Chapter 5

Romance: Another country heard from:5.

Landing at the mine, they fueled up, oiled the 710 tank, pushed the plane back in the huge white shed locked everything up and Jack held the door so Sultry could climb up and sit.

"Good thing I'm wearing jeans," Sultry said.

"That's twice you've mentioned that my vehicles are too tall," said Jack.

"I never," she said ... but started laughing. "I did, didn't I?"

"Yup," Jack said. "Supper?"

"I had the folks at Regas put the leftovers in a cooler. They're in the back."

"I don't have a cooler," Jack said.

"You do now."

On the way out to the highway, Jack noticed that there'd been a lot more work done.

The tracks from the tipple to the mainline were completely gone and most of the siding bridge was missing. There seemed to be an awful bunch of white hats scratching their heads while looking at where the bridge used to be ... most of it anyway. One of the white hats had his hat held down by his leg. It wasn't his hat that was white, it was his head. The hat was gold.

"Wheels and a driver," said Sultry.

Jack couldn't help it. He burst out laughing.

He burst out laughing just as he had to stop for the STOP sign and that just happened to be directly next to the head scratchers ... and they took offense.

"Here now," said white head with the gold hat. "What's so damn funny?"

"Sultry here said, you all look like a steam locomotive."

"Jack, I said no such thing."

"Sure you did ... Wheels and a driver, you said."

"I did, but I didn't mean it like that."

The white-headed man asked, "Just what were you meaning?"

"You know how most highway jobs have one yellow hat digging and eight or ten white hat engineers watching?"

"I've mentioned that to my wife more than once," he agreed, "So?"

"Well, here we have a whole bunch of white hats ... that's them ... trying to explain to the slave driver ... that's you ... why they don't know where your bridge went."

"Well, do you know where our bridge is?"

"I suspect you'll find it wherever there's a smelter that don't ask too many questions," she said. "They'll probably be making re-bar or pouring ingots for resale or a foundry that makes iron pipe or drill pipe or bomb casings."

"Would you happen to know where such an animal is?"

"I would. There's 15 foundries, 125 salvage yards and two companies that contract bridge salvage. If you know of a bridge replacement that's being performed in the area ... like the change out you're planning on your mainline ... I'd look for metal overages in the company you're contracting to remove the scrap."

"Why would a pretty little thing like you know about things like that?"

"Because I wasn't always an upstanding member of the community ... and I used to hangout with reprobates. This here fella is going to make an honest woman out of me, 'cept he don't know it yet," she grinned and the entire bunch laughed.

"Jack, you know it's so," Sultry said, "We just haven't come to terms with it yet."

Jack turned bright red ... and them pure white, "Did you just ask me to marry you?"

He turned to the observing crowd and said, "Did she?"

The whole crew of white hats all nodded like one of those wood birdies that bob their heads over a glass of water ... most redneck bars have 'em.

After the nod, they all fell out laughing. When the noses were blown and the eyes wiped the whole bunch looked at Jack.

"Well?" said the gold hat.

"I accept." Jack said. "In front of all these witnesses, I say Yes."

"Trapped by my own smart mouth ... and you ain't even kissed me."

"We can handle that right now," and he swept her up and planted a good one. She needed help standing when he quit. During the few minutes the kiss was going on, the gold hat got out his wallet and glared at the engineers. He displayed five twenties and held out his hat.