A Lifetime Burning in a Moment Read Free Page A

pick-up approached -- crunching gravel then the ticking engine. Under her breath Elise prayed for the two strangers to please just go away. Seconds later the truck rolled through their fading dust curtain, leaving another in its wake.
    Devlin allowed a full minute to pass before he turned to Elise.
    “Well that was an adventure,” he smiled weakly. “All right back there?”
    “Just fine, Dad,” Annie groaned.
    Elise shook her head muttering something about brainless men.
    “I think that’s the end of it,” Devlin said. “I think it’s over.”
    That night they built a fire by the beach, huddled together, toasted marshmallows and watched the constellations wheel by as Devlin assured Blake and Annie that everything was fine. Later, after the children had gone to bed, Devlin and Elise lay awake and considered telling police about what had happened. But Devlin hesitated.
    “When you think about it, it was really nothing.”
    “John, what if those men come to our cabin?”
    “El, those idiots were drinking, probably passing through town and decided to have fun at our expense.”
    “I hope you’re right.”
    “Sure I’m right. They’re probably passed out, or a hundred miles away by now.”
    That’s what Devlin wanted to believe as he stared into the darkness, listening to every sound in the night until finally he was taken by sleep. It was accompanied by a dream that Elise was shaking him and wouldn’t stop until he -“John, wake up. There’s something outside!”
    “Wha - what?”
    At that moment, there was wooden snap near their window. Oh Christ Devlin thought, swallowing hard. Then all went quiet.
    “I’m scared, John do something!”
    Quickly and quietly Devlin pulled on his jeans, found the new flashlight he bought special for the trip and crept to the deck for the axe he used for the fire. He padded around the cabin in the pitch black in time to hear a rustling in the bush near the bedroom window. His flashlight beam captured the furry fat rump and striped tail of a raccoon vanishing into the forest.
    When he told Elise they had to stifle their laughter.
    “This is just too silly,” she said before falling soundly to sleep.
    The next morning was glorious.
    Devlin spent much of it reading Crime and Punishment in the hammock. Elise and Annie collected wildflowers in front of the cabin while Blake fished off the dock. For lunch, they cooked hotdogs over an open fire near the beach. That afternoon when Devlin went to the car for his copy of Ulysses , he noticed the Ford was leaning at an odd angle. Then he discovered why. The right rear tire was flat.
    The same tire that those jerks had targetted.
    And there was another problem but before Devlin could figure a way to deal with it, Elise was standing behind him, hands thrust to her face.
    “It was them,” she said. “Those two assholes did it in the night.” Elise never swore. She turned to look at Blake and Annie on the dock. “I want to go home.”
    Devlin tried to calm her by pointing to a rusted nail.
    “It wasn’t them. Look, this is why the tire’s flat,” he told her. “We simply ran over a nail. The bad news is we don’t have a spare. No jack, nothing. We pulled it all out to pack more stuff in the trunk. It was dumb.”
    “My God, John what are we going to do?”
    Devlin had an idea and told her. They all climbed into their boat. The outboard rumbled as they cut across the water under a darkening sky. Taking stock of the forested hills and the vast lake, Devlin felt imprisoned and vulnerable but kept his thoughts to himself.
    They had no other option.
    It was a long time before they reached the Crossroads and the gas station where Devlin asked the attendant to send someone out to fix his tire.
    “That’s going to take a couple of days. Jed’s got the truck and he went to the city. His wife’s having a baby. Besides he’s going to have to pick you up a new tire, too. We don’t have much stock here. I’d say, day after