The gardener and his family are standing at the end of the gangplank.
Finegan has donated his rusty wagon to the family, and it is piled high
with bags of vegetables and their personal possessions. Other bags and
bundles are piled around their feet. Finegan strides across the
gangplank with the packet of seeds the woman at the old folks home had
given him. He hands this to the gardener.
Joey is right behind him on the gangplank, one of the remaining
pumpkins in his hands. He hands this to the gardener’s daughter.
Finegan says,
The gardener is thanking Finegan.
But Finegan says he was part of the problem.
______________________________
Finegan has the portable camping grill fired up with a small wood fire,
a deep pot on the grill filled with burbling hot water. The lid is off
the pot and he is brushing some chopped vegies off a cutting board into
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the pot - carrots, an onion, several potatoes, and some cabbage. The
houseboat is drifing offshore from where the gardener’s family had been
dropped ashore. Finegan glances in that direction as he settles back
onto a box, munching on a raw carrot, contemplative and exhausted. The
vegetable bins behind him are stuffed with the new produce.
Barney comes up to sit nearby, his nose in the air, sniffing the
boiling vegie stew. Finegan hands a raw carrot down to Barney, who lays
down to chew on it contentedly.
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New Leaders
The houseboat is peddling along between the shoreline and an immense
island formed by the rising water. There appears to be water on at
least the three sides of the island that they can see. Joey brings
Finegan a map while he pedals along, confused about their location.
Finegan gets off the bike seat and comes to comb over the map with
Joey, who has spread the map out on top of a box at the rear of the
houseboat. Their heads are together over the map, while Finegan runs
his finger along the Ohio River.
In the background they hear a drum set being played, then a saxophone
bleating a few shrill notes. Finegan and Joey turn their heads in the
direction of the island. Now they hear a guitar being strummed and
tuned. Finegan and Joey look at each other and smile.
______________________________
Finegan and Joey are going over the rise of a hill, walking along a
dirt road lying between fallow fields. A flea market is laid out in a
pasture, dozens of blankets or tarps spread out on the ground with
wares laid out for inspection. Some hold pots and pans, dish sets with
many of the dishes or glasses chipped or cracked, incomplete tableware
sets, racks of used clothing for both children and adults, hand tools,
bags of apples and onions and nuts, chickens and roosters in cages, a
calf, bicycle parts, a used shoe display, non-battery key-winding
clocks including a large coocoo clock, a hair salon where a hairdresser
is snipping away at someone’s head, and a display of hubcaps which is
getting zero attention.
On one side a band is being formed, with a drum set, sax, guitar, a
violin, harmonica, and pebbles in a tin can. The band members are
trying out various songs, this or that member suggesting a tune and
playing a bar, then another having an opinion. Finally they settle and
start to play “Happy Days are Here Again” in a disjointed manner.
Finegan and Joey are walking slowly down between the blankets laid with
wares until they come to the shoe rack. Joey stops and begins comparing
his shoe up against some boots and tennis shoes for children his age.
Finegan asks,
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Joey looks up at Finegan and nods. The shoeman notes their interest and
comes up.
The boots he is motioning to are not the same quality as the pair Joey
wears. They are scuffed, have less tread, and have clearly seen more
wear and tear. Joey is laying them alongside the boots he has on,
measuring the size in this way. Joey sits on the chair the shoeman
