A/N--Well, this is my latest chapter of the road trip; tell me what you all think!
(I'm thinking a sub title should be, 'Leaving Bloomington in the Broad daylight' he)
The next morning, Trapper and Margaret along with Holly were in the car ready to leave and yes, Margaret did have on some day clothes. She had on a red top with a knot tied at the belly button, blue jean knickers and cute, matching flats. Holly was dressed in her 'Little Dot' dress. Trapper was sitting beside the wheel with a scowl on his face, Margaret looks at him and says:
"Okay, we didn't get to leave when you wanted to that morning; you don't have to look like that"
He looks at her and forces a fake smile and Margaret laughs then says:
"At least, Mrs. Blake made us enough sandwiches to last awhile; she made tuna fish, bologna, and peanut butter and jelly for Holly"
This time he smiles for real then says:
"I know and I guess it was funny, being here..."
They wave at Henry's parent's standing on the poach and waving goodbye to them, then Trapper finishes his sentence:
"But let's get out of here!"
Margaret shakes her head and says:
"Amen!"
Trapper drives to the end of the road and turns to go left and Margaret asks him in a puzzled tone:
"Where are you going? according to the map, we're supposed to go the other way"
Trapper looks at her and says just as serious as can be:
"I was going to the hospital to get my back x-ray ed"
Margaret smiles and laughs then picks up the map and hits him lightly with it and Trapper drives up a little ways then turns and goes in the right direction.
***************
For hours later, They pull into a rest stop, Trapper parks the car and says:
"I'm ready for some of those sandwiches"
Margaret starts to open her side door then says:
"I'll get them"
Trapper gets out and opens the back door for Holly to hop out and over the other side, Margaret gets out the picnic basket and just puts it on the seat and reaches in and gets four and five sandwiches, goes and puts them down on the picnic table, gives one to Holly and opens it for her then goes back and gets some milk and drinking glasses then goes back to the table. They don't see a pretty but obviously very hungry mutt sniffing the food.
After eating her sandwich, Holly scampers down and runs around playing and checking out her nearby surroundings. She then sees the dog sniffing the picnic basket, goes up and in all innocence bravery of a three year old, goes up and pets the dog then she turns her head and says:
"Mommy, can I give a 'wich to the doggie?"
Margaret turns her head and sees the dog wagging its tail and thinks of the dog in Korea that she was sneaking food too and she says:
"Yes Holly"
Holly crawls in the car and opens the basket and gives him one but...she leaves it open and so after eating one, the dog crawls himself in the car and climbs over Holly just to get to the basket and begins chewing down the rest. Holly laughs and keeps laughing so hard that Margaret comes to see what is going on, she sees and she yells out:
"Trapper!"
Trapper comes over and sees the dog eating the food and he just starts roaring out with laughter and Margaret tries to pull the dog off and Trapper asks through laughter:
"Are there any left?"
She looks in and sees just one lone sandwich and turns to him and says:
"One"
Trapper waves his hand and says:
"Let him have it"
Margaret sighs then reaches in and gets the one sandwich and hands it to the dog and then after eating it up in five seconds, the dog has a FULL belly and goes over beside the wall of the station and Trapper says:
"Canine garbage disposal"
Margaret shakes her head then turns to the picnic basket, closes it and begins to go back to the table to clean it off and she says:
"You know, now that we are in Indiana ; it shouldn't take us long to get across the state"
Trapper thinks on that and says:
"No, it shouldn't. And I plan to get across here faster than Henry's parents could talk!"
She looks at him and he feigns innocence then says:
"What? They took up a lot of time from us!"
She throws away the napkins and holds the glasses then says:
"Let's just go…Holly!"
Holly leaves the dog still sleeping and they all get in the car but what they don't see as they leave is a partly hidden sign by brush that says in bold blue letters 'Burns for Governor.
After being on the road a very long time, Margaret says to Trapper:
"I'm hungry"
Trapper looks at his watch and sees that it is five-thirty and he says:
"I am too, let's just go in there"
He points to a diner that is lit up like a Christmas tree, he pulls in and the first thing they hear is 'A Teenagers Romance' by Ricky Nelson and they go in, Trapper sees another sign that says 'Burns for Governor'. He shrugs his shoulders and opens the door for the ladies, they go in and go to the first empty table they see and Margaret picks up a greasy menu then says:
"Let's see what they got"
She opens it and the first thing she sees is a little flyer with a picture of a ham and cheese sandwich on rye bread with green beans for the side and it says the Burns special and she says:
"I think I'll have that, it looks good, Holly?"
The little girl looks at her mother and says:
"Chicken"
Margaret smiles and looks at Trapper and says:
"She's going through a chicken leg passé"
He smiles and says:
"I think I'll get the chicken friend steak and mashed potatoes"
They put the menus down then a few minutes later, a tired, brown haired waitress comes over to them and she asks:
"What will it be?"
