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a new classic by Edward Summer |
ony,
Ginger, and Fred sat in the flight lounge. Their legs dangled over the
edges of the orange plastic chairs. Tony's father was parking the car.
Because of the rain they were late getting to the terminal, and they were
late checking in. But it didn't matter because the storm had delayed their
flight.
"Maybe he won't find a parking space," Tony mumbled. "Then he'll have to take us home."
"Yeah, right. Fat chance," Ginger mumbled back.
Fred was depressed. He refused to talk. He just sat and kicked at the large aluminum ashtray next to his seat.
"Sorry it took so long," Tony's father said as he trotted across the room. He led the three reluctant children to the security checkpoint. There was a long line of people waiting to go through the x-ray and metal detector.
"Don't worry, kids. The plane was delayed, so we have enough time. Another twenty minutes at least. Tie your shoelaces, Fred."
Silently, Fred tied his shoelaces. The line began to move. Ginger groaned and went through the metal detector. Then Fred. Nothing happened. But no sooner had Tony stepped under the arch, then the buzzer went off.
"Over here, please," an attendant said to Tony. Tony grinned at Ginger. "Empty your pockets please." The attendant held out a small basket. Tony emptied the left pocket of his jeans slowly, one item at a time. First, a Swiss army knife, then a bent wire puzzle, four paper clips, six pennies, a dime, two quarters and a piece of Kleenex. In his right pocket were four more quarters, six nickels, a get-the-ball-into-the-clown's-mouth puzzle, three crumpled foil gum wrappers, and a squished Tootsie Roll. Tony beamed at Ginger and took his time. The left rear pocket revealed only a blue-checked bandanna, but the right held more coins which he laid carefully into the basket one at a time making neat little stacks.
"Hurry
up, Tony," said his father. "It's getting late."
Tony reached the bottom of the last pocket and frowned. All he could find were two or three wads of blue lint.
"Walk through the gate again, please," said the attendant.
Tony did, and, to his dismay, the buzzer didn't go off again. So the three children were hustled along to the boarding gate, through a doorway and out onto the landing field.
It was a small airport with short landing strips. They used the kind of stairs that were driven to the door of the plane instead of a tunnel attached to the waiting room.
"It's amazing," Douglas observed when they stepped outside, "the terrible weather that planes can fly in nowadays. I remember waiting for hours until the sky cleared before we could take off. But radar and computers put an end to all that!"
"Great," Tony said. Twenty years ago, he thought, we would be home helping Teefr instead of flying around in thunderstorms.
A technician finished adjusting the moveable steps at the plane. Passengers
started to board.
"Hello," said a flight attendant as the kids reached the plane, "My name is Judy."
"This is Tony and Ginger and Fred," Tony's father said.
"Hi." Judy shook hands with each of them.
"Hullo," Tony muttered.
"Hi," said Ginger.
Fred said nothing.
"Ready to come aboard?" Judy asked. Tony just sighed.
"Have a good flight, children. I'll see you in about ten days, Tony. Your mother and I will call you at Ginger's house. I hope you had a good time, Ginger and Fred."
"Yes, thank you," Ginger said with a forced smile. She nudged Fred sharply with her elbow.
"Uh-huh," Fred managed.
"Oh, and I promise to mail your teddy bear right away. As soon as I get to the house. Okay?"
Fred almost brightened up. He glanced up at Tony's father and nodded. Douglas stroked Fred's hair and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Then he kissed Ginger and gave Tony a hug.
"Bye, Dad." Tony turned and began to walk up the metal steps to the door of the plane. Ginger and Fred followed.
"I'll take good care of them," Judy said, smiling at Tony's father.
"Thanks. Bye, kids!" Douglas waved after them.
Tony rushed to get the window seat, but seeing the look of disappointment on Fred's face, he gave the seat up to him. Fred smiled as he forced his way past Tony and Ginger. He climbed into the seat, fastened the seat belt and settled back.
Judy put their coats into the overhead rack. "Fasten your seat belts, kids," she said. Fred showed off his buckle. "Very good!" Judy smiled and walked on toward the back of the plane.
With a sigh, Fred looked out the window. He pressed his nose to the glass while Tony and Ginger fiddled with headsets and channel knobs.
Outside,
dark clouds were gathering. Sharp gusts of wind blew dust and torn paper
across the runway which bustled with fuel trucks, baggage carriers and
technicians. Fred looked out toward the empty part of the runway where
the plane would take off. It seemed very long, very windy, and very empty.
I wish Teddy were here, Fred thought. He felt a small ache in his chest.
Fred looked up and watched the heavy thunderclouds roll and shift. He sighed
and stared and stared and stared.
"Where are we?" Dunkey asked mournfully as he pushed through the thick grass.
"Lost," Teddy said.
