LITMIR.BIZ

      It took ’em an hour to fix the pipe. They had to cut out the bad section with a hacksaw. The blade was not sharp. I could have predicted that. This ranch has never had a sharp hacksaw blade. I think they buy dull blades at a special store.

      Once they got the pipe cut out, the rest was fairly easy. They slipped the compression joint over both ends and tightened them down. They pressured up the lines, stopped all the leaks, and hollered down for Sally May to turn on a faucet.

      She did. It worked. The job was done, and Slim and Loper had managed to do it without any bloodshed. Sally May even brought out cups of coffee for the “heroes,” as she called them.

      I waited to see if Slim would admit that this was his first cup of the morning, and then explain why, but he didn’t.

      Well, the boys put up their tools and stood at the door of the machine shed, sipping their coffee and watching the snow come down.

      “Well, what do you reckon?” asked Loper.

      “Radio says more this afternoon and tonight. It’s liable to take us all day to feed and bust ice.”

      “I think what we’d better do is split up. I’ll take the flatbed and get Sally May to drive for me, and we’ll feed hay up north. You take the old pickup down to the Hodges’ Place and feed there. You probably better use the army truck, bad as those roads are liable to be.”

      Slim nodded. “What if it won’t start?”

      “Well . . . why don’t you take Alfred? He can pull you. He’s done that before, and then he can drive while you string out the feed.”

      “Okay with me, but his momma might not go for the idea of me taking him off in a snowstorm, and I’ve got a few questions about that myself. I’d hate to get stranded with him along.”

      Loper chuckled. “Why, he’s a nice boy, Slim. You two would have a ball together.”

      “I know he’s a nice boy. That ain’t the problem. I just hate being responsible for somebody else’s child in a storm.”

      Loper gazed up at the clouds. “Well, I think we’re going to need all the help we can get today. I’ll clear it with his momma. Oh, and you can take the dogs.”

      “Thanks a bunch. Two wet dogs and one urchin child ought to fix me right up.”

      Loper went back to the house to organize the troops. Slim finished his coffee and then pulled the flatbed pickup around to the hay lot and started loading it up for Loper. The snow was coming down harder than ever.

      While I looked for mice under the bales, Drover stood out in the snow, shivering and moaning.

      “Oh Hank, I’m so cold! I wish I could go back to bed.”

      “Drover, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.”

      “I don’t know what that means, and I’m freezing!”

      “It means that if you could turn your fondest wish into a horse, you could . . . I don’t know, give some beggar a ride into town, I guess.”

      “Where would you go to find a beggar in this weather?”

      “Well, you’d just . . . how should I know? Quit asking silly questions and catch some mice.”

      “I don’t even know what a beggar is, and I’m too cold to care.”

      “A beggar, son, is one who begs.”

      “One what?”

      “One beggar. A beggar is one beggar who begs. That’s simple enough.”

      “Why are they going to town?”

      “Because they . . . I don’t know. They need a horse, I guess.”

      “I thought horses lived in the country.”

      “They do live in the country but . . . never mind, Drover, just never mind. I’m sorry I brought it up.”

      “Oh, that’s okay, but I’m still freezing.”

      After that, I stayed as far away from Drover as I could. Just being close to him made me feel goofy.

      Little Alfred arrived on the scene just then. He was all dressed up in a red snowsuit, red mittens, snow boots, and a wool stocking cap.

      Slim got the hay loaded, just about the time Loper and Sally May and Baby Molly arrived. Alfred had been cleared by Headquarters to go with us to the Hodges’ Place, but Sally May still had quite a bit of advice to give Slim about being careful.

      Then we all said good-bye and went our separate ways. Loper and his bunch went north to feed hay, and Slim and our bunch loaded up in the old blue pickup and headed south.

      When we passed Miss Viola’s house down the creek, Slim honked his horn and said, “That’s where my petunia lives.” We didn’t see his petunia, but her two dogs, Black and Jack, came ripping out of the driveway and barked at us.

      Well, you know me. I don’t take such things lightly. I sprang to the window and barked back at them, and if the window glass hadn’t been rolled up, I probably would have thrashed them both, right there in the middle of the county road.

      Nothing makes me madder than . . .

      Hmmm. Slim stopped the pickup and opened his door, and then he said to me . . . I think he was addressing me . . . he said, “You really want a piece of those dogs?”

      I, uh . . . no, that was okay. There was no actual law against . . . heck, as long as they just barked and didn’t . . . no, we’d let it slide this time.

      In other words, no thanks.

      “Then hush.” He slammed his door and started off again.

      Fine. I could handle that. Hushing had never been a problem for me.