Margaret looks up at her and points to Holly then says:
"She'll have a chicken leg and corn, and I'll have this"
Margaret points to the picture of the ham and cheese sandwich and the girl says in a very dry voice:
"That huh?"
Margaret looks confused and says:
"Yes, what's wrong with it?"
The girl puts down her pad & pencil then says:
"You know who that is named after don't you?"
The girl looks back at the diners kitchen then sits down and tells them:
"The man who's running for Governor, Frank Burns"
Margaret and Trapper's eyes go wide and Trapper looks out at the road and sees a marching band and sees them holding a sign in front of them being carried by two people that says 'Frank Burns for Governor" and he looks at Margaret and says:
"I think we have fallen into some kind of alternate universe"
The waitress shakes her head then says:
"He has everybody fooled, even the boss man here, he named this plate after him"
Trapper just shakes his head then asks her:
"Frank Burns? The man who looks like a weasel? Ferret face?"
Margaret chips in:
"No chin? Looks like he swallowed his lips?"
The waitress shakes her head and a man dressed like a trucker comes up to them all and says:
"Mindy, go back to work before you get in trouble, I'll tell these folks about this"
She gets up to leave and Trapper starts to say something but she returns and asks:
"What did you want sir?"
He just says:
"Chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes"
She writes it down and leaves to put the order in and the trucker tells them:
"Names Arnold, Arnold Slaydon"
He shakes hands and Trapper says:
"I'm Trapper, this is Margaret and that's Holly, we're just passing through"
He shakes his head in a gentlemanly way to Margaret, smiles at Holly then asks them both:
"You talk like you know this Burns character"
Trapper and Margaret look at each other and they just shake their heads in silence then Arnold says:
"That crackpot is going to ruin this state and people are just falling for it"
Trapper asks him:
"You're not?"
He firmly shakes his head then says:
"No, let me tell you about some of his policies"
Margaret and Trapper listen closely while Mindy brings them their plates and they eat. Mindy stays and listens as they are near about the only ones in there eating. After a while of Arnold constant talking, he finally says:
"I just wish somebody could do something"
Trapper looks at Margaret then says:
"Margaret, I'm going to go to the little boys room, you and Holly wait for me at the car, I'm also going to go call and check on things back in Chicago"
Margaret looks confused, she wipes Holly's chin and says:
"Okay"
Trapper turns and asks Arnold:
"Um, Arnold, can you come with me?"
The man just says:
"Sure"
Trapper does go pay the bill to Mindy then says something to Arnold and they go to a pay phone.
After a while, Trapper comes out to the car and Margaret says:
"That sure took a long time"
Trapper shrugs his shoulders and says:
"Lots of catching up to do with Ron…let's go"
They drive for awhile longer then Trapper asks:
"Where are we?"
Margaret looks at the map and says:
"Woodburn"
He points to a decent motel then says:
"Let's stay there, I can't go any more"
She looks at the motel and says:
"Sure, let's go"
They go and check in. Margaret and Holly go to one room and Trapper to the one beside. Margaret says:
"Goodnight"
Holly says in a very childlike voice:
'''Night!"
Trapper smiles and goes in and instantly crashes on the bed.
The next morning they all wake up and stroll down to the breakfast area and Margaret picks up a newspaper and opens and the headlines scream in bold letters:
"Candidate in Governor's race drops out'
Her eyes open wide and she says:
"Trapper, look at this"
He looks at the caption and sees the picture of weak chinned Frank Burns and he closes his eyes and says in a pained voice:
"Please, I'm eating, just read it"
Margaret smiles at Trapper then reads the rest of the article:
"Indiana's Governor's race ended this morning in default as one candidate dropped out, Major Frank Burns. An anonymous source has delivered some official papers to Fort Wayne's newspaper; 'Fort Wayne Leader' that tells of some mental issues the Major had while serving in Korea. Apparently, he had jumped in a water fountain with a woman whose name we shall not print and kept mumbling some woman's name who was deleted from the file….Major Frank Burns camp declines to comment for now"
Margaret folds the paper up and looks at Trapper and smiles then asks as he continues to dip his biscuit in the yellow of his egg and Margaret asks:
"Did you have anything to do with this?"
All he does is shrug his shoulders and looks innocent and she asks:
"I thought you called Ron last night"
He takes a bite of his biscuit and says:
"I did but…did you know Ron's dad, before he retired and bought that hotel back in Chicago was a Army journalist for the paper, 'Stars & Stripes'?"
She folds the paper up and still smiling says:
"I'll go check us out"
He smiles and watches her leave then looks back at the paper with Frank's picture on it and laughs. He goes on to finish eating then flicks some egg on the picture then leaves.
Okay, that's the end of that chapter, what did you guys think? I was nervous about it so please tell me what you think!