Here you go: (warning - I have not edited it for errors so be patient if it is not perfect).
Chapter 12 - Towing
the Type Three
“What’s going on here?” I looked at my grandparent’s driveway,
crowded with a big flat trailer attached to Mr. Vaughn’s big pick up.
Mom got a funny smile. “Good question. Let’s find out.” She squeezed her new car, a small Chevy SUV
(a “cute ute,” she calls it) around the truck and parked by the back door.
I had been working on the farm
Saturday’s and Grandpa was paying me! I
now had a savings account with quite a few dollars in it. At least it seemed like a lot to me.
It was the Saturday before my birthday.
Hannah came bounding out of the
kitchen with a big grin on her face. “Hi
Wil!”
Even as dense as I could be, I
could tell she was hiding something. Her
smile was way too big. “What’s up?” I
asked.
“You’ll see,” was all she said as
she led me into the kitchen.
“What’s up?” I asked Grandpa.
He was at the kitchen table
drinking coffee with Ken Vaughn. “We
have a big clean up job for you today, Ken and I are gonna help this time.”
“Hey, don’t forget me, I get to
help too!” Hannah put her hands on her hips.
“I already filled the air tank.”
“Huh.” My confused look must have been amusing
because Mr. Vaughn and Grandpa chuckled.
“You get the first part of your
birthday gift today. We planned on doing
this next weekend, but Ken wasn’t available then and we need his trailer.”
A light bulb started to light in my
head. Could it be? Is Grandpa giving
me the old car in the woods?
Grandpa confirmed my thoughts,
“There’s a 1972 VW Squareback sitting in the woods with your name on it.”
Hannah came up close to my ear. “I told you that you need to start working on
it for our first date when we’re 16.”
My mind was a whirl. Part of me was a little weirded out by Hannah’s
whispered comment (just a little). Part
of me was excited about getting the car.
Part of me was overwhelmed by the thought of getting that pile of rust
running. If nothing else, I could sit in
it if we brought it to our house. “Where
are we putting it?”
“You have that little garage below
your mom’s room.” Grandpa explained.
“Your mom and I discussed it. She
doesn’t mind you keeping it in there as long as you actually work on it.”
“Are you kidding me? I’ll work on it every day!”
“You can start by putting some air
in the tires and see if they’ll hold air while we get the trailer in
position. Make sure you put a rock or a
log in front of it in case it wants to roll away on you.”
Hannah and I headed to the woods
carrying the air tank with us. Grandpa
had already cleared the berry bushes from around the car. I put a little air at a time in each
tire. I had a feeling that the tank did
not have enough air to completely fill all the tires. It turned out that there was just enough to
get each tire about three quarters full.
That was enough.
I sat in the driver’s seat and put
my foot on the brake pedal. It went
straight to the floor.
I rolled down the window as Grandpa
approached. “I don’t think the brakes
work.”
“Pull the parking brake and see if
it works.”
I did, and it stopped halfway up. “I think it works.”
“Let’s give it a try. Do you want me in the driver’s seat or are
you feeling brave?”
I was feeling bold. “I’ll do it.”
“Okay, I’ll pull the log. Are you ready?”
“Yep.”
“Wait!” Hannah climbed in the passenger side. “Now we’re ready.” She had a huge smile.
Grandpa pulled the log from in
front of the front left wheel. The car
didn’t budge. I slowly released the
parking brake. The car still didn’t
move. Grandpa started pushing. It moved an inch but settled back into place
when he stopped. Then he started rocking
it – pushing, releasing, pushing, releasing.
Something popped. The car started
rolling. Grandpa walked alongside
directing me where to turn and when to start pulling on the handbrake.
I
can handle this. I was practically
giddy. I’m actually driving. I felt a confidence and sense of responsibility
like never before. A glance at Hannah told me that she was
enjoying the ride too.
POP! The brake handle popped
straight up! I slammed both feet on the
brake pedal. Nothing happened. I pumped the pedal over and over. The car started speeding up.
“The brake broke!” I yelled to Grandpa.
He yelled something back, but we
were quickly rolling away from him. I
was close to panicking. The trailer was
straight ahead. If I hit it at this
speed, I would go right over the trailer and into the truck. There was a little bit of space to the left,
so I aimed that way. At least the steering works.
“Watch it.” Hannah’s voice was unsteady.
“I am watching it!” I managed to miss the trailer and the truck
but scraped along a pine tree. I had to
duck to the right to avoid getting whacked by the branches. They scraped the car, but they also slowed us
down some.
Now the pond was straight
ahead. I yanked the wheel to the
left. I could feel the wheels sliding on
the wet grass. In the space of a couple
seconds, in my mind I saw me pulling Hannah from the sinking car and us
swimming to shore. God help me! I screamed in
my head. We continued to slide towards
water, the car leaning dangerously to the right.
Don't worry, Wil doesn't die. If you want to know how the chapter ends, I'll make you a deal. Share this page with two friends and I'll send you the end. The more people who want to hear about Wil and his adventures, the sooner they can be published!
No comments:
Post a Comment