‘You crashed into something?’ Wielding a large wrench, Charlie’s father was striking half-heartedly at a bent fender in an attempt to stop it slicing through the tire.
Charlie took the wrench off him. ‘No; no crashing involved,’ he said, levering the fender toward him rather than driving it further toward the rubber tire as his father had been doing. ‘Mr Carter, the farm advisor, has recommended to the school that I take the 4-H program. It’ll help me with my university application so I can go ahead and get my science degree.’
‘And what are you going to do with that?’
‘I’ll be a new kind of farmer, working with the university agricultural experiment station, and …’ He thwacked the very end of the fender with the wrench, and it curled obediently into place. ‘… I’ll be able to do research and development right here on the farm.’
His father watched him carefully as Charlie tweaked the plugs and then turned the ignition on. The tractor burst into life and moved forward easily, now that its tire was free from impending death.
‘I don’t know, Charlie boy,’ he said eventually. ‘What happened to being a priest?’
That had been Charlie’s calling for the previous few years.
‘I can still love the Lord and work His land,’ said Charlie. ‘I know I’ve spent all these years studying with Father Patton at the church and doing extra lessons with the nuns at school, and I won’t stop doing that. But this way I can be home, and help out with the farm, and even grow it toward greater things.’
‘That’s a lot of responsibility for a fifteen-year old, son,’ said his father solemnly. ‘You do so much around the farm and the church already, taking care of the family and all as well as your school work. Are you sure you can fit anything else in?’
Charlie held the wrench out beseechingly, like some kind of communion offering. ‘I’m sure I can. I mean, Mr Carter wouldn’t have recommended me for the program if he didn’t think I could do it.’
His father drew in an enormous breath, as if pondering the puzzles of the universe. Then he winked.
‘Well, I guess I wouldn’t have recommended the 4-H to Mr Carter in the first place if I didn’t think you could manage,’ he said. ‘We’re very proud of you, Charlie boy, and I think it’s an opportunity you can’t miss.’
Charlie laughed, pumping his father’s outstretched hand. ‘Thank you!’
‘I don’t want you to burn yourself out, though, especially while school is in session. You’ll need transport to get to and from home, school and church as fast as possible.’
‘I have Betsy.’
For nearly a year, Charlie had been using the old saddle horse to get around, but this had the drawback of needing to have a place to keep the horse, as comfortably as possible, while at the school and church, and it also took time to unsaddle and saddle the horse at the terminus. He wasn’t about to complain to his parents, however. Whatever it took to keep his folks lined up with the notion of additional studies, he would suffer it.
‘Oh! Well, if Betsy’s working out okay, I’ll send the car back,’ said his father casually, taking the wrench from Charlie and turning his back to put it into the toolbox.
Charlie’s heart quickened. ‘Car? What car?’
Charles Senior allowed himself a small smile that Charlie couldn’t miss, before pointing out through the double doors. ‘That Essex roadster out there.’
Charlie raced outside. The sleek, cream-colored car was parked outside, engine idling. It was a wonder he hadn’t heard it. The Essex was very similar to the one which his oldest brother, William, had purchased a few months earlier. Charlie could hardly believe he was being given something that his own much-revered big brother had had to buy for himself.
‘My own car?’ he whispered.
‘Unless you don’t want it,’ replied his father.
He needed no further encouragement. With a whoop of joy, Charlie dived behind the wheel and roared along the farm tracks, taking very great care not to run over so much as a bug as he opened the engine and headed for the open road. Life just got sweeter with every mile, and Charlie could almost feel the future unfolding before him like the tracks beneath the roadster’s wheels – effortless, top-speed, free as a bird that had just unfurled its wings. The world was his oyster. No, the pearl in the oyster. And Charlie was ready to find that treasure. His fortune. His life.
Later that week as he was leaving the schoolhouse, Charlie found Wendell standing at the foot of the steps waiting for him. He hadn’t spoken to Wendell at any length for quite some time; in fact, he had barely talked to him at all since his parents kicked him out of their home.
At closer quarters, Charlie could see that there was something different about Wendell – a kind of confidence that he hadn’t had before. Perhaps it was a result of being older. Wendell was eighteen already, a young man rather than a boy reaching for adulthood. Furthermore, Wendell was very well-dressed, and appeared to be successful in whatever he was doing to earn a living.