*****
Knock, knock, knock. The boys stood so close to each other that their shoulders rubbed together. They stared at the door as if frozen in time. When it opened a rush of brisk air came through and made the hair on their arms stand up from the chill.
“Hello, gentlemen, I’m Rachel,” the tall, pretty lady who answered the door informed them. “I’m Mr. Babbish’s executive assistant. How can I help you young men?”
“We would like to see Mr. Babbish, ma’am. You can tell him that it’s official highway business,” Bug announced.
Motioning to an overstuffed leather couch, Rachel said, “Have a seat for a moment and I’ll see if Mr. Babbish is available.” Turning abruptly, she walked to Mr. Babbish’s office, knocked twice and stepped in, closing the door behind her.
“Bug, she’s prettier than Miss Beige from second grade.”
“No, Miss Beige was prettier,” Bug countered.
“Was not.”
“Was too.”
“Rock, paper, scissors,” Benny said. “One, two, three! Oh no, scissors cut paper, you win, Bug.”
Happy with his victory, Bug glowed with pride. “See, I told you Miss Beige was prettier.”
The door to Mr. Babbish’s office opened and Rachel stepped out. “Mr. Babbish will see you gentlemen.”
She winked at them as they walked by and Bug’s elbow jabbed into Benny’s rib, causing him to utter a loud, “Ouch, quit it!”
“Boys, have a seat,” Mr. Babbish said as he pushed his chair back and stood up. He leaned over so his face could be closer to Benny and Bug. When he placed his long, skinny arms on the desk, he looked like an arrow pointing up.
The sight of him made the boys terribly nervous. Benny started to bounce his basketball. Bug’s feet started tapping the floor like Johnny Finch’s feet did in the talent show last year, except when Johnny tapped his feet it sounded like a song. Bug’s feet just made a lot of annoying noise.
“All right, boys, I think I know why you’re here. It’s about Exit 23, isn’t it?”
Bug nodded his head. “You have to open the exit back up. We need our community center.”
“It’s not that easy, if you could just...”
Bounce…bounce…tappity…tap…tap…bounce, bounce.
The boys could not keep still, and it was quite evident that Lester Babbish was beginning to get upset.
“Please, just quiet down.” Babbish lunged across the desk and grabbed the basketball from Benny’s hands. Placing it on his desk, he continued, “Just quiet down and I will try to ex—”
“You can’t take my ball.” Benny grabbed it back and the chase began. Mr. Babbish came around the desk towards Benny. Bug leaped up and ran to a corner of the room.
“I’m open, Benny, throw it!”
Benny executed a perfect chest pass to Bug, who began to dribble a large circle around Babbish, as if to dare him to come after the ball. Babbish came after him, and Bug faked to his right causing Babbish to trip over a wastebasket, while Bug bounced the ball to Benny.
“Rachel, call security now!” Babbish had made it back to his feet and called for the cavalry. “The games are over, boys. Now you’ll never see that exit open. So maybe you should just leave.”
Hearing that, Benny became angry. He was so angry that he bounced his basketball as hard as he could on the floor. The ball hit a paperweight that had fallen off Mr. Babbish’s desk. It ricocheted off the desk and hit Babbish directly in the forehead. He fell over backwards and landed flat on his back, out cold. The ball bounced straight up into the air, before landing on his stomach.
“Right this way.” Rachel was leading the security officer to Mr. Babbish’s office.
“Oh no, we gotta get your ball,” Bug said.
“Can’t get it now, Bug. We better get out of here, quick.” They crept towards the door and hid on either side of it. Just as Rachel and the security officer walked through the door, they boys took off like lightning, heading towards the elevator.
Rachel bent down to help Mr. Babbish up. He still had that look on his face as if butterflies were dancing around his head. The security officer hurried into the hallway looking for the boys.
As the elevator doors closed, Bug exclaimed, “Wow, that was close.” “Let’s go down a couple of floors and then double back up the stairs.”
“Mr. Babbish, are you alright?” asked Rachel.
“I’m fine, where did they go?”
“Security is following them down in the other elevator,” answered Rachel.
“Okay, I’ll go down the stairs just in case they try a fast one and try to sneak up. You stay here, and don’t let them have that ball.”
Benny and Bug rode down two floors and got off on floor six. They ran around the corner and down the hall to the stairs. As they began to climb, they heard Babbish huffing and puffing as he ran down the first flight of stairs. They looked back onto floor six and saw the security guard chasing down the hallway after them.
“Oh no, we’re goners!” cried Benny.
“No we’re not.” “Follow me.” Bug jumped onto the railing of the stair and slid down to the next floor. Benny was hot on his trail. At each landing, they hopped off the railing, made the turn to the next stairway and then slid down the rail again. Babbish couldn’t keep up, but the security guard was gaining ground.
