Chapter 7 - Making Tracks
"Hi. Jesse Travis. I rang a while ago about the possibility of hiring a couple of cars." Jesse introduced himself to the representative to whom he spoke as Express Motors. A man in his late 30's, becoming what can only be described as a little bit thin on top, his remaining hair moulded into a high mound in an ineffectual attempt to disguise the balding process. He wore an old brown suit, on which there was a name badge indicating him to be one Ian Horn.
"Ah yes." The man replied nodding emphatically, not looking dissimilar to one of the infamous nodding dogs far to frequently found in cars and which are internationally renowned as the English equivalent to the almost as infamous pink, fluffy dice! "You wanted two vehicles, didn't you? Unfortunately, we've only been able to spare one larger family car, the other, I'm afraid, is just a small two-door number. The family car, for your information, has been signed out with Lieutenant Sloan as the guarantor and the small car with Doctor Sloan. Please ensure that the guarantor travels in the appropriate vehicle at all times, otherwise the insurance is invalid. If you'd like to follow me then I can show you the cars and we can get the paperwork sorted."
Horn led Jesse to the back of the lot where there were two cars waiting. Jesse couldn't believe what he saw an old Ford Granada from 1985, an acid yellow in colour, so acidic was it that it would be no surprise if it induced feelings of nausea. The other car was an elegant blue Ford Escort, less dated and rickety looking, though it still appeared to have been in a number of bumps, as the door on the front passenger side showed traces of having to be re-shaped. Jesse wondered if all of Express cars resembled this, how on earth could they be an interstate company. It does explain one thing though, thought the young doctor, it does explain why they're not a country-wide company!
Horn saw the look on Jesse's face.
"It's all right sir, they're perfectly road worthy. Our outstanding reputation wouldn't allow us to hire out anything that wasn't."
Jesse thought that it was odd that he had never once before heard of the company, but he let the thought pass and figured that may be a good thing. After all, bad news does tend to spread better than good.
After showing him the cars, Ian Horn led Jesse into the office where they signed the papers. Mark and Steve joined them too, to put their signatures on the form as guarantor.
While they finished up their business inside, Mark looked at the office around him. It stood as a temporary building, nothing more than a make- shift caravan really. The dirty paint was falling off the walls and big patches of damp were in evidence. At the end of the room against the back wall stood Horn's desk, littered with paper, odds and ends and all those loose pieces of stationary that tend to vanish into the great wide nowhere. There were a couple of dirty brown chairs, co-ordinating beautifully with Horn's suit, Mark observed with a wry smile. Around the walls of the office stood metal shelving units, filing cabinets and cupboards, most of which were adorned with gratuitous pictures of scantily clad females. Finally, there were a few posters on the wall of old cars, Mark had to force himself to make some sort of remark about the contrast between the body work of the two sets of posters. This place was not like an office at all, more like a shrine to all the fads and fancies of schoolboy whims.
* * * * *
The cars all signed for, the three men went to rejoin Amanda and the boys who were patiently waiting out front.
"We're just going to the back of the lot to get the, erm, cars." everyone shot a look at Jesse.
"Something you're not telling us Jess?" Steve began.
"Er, you'll see for yourself in a minute. I'm sure they'll be absolutely fine though. I mean we are hiring them somewhat last minute, we had to have what they had available and they wouldn't be able to hire out anything dangerous and."
"Jesse!" Steve warned.
"Anyway, shall we go fetch them?"
Jesse led Mark and Steve to the back of the lot where the cars were waiting for them. Jesse had hoped that time would improve the way they looked and it was merely his memory exaggerating, no such look though. They were there and they were in a worse state than Jesse remembered. Steve glared at his small friend.
"Jesse, what were you thinking of?" he snapped.
"Hey son, calm down." Mark said placing a calming hand on his son's shoulder. "Jesse did his best, you know how hard it is to find things so last minute, especially as this place is still relatively small." Mark's tone of voice though, could not hide his disappointment at the proposed means of transport, but shook off the feeling never the less and climbed into the drivers seat of the smaller of the two cars. "I'll take this car with Jesse, and you, Amanda and they boys will all be quite comfortable in that car."
