Author's Note:
Thanks to you, my readers, for keeping with this story of Harley for this long! If you want, you can follow me on Instagram for my art and sneak peaks of each chapter! I'm at _.ezeray._
Again, thank you all forbreading, favoring, following and reviewing on my story! I love all of you!
Now onto the story!
Chapter 20: Some Remembering
Harley went off to meet with Sheriff and the others. She went straight over to the V8 and drove up the tiny hill John was smiling awkwardly at everything that was going on, but seemed to be less wide eyed than before.
"Hey Sheriff." Harley said and passed by the others. "Hey Sarge and Fillmore. Hey Red." she said "Hey" to everyone leaving John last. She finally turned to the rundown car and smiled kindly. "Hey John." She said then parked next to Sheriff.
"Uh… hey" While the others had hearty, joyous replies, John almost whispered his reply to Harley.
"How are you liking Radiator Springs?" she asked and John shrugged his tires.
"Considering it's the only thing I can remember, I'd say it's pretty good." he said calmly, but the others laughed at his unintentional joke, so he forced himself to chuckle with them.
That's okay. You can stay as long as you want. I'm sure Doc wouldn't mind, right Sheriff?" she looked slightly up at Sheriff and he nodded.
"I'm sure he will." he looked at the horizon. There was still daylight, but the sun had already disappeared below the horizon line. "Come on, little one. It's gonna get dark quick." Sheriff said and began to drive off towards the clinic.
"Awe, really?" Harley whined, but then Sheriff shot her a warning look that said 'Don't argue with me.' which Harley got heard it loud and clear. "Okay, I'm coming." she turned to the others and waved a tire at them. "Good night!" The others said their good night's and she quickly drove off to follow Sheriff.
"You can stay up for a little bit and listen to the radio if you want," Sheriff said and they made their way down the road, "but at 8:30 I better not hear one peep out of that room unless it's snoring."
"Yeah- I mean.. yes sir." Harley corrected herself and Sheriff nodded.
"Good girl. I'll be in this front room if you need me." Harley nodded and went off to her room. She looked around and sighed. Thinking about the day, she went over to her radio and turned it on with a low volume.
"Oh, and Chick Hicks with a close second behind The King!" Harley smiled to herself as she heard the voice of Bob Cutlass coming through the radio.
"That put The King at a nice ole' standin' of 286 points for this season! And poor Chick is tailin' behind with only 224." Darrell Cartrip chimed in with his loud and energy filled voice.
"Darell, if Hicks wants to win this season, he's going to have to set a new personal best."
"Awe yeah! Nothing like hitting a new top speed!" The voices began to fade.
"But Darell, the chances of Hicks sett…."
A flash of black and white sprinted past Harley's eyes. A flash of shiny blue then a flash of green. Finally a flash of metallic red. She heard laughter echo around her. Some of it was joyous, others were cynical. She shivered and heard a crash another flash of red, a flash of black and white.
"What's happening?" she asked aloud and suddenly, everything stopped. She was in the middle of nowhere with the midday sun shining down on her brightly causing Harley to squint. Four cars were driving towards her, but they were so far away, she couldn't tell who they were.
"H-hello?" she shouted at them nervously, then they stopped.
"Take care of my Harley for me, okay?" a voice came from right behind her and she spun around with a smile.
"You're back!" she said happily, only to see her happiness crushed. No one was anywhere to be seen. "What?"
"Harley!" she spun back around when she heard a strange voice she no longer recognized call her name. Again, no one. The four mystery cars were gone. She turned around to start driving off.
"Harley!" the red metallic car was right in her face and yelled. It surprised her so much, she woke up with a jump and a sharp inhale. She looked around her room and saw that it was dark, but the light of a full moon poured through the window giving it all an eerie glow. She looked around in search for the mystery cars, but knew -or rather hoped- they wouldn't be there. She glanced at the window then at her garage door. Window. Door.
"He said no more sneaking out…" Harley told herself and closed her eyes again. Her tires shifted restlessly as she attempted to make herself fall asleep again. "Okay… one drive." she told herself then quietly made her way to the door.
She snuck out and drove silently down the hall and headed to the only exit that wouldn't make any noise: the front door. She inched her way into the front room where she could see the back of a black and white car of the law parked. She cautiously drove around him, not sure if he was awake or not. She drove around and could finally see his face, and he was off. Sheriff was sound asleep, making Harley relax just a little. Now the hard part was just opening the front door and actually leaving. She pushed the door open slowly and it made a soft creak. She tensed and looked back with her mirrors. Sheriff had shifted, but was still not awake. And took a silent deep breath and drove through the doors. Once they closed, she waited a second to see if Sheriff had woken up, but he was still out like a light.
Harley drove on down the road, unsure of where she was headed. She drove slowly and looked around at the reflective light of the moon. It was all so quiet, not even the crickets chirped. She started to think about her strange dream and looked up at the sky.
"Haley, right?" a voice from behind her suddenly asked. Harley gasped then spun around and at the same time backed away. "I'm sorry! I… I didn't mean to scare you." It was the new car in town: John.
"Uh.. I'm sorry what?" Harley asked, not even sure what he said earlier.
"I.. I asked if your name was Haley." John said as he kept his distance.
"Um.. no.. no it's Harley." she said and also kept away from him.
"Oh yeah. Like Harley Spinn from the comics." he said with a small smile.
"Um… okay…." it was obvious she had no idea what he was talking about.
"Right…" John and Harley sat in silence for a few short moments. "So, uh, you couldn't slept either?" he asked and she shrugged.
"I guess not." Harley said and John nodded.
"Yeah, I haven't been able to fall asleep all night." He said then glanced at the Cozy Cone. "That's a nice little motel. Maybe needs to be refurbished, but still pretty nice." again, Harley was lost. "So, where were you going?" Again, Harley shrugged.
