He practiced like George suggested, touching the pedals. Right was gas, left was brake.
He turned over the ignition. It didn’t sound like he did it right. So he tried again.
Grind.
George tapped the window and Chris wound it down. “What the heck was that sound? Is the car broke?”
“No, you restarted it. The car was already started. Look for light right there.” George pointed to the dash. “That’ll tell you it’s on. Foot on the brake as you move it in gear.”
Chris pushed down and shifted the car. His stomach twitched, he was nervous, really nervous but confident, and he would be super careful.
“Ease off the brake.”
The car inched.
“We’re moving.”
“Good luck.” George backed up.
At first, the car jerked when Chris hit the gas. It was touchy, but he got the feel of it pretty fast.
Jake had been looking out the back window. “He’s in the distance now, still waving.”
“Nice guy.”
“Whew.” Jake heaved out a breath. “You’re rolling. I think you’re going too fast.”
Chris looked at the speedometer. “Says I’m going thirty.”
“Maybe you ought to slow down. Just don’t hit the gas all the time.”
“Good idea,” Chris said.
“You scared?” Jake asked.
“I am!” Tigger yelled from the back.
“Tig, shush, I got this.”
“The baby peed her pants again,” Tigger complained.
“So did you, and we ain’t calling you out, are we?” Chris shook his head. “Kids.”
Jake aimed his voice to the back seat. “Just sit still. We’ll be in Ohio shortly.” He looked at Chris. “We will, right?”
“Negative Nelly. That’s what my pap would call you. Of course we will. Really. George said we’ll have enough gas and will only have to use the little in the trunk.” He shivered.
“And you’re sure you can drive?”
“I’m doing it now, aren’t I? Besides, I drove go carts all the time. And I don’t think they’ll be any wide fast bends with barrels in the middle of the road like on the go cart course. Might actually be easier. Just stay the course, stay on the road. Make it home.” Chris smiled. “Piece of cake.”
Lodi, Ohio
It wasn’t what Lars expected to see when he walked into room 19 of the Lodi Hospital.
Betty Ann, the woman who had been the school nurse at the elementary school, and now was the only nurse at the hospital, told Lars that Baby Doe was doing remarkably. All levels were up, he’d eaten, and Henry had removed the intravenous drip before he left for the night shift.
It seemed a rather quick recovery, Lars thought, for a child so close to death, though stranger things had happened.
He wanted to see the child for himself and headed for his room. He didn’t expect to hear Tom’s voice, but heard him speaking soothingly and softly, and when Lars walked into the room he received the third surprise of the day. Tom was cuddling Doe, reading to him while the child nestled in his arms.
“Well, doesn’t he look well, this morning?” Lars commented, reaching his hand out to the boy.
“He does,” Tom replied. “You know, I came in here to check on him seeing how he is this prize possession of my son in law, and wouldn’t you know it, the boy looked at me and held out his arms as if he has known me his entire life.”
“That’s amazing, Tom.”
“Yeah, and he clung, Lars, he just reached his little arms to me and held on. Well, I couldn’t put him down, I just couldn’t.”
“How long have you been here, Tom?” Lars asked.
“’Bout an hour, maybe more. Not sure.” Tom hitched a breath. “I’m so damn worried about my grandkids, this was a shot of life I needed. I just started reading and he cuddled more. Look at him. When Dust… when Dustin was this age we spent hours like this.” Tom cleared his throat.
“I remember.”
“If it’s all the same to you, Lars, I think I’d like to take this little one with me when he’s ready to leave the hospital. I’ll look after him until Mick decides what to do with him. I can take him with me everywhere. I’ll make sure he eats and drinks.”
“I think that’s a great idea.”
At a single knock on the archway, Ethan stepped into the room. “Hey, guys I just…” He trailed off and stared. “Wow, Doe looks great. I can’t believe that’s the same boy. Wait until Mick sees him.”
“Amazing what a little watering will do,” Lars said. “What’s up?”
“Check this out,” Ethan said. “Cell phones are back.”
Rose was ready and on it.
She was packed and prepped to leave, but as she promised Tom, she’d wait to see if she got a hold of Mick when the phones went up.
Just about out of patience and ready to jump on her bike and go on a wild goose chase, Rose got word and then she looked at her phone.
She decided to give herself one hour to reach Mick and then she’d take off.
On her front porch, phone in hand, Rose dialed Mick. It went immediately to voice mail; she didn’t leave a message. She hung up and tried again. She would do that continuously for one hour. After that, she’d try to reach Mick from the road.
Cambridge, PA
Mick dropped to his knees in defeat the second he stepped into Cambridge. It was a ghost town and he knew the boys weren’t there. Where had he gone wrong? Where had he failed? The entire last leg of his journey was filled with hope of finding the boys. He thought of when they were born, all the Little League games, the times he’d stand up for them when they were in trouble and all the times he took the boys for overnights when Dylan was at the end of her rope.
Not that the boys didn’t drive him nuts. They did. Tigger in his tiny tot body was years beyond his age in intelligence. He was sarcastic and funny and had more love and joy in his small body than a state full of people. Chris was always the antagonist, going against what Mick said, questioning him every step of the way. And Dustin… Dustin was the voice of reason, yelling at his little brother for questioning Mick, then turning right around and doing it himself.
Life would never be right without Dustin. Mick’s heart broke every single time he thought of him.
The last thing he wanted was for anything to happen to Chris or Tigger. Where were they?
Maybe they were hiding in town… maybe. He called out, but received no response. He’d search the town, after a moment of regrouping. It was when he was about to sit and rest that he spotted the memorial wall and all the flyers posted there.
Like a flashing red light, Mick saw his name. He believed he did and, hoping it wasn’t his wishful imagination, Mick raced to the wall. Plastered over a stack of flyers was a note to him from Chris.
They were fine. More than fine. They were on their way home. Mick wasn’t certain how that was; maybe they had run into someone in town. The note screamed relief at him and grabbing it, he pulled it to his chest and collapsed on the ground.
While the search was sort of over, his journey wasn’t. Mick had to head back to Lodi, find a way there. He looked around the small town area and spotted a motorcycle in the open garage of a small gas station.
He fueled it up, but it wouldn’t jump start right away. With a little work, Mick got it running. He strapped his belongings to the bike, and he was ready to ride. Before he did so, he did something else he had done many times on his search, he pulled out his phone.
He pressed the ‘on’ button, waited for the power cycle and the familiar face of Dylan to greet him. She was his wallpaper.