The Late Shift
Chapter 26
The afternoon was getting late and Lee and Amanda were still stuck in the abandoned well. But all was not peaceful above them. They heard what sounded like gunshots coming from up above and they feared the worse for Pepita.
Amanda was so nervous that she separated from Lee's arms.
"Pepita has to be alright—she just has to be!" Amanda insisted, with a worried frown, "Oh, Lee! What if she's just lying up there all injured and in pain? We should never have left Pepita alone to fend for herself!"
Lee quirked a brow, "Really, Amanda? 'Fend for herself?' he repeated, poking fun at her colloquial phrase, "Who is she? Davy Crockett?"
She lightly slapped his chest, "Lee! Now's not the time to kid!"
"This is the perfect time, Amanda. You need to stay optimistic," Lee suggested and then paused, "Look who I'm giving advice to about staying optimistic—the Queen of the Glass Half-Full!"
Amanda let out a deep sigh, "I AM trying to stay positive, Lee, and I would give anything to hear Pepita's sweet voice again!"
"Me, too," agreed Lee, as he absentmindedly looked over at the surrounding the brick wall that enclosed them, "and I would also give anything to get out of this hell hole, too."
"Psssst!"
Lee shot a look at Amanda, "Did you just 'pssst' me?"
She looked offended, "Noooo, why would I do that when you're standing in front of me?"
"Pssst!" they heard again, "Up here! Señor Lee! Señora Amanda!"
Both Lee and Amanda immediately looked up and to their relief, they saw Pepita looking down at them.
"Pepita!" Amanda joyously cried out. Then she quickly covered her own mouth at her mistake. Whispering now, she made her point, "Pepita! Quiet! The bad guy may hear you!"
But Pepita only spoke louder as she cupped her hands to her mouth to make sure they could hear her clearly, "IT IS OKAY!" she exclaimed, "We can talk now! Or even yell! I will come back! Tug when you are ready!"
And then she was gone and they found themselves staring up at the sky.
"What just happened?" Lee asked.
"I think a little girl is about to rescue us," Amanda calmly stated, as if she said that phrase every day.
Lee nodded and after some time, he tilted his head, "Wait! Do you hear it? Off in the distance?"
Amanda carefully listened, "I do! It sounds like...like a sputtering vehicle!"
Their eyes widened, "OUR RED TRUCK!"
They continued listening as the sound got louder. And louder. And LOUDER.
Then the vehicle stalled and a big thick rope was thrown down into the well.
So this was the 'tug' the kid was talking about. Lee knew exactly what to do as he grabbed the rope.
"Amanda!" he urgently addressed, "I'm going to wrap this rope about your waist. The other end of this rope is probably tied to the truck, so when I tug, the helper the kid found will drive the truck in order to pull the rope up! At the same time, you'll use your feet against the brick wall as leverage as you climb up and out!"
As he spoke, he was tying the rope around her waist.
"You're kidding, right?" Amanda questioned, looking nervously up and then at Lee, "You want me to climb up on my own, suspended on an untested rope, as a ratty, unreliable truck pulls me up?"
"That's it in a nutshell," stated Lee as he completed securing the rope around her, "Put your feet against the wall to help you climb...yeah just like that..."
Amanda wasn't sure she wanted to do this. After all, it was a long drop if she slipped, "You sure I can't just catch an elevator?"
He shook his head.
"I'm not sure I'm ready for this, Lee."
As he gave one strong tug of the rope, he advised, "It'll be fine, Amanda. Just pretend that gravity is a myth."
"Uh, what? Gravity is a myth? I don't think...WHOA!" Amanda reacted as they heard the engine roaring and Amanda was yanked upward. Awkwardly, she tried to use her feet to help scale the brick wall as the rope continued to move upwards.
"That's it! Keep it up! You've got it, Amanda!" Lee encouraged her from down below.
She continued to struggle to keep up with the pace of the rope, "I...don't...know...if...I've got this, Lee...(heave) I've seen truck drivers doing ballet... looking more graceful!"
But she did get to the top. And when her feet touched the outside ground, she immediately began untying the rope from her waist, intending to throw the rope down to Lee.
But the truck kept on going, dragging her along at its slow pace.
