“I sure hope those ropes don’t break,” Dave said, as they pedaled west on Elm street. “We’ve never pulled such heavy loads before.”
“If they were going to break, I reckon they would’ve broken when we first left Mrs. Hamilton’s house,” Andy said confidently. “Now that we're moving, the wagons pull real easy.”
Everything went fine until they got to the intersection of Oak and Elm streets, where they always turned south and followed Oak street through town and on out to Mr. Warner’s farm.
“Hey, Andy,” Dave said, as they approached the intersection. “It looks like Oak street is closed.”
“It can’t be,” Andy said. “We just came through there a half hour ago.”
“Well, maybe it can’t be, but it sure looks like it is,” Dave said as they approached the barricade and the sign that read, “STREET CLOSED.”
There was a workman standing by the barricade.
“You can’t go this way, boys,” he said, as Andy and Dave brought their bicycles to a halt right in front of the barricade.
“Why not?” Andy asked. “We just came down Oak street about a half-hour ago.”
“There’s a leak in a gas line that goes under the street,” the man said. “We’ve got to dig the street up to repair the leak.”
“But we’ve got to go this way,” Andy protested. “We live on the other side of town.”
“You’ll have to go down the Elm Street hill, and go around the back way,” the man said.
“But that hill’s too steep for us to go down with the heavy loads we’ve got on our wagons,” Dave said.
“Sorry, boys,” the man said. “But my orders are to keep everyone off this street, including the mayor.”
The boys had no choice but to turn around and head west on Elm Street.
“Andy,” Dave said, as they pedaled slowly toward the spot where the street started down the hill. “What are we going to do? We can’t ride down that hill with these heavy loads of garbage.”
“It doesn’t look like we’ve got any choice, Dave. You heard what the man said.”
“But you remember what happened the last time we rode down that hill, Andy. And we weren’t pulling anything behind our bikes that time.”
“Yeah, but that was different, Dave. We weren’t paying attention to what we were doing then. We just started down the hill too fast, and we didn’t realize our mistake until it was too late. This time we’re going to go real slow.”
When they got to the place where the street started sloping downward, Andy and Dave came to a complete stop. Since the street had a couple of curves at the top of the hill, in addition to the sharp curve at the bottom, they couldn’t see the Goodman’s house from the top. So they had no way of knowing what was taking place on the Goodman’s front lawn at that very moment.
“Okay, Dave, we’re going to plan our strategy before we start down the hill so nothing will go wrong this time,” Andy said.
“Andy, I’m scared,” Dave said. “I just don’t think we can make it down that steep hill, and around those curves, with these heavy loads of garbage.”
“Sure we can,” Andy assured him. “All we’ve got to do is just figure out the right plan. Just let me think about it for a couple of minutes.”
For the next few minutes, Andy just stood there, staring at the street ahead of them, trying to figure out the best plan for getting down the hill.
“Okay, Dave,” he finally said. “I’ve got it all figured out. You go first, and I’ll follow right behind you, so I can watch your bike and wagon. I’ll tell you when I think you’re going too fast, and then you can put on your brakes a little harder.”
“Okay, Andy,” Dave said, as he prepared to start down the hill. “I sure hope it works.”
“It’ll work, Dave, if you just do what I say. The main thing is to go just as slow as you can go without losing your balance.”
Dave hadn’t gone more than fifty feet down the hill when his wagon rammed into the back of his bike, almost causing him to lose his balance.
“Dave, you’re going to have to go just a little faster,” Andy said. “Your wagon’s going faster than your bike, and it’ll ram you and cause you to upset if you don’t keep ahead of it.”
Dave pedaled a little faster, but soon the wagon bumped him a second time.
“You’re going to have to go still faster,” Andy said.
“I thought you said I should go just as slow as I could go without losing my balance,” Dave said.
“I did, Dave. But I didn’t know the wagons were going to go this fast. You’ve got to keep ahead of the wagon.”
Dave speeded up a little more, but it wasn’t long before the wagon bumped his bike again. And this time it was really a hard bump.
“Faster, Dave!” Andy screamed. “You’ve got to go faster than your wagon.”
It was at that moment that Andy realized they were headed for disaster. His plan had not taken into consideration the fact that there were no brakes on their wagons. Since the wagons were just tied to the backs of their bicycles with pieces of clothesline rope, the brakes on the bicycles could not slow the wagons down. And if they allowed the wagons to roll forward enough to take all the slack out of the rope with a jerk, there was a good chance that either the rope would break, or the jerk would cause them to lose control of their bikes.
“Faster, Dave!” Andy screamed again. “Your wagon is about to pass you!”
They hadn’t even come to the steepest part of the hill yet, and already they were about to lose control of their bikes. Dave just barely made it around the second curve, which wasn’t even half as sharp as the curve at the bottom of the hill.
“Faster, Dave! Faster!” Andy screamed, as Dave started down the steepest part of the hill. “You’ve got to stay ahead of your wagon.”
“If I go any faster I’ll have a wreck!” Dave shouted back.
“You’ll have a wreck if you don’t go faster,” Andy shouted. “If your wagon catches up and bumps you at this speed, you’re sure to crash!”
Dave pedaled harder, but he was still not pedaling fast enough.
“Faster, Dave! You’ve got to go faster!!
Just moments later, the sharp curve at the bottom of the hill, and the Goodman’s house came into full view. And what Andy saw caused his heart to almost jump all the way up into his throat. Mrs. Goodman was hosting a lawn party on her front lawn, right out by the street! There was a large table, covered with a white table cloth, and Mrs. Goodman and several of her friends were seated around the table, having cake and ice cream.
“Look out below!” Andy screamed.
