Spicy And Short Stories Beautiful Spicy And Short Stories for Children, Horror, Humour, Religious, English Tales, Romance, Sci-Fi And Much More..

Tub had been waiting for an hour in the falling snow. Hepaced the sidewalk to keep warm and stuck his head out over thecurb whenever he saw lights approaching. One driver stopped forhim but before Tub could wave the man on he saw the rifle onTub's back and hit the gas. The tires spun on the ice.The fall of snow thickened. Tub stood below the overhang ofa building. Across the road the clouds whitened just above therooftops, and the street lights went out. He shifted the riflestrap to his other shoulder. The whiteness seeped up the sky.

A truck slid around the corner, horn blaring, rear endsashaying. Tub moved to the sidewalk and held up his hand. Thetruck jumped the curb and kept coming, half on the street andhalf on the sidewalk. It wasn't slowing down at all. Tub stoodfor a moment, still holding up his hand, then jumped back. Hisrifle slipped off his shoulder and clattered on the ice, asandwich fell out of his pocket. He ran for the steps of thebuilding. Another sandwich and a package of cookies tumbled ontothe new snow. He made the steps and looked back.

A truck had stopped several feet beyond where Tub had beenstanding. He picked up his sandwiches and his cookies and slungthe rifle and went up to the driver's window. The driver was bentagainst the steering wheel, slapping his knees and drumming hisfeet on the floorboards. He looked like a cartoon of a personlaughing, except that his eyes watched the man on the seat besidehim. "You ought to see yourself," the driver said. "He looks justlike a beach ball with a hat on, doesn't he? Doesn't he, Frank?"

The man beside him smiled and looked off.

"You almost ran me down," Tub said. "You could've killedme."

"Come on, Tub, said the man beside the driver. "Be mellow.Kenny was just messing around." He opened the door and slid overto the middle of the seat.

Tub took the bolt out of his rifle and climbed in besidehim. "I waited an hour," he said. "If you meant ten o'clock whydidn't you say ten o'clock?"

"Tub, you haven't done anything but complain since we gothere," said the man in the middle. "If you want to piss and moanall day you might as well go home and bitch at your kids. Takeyour pick." When Tub didn't say anything he turned to the driver."Okay, Kenny, let's hit the road."

Some juvenile delinquents had heaved a brick through thewindshield on the driver's side, so the cold and snow tunneledright into the cab. The ehater didn't work. They coveredthemselves with a couple of blankets Kenny had brought along andpulled down the muffs on their caps. Tub tried to keep his handswarm by rubbing them under the blanket but Frank made him stop.

They left Spokane and drove deep into the country, runningalong black lines of fences. The snow let up, but still there wasno edge to the land where it met the sky. Nothing moved in thechalky fields. The cold bleached their faces and made the stubblestand out on their cheeks and along their upper lips. Theystopped twice for coffee before they got to the woods where Kennywanted to hunt.

Tub was for trying someplace different; two years in a rowthey'd been up and down this land and hadn't seen a thing. Frankdidn't care one way or the other, he just wanted to get out ofthe goddamned truck. "Feel that," Frank said, slamming the door.He spread his feet and closed his eyes and leaned his head wayback and breathed deeply. "Tune in on that energy."

"Another thing," Kenny said. "This is open land. Most of theland around here is posted."

"I'm cold," Tub said.

Frank breathed out. "Stop bitching, Tub. Get centered."

"I wasn't bitching."

"Centered," Kenny said. "Next thing you'll be wearing anightgown, Frank. Selling flowers out at the airport."

"Kenny," Frank said, "you talk too much."

"Okay," Kenny said. "I won't say a word. Like I won't sayanything about a certain babysitter."

"What babysitter?" Tub asked.

"That's between us," Frank said, looking at Kenny. "That'sconfidential. You keep your mouth shut."

Kenny laughed.

"You're asking for it," Frank said.