“I’m gonna slow down the guard when we get to the next floor,” Bug called. He jumped off the rail at the landing and let Benny pass him and head down to the next floor. When the security guard got closer, CRASH!…Fwoooosh. Bug had tipped a large waste can in front of the running guard causing him to tumble to the ground as he tried in vain to hurdle it. When he was down, Bug unloaded with a fire extinguisher, covering the man with white, frothy foam. Bug thought to himself, He looks like a huge marshmallow!
Dropping the extinguisher, Bug ran down the stairs and found Benny waiting in the stairwell on the ground floor.
“We lost them,” said Benny. “We have to go back and get my ball, though.”
“We have to let things cool off a little and think about this. Let’s go get a milkshake and think things out.” Bug poked his head out of the door leading to the lobby. “The coast is clear, let’s go.”
Benny and Bug walked into the lobby, looking decidedly suspicious, while trying not to look suspicious. They looked around, while trying to look like they were not looking around. Bug began to whistle a song that he had heard on the radio. As soon as they made it through the towering revolving doors, they ran to their bicycles, jumped on and rode away as fast as they could ride. They finally stopped at Stubby’s Ice Cream Parlor.
10
THE LETTER
“Certified letter for you, Mr. McGhee,” the clerk announced, when Bill stopped at the post office to get his mail. “Sign here.”
When Bill returned to his truck, he opened the large manila envelope and began to read the letter.
Dear Mr. McGhee:
My name is Herbert Hreblemeister. I am with The Law Firm of Williams, Wentworth, Williams, Wentworth, Wentworth and Sons. Our firm represents Hamburger John’s Hamburger Haven. Originally, we prepared to make an offer to purchase your property located next to Exit 24 from Highway 37 as the location for a new Hamburger John’s Hamburger Haven. The offer was seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
A survey that we undertook of your property and the Babbish property indicate a serious mistake. During the original land survey of 1865, the property lines of your farm submitted to the County Register of Deeds were not correct. We must inform you that your property boundaries as currently marked are wrong.
Bill began to get his hopes up as he read the letter, but when he read the last sentence on the page, all hope disappeared. He folded the letter and put it back into the envelope and then his back pocket. He thought, Something here smells rotten. EXIT 23 closed, John’s Hamburger, lawyers, surveys, something is not right. I have to get to the bottom of this.
Bill quickly
turned his van around and drove to the gang’s taco stand. He turned into the lot, shut his truck off, and climbed out.
Cliff waved as he walked towards him from the stand. “Are you here for more tacos already?”
“No, that’s not why I’m here. I received a letter from a man at Hamburger John’s Hamburger Haven. You know, Home of the Big John Burger, John’s Big Fish Burger and John’s Famous Cheese Fries.”
“I don’t get it. Wouldn’t it be easier to sell hamburgers if they put a commercial on the radio or maybe one of those humongous billboards next to the highway?” Cliff had a quizzed look on his face.
“Oh, they weren’t trying to sell hamburgers. They want to buy my farm to build a hamburger stand.”
“That’s great isn’t it, Bill?”
“I’m not so sure. Something smells fishy. Where are Benny and Bug? Have they seen Lester Babbish yet?”
“They left quite a while ago on their bikes. I’m not sure if they’ve seen Babbish or not.”
“Let’s go find them. Climb in the van, Cliff.”
Bill turned on his headlights as he piloted his truck down the exit towards the State Highway Department. He turned the corner and made a tour of all of the roads that were within two blocks of the Highway Department building. He looked out at everything on the left side, and Cliff surveyed everything on the right side of the streets. When they reached Elm Avenue, Cliff saw two boys and two bicycles in front of Stubby’s Ice Cream Parlor.
“Bill, there they are! Pull over.”
“Hey, guys, any luck?” Cliff asked.
The boys walked over to the truck and leaned against it. Bug made a shrugging apology, and Benny’s head just hung down with a look of rejection.
“Babbish has my basketball, and he said Exit 23 will never be opened,” Benny said.
“We were thinking about sneaking up to his office to get it back.” Bug crouched down when he said this and held his hands out in front. He made slow movements, and he pretended to sneak up on something.
“That might work,” Bill offered. “But if we’re going to do it, we need to do it now, before the building closes for the night.”
Bill and Cliff got out of the van. They began walking the two blocks towards the Highway Department building with Benny and Bug close behind. As they walked, they made plans. Bill would go up in one elevator; Bug would go up in the other one, and Cliff and Benny would go up the stairs. They would meet in the hallway, and then together, they would sneak into Babbish’s office.
“Come on, Cliff, keep up. The elevator goes fast. We have to get there in time,” said Benny as he sprinted up the stairs two at a time.
