Next stop was a dollar store, where the two bought cheap canvas tote bags they could use to carry as their “luggage,” and Teller picked up a few snacks they could enjoy along the way. By the time they returned to Valleyview, they had been gone almost two and a half hours, which worried Earl. But Teller seemed unconcerned.

  They walked through the front door and into the waiting stare of big Mrs. Kritchlow, who was standing with her arms crossed in front of her massive torso. “There’s no place in this city called Dos Amigos,” she announced. “You lied to me.”

  “No, not at all. We found out that it closed a while back. We had no idea. But that meant we had to search around to find another Mexican place, and that one was really busy. Then Earl needed to stop at the drugstore and fill a prescription, and I needed to stop at my bank. It all took longer than we expected. I’m really sorry about that.”

  “Teller, I shouldn’t have trusted you. You’ll never get away with something like that again.”

  “Well, okay. I don’t blame you for feeling that way. I just hope, in time, I can win your confidence back. You’re a sweet lady, and there’s nothing I want more than to know you’re my friend.”

  “You’re so full of you-know-what, your eyes have turned brown. I don’t believe a single thing you say.”

  “Actually, my eyes are blue. If you look at my driver’s license, it says—”

  “I signed you back in a while ago—for the official record. Just don’t ever let Dolores know that I let you stay out so long.”

  “Well, sure, I won’t bring it up with her. But if she asks, I’ll have to tell the truth. That’s just how I am. Still, I think she’ll understand that I was trying to make one of Earl’s final days of freedom as happy as possible.”

  “Get out of my sight.” But then she said to Earl, “I’d be careful if I was you. You’re too nice a guy. This crook could get you into trouble.”

  Earl suspected she might be right, but he was surprised how delighted he felt to be on Teller’s side and not Mrs. Kritchlow’s. As soon as he rounded the corner, he started to laugh, and Teller spouted his own laugh like the sound of a geyser.

  Chapter

  On Sunday morning Earl wrote a note to his daughter:

  Becky,

  I’m leaving on a trip. Teller and I are going to take a drive across the country. We want to see New England in the fall. I told you before why I wanted to go, and I think you understand. We’ll be safe, and Teller will do the driving. We might be gone a few weeks, but I’ll call you now and then. Tell the family what I’m doing, and tell everyone not to worry. I think a road trip is just what I need right now. It’s nothing for you to be concerned about.

  Love to you and all the family,

  Dad

  He left the paper unfolded and slipped it into the top drawer of his desk. That was Teller’s idea. No one could walk into the room, spot the letter, and call Becky before he and Earl had a chance to get out of town, but once Becky came in and searched around more thoroughly, she would see what was going on, and she wouldn’t have to get upset.

  Of course, Teller was wrong about that. Earl knew that Becky would worry.

  After Earl wrote the note, he packed his new tote bags with clothes. Teller had suggested they each buy four bags. That meant Earl couldn’t really pack everything he might like to take, but they could buy suitcases and more clothes along the way.

  So Earl packed his totes and thought he would try them out to see whether they would fit through the window. But that’s when he realized he would have to take a screen off, and that troubled him. He wasn’t quite sure how the latches worked.

  But Teller showed up at eleven in the morning—or maybe ten after—more or less as planned, and he took the screen out quickly. He had just dealt with his own, he said, and had figured out how the things hooked in. While he was squeezing the totes through the window, he said, “Okay, here’s what we do.”

  The plan was simple. They would walk to the front desk, and they would deal with Stacey, the girl who worked on weekends. She was young and nice, so she wouldn’t be like Kritchlow. Teller would simply use the same explanation he had given Kritchlow. If she would sign them out, they could gather up their totes, carry them around to Teller’s car in the parking lot, then drive to Teller’s house and switch to his Oldsmobile.

  And if that didn’t work, he had a plan B.

  Earl had been trying to calm himself all morning—with little success—and Teller seemed to pick up on his nervousness. “Relax,” he said. “We’ll make this work, one way or another.”

  The two walked to the front desk. Earl liked Stacey. She was sort of pretty, except that her face seemed a little too square and her knobby chin broke up the other lines. But that was Earl’s idea of correct design, from an engineer’s point of view. She had a nice smile.

  “Hi, Stacey,” Teller said as they approached. “Pretty day, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” she said, but not with her usual friendliness.

  “We’re just signing out for an hour or so. I’m taking Earl to lunch.”

  “Like you did on Friday? Mrs. Kritchlow told me all about that. She said you were gone way too long.”

  “Well, we had some errands we had to run. But I didn’t tell Kritchlow quite the whole story. We got so busy with everything else, we never did have our Mexican lunch. So today we want to have lunch this one last time before Earl moves. We’re buddies, you know, and it means a lot to us. We won’t ever see each other again after Monday.”