"Asking for what?"

"You'll see."

"Hey," Tub said, "are we hunting or what?"

They started off across the field. Tub had trouble gettingthrough the fences. Frank and Kenny could have helped him; theycould have lifted up on the top wire and stepped on the bottomwire, but they didn't. They stood and watched him. There were alot of fences and Tub was puffing when they reached the woods.

They hunted for over two hours and saw no deer, no tracks,no sign. Finally they stopped by the creek to eat. Kenny hadseveral slices of pizza and a couple of candy bars: Frank had asandwich, an apple, two carrots, and a square of chocolate; Tubate one hard-boiled egg and a stick of celery.

"You ask me how I want to die today," Kenny said. "I'll tellyou burn me at the stake." He turned to Tub. "You still on thatdiet?" He winked at Frank.

"What do you think? You think I like hard-boiled eggs?"

"All I can say is, it's the first diet I ever heard of whereyou gained weight from it."

"Who said I gained weight?"

"Oh, pardon me. I take it back. You're just wasting awaybefore my very eyes. Isn't he, Frank?"

Frank had his fingers fanned out, tips against the bark ofthe stump where he'd laid his food. His knuckles were hairy. Hewore a heavy wedding band and on his right pinky another goldring with a flat face and an "F" in what looked like diamonds. Heturned the ring this way and that. "Tub," he said, "you haven'tseen your own balls in ten years."

Kenny doubled over laughing. He took off his hat and slappedhis leg with it.

"What am I supped to do?" Tub said. "It's my glands."

They left the woods and hunted along the creek. Frank andKenny worked one bank and Tub worked the other, moving upstream.The snow was light but the drifts were deep and hard to movethrough. Wherever Tub looked the surface was smooth, undisturbed,and after a time he lost interest. He stopped looking for tracksand just tried to keep up with Frank and Kenny on the other side.A moment came when he realized he hadn't seen them in a longtime. The breeze was moving from him to them; when it stilled hecould sometimes hear Kenny laughing but that was all. Hequickened his pace, breasting hard into the drifts, fighting awaythe snow with his knees and elbows. He heard his heart and feltthe flush on his face but he never once stopped.

Tub caught up with Frank and Kenny at a bend of the creek.They were standing on a log that stretched from their bank tohis. Ice had backed up behind the log. Frozen reeds stuck out,barely nodding when the air moved.

"See anything?" Frank asked.

Tub shook his head.

There wasn't much daylight left and they decided to headback toward the road. Frank and Kenny crossed the log and theystarted downstream, using the trail Tub had broken. Before theyhad gone very far Kenny stopped. "Look at that," he said, andpointed to some tracks going form the creek back into the woods.Tub's footprints crossed right over them. There on the bank,plain as day, were several mounds of deer sign. "What do youthink that is, Tub?" Kenny kicked at it. "Walnuts on vanillaicing?"

"I guess I didn't notice."

Kenny looked at Frank.

"I was lost."

"You were lost. Big deal."

They followed the tracks into the woods. The deer had goneover a fence half buried in drifting snow. A no hunting sign wasnailed to the top of one of the posts. Frank laughed and said theson of a bitch could read. Kenny wanted to go after him but Franksaid no way, the people out here didn't mess around. He thoughtmaybe the farmer who owned the land would let them use it if theyasked. Kenny wasn't so sure. Anyway, he figured that by the timethey walked to the truck and drove up the road and doubled backit would be almost dark.

"Relax," Frank said. "You can't hurry nature. If we're meantto get that deer, we'll get it. If we're not, we won't."