“I’m going as fast as I can! I thought I was in better shape.” Cliff struggled to keep up. At last, they reached the eighth floor. Benny peeked out of the door into the hallway. The lights at the end by the stairway were off, giving a shadow of secrecy as they began to crawl towards the elevator doors.
Bill and Bug were already crouching and waiting when they arrived. Single file, they crawled through the open door that led to the outer office where Mr. Babbish’s secretary, Rachel, usually sat. Her chair in its place and the lights off, it was clear that she was gone for the day. Suddenly, Bill’s arm went up, and he motioned everyone to be quiet.
“Okay, now that we’re all here, the meeting can start.”
“Right, right, we can start.” They recognized that voice as Lester Babbish, but they didn’t recognize the other voice.
Bill got down on his stomach and began to crawl like a snake. The others followed in the same way. Slowly and quietly, they entered Mr. Babbish’s office. All of the lights in the room were off except for the light recessed in the ceiling that lit up the desk. This allowed Bill, Cliff and the boys to sneak up close.
“Gentlemen, I would like to introduce Mr. Dingman. He is the Regional Vice President for Huge Mart. Mr. Dingman, this is Mayor Macalister of Apple Grove, and this is my son, Lester Babbish.
Cliff, Bill, Benny, and Bug all stopped breathing at the same time.
The men around the table exchanged handshakes and pleasantries, quickly returning their attention to the woman sitting at the head of the desk: Mrs. Rebecca Babbish.
Bill thought to himself, Oh, my gosh, she owns the farm next to mine.
“Gentlemen, as you know, Mr. Dingman and I have been in negotiations regarding my property.” Rebecca sat up straight in her chair and patted the sided of her hair in a vain attempt to groom a stray curl. “Huge Mart would love to buy my farm and build a new store, now that Exit 23 has suddenly and unexpectedly closed. Thanks to my son, Lester, and Mayor Macalister, everyone must now use exit 24. Mr. Dingman, would you care to elaborate?”
“Yes, ma’am. Huge Mart, the largest retailer in a twelve state area is interested in placing a store in your area. We believe that if there is…”
“That is all lovely and well, Mr. Dingman.” Rebecca interrupted, “but could you please get to the part about buying my farm? Thank you.”
“Yes, ma’am. Huge Mart is offering to purchase the Babbish family farm, located at Exit 24, for the sum of two million dollars.”
“Say that again, you lovely young man,” Rebecca gushed.
“Yes, sure,” Feeling a little uneasy, Dingman began to shift in his chair. Then he said, “Two million dollars. Of course, the purchase would be subject to a satisfactory survey of the property lines. It’s the basic wording we put in every purchase contract.”
Benny and Bug could hardly contain themselves at the sound of so much money. A blow of the elbow from Benny to Bug’s ribs caused a groan that made Lester Babbish strain to see what was on the floor behind the Mayor. Cliff and Bill were beginning to understand why everything had happened as it did.
“Well, with all of that settled, let’s not dally. Can we sign the papers, you dear, dear young man?” Quickly scribbling her name, she handed the paperwork back to Mr. Dingman. It was clear that Rebecca Babbish wanted to get the ball rolling and get her money.
Just then, Benny reached through the darkness straining to get a fingertip onto his treasured basketball that had been sitting on the floor next to Lester Babbish.
“I got it!” Benny screamed.
Lester Babbish, Mayor Macalister, and Mr. Dingman all turned around to see what all the commotion was. Rebecca Babbish stood up, “You little creeps! What are you doing here? It doesn’t matter, the papers are signed.”
Bill stood up, followed by Cliff and then Bug and Benny. “I guess you win.” He removed the envelope that was in his back pocket and began to pull papers out of it. “I have a recently completed survey of my farm and the Babbish farm. It says that my property boundaries are not correct.”
“I always thought that you McGhees were squatters on my property.” Rebecca walked around the desk with her hand out reaching for the survey. “Give me that so I can get my money,” she said as she snapped it from Bill’s hand and tossed it to Mr. Dingman.
“Looking at this, it seems as if Mr. McGhee is correct, Mrs. Babbish. His property boundaries are not correct, but yours are not correct either.
“What?”
You could hear a pin drop. The look of disbelief spread across everyone’s face except Mr. Dingman’s, who continued in a very matter of fact way. “It says here that a mistake occurred during the original survey in 1865. I see something particularly intriguing on the last page of this letter Mr. McGhee received. He read it aloud.
