Chapter Twenty-Two
Nanny and Jimbo met Samuel at the truck. Jimbo had a
backpack slung over his right shoulder and a rifle on the other.
"Rifle?" Samuel asked.
"Since when has anything we've done ever turned out
exactly like we thought it would?"
Samuel winced. "How was I to know that that saucer
would use machine guns to fire at us?"
Nanny gave them shocked looks. "You've fought a flying
saucer?"
"Yes." Samuel and Jimbo said at the same time.
"Sort of." Jimbo added.
"Not really totally saucer shaped." Samuel added
next.
Nanny threw her hands up in the air. "Nothing about you
two surprises me anymore, why should this. Come on. Let's get rolling we got
miles to get between us and this place before we can do any serious
hiking."
Jimbo slung her backpack into the back and strapped it down.
"Hiking. As in how much hiking? Did I bring enough snacks along?"
Samuel eyed the huge box squeezed behind the front seat
loaded with food. "Maybe."
"Okay." Jimbo said, and hopped in next to Nanny
who sat in the middle. He slung his rifle behind the seat, making sure it was
safed, then turned back around. "How far now?"
"We haven't started yet." She told him.
"Wait until
we've been on the road awhile, you'll get used to it." Samuel
sighed with resignation.
"Hey!" Jimbo growled.
Al and M sat on the hood of the vehicle and waved.
"The whole family's going, it looks like." Samuel
said, waving back.
Nanny looked at him. "I thought I was going crazy when
I saw them hanging around you and acting like they knew you."
Jimbo smirked. "Oh, you'll get used to it after
awhile."
"Touche!" Samuel replied with a grin.
"You betcha bottom bippy it is." Jimbo grumbled,
but not without a smile.
Samuel put the truck into gear and they shot off down the
road to the main strip, then turned onto it.
They shot past the Ranger quarters
on both sides, then past the firestation and the police station.
"Police station?" Jimbo sqwaked. "Out
here?"
"Oh, you'd be surprised what happens up here."
Nanny explained.
"Don't tell me." Jimbo replied. "Let me live
with my fantasies of a peaceful place on the mountain for awhile."
"Granted."
"Sammie, this is a woman after my heart."
"And your soul if you're not careful." Samuel
added.
Nanny gave him a grin. "You read me so well."
Samuel smiled, then as they approached a sudden branch to
the right, Nanny gestured and he swung the truck hard onto a dirt road. It
began kind of smooth, with the occasional rough patch, but as the miles drifted
past, and the dirt flying behind them, it began to get more rough and have
deeper ruts and holes.
"We haven't upgraded this in a few weeks." Nanny
explained.
"Weeks!" Jimbo exclaimed. "This is just a few
weeks corrosion. Looks like years."
"Gets rough up here this time of year. Lots of
flooding."
"Flooding." Jimbo shrieked. "I can't
swim."
"Learn." She advised seriously.
He gave her a nervous glance, then looked to Samuel.
"Been telling you that for years, Jimbo."
"Not my fault if I have the swimming abilities of a
hundred ton boulder."
"You sure splash like one, right enough." Samuel
answered flippantly.
"Easy for you to say, Mister Olympia."
Nanny looked at Samuel.
"I was Swimming champion in high school and college.
Almost got into the Olympics, but then two people talked me out of it. He
gestured to the front hood, where Al winked at him.
Nanny laughed. "He's funny. Wait! I recognize him.
He's..."
"Yeah. And she's her too."
"But why are they hanging around you so much. They're
dead."
Al made a face, sticking his tongue out at Nanny.
"Death is badly maligned, I'm afraid." Samuel said
with a grin.
Al held a thumbs up.
"Oh, I get it, they're guardian angels."
"Not really. Not a chance in hell of them ever earning
wings. Not angelic enough."
Al made another face and he and M, who blew Samuel a kiss,
vanished.
"Where'd they go?" Nanny demanded.
"To the beyond the beyond." Samuel answered
mysteriously.
"The what?"
Jimbo sighed. "Samuel, would you quit pulling her
leg."
"Why so you can instead?"
"Point taken." Jimbo said, relapsing back into his
thoughtful mode. All the forests sweeping by were taking him back to his
childhood when he spent a lot of time with his father traveling through the
woods to their favorite fishing hole. Back before.
He felt his eyes beginning to wet.
Without being asked, Samuel tossed him a kleenex box. Jimbo
blew his nose. "Thanks."
Nanny laughed. "Like I said earlier. You two are like a
married couple."
That got both Samuel and Jimbo to fall into a moody sulk.
Neither one spoke for the next three hours.
Finally, Nanny shoved her foot past Samuel's and slammed on
the brakes. The truck slid to a halt almost running off the road, except for
Samuel's swift recovery.
"What are the hell did you do that for?"
She gave Samuel a dark look, then Jimbo. "I can't go
another mile with two babies. Either grow up, or get out."
"It's our truck." Jimbo pointed out.
Nanny didn't budge with her look.
Finally, both Samuel and Jimbo raised their hands.
"Give." Samuel said.
"Sorry." Jimbo added. "Won't happen
again."
Nanny gave them both quick hugs. "I like you both, but
where we're going we can't be sulking or fighting with each other. Our lives
depend on us all being right here and now, and ready to act."
"You make it sound like we're going into a war." Jimbo
quipped.
"Maybe we are." Nanny said, without explaining,
then she stepped on the gas, sending the truck spilling back onto the road
again and weaving until Samuel regained control.
"Anyone ever tell you you're a bit pushy."
"Yes, my last boyfriend."
"What happened to him?" Jimbo asked.
"I shot him."