They started back toward the truck. This part of the woodswas mainly pine. The snow was shaded and had a glaze on it. Itheld up Kenny and Frank but Tub kept falling through. As hekicked forward, the edge of the crust bruised his shins. Kennyand Frank pulled ahead of him, to where he couldn't even heartheir voices any more. He sat down on a stump and wiped his face.He ate both the sandwiches and half the cookies, taking his ownsweet time. It was dead quiet.When Tub crossed the last fence into the toad the truck startedmoving. Tub had to run for it and just managed to grab hold ofthe tailgate and hoist himself into the bed. He lay there,panting. Kenny looked out the rear window and grinned. Tubcrawled into the lee of the cab to get out of the freezing wind.He pulled his earflaps low and pushed his chin into the collar ofhis coat. Someone rapped on the window but Tub would not turnaround.

He and Frank waited outside while Kenny went into thefarmhouse to ask permission. The house was old and paint wascurling off the sides. The smoke streamed westward off the top ofthe chimney, fanning away into a thin gray plume. Above the ridgeof the hills another ridge of blue clouds was rising.

"You've got a short memory," Tub said.

"What?" Frank said. He had been staring off.

"I used to stick up for you."

"Okay, so you used to stick up for me. What's eating you?"

"You shouldn't have just left me back there like that."

"You're a grown-up, Tub. You can take care of yourself.Anyway, if you think you're the only person with problems I cantell you that you're not."

"Is there something bothering you, Frank?"

Frank kicked at a branch poking out of the snow. "Nevermind," he said.

"What did Kenny mean about the babysitter?"

"Kenny talks too much," Frank said. "You just mind your ownbusiness."

Kenny came out of the farmhouse and gave the thumbs-up andthey began walking back toward the woods. As they passed the barna large black hound with a grizzled snout ran out and barked atthem. Every time he barked he slid backwards a bit, like a cannonrecoiling. Kenny got down on all fours and snarled and barkedback at him, and the dog slunk away into the barn, looking overhis shoulder and peeing a little as he went.

"That's an old-timer," Frank said. "A real graybeard. Fifteenyears if he's a day."

"Too old," Kenny said.

Past the barn they cut off through the field.s The land wasunfenced and the crust was freezing up thick and they made goodtime. They kept to the edge of the field until they picked up thetracks again and followed them into the woods, farther andfarther back toward the hills. The trees started to blur wiht theshadows and the wind rose and needled their faces with thecrystals it swept off the glaze. Finally they lost the tracks.

Kenny swore and threw down his hat. "This is the worst dayof hunting I ever had, bar none." He picked up his hat andbrushed off the snow. "This will be the first season since I wasfifteen I haven't got my deer."

"It isn't the deer," Frank said. "It's the hunting. Thereare all these forces out here and you just have to go with them."

"You go with them," Kenny said. "I came out here to get me adeer, no listen to a bunch of hippie bullshit. And if it hadn'tbeen for dimples here I would have, too."

"That's enough," Frank said.

"And you--you're so busy thinking about that little jailbaitof yours you wouldn't know a deer if you saw one."

"Drop dead," Frank said, and turned away.

Kenny and Tub followed him back across the fields. When theywere coming up to the barn Kenny stopped and pointed. "I hatethat post," he said. He raised his rifle and fired. It soundedlike a dry branch cracking. The post splintered along its rightside, up toward the top. "There," Kenny said. "It's dead."

"Knock it off," Frank said, walking ahead.

Kenny looked at Tub. He smiled. "I hate that tree," he said,and fired again. Tub hurried to catch up with Frank. He startedto speak but just then the dog ran out of the barn and barked atthem. "Easy, boy," Frank said.

"I hate that dog." Kenny was behind them.

"That's enough," Frank said. "You put that gun down."

Kenny fired. The bullet went in between the dog's eyes. Hesank right down into the snow, his legs splayed out on each side,his yellow eyes open and staring. Except for the blood he lookedlike a small bearskin rug. The blood ran down the dog's muzzleinto the snow.

They all looked at the dog lying there.

"What did he ever do to you?" Tub asked. "He was justbarking."

Kenny turned to Tub. "I hate you."

