The Deadly River (7 page)

Tony was chuckling during all of this. Now he spoke up. “We’re planning to play baseball with a pickup team this evening. Do you play?”

“I guess. I played a bit in high school.”

Big Mike chimed in then. “Hell that’s enough. We’re going to get our butts kicked anyway. We’re playing the Town Team.” He stopped as if that explained everything.

Tony saw Lee’s puzzled look and hastened to explain. “The Town Team is almost all college baseball players. They’re all trying to make it
to the big leagues. The mill owner brings them here every summer and gives them a job if they’ll play for the St. Dubois Town Team. Other towns do the same thing and they compete with each other. This gives the guys some summer practice and an income before they go back to school. It works out well for the sawmill because the summer is their busiest time and a bunch of healthy workers are pretty welcome.”

Tony paused, then continued. “We don’t have a chance of beating them, but it’s always fun to try. We play them about once a week. Usually we don’t have enough players, so some of them play on our side. You’re welcome if you want to give it a try.”

“Why not? I sure don’t have any pressing plans for the evening. I do have a ball glove somewhere in my car. Do I have time to get a hamburger before we have to go?”

Big Mike took charge of the conversation again. “Sure. We’ll head out pretty quick here and get something to eat at home. Then we’ll pick you up at about six at your cabin and give you a ride to the field.”

The next few minutes flew by. The conversation turned to other things and Lee got to know his new friends better. The two men had been friends since an early age and had graduated from the St. Dubois High School last year. Both of them worked at the local sawmill as laborers. Mike’s job was ‘pulling boards off the green chain’ and Tony was driving a forklift, moving piles of lumber from place to place. The two lived together in a small house that they rented from the mill owner.

When Lee asked about their families, the conversation slowed. Tony was vague, just saying that his parents still lived over in Big River. Mike was more open. “My old man died a while back and Mom still lives here, but she’s got other kids and she don’t need my mouth to feed, so I got my own place when I got a job.” Lee knew that he’d stepped into a tender subject, so he dropped it immediately. Soon, the two friends left for home and Lee ordered his dinner.

Promptly at six, Mike and Tony arrived at Lee’s cabin and the three left for the ball field. Lee wasn’t too sure what he was getting into, but it was certainly better than sitting in the cabin for another lonely evening.

The field and bleachers were alive with the town’s young people when the trio arrived. Apparently this was a popular hangout for the town’s bored teenagers and young adults. Lee spotted some of the people who had been in the crowd outside the truck stop, and, judging by the “Hey Dude” greetings, they knew him also.

Suddenly bashful, Lee picked up a baseball and asked his friends to throw a few with him. This set up a rumbling among the crowd that made him even more self-conscious. Judging by the comments he overheard, the crowd was obviously excited that ‘The Dude’ was going to play tonight. Lee stifled a smile and continued tossing the ball to his new friends.

He knew that he wasn’t going to disappoint them. Not at baseball.

Lee, looking around, realized why Mike had been so pessimistic about their chances of winning. The town team was functioning like a well-oiled machine, with a coach barking orders at the individual players and the batting lineup already swinging their bats at imaginary balls. Every player wore cleats and older, well-worn, uniforms. Compared to this group, his pick-up team looked like the rank amateurs that they were.

The game got underway with a surprising three up, three down half-inning. Lee, playing second base, got the team going by single-handedly making a double play on a line drive that he grabbed. But then his side went down as fast, putting them back in the field. The Town Team got a run the next time at bat and went down after a struggle. In the bottom of the second inning, Lee hit a long home run, bringing in himself and a runner that had been on first base. But after that, the Town Team came together and shut out the fledgling pick-up team.

But, for just a short time, the score had been two to one and, for the first time in their history, the pick-up team had been ahead of the invincible Town Team! From that moment on, the little crowd had been going absolutely wild.

