The Blue Pickup
A few minutes before noon they pulled into Tommy’s Gifts and Gas on the edge of Creede. They piled out of the vehicles and made their way into the building to use the restroom and get a drink.
“Look, Chad,” said Max. “Here’s a ton of information about things to see.” The two stopped in front of a rack full of promotional cards and pamphlets for points of interest in the area.
“Here’s one for a campground.” Max collected one of everything. “We’ll look at these later. We might get some clues as to where to look. We might even figure out what some of those drawings mean.”
“Are you folks here to visit, or are you passing through?” the cashier asked.
Slim came up behind the children and smiled at the college-aged man. “We’re here for a few days so we need a place to park our trailer and pitch a tent, one with reasonable rates close to town.”
The young man nodded then rubbed his chin. “Probably the best place is the KOA campground on the west edge of town. It’s not fancy, but they have decent facilities and won’t cost you half your month’s paycheck, if you know what I mean.” He clicked and unclicked the top of a pen. “The Main Street Market on 2nd and Main is a good grocery store. It’s directly across from the Mall. You can’t miss it. Is there anything else you want to know? I’ve lived here my whole life. If it’s here I can tell you.”
“We’re interested in the history of the town,” said Carly. “Especially the early history, during the silver rush days.”
“Oh, then you need to go to the Creede Museum and Library. That place is chock-full of history. Even the building is historic. The old train depot opened in the early 1890s.” He stopped and blushed. “I’m sorry, I’m rattling on. I’m a history major in college and get a little carried away when I talk about the history of Creede.”
“No problem,” said Max. “We don’t mind at all; in fact we really appreciate the inside information.”
“Yeah, thanks, man,” said Slim. “Now, I suppose we better pay you and find our campsite.” He waved at the pickup. “That beast is a gas guzzler.”
Once they found the campsite, Carly, Dorie, and Molly made tuna sandwiches and put out apples and chips while the boys helped Slim put up the tent.
“Come and get it.” Carly banged a spoon on the picnic table. “It doesn’t make a very good bell, but it’s all we’ve got.”
“I’m starving,” said Chad. He grabbed a plate. “I thought I was gonna die before we got to eat.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” said Slim. “We might forget to eat altogether if you weren’t around.” He sat down beside Chad at the table. “So, how about we take the van this afternoon and check out the museum? Sounds to me like that might be the best place to start.”
“Do you think we should show the man our map?” Carly chewed on her lip.
“Someone there might recognize what some of the drawings mean,” said Max. “Like the one that looks like a tree on a squiggly line.”
“That’s true.” Molly yawned and propped her head on one hand while she ate with the other. “It might be the fastest way, like going to the store.”
Carly stared at Molly. “What are you talking about? You’re not making any sense, Molly.”
“I mean, like when you want something and don’t know where to find it. Sometimes it’s just faster to find someone and ask. That’s all.” Molly shrugged her shoulders.
“If someone did steal my map then we don’t want to waste any time,” Carly said.
“You’re right.” Slim looked at Molly. “I’m wondering, though, if a short nap might not help us all. It’s been a pretty hectic few days, and I think we might be able to concentrate a little better if we take a break for a while this afternoon.”
“Can we go swimming first?” asked Chad. “I’m hot.”
“Not a bad idea,” Brandon slapped Chad on the back. “You’re pretty smart for such a short kid.”
“It doesn’t look busy.” Slim nodded toward the empty pool.
“Why don’t we go swimming first then take a little nap,” said Carly. “After that we can go to the museum.”
“I’m not tired,” said Brandon. “I think I’ll look at those pamphlets and see if there’s anything interesting there.”
“And we’ll need some milk and cheese soon,” Dorie put in.
“That should work, kids,” agreed Grandma. “We’ll still have time to get to the museum before it closes, and we can get those groceries too, Dorie. Why don’t you three girls make a list of what we need.”
“Put Oreo cookies on the list,” said Max. “I need Oreo cookies.”
They never got to the museum that afternoon. Even Brandon ended up sleeping, and the campsite was quiet for quite a while.