Tub shot from the waist. Kenny jerked backward against thefence and buckled to his knees. He folded his hands across hisstomach. "Look," he said. His hands were covered with blood. Inthe dusk his blood was more blue than red. It seemed to below tothe shadows. It didn't seem out of place. Kenny eased himselfonto his back. He sighed several times, deeply. "You shot me," hesaid.

"I had to," Tub said. He knelt beside Kenny. "Oh God," hesaid. "Frank. Frank."

Frank hadn't moved since Kenny killed the dog.

"Frank!" Tub shouted.

"I was just kidding around," Kenny said. "It was a joke.Oh!" he said, and arched his back suddenly. "Oh!" he said again,and dug his heels into the snow and pushed himself along on hishead for several feet. Then he stopped and lay there, rockingback and forth on his heels and head like a wrestler doing warm-up exercises.

Frank roused himself. "Kenny," he said. He bent down and puthis gloved hand on Kenny's brow. "You shot him," he said to Tub.

"He made me," Tub said.

"No no no," Kenny said.

Tub was weeping from the eyes and nostrils. His whole facewas wet. Frank closed his eyes, then looked down at Kenny again."Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere," Kenny said, "just everywhere."

"Oh God," Tub said.

"I mean where did it go in?" Frank said.

"Here." Kenny pointed at the wound in his stomach. It waswelling slowly with blood.

"You're lucky," Frank said. "It's on the left side. Itmissed your appendix. If it had hit your appendix you'd really bein the soup." He turned and threw up onto the snow, holding hissides as if to keep warm.

"Are you all right?" Tub said.

"There's some aspirin in the truck," Kenny said.

"I'm all right," Frank said.

"We'd better call an ambulance," Tub said.

"Jesus," Frank said. "What are we going to say?"

"Exactly what happened," Tub said. "He was going to shoot mebut I shot him first."

"No sir!" Kenny said. "I wasn't either!"

Frank patted Kenny on the arm. "Easy does it, partner." Hestood. "Let's go."

Tub picked up Kenny's rifle as they walked down toward thefarmhouse. "No sense leaving this around," He said. "Kenny mightget ideas."

"I can tell you one thing," frank said. "You've really doneit this time. This definitely takes the cake."

They had to knock on the door twice before it was opened bya thin man with lank hair. The room behind him was filled withsmoke. He squinted at them. "You get anything?" he asked.

"No," Frank said.

"I knew you wouldn't. That's what I told the other fellow."

"We've had an accident."

The man looked past Frank and tub into the gloom. "Shootyour friend, did you?"

Frank nodded.

"I did," Tub said.

"I suppose you want to use the phone."

"If it's okay."

The man in the door looked behind him, then stepped back.Frank and Tub followed him into the house. There was a womansitting by the stove in the middle of the room. The stove wassmoking badly. She looked up and then down again at the childasleep in her lap. Her face was white and damp; strands of hairwere pasted across her forehead. Tub warmed his hands over thestove while Frank went into the kitchen to call. The man who hadlet them in stood at the window, his hands in his pockets.

"My friend shot your dog," Tub said.

The man nodded without turning around. "I should have doneit myself. I just couldn't.""He loved that dog so much," the woman said. The child squirmedand she rocked it.

"You asked him to?" Tub said. "You asked him to shoot yourdog?"

"He was old and sick. Couldn't chew his food any more. Iwould have done it myself but I don't have a gun."

"You couldn't have anyway," the woman said. "Never in amillion years."

The man shrugged.

Frank came out of the kitchen. "We'll have to take himourselves. The nearest hospital is fifty miles from here and alltheir ambulances are out anyway."

The woman knew a shortcut but the directions werecomplicated and Tub had to write them down. The man told themwhere they could find some boards to carry Kenny on. He didn'thave a flashlight but he said he would leave the porch light on.