By the time Dave approached the sharp curve, Andy figured both he and Dave must be going at least twice as fast as they had been going the day they had ridden across Mrs. Goodman’s yard.
Since there was absolutely no chance that they would make the curve this time, Andy felt he had to at least warn the party goers that they might be in grave danger. The ladies had been so busy talking to one another that they hadn’t seen or heard Andy and Dave yet.
“Look out below!!” Andy screamed, as Dave approached the ladies with accelerating speed.”
This time they heard him.
“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! came their screams, as the ladies jumped up from their chairs and started to run, in a desperate effort to save themselves.
The front tire on Dave’s bicycle squealed as it scooted sideways all the way to the curb, leaving a black streak of rubber on the street surface and, by some miracle, his bike made it around the curve. But two miracles were too much to hope for. There was a sharp jerk on the back of Dave’s bike as the rope broke and the wagon headed straight toward the ladies!
Dave looked back just in time to see the wagon turn over with such momentum that a shower of rotten tomatoes, and tomato juice, was hurled with great force toward the fleeing women.
That would have been bad enough by itself. But there was more. Dave’s wagon wasn’t the only thing that failed to make the curve. Andy followed Dave’s wagon straight into the Goodman’s yard. And when the front wheel of his bicycle hit Dave’s wagon, he was propelled upward, sailing right across the table. Andy’s wagon broke loose and landed, upside down, on the top of the table, dumping the entire load of garbage right on the table top. But Andy didn’t come to a stop until his bike hit a large evergreen shrub near the front porch of Mrs. Goodman’s house.
Andy was momentarily in a state of shock, and by the time he began to come back to his senses Mrs. Goodman was standing over him, screaming at the top of her lungs. This time she had gone completely crazy. Andy thought he had heard all of Mrs. Goodman’s swear words the time before, but she must’ve learned some new ones, because he heard words from her this time that he hadn’t ever heard before.
Andy tried to get up, but Mrs. Goodman shoved him back down.
“No you don’t!” she screamed. “You’re not getting away this time. You’re staying right there on the ground until the sheriff gets here. I had Gloria call him, and he’ll be here in a few minutes.”
By this time, Dave had come running back to where Andy lay.
“Run, Dave! Run!” Andy shouted as soon as he saw him.
But Mrs. Goodman grabbed Dave by the arm and threw him down on the ground beside Andy.
“There! You stay put, too!” she screamed.
Mrs. Goodman looked ten feet tall as she towered over Andy and Dave, and Andy wasn’t about to try to get up. He looked around and saw that none of the ladies had been injured, and most of them had escaped the shower of garbage. But they were in a state of shock. And it hadn’t been brought on by what Andy and Dave had done. They were shocked by Mrs. Goodman’s behavior.
“Thelma! Get control of yourself!” one of the ladies demanded as Mrs. Goodman continued to swear at the boys.
“Shut up!” Mrs. Goodman screamed at the lady. “I’m going to get even with these boys, once and for all!”
With that statement, Mrs. Goodman began picking up rotten tomatoes from the lawn and throwing them at the boys from close range. The first one hit Andy right in the face, and it really stung. Andy was really getting scared now. With the state of mind she was in, he was afraid Mrs. Goodman might start throwing rocks at them next. But the other ladies came to the rescue.
“Stop it, Thelma!” Mrs. Garfield screamed, as two other ladies grabbed Mrs. Goodman by her arms and began pulling her back away from Andy and Dave.
Mrs. Goodman kicked and screamed, like a child having a temper tantrum, as the two ladies dragged her across the lawn toward the table and chairs. They tried to seat her in one of the chairs, but she was struggling so hard that she missed the chair and flopped down on the ground right in a pile of garbage that had run down from Andy’s wagon.
Mrs. Garfield came over to Andy and Dave, and helped them up.
“You poor boys,” she said, as she wiped the rotten tomato from Andy’s face with her handkerchief. “You must be scared to death. That woman was acting like a maniac.”
Andy was about scared to death, and this time he was almost glad to see the sheriff’s car arrive. At least the sheriff would protect them from Mrs. Goodman.
“Okay, Mrs. Goodman. What is it this time?” the sheriff asked.
“Sheriff, a very serious crime has been committed here this afternoon,” Mrs. Goodman began.
“That’s right, sheriff,” Mrs. Garfield said, before Mrs. Goodman could say another word. “A very serious crime was indeed committed. And it’s called child abuse.”
“What on earth are you talking about, Irene Garfield?” Mrs. Goodman asked in disbelief.
“You heard me, Thelma,” Mrs. Garfield said. “I witnessed a certain person engaging in child abuse against two poor little defenseless boys. And I’m not the only witness.”
“That’s a very serious charge,” the sheriff said. “People can go to jail for child abuse.”
Mrs. Goodman’s face turned white as snow, and she was suddenly speechless.
“Would you care to name the person who was engaging in child abuse?” the sheriff asked Mrs. Garfield.
“I’m not sure, sheriff,” Mrs. Garfield said. “Do I have to make up my mind right now?”
“No,” the sheriff said. “You could file a report with me at any time in the future.”
“And any of the other witnesses could do the same, couldn’t they, sheriff?” Mrs. Garfield continued.
“Of course,” said the sheriff. “I’m always interested in reports of child abuse. I’ll launch an immediate investigation any time you, or any of the other witnesses, should decide to file a report with me”
Okay, sheriff. We’ll keep that in mind,” Mrs. Garfield said.
“Now, Mrs. Goodman. What was it you wanted to talk to me about?” the sheriff asked.
“Uh, uh, nothing,” Mrs. Goodman said in almost a whisper. “It was just a false alarm.”
“Okay, then I won’t waste any more time here,” the sheriff said.
The sheriff winked at Andy and Dave, and then he got in his car and drove off.
