"You know what's wrong with you," the Veggicycle said.
"I know you're going to tell me," I replied.
"What makes you think he would do that?" Donny laughed.
"He always does that," I said.
"You're having Starting Problems," the Veggicycle said.
"I'm having starting problems?" I asked. "What are you talking about?" He started to recite another of his many poems but was interrupted by my cell phone. It was Bobbie and she was in trouble. "Mount up!" I shouted to Donny, "We have to ride now!"
_________
The Tall Whites gave them food, water and clubs before setting Steve and Wooley free to cross the fields and woods to make their way to the fence that stood between them and freedom. Everywhere they looked there were viscious bears but remembering what they had been told they ran right through them waving their clubs wildly in the air. After about ten minutes of running they both collasped against a chain link fence that was at least 20' high and topped with concertina wire with razor sharp edges. "Oh great," Wooley gasped, "what now?"
"We follow the fence," Steve gasped for air, "and look for a gate."
"I haven't seen any wolves yet," Wooley asked, "have you?"
"No," Steve pointed to the ground, "but from the looks of that scat it's not been long since a wolf was here."
"Great," Wooley said as he got up from the ground, "let's get going before he comes back."
The two of them started following the fence. In the distance they could hear the wolves gathering in the brush that grew inside the fence, rustling the leaves, the occasional quiet growl. It was just a matter of time before the hungry wolves attacked. "What do you think they're waiting for?" Wooley asked.
"Until they get enough of them in the same place that they're sure they can take us down," Steve answered.
"So the longer they wait," Wooley said, "the more wolves we have to fight?" Wooley and Steve went running straight at them waving their clubs and yelling like mad men! Wooley hit one right on the head causing it to yelp and run away! Steve hit another, it did the same! In a moment the wolves were gone.
"They'll be back," Steve said.
"Yeah," Wooley agreed, "and next time they'll bring more help. Let's go find that gate."
"If you're waiting on me you're lunch," Steve said.
________
Several Alamance and Guilford County Sherrif's deputies along with one North Carolina State Trooper were already grilling Bobbie by the time Donny and I got there. Attempted murders on the interstate and Caddys with dead bodies at the bottom of lakes a few miles off the nearest road are not what any of us consider to be everyday occurances. I told the officers they would just have to wait until a represenative from Burnup and Singed Attorneys At Law got there before their questioning could continue. That said, it was pretty easy to see what had happened as the Caddy had cleared a wide swath of bushes and small trees from in its path right up until it and the driver took the plunge into what had once been my high school English teacher's farm now under a few hundred feet of water.
Funny, how I remembered that ridge from all those many years ago now that the barns, cabins, trees and corn fields that once spread out below are all gone. As teenagers we used to dive from the ridge into a much smaller lake that has since been obscured by Lake Mackintosh. I hear the bass fishing is really great.
"Look at my bike," Bobbie said. "It's all bent up."
"We can fix the bike," Donny said, "better than before."
"Can you make it go as fast as a Hayabusa?" Bobbie asked. "If I'd been riding a Hayabusa I could have stayed on the Interstate and out run him."
"Probably not," I answered. "Besides, if you could go as fast as a Hayabusa we'd probably be scraping you off the back of a truck somewhere about now. There's very little left of most of the Hayabusas I see at the salvage auctions I go to, never enough to bid on."
"Yeah," Bobbie agreed, "I guess that's the key to staying alive."
"That and doctors," Donny said. "I'm going to wait here with your bike 'til the wrecker comes while Billy takes you over to Alamance County Hospital to get checked out."
"Not another doctor," Bobbie complained, "I'm fine, just a few scratches, that's all."
"You'll be sore in the morning," I insisted. "Besides, we can't have the key to our story's success falling victim to an obscure injury she didn't know she had, now can we?"
"Okay Grandpa," Bobbie mumbled. "but do I have to ride on the back?"
"Look Kid," I smiled, "I'm a feminist but I'm not that feminist. Besides, you've already wrecked one motorcycle today. lets not go for any records."
"Good idea," the Veggiecycle agreed.
"How do you put up with him?" Bobbie asked.
"It's not easy," the Veggicycle beat me to the punch line.
Continue to Private Secretary to the Sovereign
