Long Lost Read Free Page B

everybody lives somewhere,” Kate said.
    “Not me.”
    Jason looked puzzled. “But where do you sleep?”
    “Wherever I happen to be, there’s always someplace to bed down.”
    “That seems …” Kate shook her head.
    “What?”
    “Awfully lonely. No friends. Nothing to call your own.”
    “I guess it depends on what you’re used to. People have a habit of letting me down.” Petey didn’t look at me, but I couldn’t help taking his comment personally. “And as for owning things, well, everything of any importance to me is in my knapsack. If I can’t carry it, I figure it holds me back.”
    “King of the road,” I said.
    “Exactly. You see”— Petey leaned toward Jason, propping his elbows on the table —“I roam around a lot, depending on where the work is and how the weather feels. Each day’s a new adventure. I never know what to expect. Like last Sunday, I happened to be in Butte, Montana, eating breakfast in a diner that had a television. I don’t normally look at television and I don’t have any use for those Sunday—morning talk shows, but this one caught my attention. Something about the voice of the guy being interviewed. I looked up from my eggs and sausage, and Lord, the guy on TV sure made me think of somebody — but not from recently. A long time ago. I kept waiting for the announcer to say who the guy was. Then he didn’t need to — because the announcer mentioned that the guy’s kid brother had disappeared while bicycling home from a baseball game when they were youngsters. Of course, the guy on television was your father.”
    Petey turned to me. “As I got older, I thought more and more about looking you up, Brad, but I had no idea where you’d gone. When the announcer said you lived in Denver, I set down my knife and fork and started for here at once. Took me all Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Mind you, I tried phoning along the road, but your home number isn’t listed. As for your
business
number, well, your secretary wouldn’t put me through.”
    “Because of all those crank calls I told you about on the way over here.” I felt guilty, as if he thought I’d intentionally rejected him.
    “Three days to drive from Montana? You must have had car trouble,” Kate said.
    Petey shook his head from side to side. “A car’s just something else that would own me. I hitchhiked.”
    “
Hitchhiked?
” Kate asked in surprise. “Why didn’t you take a bus?”
    “Well, there are two good reasons. The first is, in my experience, people who ride buses tend to have the same boring stories, but any driver with the courage to pick up a hitchhiker is definitely someone worth talking to.”
    The way he said that made us chuckle.
    “If it turns out they’re
not
interesting, I can always say, ‘Let me off in the next town.’ Then I take my chances with another car. Each ride’s a small adventure.” Petey’s eyes crinkled with amusement.
    “And what’s the second reason for not taking the bus?” I asked.!
    The amusement faded. “Work’s been a little scarce lately. I didn’t have the money for the ticket.”
    “That’s going to change,” I said. “I know where there’s plenty of work on construction projects — if you want it.”
    “I sure do.”
    “I can give you some pocket money in the meantime.”
    “Hey, I didn’t come here for handouts,” Petey said.
    “I know that. But what’ll you do for cash until then?”
    Petey didn’t have an answer.
    “Come on,” I said. “Accept a gift.”
    “I guess I could use some cash to rent a motel room.”
    “No way,” Kate said. “You’re not renting any motel room.”
    “You’re spending the night with us.”

6
    Petey threw a baseball to Jason, who was usually awkward, but this time he caught the ball perfectly and grinned.
    “Look, Dad! Look at what Uncle Peter taught me!”
    “You’re doing great. Maybe your uncle ought to think about becoming a coach.”
    Petey shrugged. “Just some tricks I picked up on