Steve conceded and clambered in, still muttering his dissent.
* * * * *
An hour later, there was a miniature convoy as the gang were on the open road and well on their way to Carmel. It was thought that, if the roads were in a reasonable condition and lightly populated, then they should be there in 7 or 8 hours.
Steve, Amanda and the boys headed the convoy, with Mark and Jesse valiantly trying to keep up in their psychedelic set of wheels.
"Do you think we'll be able to find Susan?" Jesse asked Mark quietly. "I mean, I wouldn't like to see anything happen to her, even if I am mad at her for the way she left me."
"I certainly hope so Jesse." Mark paused for a brief moment. "Jesse, I really need you to try and think where Susan might be, it could make all the difference."
"If I'm honest, Mark, I've not thought of anything else since this whole mess began, and I still can't think where she might be."
"Well, you keep trying, you never know, something may come to you in a flash of inspiration."
* * * * *
"Steve, what do you think could happen to Jesse?"
"Amanda, I don't know."
"This whole trip has turned into a real mystery, hasn't it?"
* * * * *
"This whole trip has turned into a real mystery, hasn't it?"
"I only wish I knew what was round the corner, Mark. I just wish I knew."
* * * * *
"Mom, I'm hungry!"
"How can you be hungry Dion, when Uncle Jesse has been supplying you with junk food all day. I mean, it seems as if every time I turned round he was feeding you two more junk food."
"Please Mom. Besides, Uncle Jesse didn't let us have that much." C.J. joined in "He ate most of it himself!" the boy added resentfully.
"Ah, that's your Uncle Jesse for you." Steve said with a wry smile. "I have to say though, Amanda. I think I agree with those two in there; it's most definitely time for something to eat, I'm famished. If we carry on to the turn off for the next town or services, whichever comes first, I'll signal Dad and Jesse in."
"Thanks Uncle Steve." The boys cheered.
* * * * *
And so they drove until they came to a sign pointing them towards a nearby town, two minutes further down the road.
Steve slowed down as they approached the turn off in the road and pulled over to the side, waiting for his dad and Jesse to catch up as he did not want them to sail on past.
* * * * *
Mark saw that Steve had pulled into side of the road, and seeing the sign just to the side of him, gathered that they were going to head into town, flashed his hazard lights in acknowledgement. Mark decided it would be the most sensible thing if he stopped to tell Steve that he should keep on going whilst he and Jesse made their way at their own very slow place, so he put his foot down onto the brake pedal.
Nothing.
Mark could feel that no connection had been made and the car carried on forward, no regard whatsoever to the frantic stabbing of Mark's foot on the brake pedal. Realising something was wrong with the braking mechanism Mark stayed on the road, on the straightest path he could possibly muster- towards the town.
"Jesse, I think that we may have a small problem here. The brake does not seem to want to work."
"What? No brakes? Mark, this is bad, this is very, very bad, this is so bad that."
"Jesse, calm down. From what I can see we have to clear choices. Number one is that we let the car keep going straight until it runs out of gas, or number two, we find something soft into which we can crash this baby."
"That doesn't sound that good to me Mark."
Mark simply kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead, not wanting to miss a turn and send the car careening into a big brick wall.
"Mark, is it me, or are we getting faster?" Jesse asked nervously glancing at the speed clock. Mark did the same, and a look of worry crossed his face."
"If we're going to crash we need to do it soon. At least we're near a town so help should be at hand, if we keep going until the gas runs out, then we could end up in the middle of nowhere."
Jesse gulped.
"I guess we'd better brace ourselves for impact." Mark nodded his agreement.
* * * * *
Steve and Amanda and the boys saw the garishly coloured car streak past, mouths agape with shock.
"Something must be wrong. My dad never normally drives like that, even after he's done goodness knows how many consecutive shifts at the hospital."
Amanda and the boys couldn't bare to watch the speeding car whilst Steve looked on with grim fascination as the car that carried both his father and best friend careened into a ditch where it became an integral part of the landscape and hedgerow.
All that could be heard was the loud hooting of a horn and all that could be seen were large plumes of grey smoke. This did not look good.
