Alone (3 page)

As Ralph walked across the room, Jason continued to prance and whine.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Come on boy.”

Ralph picked up the keys from the kitchen table and stepped out the back door. As Jason bounded across the yard, Ralph spoke into the kitchen.” We will be back after a while your majesty.” He closed and locked the door. Her highness declined to answer.

Jason was waiting excitedly beside the passenger door of the old beat up pickup. Ralph said, “OK, give me a second” as he reached for the door. Jason was a blur of joy as he waited for the door to open. With a flash, he leapt into the truck and sat peering out the windshield. He looked to Ralph as if he were thinking, “Come on man, let’s go.”

Ralph laughed, shut the door and walked around the truck. Getting in he started the truck and listen to the old engine rattle. The idle was rough and the old truck shook from side to side. Jason barked excitedly.

“Old girl’s not going to last much longer.” he said to Jason as he slowly pulled out of the garage.

Ralph had held on to the truck long after it had reached the end of its usefulness. It had belonged to his mother and father. When they were killed by a drunk driver, Ralph had inherited the old thing. It held too many fond memories to just let it go. His parents had not been driving the truck when they were killed. In fact they had not been driving at all. They had stopped at a roadside fruit stand and were buying some strawberries when they heard the sirens. They had both turned and watched as the small sporty car had topped a hill and sped in their direction. Two police cruisers followed closely behind. The drive of the sports car had turned out to be a sixteen year old boy. He had been at a party with his friends and had broken into the liquor cabinet. The parents of the girl throwing the party were present but with all the kids wandering thru the house, they didn’t notice the broken cabinet door until it was too late. The boy had quickly worked his way through an entire bottle of whiskey. He staggered from the house and saw the shiny blue car. He staggered over and found the keys were dangling in the ignition. With no thought to what he was doing, he slid behind the wheel and tore down the road. He clipped a young woman walking a dog as he rounded the corner and he left her laying in the street bleeding. He never even knew he hit her. She died on the way to the hospital. By that time, police were already looking for the car, which had been reported as stolen. They had quickly located the speeding vehicle, but they were having trouble getting the driver to pull over. Loud music blasted from the car and bystanders swore they could hear the driver laughing as he sped by. When the car approached the fruit stand, the driver passed out. With no one steering it, the car drifted from the road and slammed into Ralph’s parents. Both were killed instantly. The car tore the fruit stand into a million pieces and then slammed head on into a tree. The driver was taken to a nearby hospital. He had fractured his neck upon impact and was paralyzed from the neck down. He would remain bed ridden the remainder of his life. When he awoke in the hospital, he didn’t remember stealing the car or killing three innocent people. The entire fruit stand was demolished but the truck didn’t even get a scratch. It was one of the few things his parents had left him.

With a cough and a rattle and amid a cloud of blue smoke, they started down the drive.

CHAPTER THREE

Stopping at the end of the drive way, Ralph looked up and down the street. The old truck idled roughly and backfired. No traffic was visible, but this was not a highly traveled road. He looked at the few houses he could see, but no one was around. He decided to take a quick turn around the neighborhood instead of heading directly into town. He felt the need for human contact. With an uneasy laugh, he turned to Jason and said,” Looks like a ghost town out here.”

Slowly they drove through the neighborhood. It seemed the perfect summer day. Sprinklers were on in some yards. He saw a couple of dogs running around and Jason perked up at them and growled softly.

“Jason. It’s ok buddy.” Jason looked sheepishly at Ralph as if to say “Sorry I couldn’t help myself.”

Ralph drove on until they reached the intersection with the main highway. The trip through the neighborhood had just increased the feelings of dread. A heaviness seemed to settle across the land. A small voice in his head was getting louder and louder. Something was terribly wrong. Glancing around one more time, he pulled onto the highway and headed toward town. He saw no cars and no people. Coming around a sharp curve, he slammed on the brakes. There in front of him was a newer model, red SUV. It had struck a power pole and was canted across the highway. No one was around and all the doors were closed.

As the truck shuddered to a stop, Ralph shouted to Jason “Hold on boy!”

