fiction by Tom Carnegie
Butch knows he has some work to do. Joseph is sending Butch on a service call to the Mac Doon Fox Farm, but that is not the job that Butch is most concerned about. Butch has had his eye on Bonnie Mac Doon, the older of the two Mac Doon sisters. Bonnie has been away from Baton Noir for nearly two years. She has recently returned and Butch hopes that he will run into her when he goes out to the Mac Doon Fox Farm, which is about 5 miles west of Baton Noir, Idaho. Bonnie Mac Doon is a buxom, vivacious girl. To Butch's mind Bonnie is nearly perfect except for one thing, and that is her sister Bettie. Bettie always seems to be underfoot. Bonnie and Bettie sort of come as a package. In the past whenever Butch would see Bonnie anywhere, he would try to talk to Bonnie, but her scrawny, gawky sister would spoil the whole thing just by being there.
Butch drives up to the Mac Doon house and knocks on the door. Bonnie answers!
"Well Butch Dunsel! It is so good to see you. It's been a long time since I've seen you! Do come in and have a piece of pie and we can talk for a little while."
"Bonnie, it is good to see you too. I'm on company time right now, so I'd better not come in. I need to get these coils out to your pa. Can you tell me where to find him?"
"He's out in the north forty. Just go out across the pasture, past the row of fox pens and you'll find him. The pasture is not too rough, so you can drive right across it if you'd like. Both he and his model T are out there. "
Butch drives out and finds Mr. Mac Doon. Butch trades four good coils for the ones in Mr. Mac Doon's coil box. Butch starts Mr. Mac Doon's T, and it runs smoothly on all four. Mr. Mac Doon smiles and shakes his head as he says,
"Joseph was right, she'd miss at slow speeds then get a little better at high speeds. I thought it might be the timer, but as I explained the symptoms, Joseph became convinced that it was the coils."
"I'll take your old coils into the garage and tune them up and return 'em later, Mr. Mac Doon."
Butch hops into his car and drives back across the field. As he approaches the driveway he sees Bonnie heading down toward the outbuildings carrying a tray.
"What ya' got there, Bonnie?"
"Oh, I've just made a batch of pudding that I'm taking down to cool in the cool room. Why don't you take a minute and I'll show the refrigerator to you."
Even though Butch is still on company time, being shown machinery by a pretty girl is something that he can't pass up.
Bonnie leads the way into the building and begins to explain the equipment to Butch. He is amazed at her knowledge and understanding of it.
"This is the compressor. As you can see, that three horsepower repulsion-induction electric motor turns it. The compressed ammonia is pumped through these steel pipes which run overhead through the cool rooms. My dad welded all of these pipes together with an oxy-acetylene torch, and didn't have a single leak. Step into here, this little room is kept at about forty degrees. I like to use it to cool things in the summer. Pa doesn't seem to mind. Watch out, I need to close the door. My dad has me trained to always close the door, even though sometimes it is hard to open and I think I'm going to get trapped in here. This knob pushes through the door and opens the pull-up handle on the outside. Even though it is sticky, it always opens if I really shove really hard. Through this door is the much larger deep-freeze room where we keep the frozen meat for the foxes. It is kept at about zero degrees.
After the ammonia travels through the pipes, it is condensed and then makes the trip again, over and over."
"Bonnie, you seem to know a lot about this mechanism. Do you like other mechanical things, like airplanes perhaps?"
"I really haven't given them much thought. I suppose they are rather intriguing."
Butch looks down at his boot, which he sorts of scuffs on the ground like a chicken scratching for worms and builds up the courage to ask Bonnie a question.
"Would you be interested in riding with me to Walleye to see the air show this Sunday?"
"I'd love to Butch"
"Great, I'll pick you up right after church."
On the way back to the Model T garage Butch is mulling over in his mind the refrigeration unit. When he gets back he tells the guys of an idea that he has hatched.
"Why couldn't you mount a small refrigeration unit on your motor and keep your car cool in the summer?"
"I don't think it would be practical," says Joseph, " and I'll tell you exactly why. First off it would have to be a big powerful sedan to accommodate steel pipes running through its roof and have enough reserve power to run the compressor. But suppose for argument's sake that you got the size - power problem solved, you still have the problem with ammonia or methyl chloride or some such dangerous gas in your car. The smallest accident could rupture a line and poison you. Unless they find a less dangerous refrigerant, it just won't happen."
Joseph crosses his arms and then makes eye contact with each person in the room one at a time to reinforce the profundity of his discourse. He brings his gaze back to Butch and continues talking.
"Now, onto a different subject. Paisley Hand needs someone to drive his nephew Ashford into Walleye once a week for fencing lessons. He will pay well. He has asked me to screen the applicants to make sure that they have a dependable car and he also wants the applicants to submit a report to me on how long it takes them to drive from Baton Noir to Walleye. He wants me to get the results back to him by next Sunday evening. That will give people a chance to drive the route and time themselves this weekend."
Butch can use the extra money and thinks he has a good shot at getting the job. Mr. Hand likes him and the only person that Butch can think of that can make the trip to Walleye faster than he, is Beau Dremel. The trip to the airshow will be a golden opportunity to time the ride. Of course Bonnie will be with him so he will drive a little slower than normal, especially on the back side of Pyrite Peak. Butch doesn't want to scare Bonnie, which would be easy to do, as the road is curvy and the guardrail is inadequate. There is a notorious curve where several cars have gone off the road over the years. It is known locally as Corpse Corner. Butch will make sure that Bonnie feels safe, then adjust his submitted time to reflect his normal driving.
On Sunday Butch picks up Bonnie. The drive to Walleye in uneventful and Butch has a good idea how long it will take. When he gets back to Baton Noir he will report to Joseph with his time to submit to Mr. Hand. Butch drives to
the fairgrounds where the airshow is to take place. He decides to try to get as close to the planes as he can. When he gets to the main entrance, he just continues to drive right past the spectators' area and on to the area where the planes are parked. No one says a word or tries to stop him. He parks his car near one of the planes and he and Bonnie get out. As boldly as he drove in, he walks up to a young pilot who appears to be in his early twenties, which is about Butch's age, and tries to strike up a conversation.
"Hello, I'm Butch Dunsel and this is Bonnie Mac Doon."
"Pleased to meet you both, My name is Barney Panghorn."
Butch then continues, "Who manufactures this plane?"
"The airplane was made by Laird."
Barney turns and smiles at Bonnie as Butch continues his inquisition.
"What got you interested in flying?"
"I learned to fly in the war." Says Barney in a perfunctory sort of way.
(end of story)