"Hi. Jesse Travis. I rang a while ago about the possibility of hiring a couple of cars." Jesse introduced himself to the representative to whom he spoke as Express Motors. A man in his late 30's, becoming what can only be described as a little bit thin on top, his remaining hair moulded into a high mound in an ineffectual attempt to disguise the balding process. He wore an old brown suit, on which there was a name badge indicating him to be one Ian Horn.
"Ah yes." The man replied nodding emphatically, not looking dissimilar to one of the infamous nodding dogs far to frequently found in cars and which are internationally renowned as the English equivalent to the almost as infamous pink, fluffy dice! "You wanted two vehicles, didn't you? Unfortunately, we've only been able to spare one larger family car, the other, I'm afraid, is just a small two-door number. The family car, for your information, has been signed out with Lieutenant Sloan as the guarantor and the small car with Doctor Sloan. Please ensure that the guarantor travels in the appropriate vehicle at all times, otherwise the insurance is invalid. If you'd like to follow me then I can show you the cars and we can get the paperwork sorted."
Horn led Jesse to the back of the lot where there were two cars waiting. Jesse couldn't believe what he saw an old Ford Granada from 1985, an acid yellow in colour, so acidic was it that it would be no surprise if it induced feelings of nausea. The other car was an elegant blue Ford Escort, less dated and rickety looking, though it still appeared to have been in a number of bumps, as the door on the front passenger side showed traces of having to be re-shaped. Jesse wondered if all of Express cars resembled this, how on earth could they be an interstate company. It does explain one thing though, thought the young doctor, it does explain why they're not a country-wide company!
Horn saw the look on Jesse's face.
"It's all right sir, they're perfectly road worthy. Our outstanding reputation wouldn't allow us to hire out anything that wasn't."
Jesse thought that it was odd that he had never once before heard of the company, but he let the thought pass and figured that may be a good thing. After all, bad news does tend to spread better than good.
After showing him the cars, Ian Horn led Jesse into the office where they signed the papers. Mark and Steve joined them too, to put their signatures on the form as guarantor.
While they finished up their business inside, Mark looked at the office around him. It stood as a temporary building, nothing more than a make- shift caravan really. The dirty paint was falling off the walls and big patches of damp were in evidence. At the end of the room against the back wall stood Horn's desk, littered with paper, odds and ends and all those loose pieces of stationary that tend to vanish into the great wide nowhere. There were a couple of dirty brown chairs, co-ordinating beautifully with Horn's suit, Mark observed with a wry smile. Around the walls of the office stood metal shelving units, filing cabinets and cupboards, most of which were adorned with gratuitous pictures of scantily clad females. Finally, there were a few posters on the wall of old cars, Mark had to force himself to make some sort of remark about the contrast between the body work of the two sets of posters. This place was not like an office at all, more like a shrine to all the fads and fancies of schoolboy whims.
* * * * *
The cars all signed for, the three men went to rejoin Amanda and the boys who were patiently waiting out front.
"We're just going to the back of the lot to get the, erm, cars." everyone shot a look at Jesse.
"Something you're not telling us Jess?" Steve began.
"Er, you'll see for yourself in a minute. I'm sure they'll be absolutely fine though. I mean we are hiring them somewhat last minute, we had to have what they had available and they wouldn't be able to hire out anything dangerous and."
"Jesse!" Steve warned.
"Anyway, shall we go fetch them?"
Jesse led Mark and Steve to the back of the lot where the cars were waiting for them. Jesse had hoped that time would improve the way they looked and it was merely his memory exaggerating, no such look though. They were there and they were in a worse state than Jesse remembered. Steve glared at his small friend.
"Jesse, what were you thinking of?" he snapped.
"Hey son, calm down." Mark said placing a calming hand on his son's shoulder. "Jesse did his best, you know how hard it is to find things so last minute, especially as this place is still relatively small." Mark's tone of voice though, could not hide his disappointment at the proposed means of transport, but shook off the feeling never the less and climbed into the drivers seat of the smaller of the two cars. "I'll take this car with Jesse, and you, Amanda and they boys will all be quite comfortable in that car."
