This series is a
little bit biographical and a little bit imaginary about my dad and a road trip
he took in the summer of 1946, when he turned fifteen. He and a friend
hitchhiked from Loring Park to Duluth, into Canada and back again. He was gone
from home for a month. I was astonished and fascinated by the tale. So, I added
some speculation about things I've always wondered about and this series is the
result. To read earlier SHORT LONG JOURNEY NORTH clips, click on the label to
the right, scroll down to and click OLDER ENTRIES seven or eight times. The
FIRST entry is on the bottom of the last page.
Arne Volz sighed then said, “We only got twenty-something
miles ‘til we pull into Duluth.” He scowled at them. “Then I’m gonna have to
ask you boys to get out and back on your own. No matter what Ed says, it ain’t
safe for me – and I’m thinking it’s not safe for you.”
Tommy Hastings started to breathe again, but his heart was
still pounding in his chest.
Freddie Merrill said, “What do you mean, it’s not safe for
you? They aren’t trying to kill you! They’re trying to kill Tommy!”
Arne shrugged, “True, but they seen my license plates now
and they know you boys is with me. So they’ll go through town, looking for my
truck. When they find it, you won’t be here and they won’t have no idea where
you gone.”
Freddie sagged back in the seat, sighing; but Tommy said,
“What if they kill you?”
“No chance of that,” he said, laughing. “Ed would smack
every one of ‘em upside the head before they could get close enough to aim a
gun at me. It’s what she did in the Pacific.”
“She did?” Freddie asked.
“Sure. She never told you about…”
Tommy laid back while Arne spun tall tales and Freddie
swallowed them, hook, line, and sinker. Him? He was still worried – and worried
more about the Finnish Socialists and the Mobsters finding Mom and Dad. Why’d
he ever leave home? He couldn’t even remember. Maybe it was because Dad was so
mean to him? They didn’t seem to care? How could they care, he thought
miserably, when they had people after them because they had a secret picture? A
picture that could get them both killed. The bigger question was why they kept
it – why didn’t mom throw it away?
Staring out the window of the truck as they rumbled through
the night, he found he’d fallen asleep when he banged his head on the window as
the truck ground to a stop. “This is where I gotta leave you boys off.”
“It’s dark out still!” said Freddie, yawning a moment later.
“Probably better that way,” said Arne.
“How’s that?”
“The Socialists and the Mobsters aren’t gonna see you get
out,” he paused, “If you hurry up before they get here.” Both boys looked
through the back window.
Tommy popped the door open and slithered to the ground. “Hey,
the Land-O-Lakes is at the top of this hill!”
“Your buddy told me it would be a good idea to stop here.
See you, boys. Good luck to ya.”
Freddie slammed the door and Tommy hissed at him, “You want
to wake up the whole city?”
He looked ashamed and said, “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
Tommy jerked his chin up toward the creamery and said, “Let’s
go before they catch up to us.” They started up the hill just as a truck came
roaring down the street. The boys scrambled into the shadows and knelt down on
the concrete sideway in the dark. The truck slowed down…
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