Freddie Merrill and Tommy Hastings sat up straight, rubbing bits of sleep
out of their eyes as Edwina Olds,
Lieutenant, WACS (ret.) downshifted the empty logging truck as they rolled into
the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Just short of downtown, she signaled
and pulled over to the side of the road and ground to a stop, the heavy tires
crunching on the gravel shoulder. They sat in silence while the sun continued
to rise on their left until all three faces were set forward, side-lit by the
summer light.
Finally Ed said, “It’s time
to say good-bye, boys. It’s been a fine trip and the two of youse have made an
otherwise boring drive one of uncommon adventure.”
Freddie turned to look at her
across Tommy and said, “This was swell, Lieutenant Olds. Really swell.” He
unlocked the door and slid out and down to the ground.
Tommy couldn’t move. He felt
something he’d never really felt before: he felt like he was with someone who
could have been his family. Not like he didn’t have one – Mom was his mom. June
was way better now that Earl was courting her. But no one else. Dad was just
Dad, old enough to be grandpaw to most boys Tommy knew. That was it. Except for
his grandfather who’d been a US Deputy Marshall in the Dakota Territories. He
opened his mouth to say all that then closed. She’d never understand. Instead,
he slid across the seat and started over the edge. His feet found the running
board, he stood on it and stuck out his hand. Ed took it gravely, shook and
said, “See ya, kid.”
Tommy wasn’t sure it was
allowed, but he snapped off his best salute.
Ed grinned and snapped him a
REAL one. Tommy jumped to the ground, slammed the door and stepped back as Ed
gunned the engine. A moment later, the truck was over a hill and gone. Neither
one said a thing as the morning sun warmed their backs. Finally Tommy said, “Thinkin’
maybe it’s time to go home.” He looked at Freddy. His best friend was browner
that he’d been when they’d started. He definitely had more freckles – as if the
ones he had weren’t enough!
Freddie looked toward Thunder
Bay and the Pigeon River then back to Tommy. “Yeah. Ain’t nothing here we ain’t
seen before.”
Tommy nodded, saying, “Yeah.
I ain’t never been to a foreign country before, but all in all, I’m thinkin’ I’d
rather go to Hawaii instead of Canada.”
Freddie nodded and said, “It
is kinda boring here.” They scurried across the road and started walking back
to the United States. After a mile or so, Freddie said, “I hope that same guy
is at the border, otherwise how we gonna get back in?”
Tommy shrugged, “We’ll think
of something.”
They walked for a long time
and signs of civilization started to fade. Pine and aspen grew closer and
closer to the road. “We lost?” Freddie asked a while later. It was utterly
quiet except for bird cries, the harsh hum of bugs and things and the
occasional noise in the woods.
The sun had risen high in the
sky and it was approaching noon when they both heard a familiar, stuttering
roar of an engine. They looked at each other, then scrambled uphill and into
the woods, dropping down on their bellies just as a
A few minutes later the
rattletrap truck, the Anoka Witch in the cab and someone they couldn’t see
driving, and a load of men standing in the back, roared on past them.
Tommy said, “What if they
find Ed?”
Freddie looked at him, “I’d
feel as sorry for them as I felt for the Nazis when Captain America first
clobbered them.”
Tommy nodded, “I got that
one, too.”
“No you don’t, I got it.”
Tommy looked at Freddie,
grinned and said, “I think she’ll be just fine. That woman don’t need no help
from us.”
Freddie said, “But if we went
back, maybe she’d think we were like…you know…heroes or something.”
Tommy shook his head, slugged
Freddie, stood up and said, “Let’s get going. We got a long, long way to walk.”
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