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Tom and Wendy Nason were old friends of mine, and
through the years they had four children; two boys and two girls. The boys were
the older ones and had already gone through school when Tom was killed in a
logging accident.
Obviously it was a crushing blow, especially for Wendy
and the two girls. The trauma will always be felt, but after a few years it
dimmed to memory.
It naturally fell upon me to look after the little
family when I could. Over time I fixed things, pulled quills from dog muzzles,
gave advice as best I could.
The oldest girl was named Barbara, but somehow she had
picked up the name "Bobby," and it had stuck. Bobby had just turned
seventeen and earned her driver's license, and here a new problem arose. At
first I labeled it as pure coincidence.
Wendy had a Chevy truck that was absolutely reliable -
it never faltered. But when Wendy got behind the wheel it went dead, and I mean
dead. I finally figured that the battery was gone and bought a new one. That was
fine and I thought nothing of it until Larry Peaslee came along and asked if he
could have the old battery. I told him to help himself but it was no good, and
he just said you never know.
I guess you don't. He tried it and his truck started
right up. No boost, no nothing, he just put it in and it went. Ah, who knows? It
was nothing I even thought about. Then.
About that time Bobby acquired a boyfriend that her
mother tolerated, although she wasn't crazy about him. I can't say the lad
impressed me too much either. At least he had his own vehicle, which eased the
demand on the Chevy truck.
The first time I met him he was under the hood of his
car. When asked what was wrong he told me Bobby had tried to start it and it
died. I helped a bit and we finally figured the electronic ignition relay was
going. They will often die out when hot and start when cold. It seemed to work
until Bobby tried it again. No dice. Her boyfriend David said he would replace
it in the morning and she said she didn't want to drive his old car anyway.
I saw him a week later and asked how his wheels ran
with the new relay. He hadn't changed it. Except when Bobby got behind the wheel
the car ran great. I still wasn't alarmed, but the wheels of my mind did start
turning.
I was over to their house repairing fence one day when
Bobby wanted to borrow my truck. I said sure thing, for my old Dodge was about
the most dependable vehicle I had ever owned. At least up until then. Sure
enough, no start, no spark, no nothing. When I had finished my chore an hour
later I took her to the store and the Dodge was back to its own self.
Finally Wendy voiced her concerns. "Tim, why is
Bobby a death ray to vehicles? It's gone way past being bad luck."
"The best I can come up with is the natural
electricity of her body. For some reason it clashes with the ignition of
vehicles. That's just a guess, but the problem has never been fuel oriented,
always electronic."
"What can I do about it?"
"I've got no idea," I told her honestly.
"Tell you what, I'll be in the library all morning and I'll see if I can
find out anything about the problem."
I did try, but had no luck. It didn't seem to matter,
for when I stopped by to tell Wendy she stopped me with her news.
"Bobby joined the service! That means she'll have
a career and get away from David, at least for a while."
She was obviously very pleased, and I asked
innocently, "What branch is she going into?"
"The Air Force."
It took a minute to sink in. "The AIR FORCE? She
can't do that. You know how she is with engines. She'll have half the jets
grounded."
"Relax, Tim, relax. Bobby joined the GLIDER
CORPS."
©2002 StoriesByEmail.com
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