"Great!"
"But just for the moment!" Teddy added quickly. "I'm finding the way!"
"How?"
"Intuition. It always works."
"However you do it, just do it fast or the plane will leave without us!"
"Go straight. Just go straight ahead!"
"Whatever you say," Dunkey continued to weave between the thick clumps of grass as he tried his best to go in a straight line.
Teddy was having a hard time staying seated. He had to fight the grass stems from pushing him off Dunkey's back. They snapped at him as he passed and pulled at him when the wind stirred them.
"I just hope those creatures are having as much trouble as we are!" Teddy pushed another bunch of stems away from his face.
"They'd better, or we don't have a chance!"
Alone in the grass, Sniffler was becoming desperate. Find scent, he thought. Find! Find! Wind blow…. Rain wash away …. Not here! His huge nostrils quivered with frustration. Even the horses were lost somewhere in the grass behind him.
An ominous roar filled the air. Sniffler looked up. The huge, dark form
of an airplane swept across the sky. Bird? thought Sniffler. He froze with
terror, blasted by the sound and wind from the jet engines.
"A plane!" Teddy said as the jet swooped over their heads. "It's so low, we must be close! Keep going that way!"
Dunkey adjusted his course slightly to the right. Suddenly, the grass dropped away into low tufts again. Teddy and Dunkey were in a clearing. And beyond the clearing, over a small rise, was the farthest end of the airfield.
But between the animals and the airfield was a huge chain-link and barbed-wire fence. It ran as far as the eye could see in either direction.
"Oh, no!" Teddy said much more loudly than he intended as the plane sounds died in the distance. "How are we…? Can you jump over it?"
"No way," Dunkey said looking up at the nine foot fence.
"Then we've got to find a hole or a way around it."
"Okay, where?
Teddy tugged at Dunkey's right ear. Dunkey turned and galloped off to the right.
Still shaking fearfully in the grass, Sniffler was delighted when he heard Teddy call out. Sniffler bounded off toward the sound.
Dunkey climbed up the small rise and ran along right next to the fence. The spaces between the links were only an inch or two across. There was no hope of getting more than a nose or leg through them, so Dunkey just kept running. The sight of the airport spurred him on. Only a few hundred yards away, the huge plane was coming in for a landing and another was being refueled and readied for take-off.
"There!" Teddy pointed about twenty feet ahead of them. "There! A hole in the fence!"
It was a spot where the fence's links had been pulled out of shape and bent upwards. There was even a path worn through the grass leading to the hole, apparently the work of rust and dogs who squeezed through the hole.
Sniffler's ears perked up again. He increased his pace and burst out of the grass. He stopped for a moment and surveyed the horizon, taking in the hill, the fence, and the airfield beyond. Finally, he spotted Teddy and Dunkey and drooled with delight. He tilted back his head and growled. A low shrieking cry twisted eerily through the wind and alerted the demon horses and their riders who were still lost in the grassy field. Impatiently, Sniffler waited until they too burst out of the grass. He howled again. The horses galloped up to him, and Sniffler ran off after the stuffed animals.
"Oh, no!" Teddy cried. "They've found us! Go! Go faster!"
Dunkey was too absorbed in running to answer. The distance to the hole began to close. In seconds they were there! It was a very small hole. To get through it, the dogs must have crawled on their stomachs to avoid the sharp, broken points of the fence.
"They're getting closer!" Teddy tugged at Dunkey's ears and glanced backwards at the demons. The distance between them was slowly decreasing.
"Duck!" Dunkey lowered his head and forelegs and began to creep through the hole. The sharp points were within a hair's breadth of Dunkey's worn cotton coat. Teddy squeezed next to Dunkey's neck, clinging with both arms.
Inch by inch, Dunkey edged through the hole. One mistake and his sides would be torn open by the wire or he would get stuck and the demons would catch them.
"How'm I doing?" Dunkey asked breathlessly.
"Mmmm, okay." Teddy was afraid to raise his head to look. "At least on the right where my head is, it looks okay."
A little farther and Dunkey raised his tail to make sure it was clear of the fence. The tail hit no obstacle.
"We're through, Teddy! We're through!"
"You, may be through," Teddy said, "but I'm not!"
Startled, Dunkey turned to look.
A sharp wire had caught Teddy on the arm, lifting him off Dunkey's back. Teddy hung helplessly from the fence with his feet dangling nine or ten inches off the ground. The poor bear struggled to get his arm free, but the weight of his body only seemed to pull the barb deeper into his stuffing. Teddy felt like a fish struggling to get free of the hook.
Dunkey stood frozen like a statue. He stared at Teddy, his mouth wide open
and his ears straight in the air. Dunkey had no idea what to do, and the
demon horses were galloping closer and closer every second.
