET, WESTLER — There's a bench out front where half the town's news gets traded, and inside there's one grand leaned-back chair, a strop hanging by the mirror, and a back room where metal things clink in a way that makes children's eyes go wide. It smells of soap lather, bay tonic, and just a whiff of somebody's nerves.
Behind the Counter
Mr. Alex Qute — and yes, it's said just like you think, which may be the most inaccurate name in all of Westler. His father held this chair for a generation, and half the town was properly terrified of his tooth-pulling — plenty of folks still remember. Alex took over the shop and the trade both: town barber AND the closest thing Westler's got to a doctor, so he's pulled more teeth than he's trimmed beards. Calm as pond water, even when a swollen-faced customer comes hollering for the pliers — just like his father before him.
In the Chair
- The hot-lather shave — the famous one. Farmers come in looking like haystacks and leave looking like gentlemen.
- Trims, cuts, and beard tidying
- Tooth-pulling — quicker than you fear, so they say
- Splinter removal, ache consulting, and other doctoring odds and ends
Current Special
The harvest tidy-up: a trim and a shave before the cold sets in, with a peppermint for anyone brave in the chair — no matter their age.
On the Notice Board
Ducket Stories on the Counter
Half of Westler would rather suffer than sit in this chair, and Matta was no different. In Apple a Day, a stubborn kinder tooth sends her through every remedy her family can think up – a fork, a thread, a spoonful of fiery oil, even a kick from her horse, Posey – before she finally marches down to Mr. Qute’s shop. What he hands her is not the pliers. It is an apple from Mrs. Adams’s orchard.
Apple a Day$1.98Parts 1 & 2, the whole story