It was dark outside. The clouds were low and heavy-lookingand the wind blew in shrill gusts. There was a screen loose onthe house and it banged slowly and then quickly as the wind roseagain. They could hear it all the way to the barn. Frank went forthe boards while Tub looked for Kenny, who was not where they hadleft him. Tub found him farther up the drive, lying on stomach."You okay?" Tub said.

"It hurts."

"Frank says it missed your appendix."

"I already had my appendix out."

"All right," Frank said, coming up to them. "We'll have youin a nice warm bed before you can say Jack Robinson." He put thetwo boards on Kenny's right side.

"Just as long as I don't have one of those male nurses,"Kenny said.

"Ha ha," Frank said. "That's the spirit. Get ready, set,_over you go_" and he rolled Kenny onto the boards. Kennyscreamed and kicked his legs in the air. When he quieted downFrank and Tub lifted the boards and carried him down the drive.Tub had the back end, and with the snow blowing in his face hehad trouble with his footing. Also he was tired and the maninside had forgotten to turn the porch light on. Just past thehouse Tub slipped and threw out his hands to catch himself. Theboards fell and Kenny tumbled out and rolled to the bottom of thedrive, yelling all the way. He came to rest against the rightfront wheel of the truck."

"You fat moron," Frank said. "You aren't good for diddly."

Tub grabbed Frank by the collar and back him hard up againstthe fence. Frank tried to pull his hands away but Tub shook himand snapped his head back and forth and finally Frank gave up.

"What do you know about fat," Tub said. "What do you knowabout glands." As he spoke he kept shaking Frank. "What do youknow about me."

"All right," Frank said.

"No more," Tub said.

"All right."

"No more talking to me like that. No more watching. No morelaughing."

"Okay, Tub. I promise."

Tub let go of Frank and leaned his forehead against thefence. His arms hung straight at his sides.

"I'm sorry, Tub." Frank touched him on the shoulder. "I'llbe down at the truck."

Tub stood by the fence for a while and then got the riflesoff the porch. Frank had rolled Kenny back onto the boards andthey lifted him into the bed of the truck. Frank spread the seatblankets over him. "Warm enough?" he asked.

Kenny nodded.

"Okay. Now how does reverse work on this thing?"

"All the way to the left and up." Kenny sat up as Frankstarted forward to the cab. "Frank!"

"What?"

"If it sticks don't force it.

The truck started right away. "One thing," Frank said,"you've got to hand it to the Japanese. A very ancient, veryspiritual culture and they can still make a hell of a truck." Heglanced over at Tub. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't know you feltthat way, honest to God I didn't. You should have saidsomething."

"I did."

"When? Name one time."

"A couple of hours ago."

"I guess I wasn't paying attention."

"That's true, Frank," Tub said. "You don't pay attentionvery much."

"Tub," Frank said. "what happened back there, I should havebeen more sympathetic. I realize that. You were going through alot. I just want you to know it wasn't your fault. He was askingfor it."

"You think so?"

"Absolutely. It was him or you. I would have done the samething in your shoes, no question."

The wind was blowing into their faces. The snow was a movingwhite wall in front of their lights; it swirled into the cabthrough the hole in the windshield and settled on them. Tubclapped his hands and shifted around to stay warm, but it didn'twork.

"I'm going to have to stop," Frank said. "I can't feel myfingers."

Up ahead they saw some lights off the road. It was a tavern.Outside in the parking lot there were several jeeps and trucks. Acouple of them had deer strapped across their hoods. Frank parkedand they went back to Kenny. "How you doing, partner," Franksaid.

"I'm cold."

"Well, don't feel like the Lone Ranger. It's worse inside,take my word for it. You should get that windshield fixed."

"Look," Tub said, "he threw the blankets off." They werelying in a heap against the tailgate.

"Now look, Kenny," Frank said, "it's no use whining aboutbeing cold if you're not going to try and keep warm. You've gotto do your share." He spread the blankets over Kenny and tuckedthem in at the corners.

"They blew off."

