CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
The next day, the silence during their drive across Wisconsin from La Crosse to Chilton continued. It would hang in the car the whole way home, like laundry on a humid day, refusing to let the sunshine make a difference. Connie and Ruby slept a bit en route from time to time, dozing thirty minutes here and there, both having had bouts of sleeplessness the night before, which had deprived them of any sense that it was a new day and good news was still out there, somewhere. Surely it was somewhere: they just didn’t know where.
Henry drove with stoicism, his focus on the road and a lit cigar in his hand—the hand resting on the top of the steering wheel. Every once in a while a heady ash that had cooled blew off the hot end of his cigar and swirled in a whirlwind of air caused by the open windows before flying out one of them into the lush farmlands of central Wisconsin. The swirl of ashes didn’t bother anyone; it meant that the car was moving, and that provided some relief from the heat. It helped, too, that they were moving away from the Mississippi River and onto higher ground.
The drive would take them all day, going through small towns and farm hamlets, which seemed to be perfectly spaced at twenty-minute intervals. Many of those “towns” were just intersections, and some didn’t even appear on a map. Up ahead was Wisconsin Dells, which was a real town, one with a downtown shopping district. The next two towns of any real interest were Waupun, where the state prison had been located since 1851 and then, the largest town in their path, Fond du Lac. They would drive through Fond du Lac without stopping, as they had done two days earlier. But now, with nearly a hundred miles already behind them, they were ready to take a break.
They stopped for lunch in Wisconsin Dells, which was famous for its interesting and unusual geology, specifically, glacial carving of the rocky, river terrain. This was so uncommon and beautiful that the town had become quite the tourist destination. Henry ordered some sandwiches to go from one of the restaurants on Broadway, the main drag, while Ruby and Connie waited in the car. They would then seek a park or a lookout and eat in the car. It was too difficult for Connie to go into restaurants because the buildings didn’t have any wheelchair access.
Getting around in a wheelchair was virtually impossible and a painful and inescapable reminder of Connie’s predicament. But this also provided the impetus to do something to get out of that wheelchair. She had one very bad leg and one that was still pretty good, although it also needed some serious rehab. Maybe she could still do something about this on her own, now that there weren’t any other options. Connie sensed that from here on, it was all up to her. That’s all she thought about the rest of the way home.
The threesome pulled up to the front of the house on Main Street in the late afternoon. It was good to be home. Now they had some answers, and everyone could give some thought to what Connie would do next.
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A Love Story with a Little Heartbreak Page 34