Just as I was about to go over and finish the unpleasant confrontation, a large motor home came tearing down the off-ramp and stopped directly in front of me. I ran to the rear of the dirty RV and as I turned the corner, I saw Madeline being carried into the rig.
I summoned a large bolt of lightning and tossed it at the door, making it fly off its hinges. As I was about to fling another bolt at the motor home, the vehicle took off north, heading down I-5. A large belch of black diesel smoke clouded my vision. I pitched two large bolts at the bus, but missed. The RV continued to race down the road and went over a small hill.
'Damn. I almost had her,' I said, wiping sweat and blood from my face. I was exhausted. Every muscle in my body felt like it had been run through an old wringer washing machine. I slowly started to walk south toward my friends. A couple hundred yards down the interstate, I spotted Hope and whistled for her. The horse came trotting over. I mounted her and said, 'Almost, Hope. Missed her by a cat's ass. Let's go see what we're having for dinner.'
When I rode into the fairground, I was greeted by a burst of applause and wild cheering. Sela ran toward me and took Hope's reins.
'You look like hell. Are you all right?' Sela asked excitedly.
'Yes, just a bit sore.'
A large group of people surrounded me. I dismounted Hope and immediately hugged Sela. Missy took Hope and led her off to cool her down.
'I'm sorry folks, but it was close. It was a good fight. I almost had her down for the count,' I yelled. Everyone got silent as I recounted my fight.
'That's okay, Heckel. We'll finish the job up in Oregon,' someone yelled from behind me. Everyone cheered and echoed the sentiment.
'We need to get you cleaned up. Come on,' Sela said, putting her arm around my waist. More cheering erupted as the crowd dispersed.
Chapter 32
The mud-soaked RV charged northward on I-5, looking like a cumbersome dinosaur. Black smoke spewed out of the exhaust pipe. Quincy had laid Madeline down on the sofa. Blood had soaked and dried on the front of her dress. Her two dachshunds climbed all over her, licking her face. She brushed them aside when they hit the rebar still protruding from her chest. Madeline screamed when the motor home hit a bump.
'God damn it!' she yelled. 'Stay out of the potholes.'
'Sorry,' Quincy called back.
Madeline tried to pull the rebar out, but it was cauterized to her skin and any attempt to pull it out resulted in tearing. The deadly spear had gone straight through her. Madeline screamed again in her attempt to pull on it. Blood started to ooze from around the steel bar.
'I'm going to need your help,' she shouted to Quincy.
'There's a rest stop a few miles ahead. We'll be there in a matter of minutes,' Quincy said as he pushed the diesel engine faster.
Madeline stared out the window, trying not to pass out, reflecting on what still needed to be done.
Quincy slowed the motor home as he approached the off-ramp. He stopped the rig and went back to Madeline.
'How can I help?' he asked.
'You need to pull this piece of shit out of my chest,' she said with a trembling voice. 'Get a bunch of towels. This thing will bleed like a son of a bitch.'
Quincy pulled open drawer after drawer looking for towels. He came back to the sofa with several.
'What now?' he asked. 'I'm a little squeamish around blood and stuff.'
Madeline rolled her eyes and told him now was not the time to be a wimp. 'I think you need to just yank it really hard.'
'Okay, wait a minute,' he said. 'If I may?' He gently rolled Madeline over on her side. Excruciating pain quickly registered on Madeline's face and she let loose a litany of blue words.
'Well, that's not good,' he said.
'What the fuck now?' she said, getting more testy and anxious.
'It appears that the rebar has melted into a large round flat disc on the back side. If I yank it from the front, it will probably rip out half your internal organs and the way the rebar is split into several protruding fingers in the front, it would do the same thing if I tried pulling it from the back.'
'Shit, now what? I can't leave it in there.'
Quincy rolled Madeline carefully on to her back. He propped a couple of large, soft pillows behind her head.
'I have an idea,' he said tentatively.
'Well, what?' Madeline barked with less patience.
'If we have a hacksaw, I might be able to saw off the front part and then pull it through from the back. If we had an acetylene torch, I could slice through the rebar pretty quickly.'
'Get the hacksaw and get it done,' she demanded.
Quincy hurried out of the motor home. Madeline heard him riffling through one of the compartments below. A faint 'found it' drifted into the open window near the sofa.
'Shit, hurry up, Quincy. It's hurting more and I feel like I might pass out.'
'Maybe you should pass out,' he said as he came up to the sofa. 'Do you have anything to dull the pain?'
'Yes, get me that bottle of Pendleton,' she ordered. 'And for shit's sake, hurry.'
Quincy opened the cabinet and pulled out the bottle of Pendleton. It was half full. He went to a cupboard looking for a glass.
'Screw the glass. Give me the fucking bottle. The pain is burning hot now.'
Quincy unscrewed the cap and handed her the bottle. She immediately started chugging the liquid amber. After gulping down about a quarter of the bottle, she came up for air. 'Wow, that packs a wallop. Whew!' The numbing effects of the alcohol began to take effect. She noticed that the room started to get a healthy spin and that the pain had subdued considerably.
Quincy stood over her with the hacksaw. 'Don't you think you should sterilize that or something?' she queried with each word sounding more slurred.
'Oh, probably so. I bet there's no alcohol around,' he said. 'Wait. I have an idea.' He went over to the stove, removed the top covering and turned on one of the burners. Madeline watched him out of the corner of her eye; turning her body made the rebar twist. The pain started to increase again, so she knocked back another mouthful of the Pendleton. The hit of booze made her head spin even faster. 'Hurry up. Get this done with,' she said, sounding like the old comedian Foster Brooks. Giggling, she asked, 'Hey, do you remember that old comedian whose whole shtick was acting like a drunk?'
Before Quincy could respond, she slipped out of consciousness for a moment. When she came around, an incredible pain erupted from her chest. After a series of screams that echoed through the motor home, she bellowed, 'What the fuck?'
Quincy had his knee on her stomach and was sawing through the rebar. He placed several towels around the protruding metal spear, trying to soak up the spewing blood. 'I'm almost through,' he said. 'Relax.'
Madeline screamed repeatedly. 'Relax my ass. You…are…fucking…killing…me.'
'Here, drink some more-'
Before he could finish his sentence, she swiped her arm up, hitting the bottle out of his hands. He continued his sawing. With each push, Madeline felt like her insides were being pulled apart. Her two dachshunds cowered over on the driver's seat.
