Chapter 35: On the road

Leaving the greater Sarasota area we got on Interstate 75 to head north. We wanted to make it to New Orleans but according to Google Maps we would arrive late in the evening. As an alternative we decided to spend the night in Marianna, Florida. We had no pressing schedule so we could take the easy choices. The next day it would take five hours more to get to New Orleans so we could make it just after noon giving us plenty of time to tour the city.

We left I-75 and got on I-10 to finally head west. We made better time than we expected so we pulled into a campground right at supper time. There was a nice restaurant within walking distance from the campground so we broke out the strollers and walked over there to give Grace a break from cooking and have a nice fancy supper. We spent a leisurely evening soaking in the campground's pool and went to bed earlier than we usually did so we could get an early start.

We were up bright and early the next morning hoping to put in some miles. The intent was to make it to New Orleans by noon so we could have the whole afternoon to explore the French Quarter and famous Bourbon Street. We left the campground and headed back out on I-10. We were doing quite well driving west and crossed the border into Louisiana. Making good time at the speed limit we were suddenly passed by a car that must have been doing ninety miles-an-hour. As they passed I looked down into the car and spotted a woman driving and a young girl in the passenger seat. The woman was frantically stomping on the brake pedal with no luck at slowing the car down.

They were about a half-mile ahead of us as the car dove into the median and shot across the opposite lane and rolling over one full turn landing on its wheels in the ditch on the far side with a big cloud of smoke coming out from under the hood. I pulled the Winnie to a stop and dashed across the highway to the car which was no longer running. When I reached the car I could see that both occupants were slumped over obviously unconscious. I tugged at the driver's door and found it was locked. I reached into my pocket and grabbed my pocket knife and slammed it against the side window with all my might. The window held as my knife bounced off the glass and went flying to the ground.

I looked around and spied a broken piece of concrete lying nearby and grabbed it. It had a pointed corner which I smashed against the window resulting in a cascade of tiny glass fragments falling from the once intact window. I immediately reached inside and hit the door lock button and all the doors unlocked. I pulled the door, which miraculously had not been jammed during the roll-over, open. The lady driver had no apparent injuries and seeing that the car was on fire I needed to get her out as soon as possible. I reached around her and unfastened her seat belt so I could extract her from the now burning car. I lifted the lady from the car and carried her about twenty feet away and placed her down on the soft grass.

During all this time Grace had come over and was trying frantically to get to the young girl passenger in the car. Grace could not open the passenger door in spite of her tugging and pulling on the handle. I raced back to the car and entered through the driver's door. I leaned across and released the girl's seat belt and dragged her across the seat and out of the car. I picked the girl up and as I did I noticed that the flames were getting more intense and I could smell gasoline. With all the speed I could muster I carried the girl over and laid her on the grass next to the lady I had carried there before.

Grace ran over to where the two were laid out on the ground. As she bent over to check them for injuries we were blasted by a gust of hot air as the entire car burst into flames. The blast was strong enough to knock both Grace and I over and we tumbled to the ground. Seeing what had happened to us, Kim came running as fast as she could to us fearing that we had been killed or at least injured. Grace and I both had the wind knocked out of us and were slumped on the ground in a disorganized pile of four bodies.

Kim grabbed her mother and lifted her into a sitting position as she cried and hugged her mother virtually screaming "No, no, mom you can't be dead." over and over again. Grace was the first to regain consciousness and hugged Kim back thankful to be alive. My brain and body finally allowed me to return to the state of being human and alive as well. It was a shock but neither of us suffered any injuries during the blast. As I was coming to I heard some sirens in the distance and it seemed like an eternity until the police and ambulances arrived. It was a scene of pandemonium as everybody did their job. Grace, Kim and I were up and walking around by that time so the paramedics concentrated on the two still unconscious forms on the grass.

The paramedics checked the two victims and found that they had no physical injuries at all. The air bags and seat belts had done their job admirably. The lady and the young girl had resumed alertness and were sitting up but still dazed by all that had happened. Grace, Kim and I went over to the two on the ground and introduced ourselves.

"My name is Arthur Sherwood, this is my wife Grace and my daughter Kim. Are you okay?"

"I think we are fine Mister Sherwood; I am Nicole Boudreaux and this is my daughter Rene'."

"What happened to make you be going so fast?"

"The accelerator stuck on my car and the brakes didn't work. I didn't know what to do as my car careened across the interstate. Then my car rolled over and that's the last thing I knew until I woke up here on the grass."

"We saw your car pass us and go across the road and roll over. We stopped and I had to break the window to get you out of the burning car. Grace tried to get your daughter out but the door would not open. I went back in and got your daughter out and put her next to you here on the grass."

"Oh my God, I cannot thank you enough for saving us. We would have burnt up alive in the car if you hadn't come along when you did."

"I'm just glad to see that you two are all right. Where were you headed?"

"We were going home to Slidell just down the road when all hell broke loose. We had been in Marianna, Florida for my mother's burial."

"Oh I'm so sorry to hear about your mom. It must be devastating."

"She fought a battle with cancer and died last week. Rene' and I got to say our final good-byes in Marianna yesterday.

"Now that's a coincidence. We stayed the night in Marianna last night at a campground."

"Was it Carter Country Campground?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact it was. How do you know of the place?"

"That place belongs to my father Robert Carter. My maiden name was Carter. Rene' and I stayed at the old family homestead next to the campground last night."

"Wow, it sure is a small world isn't it?"