The Dead Peasants File

by L. Craig Harris

  The radio weatherman confirmed his fears. A heavy snowstorm was dumping baskets of white powder in the mountains of central Colorado. There was talk of closing highways and stranded motorists.

  He gripped the wheel a little tighter. “Can we get to a blanket if we need it?”

  “Yes. I can get one out of the trailer, I think.”

  “What do you want me to do?” He glanced over at her. “I can turn back or maybe head south or something.”

  She looked at the atlas in her lap. “But that will throw us off schedule.”

  “If they close this road, we’re going to be off schedule anyway. We can’t help it.”

  “I say we keep going until they close the road. If they close it, we’ll turn back and look for a place to stay.”

  “Okay.”

  They were a few miles outside of Gunnison when the first large snowflakes began to smash onto the windshield. The first ones melted on impact, but soon ice began to accumulate around the glass and on the wipers.

  “We’ve been stuck in airports before,” she said, “but we’ve never been out in the elements like this.”

  Travis drove over a patch of ice and lost control of the car for a second. Just long enough to make his heart jump. The car had suddenly lunged sideways and then found its traction again. “Whoa, that was scary. I thought the trailer was going to pull us over the side of this mountain.” He gently pressed the brake, releasing the cruise control, then slowed to half the speed they had been going. Only a small rail fence separated the road from a thousand-foot fall on his side of the asphalt ribbon. A wall of rock rose sharply on the right.

  Soon, the world outside the car was a swirling, white haze. They could only see a few feet in front of the car and hadn’t seen the lights of another vehicle, coming or going, in half an hour.

  “Okay,” Julia said. “I’m ready to find a warm place to ride this out.”

  “Help me look for a place to stop, and I will.”

  Julia looked down at the map. “I just pray Gunnison is as close as it looks on this.

  Travis barely moved forward. The windshield wipers were frozen over and scraping the glass, but not clearing it of the ever-deepening ice. Night was falling and he strained to see the road in front of him. He turned on the lights, but the glare bounced back and didn’t do much good. More than once he felt the trailer fishtail behind them.

  The tires began to lose their traction on the whitened roadway as it became more and more steep on the mountain pass. The trailer was too heavy. He pushed the accelerator, but the wheels spun on the ice. Finally, the car came to a complete stop, then it began to slide backward. “Oh no!”

  He could not see where they were being taken, but he knew that if the car slid too far to the left, it would go over the side of the mountain. He tried to steer the wheel, but it was no longer responding. They were at the mercy of gravity. The trailer jackknifed as it slid backward and pulled the car with it. Then the trailer slammed into the rocky side of the mountain, bringing the tandem to a stop. Their heads snapped against their headrests.

  He continued to grip the steering wheel. “Are you okay?”

  She was clutching her chest and breathing heavily. “I think so, just scared to death.”

  He pushed his door open, breaking the ice seal that had formed around the side of the car. He walked back in the blowing snow and stared at the trailer in the darkness. There was no way he was going to get it out of the ditch. The trailer was lodged against a huge boulder. It leaned severely to one side. One of the tires was still spinning, but not touching the ground. He climbed back into the car. “We’re stuck.”

  Most of the color had returned to her face. “So what do we do now?”

  He sat for a moment. “I think I can unhook the trailer and we might be able to make it without it.”

  Her voice went higher. “And just leave all of our stuff here?”

  “Well, we can stay with it and freeze, or leave it and try to get someplace warm.”

  She sighed. “You’re right. What was I thinking? Let’s leave it and try to get moving.”

  Travis couldn’t get the pin loose to free the car from the trailer. He struggled with it for several minutes, but that only made his hands colder. He took off one of his shoes and hammered upward on the pin until it came out of its socket, freeing the trailer from the car. He could see that the goose neck of the trailer had pushed into the back hatch of his car, denting it in and scratching the paint, but he couldn’t think about that right now. He tried to push the trailer backward, but it was firmly stuck. It was several feet off of the road, so his only option was to leave it where it was. He climbed back into the car. “Is there anything we need from the trailer right now?”

  “No, I packed our suitcases in the back seat.”

  “Good thinking.” He put the car into gear and slowly pushed the accelerator. “Let’s try to make it to Gunnison tonight and we’ll come back to get it tomorrow.”

  The tires spun but the car did not budge. The ditch was too steep and they were still stuck.

  Julia cupped her hands in front of her breath. “Can you put rocks under the back tires or something?”

  “It’s worth a try.” He got back out into the blizzard and searched in the darkness for rocks that were big enough to do him some good. He mostly found chips and pebbles poking out of the snow, but eventually he found a couple of rocks that might suit his purpose. He pushed them under the back tires and got in the car, then put it into low gear. “Here goes nothing.” The car jerked forward and out of the ditch.

  “Way to go!” Julia said. She reached over and kissed his cheek. “I knew you could do it.”

  He kept his speed at a slow but steady pace. Eventually, they made it to the top of the pass. “Here’s where it gets interesting – going down the other side. I’ve got to keep momentum from building up on us.”

  Julia reached over and rubbed Travis’s hands. “I’m sorry I got us into this. You wanted to turn south and I wouldn’t let you. We should have stopped when it started snowing.”

