Adventures of Pudge

A BICYCLE TRIP... Continued

When they quieted down they began to hear many night sounds. There was a constant peep-peep from tree frogs; a

little further away they heard the chug-a-rump of a bullfrog. Once they heard the call of a whippoorwill and later two owls

talking back and forth to each other.

A short time later they heard a bumping sound nr the end of the porch. Pudge got out of bed to investigate. He shone

his flashlight toward the source of the sound and watched a skunk waddle away from the porch and across the lawn into the

woods.

“At least it wasn’t a bear,” said Pudge.

“Maybe a bear would have been better,” Dan answered. “Remember that skunk that got into our tent?”

The boys woke up in the morning to a dull, overcast day with prospects of rain looming. Their route this day, they knew,

would take them a considerable distance on dirt roads. Rain could mean mud and more difficult riding conditions;

fortunately, it would be fairly level. Another early start was needed in case the day proved to be a long and tiring one. They

were up by 6 A.M. and, after consuming many of Aunt Mary’s waffles and strawberries, said their goodbyes.

From Fallston they headed in a southerly direction on a winding dirt road that took them through mile after mile of dense

pine forest. Occasionally a light rain fell, causing them to don their rain jackets. For the first two hours, except for overhead

electric and telephone wires, they saw no sign of humanity. This was logging country. In several places rough dirt tracks

took off into the forest from the road on which they were traveling.

Shortly after ten they began to see a few isolated farms and then passed a small country store with a sign over the door

stating, “Stonebridge, Massachusetts, population 17.” An elderly man sitting on the front porch waved at them.

By noon it was raining steadily; the boys had to skirt many large puddles on the road. The edges of the road had

become quagmires, causing the bikes to slip and slide if they approached too close to the edge. Once Dan’s bike swerved

so violently he was almost thrown from his seat. Lunch was a quick stop in a glade of pines which provided meager shelter

from the rain.

The rain stopped a few minutes after two and a weak sun made its first appearance of the day. In spite of the weather

they had made good time. When they checked their maps they decided they were only an hour’s ride from their night’s

destination. As they approached town a clock in a church steeple showed it to be 3:30. Dan then made a confession to

them.

“I’ve been saving this as a surprise, but Aunt Alice and her family have a restaurant in town that’s supposed to be one of

the best restaurants around. So we should have good food here also. We’ll watch for it as we go through town, it’s called

“The Blueberry Patch.” I think it started out with Aunt Alice and her blueberry pies and then became a restaurant. I know

they have a large farm where they grow blueberries.”

Dan pointed the restaurant out to them as they pedaled by, on the far edge of town. The restaurant was a large white,

wood frame building with a blue roof set back about one hundred from the road. On a well kept lawn in front of the building

was a large sign with the words “The Blueberry Patch” painted on a background of a bush covered with large, ripe

blueberries. A short time later they arrived at Aunt Alice’s house. This proved to be a rambling old farmhouse that had seen

better days. A large barn in back of the house looked better cared for than the house.

Inside, Dan introduced them to his aunt, a heavy woman of medium height with light brown hair. Pudge judged her to

be about 50 years old. After greeting them at the door Aunt Alice led them through the house to a large room at the back

where the boys would sleep that night. The interior of the house was quite different from the exterior. Everything was spic

and span and in what appeared to be its proper place.

Aunt Alice explained to them that this was their busy season and because of this most of her family was out in the field

picking berries, or manning the berry stand out by the highway. “Some are at the restaurant too,” she added. “You’ll meet

them all later.”

“How many children do you have?” asked Pudge. “And do they all live here?”

“There are five girls and two boys,” Aunt Alice replied. “Only two of them live here now, the rest are married and on their

own. They all work in the family business one way or another. All except three of our sons-in-law, they have jobs of their

own.”

The boys rode to the restaurant that evening in the back of the farm’s pickup truck. When they arrived they were greeted

at the door by one of the daughters, Wendy , and a daughter-in-law, Sandy. Wendy was a quiet dark-haired young woman

in her mid-twenties. Sandy was the opposite; she was a vivacious, red-haired woman of about 30 whose face was almost

covered with freckles.

Sandy and Wendy worked at th restaurant on a rotating basis with the other adult members of the family. There were

also two local girls, not family members, who were employed as waitresses. The oldest son John, who was Sandy’s

husband, was working that evening in the kitchen. He also came out to greet them.

A long table had been set up for the entire family at the back of the restaurant. After all were seated, with Aunt Alice at

one end and her husband Tim at the other, their youngest son Alan, 22, arrived. His method of arrival came as a surprise to

the two boys; he was confined to a wheel chair. The boys were later told he had been in a wheelchair since he was ten

years old, a victim of infantile paralysis.

Alan proved to be the life of the party. In spite of his handicap he was in good spirits and constantly regaled the family

and their guests with one humorous story after another. Because John was responsible for the cooking that evening he

joined them only long enough to eat quickly and then returned to his chores. As it was Friday the restaurant was extremely

busy. Wendy and Sandy, from time to time had to leave the group to assist the two waitresses in greeting, seating, and

serving newly arrived patrons.

All in all, it was a meal that topped all the others the boys had enjoyed on their trip. They had their choice of either ham

or beef, with large quantities of mashed potatoes and fresh garden vegetables. This was followed by a large serving of the

best blueberry pie Pudge had ever tasted.

During the short time when all the family members were seated at the table Pudge counted them. This count, including

the seven grandchildren present, all four sons-in-law and Sandy, the only daughter-in-law, came to twenty-one.

“Do you always have this many at your table?” queried Pudge.

“No,” answered Aunt Alice. “Only on special occasions. We usually eat our meals in our own homes but since you boys

are here we decided to make it special.”

“Gee, thanks,” Pudge responded. “This was swell.” The other boys echoed his sentiments.

Next morning, as the boys pedaled away from the farm, they had a feeling of complete contentment. They had been

treated like royalty by the family they just visited, and also by all their hosts and hostesses. What a great time they were

having on this trip.

About a half hour after they left Aunt Alice’s a police car pulled up beside them and the officer motioned for them to pull

over.

“Where are you boys from?” he asked.

“We’re from Wayton,” Pudge answered. “We’re on the last day of a four day bike trip,” he added proudly.

“Do your folks know where you are?”

“Yes, sir,” replied Pudge. “We each have a letter from our parents we can show you.” Following this statement Pudge

removed his pack and got his letter out. This he handed to the officer.

“Were you boys in Chase Valley this morning taking ladies’ undergarments off clothes lines?”

“No, sir,” replied Dan. “We were at my Aunt Alice’s house all night. Do you know her, Alice Warner? She and her

family own the Blueberry Patch. You can call her and she’ll tell you we were there.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary,” the policeman commented. “You’re not the ones I’m looking for. Drive safely, and

try to stay out of trouble.”

“You sound like my dad,” replied Pudge with a grin. The officer gave a friendly wave and drove off.

After he left the boys continued on their way, but not before repeating parts of the officer’s comments and laughing

hilariously over the theft of “ladies’ undergarments.”

“Do you think they would fit you, Dan?” asked Pudge.

“No, but they might fit Phil,” was the reply. “Are you sure you didn’t sneak out this morning and steal some ladies’

panties, Phil?”

At this Phil turned bright red and then laughed as hard as the others.

All the roads for this last day’s travel were fairly level, and all were paved. The biking was easier than the preceding

three days had been. They encountered heavy traffic as they approached Wayton and, as a result, had to ride slowly. There

were no further incidents before they pulled into their yards about four in the afternoon, weary but jubilant travelers.