"Hey, STOP! STOP!" Amanda yelled out, nervously trying to untie the rope from her waist while at the same time forced to move forward. She found it difficult to maneuver the knots of the rope as the truck slowly rolled on, with her body straggling behind.
At last, she was able to be successfully released from the rope and when she looked over towards the red truck, her mouth dropped in surprise.
Through the back window of the vehicle, Amanda caught the image of a little girl's head seated at the driver's seat. Pepita stuck her head out the driver side's window.
"Señora Amanda, help me! I cannot stop this truck!"
"Oh my gosh!"
Amanda's motherly instinct kicked in as she rushed over to the driver's side of the truck and flung the driver's side door opened. She took note of Pepita sitting on a pile of blankets, with folded pieces of their clothes tied to her feet so the little girl's feet could reach the pedals.
Pepita sounded panicky, "Please, Señora! Get this truck to stop!"
"Don't worry, honey, I've got this!" assured Amanda as she jumped in and quickly took over the wheel as Pepita scooted over.
Now that Amanda was in the front seat, realization set in.
"Oh, shift!" she exclaimed.
"Señ-or-a!" berated Pepita, surprised at Amanda's vocabulary usage, as the truck continued to inch forward.
"No, no….I mean, it's a stick shift!" Amanda corrected herself.
She attempted to move the stick shift while using her feet at the same time as she had seen Lee do. The gears just groaned and grinded. She tried again and again. At one point the truck abruptly lurched forward, causing Pepita to almost go through the windshield.
"Ow! Me-duele-lacabeza!!" Pepita mumbled in fast Spanish while rubbing her head at the same time.
"Oh! Pepita! I'm so sorry!" she quickly apologized.
"It's okay! It's my first real headache!" Pepita claimed.
Meanwhile, Amanda went back to focusing on driving the truck, "Now, how was Lee able to drive this truck?" she asked herself, and then mumbled, "you put your left foot here..." and when she tried to think of what to do next, her voice had a sing-song quality to it as she tried to get in a rhythm, "You put your left foot in, you shift your right hand out, you put your right foot in and you shift it all about..."
She pressed the pedals and shifted gears at random. This time the truck lunged, sputtered, and then the gears made a huge grinding sound before it gave a final heave as the entire vehicle died.
Pepita sounded pleased, "You did it, Señora! The truck has stopped!"
"Yeah, thanks to the hokey-pokey," Amanda tiredly stated.
Meanwhile, Lee's echoing voice could be heard coming up from the well, "HELLO? ANYONE UP THERE? I'M STILL STUCK DOWN HERE! HELLOOOOO!"
They next heard running footsteps. When Amanda and Pepita nervously looked over, they were relieved to see Alvaro arriving with some of the village men.
Sizing up the situation quickly, the men were able to untie the rope from the truck and then lower the rope down the well. Lee was able to grab hold of the rope and climbed out on his own, as the men held tight to the rope.
When Lee got to the top, he, Amanda, and Pepita changed seats inside the truck so that Lee was once again the lead driver in the truck.
He turned the key to start the truck.
At first, they only heard deep grinding sounds.
"Wow, someone rode this rough," he commented as he tried again.
"I wouldn't know who that would be," Amanda claimed.
"Me, either," Pepita backed her up.
Lee looked baffled, "Why wouldn't you two know who drove this truck? Were you two blindfolded?"
"Oh! It was Alvaro," Amanda quickly stated, "It was Alvaro who drove this truck last! Smooth as silk, he was!"
"Yes. Señor Alvaro," Pepita nodded.
Then before Lee could answer, they heard running footsteps headed their way.
"Señor! Wait!" Alvaro yelled out, sounding a bit breathless from running, "I give these back to you!"
Through the opened window of the truck, he handed Lee's gun back to him, as well as Amanda's bag.
"Thanks," Lee said, as he handed Amanda her bag and put away his gun, "and thanks for driving this truck to get Amanda out!"
Alvaro tilted his head, "Eh?"
"You had used the truck and rope to get Amanda out," Lee re-stated.
Alvaro repeated again, "Eh?"
"Oh, Lee!" Amanda quickly jumped in, "Don't make a big deal out of it! Can't you see that Alvaro is obviously the modest type?"