  “It’s okay. It’s nobody’s fault. We didn’t know it was going to be like this.” Travis could see only a foot or two in front of the car. He gripped the wheel to keep it from sliding off the side, and inched forward. Travis found himself doing something he hadn't done in a long time. He prayed. He promised God he would do something positive with the rest of his life if God would get them off of the mountain safely.

  After an hour or so, the road became level again. They had made it. When they reached the bottom, the snow began to taper. Now, only flurries were meeting them. The road was buried and not always easy to find, but there was no longer any cliff at its edge. His hands were shaking. “I’ve driven on snow hundreds of times, but never like this.”

  “I’m proud of you. I knew you would get us off of that mountain and you did.”

  Soon, he began to see the lights of civilization. They strained to see any kind of lodging sign.

  “There! A motel,” she said.

  He crept under the awning and put the car in park. “Whew!” He swore he would never get them into something like that again.

  Julia disappeared into the lobby and came back out in a few minutes holding up a room key. “They’ve got a room. Hot bath and warm bed.”

  He threw his head back in a gesture of relief. “Boy, does that sound good.”

  The room was by no means fancy, but it was safe and warm and felt like paradise to Travis. He stood under the warm shower stream, letting the tension flow from his muscles. It had been a rough birthday, but he had survived it. An hour after they arrived, they sipped coffee in the motel’s restaurant while they waited for their meal. His feet were warm and his nerves had settled.

  “This is going to cost us more than we were planning,” she said. “If we have to stay here more than a day or two, we might have to start tapping into our savings.”

  He nodded and sipped his brew. “You know, I’m just happy to be alive.
We’ll figure something out. At this point, it’s all just details.”

  Julia reached across the table and took his hand. “I’m happy we’re alive, too.” She adjusted the collar of her blouse. “And you know what? I don’t even care about our stuff up on that mountain. It nearly killed us today. And our wealth nearly killed you. It’s not worth it.”

  “But, we left our beautiful house, and most of what we own is up in that trailer. I’m afraid I’ve let you down.”

  “No, not at all. We have each other, and that’s what counts. It’s about life, Travis. I finally realize that. Life is all that matters.”

  His eyes were heavy when they got back to their room, but he wanted to watch a weather report before he went to sleep. It was good news: clear skies and a little warmer tomorrow all over the state. He would hire a wrecker to dislodge his trailer and they would be on their way. With a little luck, he just might pull into Telluride by mid-afternoon and see if Oscar was going to be able to help him.

  He thought about what he had been through. He had feared for his life on the side of that mountain. He had no idea his heart was strong enough to go through such terror. Was God trying to get him? Or had God spared him? He looked over at Julia sleeping in the dark room. So peaceful. He felt he had been given a second chance. He breathed a prayer that the days in front of him would be more smooth and less frightening. He snuggled close to Julia and fell asleep sometime before midnight.

  All of Gunnison’s wrecker truck services were busy the next morning, but the motel manager told Travis about someone who would go after the trailer. He was a mechanic who had a truck that could pull anything out of a ditch. The manager called him and he met them on the mountain just after ten.

  “Looks like you got lucky yesterday,” the man said. He crawled under the trailer to attach a chain.

  “How’s that?” Travis said.

  “Well, I’m just saying it was a good thing you hit the mountain instead of going off on the other side.”

  Travis and Julia looked across the road. They couldn’t see what was there last night in the snowstorm. There was a straight drop, perhaps five hundred feet or more. They had slid into the ditch instead of going over the edge into the blackness. Julia gripped Travis’s arm as they peered over the side.

  The truck pulled the trailer out of the ditch. Then the driver helped Travis hitch it back to their sport utility vehicle.

  “Thank you very much,” Travis said. “How much do I owe you?”

  “Naw, that’s okay, I enjoy helping people.”

  “But you have to accept payment for this.”

  “No, this wasn’t any trouble.” He threw the chain into the back of his truck. “You two need to get on your way.”

  Travis continued to insist, but the man could not be swayed. Finally, the wrecker driver got into his truck and drove away, waving at them, appearing satisfied that he had won the argument.

  “I can’t believe that,” Travis said. “He wouldn’t even let me pay him any gas money.”

  “I know. I didn’t think there were still people like that.” Julia climbed into her seat. “What a nice man.”

  The Reeds ate fast food in the car at Montrose, then turned south toward Ouray. It was cold, but the sun had thawed the snow from the roads. It was after four o’clock when they pulled up to the hardware store in Telluride. Julia checked her makeup in her visor’s mirror and freshened her lipstick. Travis adjusted his button-down shirt and walked into the store.

  At first, he couldn’t see anyone. Then a woman stepped out of the back office to greet them. It was Sylvia Morales. “Travis? Julia? Is that you?”

  “Sylvia, how are you?” Julia hugged her neck.

  Travis hugged her, too. “Is that husband of yours around?”

  “No, he ran down to the post office, but he’ll be back any minute.” She looked at the two of them. “What brings you here this time of the year?”

  “Well,” Julia said, “Travis quit Morgan and we thought maybe we would come spend some time with you guys.”

