The Boston Breakout (13 page)

Travis wondered how sincere Nish would be in saying that, but then he knew Nish could put on his choirboy face and look the picture of pure innocence. Nish would be at his acting best, he was sure.

As the bus rumbled on toward Nish’s showdown with his mother, Travis finally started to doze off. A few minutes later, he was sound asleep.

“I have a new idea.”

The quick breath tickling his ear woke Travis
up as much as the words. He sat up straight, blinking. Nish’s face was right next to his ear.

“What’s up?” Travis asked.

“Data ’n’ me …”

“Data and I,” Travis corrected.

“You’re not involved. Data ’n’ me have been thinking more about Ben Franklin’s inventions. So many of them are completely obvious. He invented swim fins, did you know that? And the thing in your car that tells you how far you’ve gone …”

“They didn’t have cars then,” Travis protested sleepily.

“He had one on his carriage,” Nish said dismissively, as if he couldn’t believe Travis’s lack of intelligence.

Nish continued. “He invented a new stove, new eyeglasses, an arm extension for reaching things … sensible stuff that people needed.”

“You don’t know the meaning of
sensible
.”

Nish ignored him. “I’ve been thinking about something people really need but don’t have.”

“Which is?”

“Disposable underwear.”

“What?”

“You guys are always complaining about my gauchies in the dressing room. My mom says she hates washing my underwear and is always on my case to change it every day – which is ridiculous.”

“Not really.”

“Well, my idea is simple, like Ben Franklin would do. You see a simple need, you find something sensible to fix it, and you’re a genius.”

“Disposable
underwear
?” Travis said.

“That’s right – my latest invention. For hockey players like us.”

Travis shook the rest of the sleep off. He needed to know if he was dreaming or if this conversation was actually taking place.

“You’re too late,” he said finally. “Somebody already came up with that.”

“No way!”

“They’re called diapers.”

The last thing Travis heard before falling back to sleep was a persistent, hissing raspberry from the seat behind him.

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ROY M
AC
GREGOR
was named a media inductee to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012, when he was given the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award for excellence in hockey journalism. He has been involved in hockey all his life, from playing all-star hockey in Huntsville, Ontario, against the likes of Bobby Orr from nearby Parry Sound, to coaching, and he is still playing old-timers hockey in Ottawa, where he lives with his wife, Ellen. They have four grown children. He was inspired to write
The Highest Number in the World
, illustrated by Geneviève Després, when his now grown-up daughter started playing hockey as a young girl. Roy is also the author of several classics in hockey literature.
The Home Team: Fathers, Sons and Hockey
was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award for Literature.
Home Game: Hockey and Life in Canada
(written with Ken Dryden) was a bestseller, as were
Road Games: A Year in the Life of the NHL
,
The Seven A.M. Practice
, and his latest,
Wayne Gretzky’s Ghost: And Other Tales from a Lifetime in Hockey
. He wrote
Mystery at Lake Placid
, the first book in the bestselling, internationally successful Screech Owls series in 1995. In 2005, Roy was named an Officer of the Order of Canada.