It was late the next afternoon before Solomon had a chance to try his
satellite power plant idea. Customers were gone and he was free of
interruption. The engine of his elderly Moreland tow-truck was brought
to life by Solomon almost hidden behind the huge wooden steering wheel.
The truck lumbered carefully down rows of cars to an almost completely
stripped wreck holding only a broken engine. In a few minutes, Solomon
had the engine waving behind the truck while he reversed to a clear
space near the center of his yard.
Once the broken engine was blocked upright on the ground, Solomon backed
his Moreland out of the way, carried a tray of tools to the engine and
squatted in the dirt to work. First, the intake manifold came off and
was bolted to the clutch housing so the carburetor mounting flange faced
skyward. Solomon stopped for a minute to worry. "If it works," he
thought, "when I get them nearer each other, it'll go up in my face."
Scanning the yard he thought of fenders, doors, wheels, hub caps and ...
that was it. A hub cap would do the trick.
At his age, running was a senseless activity, but walking faster than
usual, Solomon took a direct route to his office. From the ceiling of
hub caps, he selected a small cap from an old Chevy truck. Back at the
engine, he punched a hole in the cap, through which he tied a length of
strong twine. The cap was laid on the carburetor flange and stuck in
place with painter's masking tape. He then bolted the exhaust manifold
over the intake so the muffler connection barely touched the hub cap.
Solomon stood up, kicked the manifolds with his heavy boots to make sure
they were solid and grunted with satisfaction of a job well done.
He moved his tray of tools away and trailed the hub cap twine behind the
solid body of a big old Ford station wagon. He'd read of scientists in
block houses when they shot rockets and was taking no chances.
Excitement glistened Solomon's old eyes as what blood pressure there was
rose a point or two with happy thoughts. If his idea worked, he would be
free of the old cars, yet not destroy a single one. Squatting behind the
station wagon, to watch the engine, Solomon gingerly pulled the twine to
eliminate slack. As it tightened, he tensed, braced himself with a free
hand on the wagon's bumper, and taking a deep breath, jerked the cord.
Tired legs failed and Solomon slipped backward when the hub cap broke
free of the tape and sailed through the air to clang against the wagon's
fender. Lying on his back, struggling to rise, Solomon heard a slight
swish as though a whirlwind had come through the yard. The scent of
air-borne dust bit his nostrils as he struggled to his feet.
* * *
Deep in the woods behind Solomon's yard two boys were hunting crows.
Eyes high, they scanned branches and horizons for game. "Look, there
goes one," the younger cried as a large dark object majestically rose
into the sky and rapidly disappeared into high clouds.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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