“Further Mr. McGhee, we have determined that all of the property currently known as the McGhee farm, as well as the property currently known as the Babbish farm, should be correctly identified as the McGhee farm, with the exception of the corner parcel currently occupied by the Babbish house that measures one hundred feet by one hundred feet. Our client, Hamburger John’s Hamburger Haven, instructed us to revise our offer to purchase to the sum of three million, five hundred thousand dollars ($3,500,000).
Sincerely,
Herbert Hreblemeister
&
nbsp; ”The Law Firm of Williams, Wentworth, Williams, Wentworth, Wentworth and Sons.
“Bill, you’re going to be a millionaire,” Bug said, reaching over to slap Bill on the back. Cliff and Benny gave high fives to each other.
“Mrs. Babbish, thank you for your time, but I think our meeting is over.” Mr. Dingman reached his hand to Rebecca offering to shake.
“Young man! Ugh,” Mrs. Babbish’s eyes rolled back, and she collapsed to the floor.
“Mother! Are you all right?” Lester grabbed a glass of water from the table and threw it in her face. Rebecca’s eyes fluttered and then opened. Dripping with water, she sat up and shook her head.
“Like you said, Dingman, our meeting is over. Now go.” She dismissed him with a wave of her hand.
“Mr. McGhee, based on this survey, I am prepared to beat their offer for your property by two hundred thousand dollars. Can we go somewhere and discuss this?”
“No, Mr. Dingman.”
Every jaw, including Rebecca’s, dropped when Bill answered no. “Mr. Dingman, we have a deal. We can sign it right here. Furthermore, Mr. Dingman, do you think that it would be possible for me to build a taco stand in front of Huge Mart?”
“I don’t see why not. We always have restaurants in front of our stores.”
Bill looked at Cliff, Benny, and Bug. ”Guys, I want to buy your secret taco recipe and use it at Taco Bill’s: The Best Tacos in the West! There will be enough to get the community center opened up again, buy some new equipment and hire a full time director so it can be open all day long in the summer.
“Cliff, you don’t have to worry about getting your job back at the toll booth. I am also going to talk to the governor and get Exit 23 opened back up.”
Benny, Bug, and Cliff began jumping up and down, clapping and singing: Hey diddle, play my fiddle, make some tacos on a red-hot griddle. Johnny went downtown, met a circus clown. Billy went upstairs, fought some grizzly bears. Jimmy Jimmy, jumpin’ bean, Taco Bill’s: you’re the best we’ve ever seen!
11
THE GANG COMES THROUGH
The new bleachers installed around the basketball court at the Apple Grove Community Center overflowed with townspeople. Plenty had taken place in Apple Grove since the night at the State Highway Department. There had been the election for mayor; the remodeled community center was open again, and, of course, Exit 23 was open.
At Exit 24, there was a brand new Huge Mart. Pops’ Market had closed, but Huge Mart bought Pops’ grocery store as a gesture of good will and made Pops an extremely wealthy man. Pops even opened a candy store in the same building that the market was in, and it is still open every day after school.
Taco Bills opened near the Huge Mart. It was a beautiful red and orange building with a fake cactus out in front. An enormous Taco Bills sign mounted on a fifty-foot pole was visible from the highway. It even had a drive-thru window. At night, Lester Babbish worked there making tacos since he lost his job with the Highway Department.
A huge crowd of town’s folk had gathered in the gymnasium of the community center. Pops walked to the microphone and began to speak.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Julius, Alice, honored guests and citizens of Apple Grove. Today it is my pleasure as your newly elected mayor to dedicate the Apple Grove Community Center to the citizens of Apple Grove. I would also like to introduce some people that I am tremendously proud of: Bill McGhee; my son, Cliff; Benny Churchill; Moe Harris and Cindy Carter; and my youngest son, Charlie. These exceptional young people proved you can fight city hall, and you can win.
“In closing, I am proud to bestow the Friendly Citizen Award to each and every one of them for what they did for Apple Grove.”
Pops was just about to hang a medal around Bill’s neck. Benny, nervously fidgeting around, dropped something on the floor.
“Hey, what is that?” whispered Bug.
“Just an old pebble that I found this morning,” answered Benny.
“It sure is shiny. Do you think it’s gold? Where did you find it?”
“It was in The Lost Silver Creek, down behind Jensen’s store.”
Bug started for the door and looked back, “Gold! Come on, Benny, let’s go!”
“I’m right behind you!”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hamilton C. Burger spent his early career traveling the world while working in the graphic arts industry. Always an avid reader and life-long learner, he has come to find that writing has become a passion later in life. Married to his high school sweetheart for 32 years, Mary, they have two daughters, two cats and a dog. Daughter Katie is a psychology major, and daughter Maddie is a sophomore in high school. “I spend a significant part of my day writing. Of course, I never pass up an opportunity to eat a scrumptious cheese burger!”
Hamilton ‘Cheese’ Burger
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