Today’s excerpt is from, Toboggan,
Book #4 of the Janitors Series. Nick and
Phyllis “outfit” themselves for the trek in front of them from their section of
the plane that had carried them partway down the mountain. They, of course, have no way of knowing the
two escaped hoodlums are heading up the very mountain they plan to head down. Enjoy and have a wonderful day.
m.j.
Further
up the mountain from Tony and Frank, Nick and Phyllis were finding the going
difficult as the snow pelted down.
Before starting downhill, Nick had organized things the best he
could. First, he saw the overhead
storage section (from above their seats) where it had landed when it tore loose
after they hit the last tree. In it he
found his carry-on piece of luggage and eight blankets. He spread one of the blankets and dumped out
his soft folding-type duffel, resembling a large gym bag. From the pile of clothing there, he tossed
Phyllis a heavy duty t-shirt. “Better
put that on over your blouse. I don’t
have anything with long sleeves in here, so your arms will still be exposed,
but at least you’ll be somewhat warmer.”
Then
he looked at her feet, which were clad only in toeless sandals, and handed her
a pair of his socks. As she put them on,
he opened the end of his bag and took out a pair of walking shoes. After she put the sandals back on, he said,
“Try to put these on over your sandals.”
“Are
you kidding me?”
He
smiled. “Just try it. Your feet’ll freeze trooping through the snow
in those sandals.”
Phyllis
did as told and was surprised that her feet and sandals fit inside the
shoes. Snugly, but fit nonetheless. She smiled.
“I’m gonna feel like a geek walking around like this.”
“Better
than frozen feet.”
“Yeah,
guess so.”
He
then took the bag over to the galley section of the plane, where the liquor
locker had split open from the impact with the tree. Bottles of various types of alcohol were
strewn about. He asked, “Phyllis, how do
you feel about picking up all this booze and putting it in the bag?”
“Great,
if I can drink one first.”
“Good
idea, I’ll join you. Might warm us up a
bit.”
After
they both consumed the drink of their choice, Nick started looking around for
anything else they could use as Phyllis dutifully picked up all the bottles of
alcohol she could find. She also picked
up several loose bags of nuts.
Nick
spotted a piece of fuselage about sixteen inches wide and three feet long. It was curved so that both ends would be off
the snow if it were used as a sled.
Deciding that would be perfect for the bag rapidly filling up with small
bottles, Nick searched other pieces of wreckage and found coated wire
cables. He was able to cut those to the
length he desired by using jagged edges of the torn fuselage lying about. When he had what he wanted, he used the heel
of the Western boots he wore to pound out any sharp edges on his “sled” to make
it safe in case it ran up on whoever was pulling it. Then he tied some of the wire on the “front”
of the sled, to be used as pull rope.
Next he repeated the process at the “rear” end of the sled.
When
Phyllis announced that she had packed all the liquor bottles she could find,
Nick stacked six of the seven still-folded blankets on the sled, then put the
“booze bag” (as he called it) on next.
Then he stood back and thought a minute.
After
that pause in activity he cut a few shorter pieces of the wire to sizes he
thought would work for what he had in mind.
With a smile on his face, he put a pair of his jockey shorts on Phyllis’
head, pulled them tight, and tied them off with a short piece of wire, forming
a hat.
She
giggled. “You really expect me to wear
your underpants on my head?”
As
he made a similar “hat” for himself, Nick answered. “Your head. Take it off if you want, but in case you
hadn’t noticed, we have some unfriendly looking clouds bearing down on us and I
predict snow before too awfully long…in fact, those little white things look
suspiciously like snowflakes already.”
Phyllis
turned and looked in the direction Nick had been looking when he said that and
announced, “My new hat stays. Thank you
very much for giving me the shirt off your back and now the pants off your
butt.”
“You’re
welcome.”
Nick
then picked up his last two pairs of socks from his pile of belongings and handed
one pair to Phyllis. “Enjoy your new
mittens.”
Next
he draped one of the two blankets not on the sled around her shoulders,
stopped, then stood back. “Just a
minute…I have an idea.”
He
then took the blanket off her, grabbed it by the middle and walked over to the
jagged edge he had used to cut the wire.
Using a sawing motion, he soon cut a hole about six inches in diameter
in the middle of the blanket. Now he
walked back to Phyllis and forced it over her head. Then he created folds that she could put her
arms into, but still have freedom of movement if she wanted or needed it. Next he tied a piece of his pre-cut wire
around her midsection.
She
grinned. “I love it, thanks. You’ll make somebody a good wife.”
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