"Hold on to them then."

"Why are we stopping, Frank?"

"Because if me and Tub don't get warmed up we're going tofreeze solid and then where will you be?" He punched Kennylightly in the arm. "So just hold your horses."

The bar was full of men in colored jackets, mostly orange.The waitress brought coffee. "Just what the doctor ordered,"Frank said, cradling the steaming cup in his hand. His skin wasbone white. "Tub, I've been thinking. What you said about me notpaying attention, that's true."

"It's okay."

"No. I really had that coming. I guess I've just been alittle too interested in old number one. I've had a lot on mymind. Not that that's any excuse."

"Forget it, Frank. I sort of lost my temper back there. Iguess we're all a little on edge."

Frank shook his head. "It isn't just that."

"You want to talk about it?"

"Just between us, Tub?"

"Sure, Frank. Just between us."

"Tub, I think I'm going to be leaving Nancy."

"Oh, Frank. Oh, Frank." Tub sat back and shook his head.

Frank reached out and laid his hand on Tub's arm. "Tub, haveyou ever been really in love?"

"Well--"

"I mean _really_ in love." He squeezed Tub's wrist. "Withyour whole being."

"I don't know. When you put it like that, I don't know."

"You haven't then. Nothing against you, but you'd know it ifyou had." Frank let go of Tub's arm. "This isn't just some bit offluff I'm talking about."

"Who is she, Frank?"

Frank paused. He looked into his empty cup. "RoxanneBrewer."

"Cliff Brewer's kid? The babysitter?"

"You can't just put people into categories like that, Tub.That's why the whole system is wrong. And that's why this countryis going to hell in a rowboat."

"But she can't be mroe than--"Tub shook his head.

"Fifteen. She'll be sixteen in May." Frank smiled. "Mayfourth, three twenty-seven p.m. Hell, Tub, a hundred years agoshe'd have been an old maid by that age. Juliet was onlythirteen."

"Juliet? Juliet Miller? Jesus, Frank, she doesn't even havebreasts. She doesn't even wear a top to her bathing suit. She'sstill collecting frogs."

"Not Juliet Miller. The real Juliet. Tub, don't you see howyou're dividing people up into categories? He's an executive,she's a secretary, he's a truck driver, she's fifteen years old.Tub, this so-called babysitter, this so-called fifteen-year-oldhas more in her little finger than most of us have in our entirebodies. I can tell you this little lady is something special."

Tub nodded. "I know the kids like her."

"She's opened up whole worlds to me that I never knew werethere."

"What does Nancy think about all of this?"

"She doesn't know."

"You haven't told her?'

"Not yet. It's not so easy. She's been damned good to me allthese years. Then there's the kids to consider." The brightnessin Frank's eyes trembled and he wiped quickly at them with theback of his hand. "I guess you think I'm a complete bastard."

"No, Frank. I don't think that."

"Well, you _ought_ to."

"Frank, when you've got a friend it means you've always gotsomeone on your side, no matter what. Taht's the way I feel aboutit anyway."

"You mean that, Tub?"

"Sure I do."

Frank smiled. "You don't know how good it feels to hear yousay that."

Kenny had tried to get out of the truck but he hadn't madeit. He was jackknifed over the tailgate, his head hanging abovethe bumper. They lifted him back into the bed, and covered himagain. He was sweating and his teeth chattered. "It hurts,Frank."

"It wouldn't hurt so much if you just stayed put. Now we'regoing to the hospital. Go that? Say it--I'm going to thehospital."

"I'm going to the hospital."

"Again."

"I'm going to the hospital."

"Now just keep saying that to yourself and befor eyou knowit we'll be there."

After they had gone a few miles Tub turned to Frank. "I justpulled a real boner," he said.

"What's that?"

"I left the directions on the table back there."

"That's okay. I remember them pretty well."