"I don't know. Just driving." Suddenly, she had an idea and jumped up. "Oh! I know! I can show you Willy's Butte!"
"Willy's what?" John asked confused.
"Willy's Butte. It's pretty cool! I haven't been there in a while." John chuckled slightly at Harley.
"Well, if a kid is this excited about someplace, then I guess it's worth a drive." Harley smiled and began driving off.
"Just follow me!" she said and John listened. The drove silently for a while until John remembered something he found strange.
"So, Harley, it seems that you really love and respect your dad. Why do you call him Doc?"
"What?" Harley slowed down just a tad. "Doc's not my dad."
"He's not?" John asked confused.
"No. I just live with him and he takes care of me." Harley said then sped up again.
"So…. A dad?" John pressed the issue and Harley again slowed down to think about it.
"Well, yeah, he's like a dad…. But he's not actually me dad dad, you know?" Harley said, but she was still confused why any of this was an issue.
"So, you're like Scout from To Kill a Mockingplane, right?" Harley was still confused.
"Who from what?" John sighed.
"Do you read anything?" Harley looked at him with furrowed eyelids. "ignore that. Anyway, Scout calls her dad by his first name, Atticus. She only does that because she's never been told to do otherwise. And Atticus is okay with it."
"I guess that makes sense." Harley said then looked away. "But either way, Doc's not my real dad."
"Oh… so where's your real dad?" John asked and Harley went to thinking. She hadn't thought of her real dad in years.
"Um… I don't know… I think he died. Yeah. He died a long time ago." Harley said and John looked at her apologetically.
"Oh…" he said, somewhat starting to understand the situation. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's okay… I don't even remember him." after a beat, John nudged her on attempts to brighten up the conversation.
"Well I guess we have something in common." he said, and Harley looked back up at him.
"What?" she asked confused.
"We both can't remember." he said with a smile and chuckled. Harley giggled at the lame joke.
"I guess you're right." she said and looked straight ahead. "Oh! We're here!" she sped up and headed straight to the edge. "Willy's Butte!" John looked around.
"Yeah, this is pretty cool." he said and looked down and at the bottom of the butte. "Can we go down there?" he asked.
"Um… I don't know. I've never been down there." John looked over at Harley with a smile.
"Well, there's a first for everything!" he said and carefully drove down. Harley watched him for a second then smiled herself.
"Yeah!" she followed him down and John noticed something.
"Is that a rope?" he asked as he looked at a line in the dirt.
"Oh, yeah. It's the start and the finish line." she said and drove over to it. "This used to be a race track."
"A race track?" John asked mostly to himself. He looked down the track and smiled with an idea. "I know what will get us tired and back to sleep." he said and looked again to Harley.
"What?"
"A race!" he said and chuckled. "What do ya say? I think it would be fun. They told me your uncle is a big racer."
"Uh, yeah, he's The King."
"The King, huh?" John's bright expression faded slightly. "Wait… The King?" he tossed the name in his roof. Trying to remember him, then gave up. "I'm sure I'll put a face to him later. But yeah, wouldn't you want to race?" he asked and parked himself behind the starting line.
"Um… I don't know…. I'm only allowed to speed when I'm helping Sheriff catch bad guys." John chuckled at Harley's response. "Why don't I watch you instead? I've never seen anyone race before."
"Hm… I guess that's a good idea. Just park off to the side so you don't get dust all over you, okay?" Harley nodded and went off to the far edge of the race track. John revved his engine. "Tell me when to go." He shouted at Harley.
"Um… okay…" Harley looked at him up and down. He seeme to belong there, and it made her smile. "Ready…" he set his tires, "Set…." he revved his engine, "Go!" and he was off. He drove past the wall, sticking to the ground then headed to the straightaway. He came speeded town towards the turn and Harley smiled and laughed. She thought he looked so cool.
But then hd came to the turn. He started swearing and getting off the road and towards the cliff. Harley's eyes widened with fear. But then, John figured it out and made a not-so-graceful turn and headed to the finish. He braked and came to a panting stop.
"Wow, that was cool! And scary! I thought you were gonna-"
"Harley!" John swiftly turned to her. "Harley, thank you so much!" Harley back up slightly.
"Um… for what?" She asked confused.
"For showing me this place…" John caught his breath "I… I'm supposed to be here."
"At Willy's Butte?" Harley was still startled and lost.
"Yes! Well… no not exactly. I'm supposed to be on a track. Racing. Harley, I'm a racer."
"You remember!" Harley was suddenly excited. "What's your name then?"
"I.. um…uh…" John's expression turned dull as he trailed off to bring up his name, but he still missing most of his memories. "I don't know… I… I can't remember…" They silently stayed there under the moon's gentle light. Harley's smile faded into a sad frown. "That doesn't matter, I remember something. That's better than nothing!" John smiled brightly again, and Harley followed suit.
"Yeah, I guess you're right!" she said and John nudged her.
"It's all thanks to you." he said and began driving back into town.
"Yeah…" Harley followed him up and together the two forgetful souls drove back into town.
Once there, they stopped in the middle of the road in front of the clinic and the motel.
"Get some rest, Harley." John said "And thanks again." he said then turned to Cone two.
"Goodnight!" Harley softly called out.
"Goodnight." John called back and vanished into his Cone. Harley looked at it for a few more seconds then turned to go back to her own room. She opened the doors and parked there was still a sleepy Sheriff. She snuck around him and went back to her room, closed the door and parked in her corner of the room where her tire mats were. She looked out the window, then at the radio, and finally, closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Her dreams would be filled with John and Doc that night.
And Willy's Butte.