During the bottom half of the sixth inning, Lee took a seat on the bench to watch while waiting his turn at bat. When he was seated,
an older man left the crowd on the bleachers and, limping slightly, approached Lee, held out his hand and introduced himself. “Hello. I’m Charlie Benton. I own the sawmill here in town. I haven’t seen you around here before, but I’m told that you’re the young man who caught the robber last night. Thank you for that.”

Lee took the proffered hand and replied. “Yeah. I’m Lee Raines. I got lucky with that guy. But thank you anyway.” He turned back to watch the game.

But the man wasn’t done yet. “You play a good game of ball. Would you be interested in joining our Town Team?”

Surprised, Lee turned back to face the man. “I’m sorry, Mr. Benton. I’m just waiting for parts for my car, then I plan to get back on the road. But I do appreciate the offer.”

Charlie Benton wasn’t one to take “No” for an answer. “I’m sorry to hear that, son. But, if you’re looking for work, I can always use another good man in the sawmill. You could work there and play ball all summer if you decided to stick around. Why not give it a try?” Lee slowly smiled while his gaze locked with that of the older man. “Sorry, Mr. Benton. I don’t need a job and I have other things that I need to do before winter sets in. My answer has to be no. But thanks again.”

“Well, if you change your mind, look me up. We could use your talent on the team.”

“Thank you, sir.”

With that, the man limped back to the stands and Lee turned back just in time to see the third out of the inning. He trotted back to second base.

Lee jokingly told Mike, after the game was over, that they should have just stopped playing after the second inning. But they didn’t and the embarrassed Town Team played one of their best games ever. When they stopped the game at dark, seven innings had been played and the final score was nine to six, with the Town Team taking the game. But no one could believe that the underdogs had done what they had done. It was a cheerful crowd that saw the game end.

Mike, Tony, and several other team members tried to get Lee to go to the café after the game. But Lee begged off, saying that he was just too
tired and he wanted to get a shower and crash. The truth was that he was just too shy to go through another session with the people at the café.

Mike dropped him off at the cabin, where Lee collapsed into the room’s only chair. It had been an exciting couple of days.

CHAPTER SEVEN: JOB OFFERS

L
ee hadn’t been at the café long enough to get his first morning cup of coffee before Ray and Dawn came to sit with him. Ray immediately asked, “What’s this I hear? They tell me that you’re a baseball hero as well as a bandit-basher! Tell us about it.”

“Aw c’mon, Guys. It was just a little pick-up game.”

“Yeah, but you managed to get the whole town stirred up. Nobody has given the Town Team so much trouble before this. Are you a pro ball player or something?”

Lee laughed at that. “Nope, just a kid with a broke-down car that had been planning to pass through town.”

Ray wasn’t about to leave it there. “Where did you learn to play ball like that?”

“I played for my high school back in Pennsylvania.” Lee hesitated, then he added, “I had a baseball scholarship to Villanova. But I left there last spring before the season started.”

At this admission, Dawn broke her silence, incredulity in her voice. “You had a scholarship and you dropped out?”

“Yup. A full-ride scholarship. Not too bright, eh?”

“No shit!” This from Ray.

Lee’s coffee came and he took time to add some sugar and take a long sip. Ray and Dawn watched him silently. When he finished the little ritual, Dawn broke the silence.

“Why, Lee? I’ve got a feeling that there’s a lot more to this story.”

“There is, Mrs. Moore. But I’m not really comfortable talking about it. If you don’t mind, could we talk about something else?” Lee had a
strained look on his face and Dawn saw that she had opened a wound. She was quick to agree.

“Of course, Lee. I didn’t mean to pry.”

Lee smiled at her, obviously relieved to be off the hook. Looking past her, he saw a familiar face arriving. “Hey, it’s Kurt Kochran!” He was happy to change the subject.

But Ray had still another subject for them. “Oh, Lee. I almost forgot. Your water pump should come in on the afternoon bus. If it does, your car will be ready to go by tomorrow morning.”