  “That’s wonderful.” Sylvia paused and looked at Travis. “Aren't you too young to retire?”

  “Oh yes, I'm way too young for that.” He winked at her. “I just wanted a change, you know?”

  “How ’bout that!” She said. “Yes, I want to hear all the details.”

  “May I use your restroom?” Julia said.

  “Oh, of course.” Sylvia took her by the arm and led her toward the back of the store.

  Travis walked around, looking at the merchandise. He had never been a salesperson before and wondered if he could do it. He rehearsed in his mind what he was going to say to his friend. Oscar, old buddy, I need a job. I was wondering if you have a broom around here I could push.

  After a few minutes Oscar walked in the door. He had gained a little weight since Travis had last seen him. He grabbed Travis and hugged him and asked him the same questions his wife already had. Soon, all four were standing in the front of the store. Travis and Julia told their friends about their harrowing drive through the snow storm.

  “Wow,” Oscar said, “I think somebody up there must be looking after you guys!”

  “You’re not kidding,” Julia said. “I'm starting to believe that God really does care about us.”

  Travis nodded his head and cleared his throat. “Oscar, I was wondering if you have any kind of job I might could do, here in the store.”

  Oscar rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. “Well, I think I can come up with something. I can’t pay you like the warehouse of course, but I think we can find something for you.”

  “Travis is a hard worker,” Julia said. “I know he won’t let you down.”

  “Oh, I know that. I just don’t want you to expect too much. The recession has been hard on this little town. Everyone has to do his own repairs these days, so we’re doing okay, but money is not exactly pouring off of the mountains like it used to.”

  “Yes, we’ve seen that,” Julia said. “People are struggling everywhere.”

  Travis nodded. “But the main thing is that we don’t want to be a bother to you.”

  “Oh, it’s no bother,” Oscar said. “In fact, I’ve been thinking of staying open a couple of hours longer. I think this might just work out for both of us, if you don’t mind working evenings.”

  “No, I don’t mind. I would appreciate anything you offer.”

  “Well, this may just work out, then.” He set the mail on the counter. “I guess you'll need a place to stay.”

  Travis looked back at him sheepishly. “We don't want to be any trouble.”

  Oscar glanced at his wife and she nodded. “We have a spare room right now. You'll stay with us and you won't be any trouble at all. Don't you even think about it.”

  “Yes, that’s right,” Sylvia said. “We have a spare bedroom and it’s yours as long as you need it.”

  “Thank you both so much, for all of this,” Julia said. Her eyes were glistening.

  The couples continued to query each other, catching up. While they were talking, a customer came into the store, and Travis went over to see if he could help him. The man had a question he couldn’t answer, though, and had to solicit his friend’s help. “Oscar, he’s looking for a three-quarter-inch PVC elbow.” He shrugged his shoulders.

  Oscar laughed. “Okay. I’ll take over from here.”

  It was a few minutes before six when Oscar looked at his watch and declared it was time to close the store for the day. “Follow us home and get yourselves freshened up. We’re taking you out to eat at our favorite restaurant tonight, our treat.”

  “You guys don’t have to do that,” Julia said. “We didn’t come here to be a burden.”

  Sylvia put her arm around her shoulder. “It’s never a burden when friends come to town.”

  A few days later, Travis was beginning to get the hang of his new job. He took cash from a customer and placed it in the register. “Thank you for your business.” He watched the custome
r take his sack of plumbing supplies and exit into the late afternoon snow.

  Oscar had created an evening shift for Travis, keeping the store open three hours later. Travis was there alone in the evenings and on Sunday afternoons, helping customers find what they needed and ringing up their purchases. Travis enjoyed the challenge and was becoming good at it, learning what everything was and where it was kept. He wasn't accustomed to standing so long, though, and his feet hurt before his shift was over. He would sit at a stool behind the counter when there were no customers in the store to give his feet a rest.

  Travis and Julia stayed in the Morales’ spare bedroom the first week they were in town, but moved into a rental home the next week. It was an old wood house a block away from the bottom of a mountain, and they loved the vertical view. The house had been painted aquamarine at some point in the past, but the color had faded into something more like lime. The shingles were old and the house drafty and in need of repair, but the price was right. The owner was a friend of Oscar’s who considered it a favor.

  Julia kept the car while Travis was at work and would help him close down the store every evening. In their former life, they would have gone out to eat at a nice restaurant most nights, but now they went home for sandwiches. That was okay with him.

  After supper, they sat on the borrowed couch and talked about their day. Oscar let them use the couch, dining set, and a bed until they could purchase some furniture of their own. The house had one small bedroom and bathroom, but they were grateful for it. A refrigerator and gas stove, and not much else, appointed the kitchen.

  Travis tuned in a jazz station on a portable radio that was sitting on the counter.

  “I wish we would have done this years ago,” Julia said.

  “You mean you like being poor?”

  She went into the kitchen area and scooped grinds into the coffeemaker. “I won’t lie. I liked our money and friends in Springfield, but it is so beautiful here and I love our new life.”

  “But we moved out of our big, comfortable house and now we live in this drafty old place.”