Jason, thinking it was all part of the adventure of riding in a car, gave a sharp bark and sat with his tongue hanging out. He didn’t care if they were going fast or slow or screeching to a stop. He was with his person and they were taking a ride. What more could a dog want?

Ralph put the truck in park and opened the door. There was no one around. Jason rose and headed for the door.

“No boy.” Ralph said “You stay here.”

He slowly got out and closed the door behind him. He scanned the side of the road, but could see no one. He walked over to the SUV and looked inside. The driver and passenger air bags had deployed. There was no one in the vehicle. He saw no blood or evidence that anyone had been injured. The keys still hung from the ignition and the vehicle was still in drive. The motor wasn’t running, but Ralph could hear music quietly playing, probably from a CD. He walked around the SUV, but saw nothing. As crumpled and smashed as the hood was, he doubted that anyone driving had simply walked away after the crash. Antifreeze had leaked out of the radiator and streamed across the road. There were no tracks through the antifreeze stream. Ralph bent down and touched the antifreeze. “Cold.” He said.

There were no skid marks on the road. Whatever had happened, he didn’t think the driver had tried to stop. At a loss, he stood and stared until Jason barked again from the truck.

“Okay, I’m coming.” he said as he headed back. He kept glancing behind him. He expected someone to call for help, but nothing happened.

“That’s just plain weird.” he exclaimed as he climbed into the cab. “I got a bad feeling about this, Jason.”

Steering around the SUV, they headed into town. Ralph kept expecting to come across someone walking to town or the police coming to the accident site, but neither of these happened. The roads remained empty and they didn’t see any one. The traffic lights were all working and Ralph stopped at each red one. His was the only car moving on the highway.

“I’ll stop by the sheriff’s office first and report this.” He said quietly. “Someone will need to get that car off of the road before it causes another accident.”

Jason looked over as if to say, “Good idea.” And then turned his attention back outside.

The drive into town got weirder by the minute. At the city limit sign, they had to stop while several cows ambled across the highway. The cows watched the old rattling truck suspiciously as they crossed, but they didn’t hurry. It took several minutes while they slowly trooped from one side to the other. Exactly where they had come from and where they were going was a mystery. Wherever it was, they weren’t in any hurry to get there. As the last cow crossed in front of them and stepped off of the road, Ralph eased on into town. On their way again, Ralph and Jason looked around in bewilderment. They passed a few cars that had apparently run into buildings or each other, but this time they didn’t stop. They simply steered around the obstacles and continued on their way. They had not seen a single person all morning. The streets were empty. Most of the stores left in town were open. Several had racks or tables on the sidewalk with items for sale. Several had their doors propped open. He saw several objects on the sidewalk and slowed down to take a closer look. There were purses scattered around, a couple of briefcases and some folded newspapers. It looked as if the items had been dropped and then just left where they fell.

“Jason old buddy, I think we just entered the Twilight Zone or maybe the Outer Limits. I keep expecting to hear some creepy music playing.”

With a growing sense of doom, Ralph drove through the empty town. The truck’s speed dropped as Ralph looked around in a daze. Slower and slower the truck crept thru the town. Ralph had tried the horn a couple of times, but the echoes had bounced around the quiet streets and then faded away. This had caused his feeling of uneasiness to increase.

“Let’s not do that again.” He said to Jason.

Jason looked over at him and gave a soft woof. Then he looked back outside. Both of them peered intently around in an attempt to find someone, anyone.

At last approaching the Sheriff’s office, they had slowed to a crawl. Ralph’s eyes were glazed and he had begun to mumble beneath his breath. He wasn’t really aware of what he said, but he repeated it as if it were a mantra to ward off evil.

“Lions and tigers and bears.” He whispered, over and over. “Oh my.”

His mind was racing and he could feel his control begin to slip. Panic was just a step away and he was starting to take that step when he jerked awake. A large wet tongue smacked him in the face. He was immediately brought back to the here and now.