The snowfall lightened and the clouds began to roll back offthe fields, but it was no warmer and after a time both frank andTub were bitten through and shaking. Frank almost didn't make itaround a curve, and they decided to stop at the next roadhouse.

There was an automatic hand-dryer in the bathroom and theytook turns standing in fron to it, opening their jackets andshirts and letting the jet of hot air breath across their facesand chests.

"You know," Tub said, "what you told me back there, Iappreciate it. Trusting me."

Frank opened and closed his fingers in front of the nozzle."The way I look at it, Tub, no man is an island. You've got totrust someone."

"Frank--"

Frank waited.

"When I said that about my glands, that wasn't true. Thetruth is I just shovel it in."

"Well, Tub--"

"Day and night, Frank. In the shower. On the freeway." Heturned and let the air play over his back. "I've even got stuffin the paper towel machine at work."

"There's nothing wrong with your glands at all?" Frank hadtaken his boots and socks off. He held first his right, then hisleft foot up to the nozzle.

"No. There never was."

"Does Alice know?" The machine went off and Frank startedlacking up his boots.

"Nobody knows. That's the worst of it, Frank. Not the beingfat, I never got any big kick out of being thin, but the lying.Having to lead a double life like a spy or a hit man. This soundsstrange but I feel sorry for those guys, I really do. I know whatthey go through. Always having to think about what you say anddo. Always feeling like people are watching you, trying to catchyou at something. Never able to just be yourself. Like when Imake a big deal about only having an orange for breakfast andthen scarf all the way to work. Oreos, Mars Bars, Twinkies. SugarBabies. Snickers." Tub glanced at Frank and looked quickly away."Pretty disgusting, isn't it?"

"Tub. Tub." Frank shook his head. "Come on." He took Tub'sarm and led him into the restaurant half o the bar. "My friend ishungry," he told the waitress. "Bring four orders of pancakes,plenty of butter and syrup."

"Frank--"

"Sit down."

When the dishes came Frank carved out slabs of butter andjust laid them on the pancakes. Then he emptied the bottle ofsyrup, moving it back and forth over the plates. He leanedforward on his elbows and rested his chin in one hand. "Go on,Tub."

Tub ate several mouthfuls, then started to wipe his lips.Frank took the napkin away from him. "No wiping," he said. Tubkept at it. The syrup covered his chin; it dripped to a pointlike a goatee. "Weigh in, Tub," Frank said, pushing another forkacross the table. "Get down to business." Tub took the fork inhis left hand and lowered his head and started really chowingdown. "Clean you plate," Frank said when the pancakes were gone,and Tub lifted each of the four plates and licked it clean. Hesat back, trying to catch his breath.

"Beautiful," Frank said. "Are you full?"

"I'm full," Tub said. "I've never been so full."

Kenny's blankets were bunched up against the tailgate again.

"They must have blown off," Tub said.

"They're not doing him any good," Frank said. We might aswell get some use out of them."

Kenny mumbled. Tub bent over him. "What? Speak up."

"I'm going to the hospital," Kenny said.

"Attaboy," Frank said.

The blankets helped. The wind still got their faces andfrank's hands but it was much better. The fresh snow on the roadand the trees sparkled under the beam of the headlight. Squaresof light from farmhouse windows fell onto the blue snow in thefields.

"Frank," Tub said after a time, "you know that farmer? Hetold Kenny to kill the dog."

"You're kidding!" Frank leaded forward considering. "ThatKenny. What a card." He laughed and so did Tub. Tub smiled outthe back window. Kenny lay with his arms folded over his stomach,moving his lips at the stars. Right overhead was the Big Dipper,and behind, hanging between Kenny's toes in the direction of thehospital, was the North Star, Pole Star, Help to Sailors. As thetruck twisted through the gentle hills the star went back andforth between Kenny's boots, staying always in his sight. "I'mgoing to the hospital," Kenny said. But he was wrong. They hadtaken a different turn a long way back.