It had to be You

tracks from the top whenever needed.
    The most horrifying part of this was presenting the problem to Miss Twibell.
    More practical than the men, she agreed to fund half the price of the wood and the varnish. But she insisted that any time the platform starting sticking, the Harbinger boys would supply and apply the extra oil at no cost to her.
    Robert and Harry’s brother didn’t think this was fair, but didn’t say so in front of Miss Twibell. And Harry, who took the whole blame for forgetting the rails, had already agreed to Miss Twibell’s solution.
    As he was seeing them off in their truck, Robert said, “Please hurry. I want to see this work. Though I don’t think it’s quite right you should lose some of your profit.“
    “It won’t cost us much,“ Harry said. “But it will take more time, I’m sorry to say.“
    “But what if the two of you move away someday? Who’s going to do it?“
    “Move away from Voorburg?“ Harry asked, astonished at the very thought. “We’ll never move away. This is where we live.“ He gunned the engine of the truck and took off.
    Robert realized with a sinking heart that he had at least several more days of hauling laundry up and down. Besides, he was stuck living in Voorburg for another eight years and could learn to oil the rails if the Harbinger boys happened to change their minds, marry girls from other towns, and move closer to their wives’ families.
    He also surprised himself by realizing that staying in Voorburg that long wasn’t really all that bad. When he’d first come here, he’d hated it. Now he had friends here he’d miss desperately.

    The days had lengthened enough that it was still barely light when he and Lily got off work and drove home. As the Duesie made the first of the many sharp turns going to Grace and Favor, Robert stopped the automobile abruptly when he spotted an odd-looking man about to disappear down one of the old Indian paths that led to the river. Robert tried to point the figure out to Lily.
    “I don’t know where you’re looking,“ Lily said.
    “He’s already gone. I think it was that crazy woman’s Communist. He had a big walking stick, long brown hair, and some sort of red hat. I’m going to follow him. Stay here in the car. I wish we had a way of calling Howard to tell him.“
    “Robert, if you can catch up with him, I’ll drive the automobile to town and tell Howard.”
    In theory, this was a good plan, but Robert hated to turn the Duesie over to Lily. She’d driven it only a few times, and wasn’t very good at turns. Time was of the essence though, so he reluctantly agreed and plunged into the woods, calling back to her as he departed, “Drive really slowly and carefully.“
    “Nonsense,“ Lily said to herself, climbing into the driver’s seat.
    She caught up with Howard at his boardinghouse as he was getting ready to sit down to dinner, and took him aside to explain who Robert thought he’d seen.
    “Which path did he take?“ Howard asked. “And where does it come out?“
    “I don’t know,“ Lily replied. “It was closer to the nursing home than to Grace and Favor. I’ve never followed it to town.“
    “Then you go to the icehouse and wait to see if that other path intersects with yours. I’ll look around for where the other ones come down toward the river. Better yet, I’ll drop you off and take the Duesie. If I approach him in the police car, I might scare him back into the woods if he’s up to no good.”
    Lily didn’t like this plan. It was getting dark now and the ice stored in the icehouse over the winter would be melting, making the area terribly muddy. Besides, the town icehouse was a sort of scary, remote place for a woman to be alone in the dark. But it was a sensible plan, so she went along with it, wishing there had been a flashlight in the Duesie she could use. That way, she could see if the mysterious stranger Howard thought might be up to no good could be seen by her before he saw her.
    She lingered around the side of the icehouse that faced the town, occasionally peeking around the corner at the path that came down the hill. She didn’t hear anyone, so she returned to the front for a while. Her shoes were getting clumped with mud. It was turning colder and she hadn’t worn a warm enough coat.
    Suddenly she heard what sounded like a branch being snapped back and became seriously frightened. She went a little closer to the corner but didn’t peek around. Suddenly a person