“Yuk, Jason!” he said, bringing his hands up to ward off the dog. As soon as Ralph moved, Jason had stopped licking and sat back. Ralph’s eyes focused on the road outside.

He grimaced and wiped his face with his hand. He stopped the slowly moving truck and glanced over at Jason. The dog sat quietly beside him. Jason had inched across the seat until he was touching Ralph. He was staring intently into Ralph’s face. A look of intelligence peered out from his brown eyes. Most animals do not stare and do not like to be stared at, however Jason did not break eye contact. Nose to nose, the two sat. Ralph was mesmerized. The truck engine coughed and died and still the two of them sat. Ralph blinked and drew a shuddering breath. Only a few seconds had elapsed but it seemed to Ralph as if something had passed between dog and man. Whatever it was, it had helped to clear his mind and calm his racing thoughts.

“I’m ok boy. Thanks.” Ralph said as he ruffled the dog’s fur. Jason gave him one more serious and searching look and then turned away. When he turned back, he was just Jason again. His eyes were no more intelligent than before and his tongue lolled from the side of his mouth.

Ralph looked around, aware of his surroundings again. They were in the middle of the street beside the Sheriff’s office. Ralph turned the key, but the old truck had given up and would start no more. Cranking got slower and slower as the battery drained. With a shrug, Ralph got out. Jason jumped out but instead of his usual manner of tearing around, checking out the smells, he stayed beside Ralph and looked nervously around. Ralph glanced around and noticed that the two police cruisers the sheriff’s department used were sitting in front of the station. Ralph slowly turned and looked all around. Jason too looked around. “Nothing.” Ralph said, and then the two of them went into the sheriff’s office.

Ten minutes later, they both stepped out. There had been no one in the office. If Ralph had thought it was creepy outside, it was much worse in the office. A pot of hot coffee was in the break room and had almost burned dry. They had found a half eaten egg salad sandwich and a cup of coffee on one of the desks inside. The coffee in the cup was cold and the bread on the sandwich had begun to harden. It had been sitting out for several hours. There were a couple of file folders lying in the hall. As they searched the building, Ralph’s unease had grown. In one room, he had found the weapons rack. The door was locked, but a couple of hard blows with a stapler had popped the door. Ralph took a belt and holster and a pistol. He made sure he had extra ammo and he also picked a riot gun with several spare rounds. Thus armed, he felt a little silly but also relieved. He wasn’t sure just how he was going to explain to Ted Brown, the sheriff, why he had broken into the weapons case, but he had a feeling, which was growing larger by the moment, that that was a conversation that he would never have.

He had met Ted when they first moved to town. He and Mandy had been looking for a home to buy and Ralph had seen a for sale sign during the day. After work, he and Mandy had driven to the house to look it over. There was no one living there and there were no lights. Ralph and Mandy had padded around the house with flashlights, looking into the windows. A neighbor, seeing the lights, had called the police to report a prowler. Ted had shown up and had scared both Ralph and Mandy half to death. They had been around back of the house peeking into the kitchen windows. They were whispering to each other and giggling like a couple of schoolgirls, when Ted stepped around the corner.

“Don’t move!” he shouted.

Mandy had screamed and Ralph had nearly jumped out of his skin as he turned and saw a dark shape pointing a gun at him.

“Police officer. What are you doing here?” Ted had asked.

While Mandy explained in a shaky voice, Ralph had started to laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Ted had asked, still not quite convinced of their intentions.

“I almost had a heart attack.” Ralph said gasping. “I must have jumped two feet straight in the air.”

Ralph glanced over at Mandy and he started laughing again. Mandy also started laughing and Ted slowly holstered his gun. This was not a reaction he would expect from a couple of thieves caught in the act.

“You folks need to be careful out here at night. One of the neighbors might come out on you.”

“Sorry Sheriff.” Mandy said. “We both work and it’s hard to take the time to make an appointment with a real estate agent. We thought we would narrow our choices down and then see the houses we like best.”

“Well, if you’ll take my advice, you don’t want to move here. This is not the best section of town.”

“Thank you Sheriff. I appreciate the advice. I’m sorry we caused you this trouble.”