At four, Dorie woke up and looked at her watch, then at Grandma, Carly, and Molly, who were all still asleep. Gently, she pulled the journal Aunt Maggie had given her out from under her pillow and started writing. Aunt Maggie had told her to keep track of everything that happened so that she could read about it later. Dorie started writing. I have a lot of catching up to do, she thought. An hour later, she put the journal back and whispered, “Grandma, it’s five.”
Grandma rolled over and sat up on the edge of the bed. “I guess we missed the museum, but that sure felt good. I can’t remember the last time I slept for two hours in the middle of the day.” She straightened the pillow on the bed and grabbed her keys. “I take a nap most days but it’s usually not more than thirty minutes. How about if you and I take the van and go get those groceries?”
“Sure, I’ll leave a note.”
When they climbed out of the trailer, Grandpa peeked around the tent flap.
“We’re running to the grocery store,” said Dorie. “I guess we’ll have to go to the museum tomorrow.”
Grandpa grinned. “I’m sure it’ll still be there. Maybe we can have a quiet evening here, play some games or something.”
Dorie nodded. “That sounds like fun. Do we have any dice?”
“I think I saw a Yahtzee game in the trailer when we loaded the trailer the other day,” said Grandma.
“Have you ever played Zilch?” asked Dorie.
“No.” Grandma shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“Then we’ll teach you tonight. We all know it, and it’s a game we can all play together.”
Grandpa tipped his hat at her. “Dorie, I knew I had smart grandchildren! Now we have a plan.”
Dorie and Grandma were in and out of the grocery store in ten minutes. “That didn’t take long,” said Dorie. “Aunt Maggie sent so much food we really didn’t need to buy much. Bread, milk, eggs, cheese, yogurt, and of course Oreo cookies.” She grinned at her grandmother.
Grandma laughed. “I think we should leave them in the van when we get back and make Max think we forgot.”
“Oh, what a brilliantly ornery idea. Sounds like something he would do to me.” Dorie turned her head and caught a flash of blue. “Hey, look over there.” Dorie pointed to the gas station where they had stopped earlier. “Isn’t that the blue pickup we saw stalled by the side of the road?”
“Yes, I’d say that’s the one. Same dent with the unusually original bumper sticker, same lovely rust undertones, save vintage year. . . .”
They both giggled. “Well,” Grandma said. “I’m glad he got over the mountain. Or she . . . I guess we haven’t seen the driver yet.”
After supper, the family sat crowded around the table in the trailer. The weather had turned chilly so they decided to stay inside. Max watched as Dorie poured hot water into cups for hot chocolate. He could already smell the chocolate and it was making his mouth water.
Dorie handed Max a cup. “I’m sure glad Aunt Maggie decided to put these hot chocolate packets in. They’ll taste wonderful with the Oreo cookies.”
“Stop teasing me about those cookies.” Max glared at his sister. “It’s bad enough you forgot them, but then to keep rubbing it in.”
Grandma giggled and Max turned to stare at her. She covered her mouth and looked at him, eyes wide. “What?”
“Max,” Dorie said from behind him.
Max turned and Dorie dangled the Oreos in his face. “Gotcha,” she teased.
Max slumped onto the couch as the rest of the group burst into laughter. Within a few seconds, he was laughing too. “Next time, I’ll go with you to the grocery store.”
“Ha,” said Dorie. “I don’t think so. It was nice to go only the two of us, driving through town. Oh, guess who we saw? Well, really what; there wasn’t a who.”
“Who? I mean . . . what?” asked Carly.
“The blue truck,” Dorie and Grandma said together.
“At the gas station,” Dorie said. She handed out cups of hot chocolate while the others passed around the cookies.
“What did the driver look like?” asked Max.
“He, or she, must have been inside. We didn’t see anyone.”
“Maybe it’s a driverless pickup,” Brandon said. “The mystery of the missing driver.” His voice dropped so it was unnaturally deep and slow, and he gave his best “ghost story” laugh.
“But why is that pickup here?” Molly took two cookies and passed the bag to Chad. “We keep seeing it.”
“Only twice,” said Brandon.
“Three times.” Molly dunked her cookie.
“I think it’s only two, Molly,” said Slim. “Once on the road, and once here.”
“And once in the night at the campground,” said Molly.