"Um…. okay?" Lee questioned with uncertainty as he turned again to Alvaro, "Anyway, I suppose one good turn deserves another, Alvaro! Come with us and we will go rescue your family from Hector's men!"
But Alvaro surprisingly shook his head no.
"Did you not hear sounds of firecrackers earlier?" he asked, "that was due to your little daughter! She uses the firecrackers to distract Hector and he thinks all the noise is gunshots so he runs out of shop. My friends jump him and they capture him! Your daughter is very much brave!"
"She's not my daughter," Lee informed him.
Amanda sounded incredulous, "Alvaro tells you a story of village heroism and THAT'S what you got out of what he said?"
Alvaro continued, "Your little girl make us feel brave, too, Señor! We will stand together and go rescue my family on our own! Hector and his gang will never bother our town again!"
"Oh, Alvaro!" Amanda breathlessly stated, "That is so wonderful to hear! You will get your town back!"
"Yes, this town will be safe from these bad men," he nodded, but suddenly his eyebrows furrowed, "But I fear for you, my amigos. When Hector's men arrive here, they will see their boss is not in control. They will want revenge and cannot defeat us, so they will go after all of you and we cannot help you. You must leave here immediately!"
The other village men nodded their heads in agreement, although they may not have understood everything being said. To prove their courage and determination, they cheered and made a show of holding out their gardening and kitchen tools as well as makeshift weapons they would use to overcome the men holding Alvaro's wife and daughter hostage. The two abductors stood no chance against a united village.
It looks like your town is in good hands now!" Lee observed and gratefully added, "Thank you for all you've done to help us!"
"No, it is we who thank you. Thanks to the three of you, we can defend ourselves now," Alvaro proudly stated, "Be safe, Amigos, and go with God!"
Lee tried the truck again, and this time it started. With relief, Lee, Amanda, and Pepita left the town of Reymosa. They were soon back on the solitary dirt road again.
As they drove on, Amanda exclaimed, "Pepita! You were wonderful back there!"
"You think so, Señora?" she timidly asked. She then turned to Lee, needing his approval, "And what do you think, Señor?"
Still keeping his eyes on the road, Lee answered with a half-smile, "I think, Pepita, that you've managed to save an entire town from very bad men!"
Pepita looked so proud, "That is just what I wanted to hear!"
"That you saved an entire town from very bad men?" Lee asked.
"No, that you called me 'Pepita' instead of 'kid'!" Pepita happily responded back.
Amanda grinned, "I think, Lee, that you just gave her the biggest compliment of all!"
"I just hope it doesn't go to her head!" Lee jested.
But Pepita had already lost interest in the conversation as she put her hands up as if she had a steering wheel in her hands while she made truck noises.
"Ba-roooooom! Ba-roooooom roooooooom roooooooom!"
Lee was now in a great mood, "That's really good pretend-driving, Pepita. And one day you will know what it's like to drive a REAL truck, and I bet you will be very good at it!"
Amanda and Pepita exchanged glances. Lee would never know that Pepita has already had the experience of driving a real truck.
"I hope to become good driver like you, Señor Lee! I will watch your driving very carefully and then I will copy everything," Pepita explained, "or...almost everything. I do not want to say the bad words under my breath!"
Lee did a surprise double-take while Amanda snickered.
"I'll have you know," he informed them, wanting to defend himself, "that if I happen to utter some...uh, unusual, choice words while driving, it's a GOOD thing because it means I'm paying attention to the road in front of me, and I realize all the bad drivers out there who are not me!"
"Then maybe I must learn how to say choice words, so I can pay attention to the road and see the bad drivers, too!" Pepita concurred.
"NO!" Lee and Amanda insisted at once.
Pepita grumbled as she folded her arms and faced forward, "Driving is easy. Learning when to say and not say bad words, not so much!"
Amanda gave her a loving look as Lee chuckled.
He then reached over and playfully mussed up Pepita's hair.
"Even without the bad words, Pepita, you will definitely grow up to be the best driver in the whole world!"
Pepita broke into a smile and once again pretended she was driving.
"Ba-roooooom! Ba-roooooom roooooooom roooooooom!"
So the three happy adventurers were now headed to the town of Zitapan to drop off Pepita at her aunt's house.
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