“That’s great news, Ray.” But deep inside, Lee was not as happy as he let on. He had started to like this little town and its people. His long search for the little lake in the painting wasn’t getting anywhere and he was tired of travelling.

Ray had risen to greet Kurt as he came into the café. The two exchanged small talk while Dawn took Lee’s breakfast order and moved back toward the kitchen. Then Kurt turned to greet Lee. “Hey Slugger. How’s it going?” He had a big grin on his face as he said it.

“Okay, sir. How are you this morning?”

“Good. But please, I’m Kurt, not sir,”

Kurt smiled. “Anyway, Lee, how would you like to make a few bucks while you’re waiting around here?”

“Gosh. Thanks, but I’m really not looking for work, Mr. Kochran.”

Kurt looked at him quizzically. “Kurt. No ‘misters’ okay?”

“Okay, Kurt.” It came out hard for Lee. He had been taught to never call his elders by their first names.

“Lee, you just surprised me. If you aren’t looking for work, what are you doing out this way? You’re too young to be a tourist and you certainly aren’t a bum. So what’s the story?”

“It’s a long story, Mr. - uh, Kurt. Let’s just say that I’m doing an errand for my parents. Okay?”

“Sure. No problem. Dammit though, I was really hoping to get you to help me.”

“What do you need help with?”

“I’m going to raft down the Clark Fork from its headwaters to where it flows into Idaho. I plan to test the water quality every mile or so and
document the levels of contamination that I run into. But it’s gonna be a two-person job. Just keeping trucks at either end to drop off the raft and then pick it up again at the other end will require two pickups and two people. Besides, operating the raft and taking water samples at the same time will keep two people busy.”

“Darn. That does sound like fun. Worthwhile, too. But I’m really sorry. I just can’t do it this summer. I’ve promised my time to something else.”

Ray, who had been listening to this exchange, interrupted, “Kurt, I know a nice kid who would love to work with you on this. Young Benny Stanton is working odd jobs for me right now. I keep him going ‘cause he needs the money, but I’m running out of work for him. He could do the job, but he doesn’t have a car or any transportation.”

“That would work fine for me. I know him. He’s a good kid. I’ve got two forest service pickups that they loaned me to do the job and I got a couple of war surplus life rafts for the floating part.”

“Benny is next door, cleaning out my garage right now. Want to talk to him?”

“Yeah. Let’s do that.”

Ray and Kurt excused themselves and walked next door. Lee turned back to his meal. The offer had interested him and he’d almost said “Yes” to it. He knew that, if they’d pressed him, he probably would’ve caved in and spent the summer riding a raft. He was happy that Ray had found someone to do the job.

After a few minutes, the two men came back into the café and joined Lee. A tall young man, about Lee’s age, accompanied them. Ray did the introductions. “Lee, I’d like you to meet Ben Stanton. Around here, we call him Bebop, ‘cause he’s always playing bad music on his guitar.”

Ben grinned at this and held out his hand to Lee. “It ain’t all bad music. Once in a while I get it right.”

Kurt turned to Lee then. “Lee, I know you don’t want to get involved long-term. But could I get you to help us for a day or so while we’re getting our things together? I’d like to start working the river on Monday and we have a lot to do to get ready before then.”

“Absolutely. No problem. When and where?”

“Can you spare a few hours today? I’d like to get the gear together, load the trucks and get ready to start on the river after the weekend. It will probably take most of the day.”

“Sure. I can be ready after I eat. Glad to have something to do.”

The four men chatted quietly while Lee finished eating and Kurt drank his coffee. When they were done, Kurt, Lee, and Ben got into Kurt’s car and drove a couple of miles west to the Forest Service’s ranger station. It turned out that the area’s senior ranger, a harried-looking man named Mainwaring, was helping Kurt on the project and had loaned him a small conference room and storage space for the duration of the project.