Steve conceded and clambered in, still muttering his dissent.
* * * * *
An hour later, there was a miniature convoy as the gang were on the open road and well on their way to Carmel. It was thought that, if the roads were in a reasonable condition and lightly populated, then they should be there in 7 or 8 hours.
Steve, Amanda and the boys headed the convoy, with Mark and Jesse valiantly trying to keep up in their psychedelic set of wheels.
"Do you think we'll be able to find Susan?" Jesse asked Mark quietly. "I mean, I wouldn't like to see anything happen to her, even if I am mad at her for the way she left me."
"I certainly hope so Jesse." Mark paused for a brief moment. "Jesse, I really need you to try and think where Susan might be, it could make all the difference."
"If I'm honest, Mark, I've not thought of anything else since this whole mess began, and I still can't think where she might be."
"Well, you keep trying, you never know, something may come to you in a flash of inspiration."
* * * * *
"Steve, what do you think could happen to Jesse?"
"Amanda, I don't know."
"This whole trip has turned into a real mystery, hasn't it?"
* * * * *
"This whole trip has turned into a real mystery, hasn't it?"
"I only wish I knew what was round the corner, Mark. I just wish I knew."
* * * * *
"Mom, I'm hungry!"
"How can you be hungry Dion, when Uncle Jesse has been supplying you with junk food all day. I mean, it seems as if every time I turned round he was feeding you two more junk food."
"Please Mom. Besides, Uncle Jesse didn't let us have that much." C.J. joined in "He ate most of it himself!" the boy added resentfully.
"Ah, that's your Uncle Jesse for you." Steve said with a wry smile. "I have to say though, Amanda. I think I agree with those two in there; it's most definitely time for something to eat, I'm famished. If we carry on to the turn off for the next town or services, whichever comes first, I'll signal Dad and Jesse in."
"Thanks Uncle Steve." The boys cheered.
* * * * *
And so they drove until they came to a sign pointing them towards a nearby town, two minutes further down the road.
Steve slowed down as they approached the turn off in the road and pulled over to the side, waiting for his dad and Jesse to catch up as he did not want them to sail on past.
* * * * *
Mark saw that Steve had pulled into side of the road, and seeing the sign just to the side of him, gathered that they were going to head into town, flashed his hazard lights in acknowledgement. Mark decided it would be the most sensible thing if he stopped to tell Steve that he should keep on going whilst he and Jesse made their way at their own very slow place, so he put his foot down onto the brake pedal.
Nothing.
Mark could feel that no connection had been made and the car carried on forward, no regard whatsoever to the frantic stabbing of Mark's foot on the brake pedal. Realising something was wrong with the braking mechanism Mark stayed on the road, on the straightest path he could possibly muster- towards the town.
"Jesse, I think that we may have a small problem here. The brake does not seem to want to work."
"What? No brakes? Mark, this is bad, this is very, very bad, this is so bad that."
"Jesse, calm down. From what I can see we have to clear choices. Number one is that we let the car keep going straight until it runs out of gas, or number two, we find something soft into which we can crash this baby."
"That doesn't sound that good to me Mark."
Mark simply kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead, not wanting to miss a turn and send the car careening into a big brick wall.
"Mark, is it me, or are we getting faster?" Jesse asked nervously glancing at the speed clock. Mark did the same, and a look of worry crossed his face."
"If we're going to crash we need to do it soon. At least we're near a town so help should be at hand, if we keep going until the gas runs out, then we could end up in the middle of nowhere."
Jesse gulped.
"I guess we'd better brace ourselves for impact." Mark nodded his agreement.
* * * * *
Steve and Amanda and the boys saw the garishly coloured car streak past, mouths agape with shock.
"Something must be wrong. My dad never normally drives like that, even after he's done goodness knows how many consecutive shifts at the hospital."
Amanda and the boys couldn't bare to watch the speeding car whilst Steve looked on with grim fascination as the car that carried both his father and best friend careened into a ditch where it became an integral part of the landscape and hedgerow.
All that could be heard was the loud hooting of a horn and all that could be seen were large plumes of grey smoke. This did not look good.