Al got into the car and stepped on the starter.
The motor caught with a roar.
Blue smoke poured from the exhaust pipe.
“Throttle down!” Tom shouted. “She’ll burn oil till that wire goes. Gettin’ thinner now.” And as the motor turned over, he listened carefully. “Put up the spark an’ let her idle.” He listened again. “O.K., Al. Turn her off.
I think we done her.
Where’s that meat now?”
“You make a darn good mechanic,” Al said.
“Why not?
I worked in the shop a year.
We’ll take her good an’ slow for a couple hunderd miles.
Give her a chance to work in.”
They wiped their grease-covered hands on bunches of weeds and finally rubbed them on their trousers.
They fell hungrily on the boiled pork and swigged the water from the bottle.
“I like to starved,” said Al. “What we gonna do now, go on to the camp?”
“I dunno,” said Tom. “Maybe they’d charge us a extry half-buck.
Le’s go on an’ talk to the folks—tell ’em we’re fixed.
Then if they wanta sock us extry—we’ll move on.
The folks’ll wanta know.
Jesus, I’m glad Ma stopped us this afternoon.
Look around with the light, Al.
See we don’t leave nothin’.
Get that socket wrench in.
We may need her again.”
Al searched the ground with the flashlight.
“Don’t see nothin’.”
“All right.
I’ll drive her.
You bring the truck, Al.” Tom started the engine.
The preacher got in the car.
Tom moved slowly, keeping the engine at a low speed, and Al followed in the truck.
He crossed the shallow ditch, crawling in low gear.
Tom said, “These here Dodges can pull a house in low gear.
She’s sure ratio’d down.
Good thing for us—I wanta break that bearin’ in easy.”
On the highway the Dodge moved along slowly.
The 12-volt headlights threw a short blob of yellowish light on the pavement.
Casy turned to Tom.
“Funny how you fellas can fix a car.
Jus’ light right in an’ fix her.
I couldn’t fix no car, not even now when I seen you do it.”
“Got to grow into her when you’re a little kid,” Tom said. “It ain’t jus’ knowin’.
It’s more’n that.
Kids now can tear down a car ’thout even thinkin’ about it.”
A jackrabbit got caught in the lights and he bounced along ahead, cruising easily, his great ears flopping with every jump.
Now and then he tried to break off the road, but the wall of darkness thrust him back.
Far ahead bright headlights appeared and bore down on them.
The rabbit hesitated, faltered, then turned and bolted toward the lesser lights of the Dodge.
There was a small soft jolt as he went under the wheels.
The oncoming car swished by.
“We sure squashed him,” said Casy.