  “Mrs. Kritchlow said you might try something like this. She told me not to let you check Earl out, no matter what.”

  “Stacey, let me see if I understand. You’re telling us we’re locked into this place? We have no right to go outside for an hour? No right to eat lunch somewhere other than the dining room? If that’s what you’re telling me, I think I’ll leave for good and find a facility that doesn’t require us to sign away our freedom when we move in.”

  “You can walk through that door any time you want. But you can’t take Earl.” She looked toward Earl with a hint of the affection she had always shown him. “I’m sorry, Earl, but your daughter instructed Mrs. Schmidt not to let you check out. You’re not to leave at all, and Monday, as you know, you’ll move to . . . the other part of the building.”

  “I didn’t agree to this ‘no check out’ thing,” Earl said. “It was my daughter and Dolores Schmidt who did all the deciding.”

  “Well, I can only do what I’m instructed to do, and Mrs. Kritchlow was quite emphatic that I shouldn’t let you out the door.”

  “I don’t see how you can stop us,” Earl said. “Are you going to call the cops or something? I can end my contract, and Teller and I can both move out of here.”

  Earl was proud of himself. He had stood up for himself. But he was shocked when Teller said, “No, no, Earl. Let’s not get into a disagreement over this. It’s just not worth causing bad feelings. If your daughter made that arrangement, we’ll just have to accept it. It’s not long until lunch begins here in the dining room. Let’s just eat here.”

  Earl couldn’t believe Teller was giving up so easily, but he was nodding at Earl and patting his shoulder, and that seemed part of some pose that Earl was supposed to go along with. “Well, all right,” he said.

  And Teller said, “Sorry we bothered you about this, Stacey. Have a nice day.”

  She looked dubious, as though she sensed something phony in what Teller was saying, but she said, “Thank you. Have a nice day yourselves.” Then she added, “Earl, I’m really sorry. You’ve always been one of my favorite people here. I’ll miss seeing you.”

  Earl nodded. “I’ll miss you too,” he said, and he meant it.

  Teller took Earl’s arm, as though he were leading an aged friend, and they walked around the corner. But a few yards down the hallway, Teller said, “I kind of thought that might happen. So here’s plan B. I’ve thought this all through. I think I know how we can make a clean break and hit the open road.” He put his hand over his mouth so that his laugh wouldn’t echo all the way back to Stacey. Then he whispered, “Can you crawl?”

  “Crawl? What do you mean?”

  “You know, get down on your hands and knees and crawl. You learned to do it when you were very young.”

  “Sure,” Earl said, but he had to think about it. “I can crawl, but I can’t get up if I don’t have anything to grab onto.”

  “We’ll get around that. I’m going to go back and talk to Stacey and keep her attention. While I’m doing that, you crawl around the corner and along the counter, as close as you can stay to it—so you’re out of Stacey’s sight. Once you get to the end of the counter, I’ll think of something to get her to leave the desk for a minute, and you push through the swinging glass doors and crawl on outside. Don’t worry about getting up. I’ll sign myself out at that point, and I’ll come out and help you up.”

  Earl didn’t like this plan at all. When he simply tried to kneel to pray, his knees hurt, so crawling on a hard floor would probably be excruciating. He was also not sure he had actually crawled in the last few years, and he wondered whether he could still do it.

  “The thing is,” Teller said. “Don’t grunt or anything. Just crawl slowly and quietly, and I’ll cover for you as long as I have to.”

  “Some of my joints make noises. I don’t know what they’ll do when I try to crawl.”

  “Well, just take it easy. And try not to pass gas. That’s what happens to me when I crouch down for anything.”

  Earl shook his head in disbelief and thought of backing out of this plan, but Teller took his arm again and walked him back to the corner. And then he helped Earl get down.

  “I’ll start talking,” Teller said. “Give me just a few seconds to get her full attention, and then start in—slow and steady. I can talk a long time if I have to.”

  That was the truest thing Teller had ever said.

  Earl followed instructions. In a moment, he heard Teller say, “Stacey, I just wanted to come back and apologize. I didn’t realize exactly what had been set up for Earl.”

  Earl started out. He kept his head low, and he took only short, little strides—slides—with his knees, but he knew he was making noise. The toes of his shoes scraped over the tile surface on the floor, and he told himself not to grunt, but with each move forward, it was a little harder not to sound like those tennis players he had watched on TV.

  Stacey was saying, “Teller, I like you. I really do. But Mrs. Kritchlow warned me, and I think she’s right. I can’t really believe anything you say. She let Earl go yesterday only because she likes him and felt sorry for him, but you went ahead and took advantage of the situation.”

  “I know. You’re right. I did push things too far. But I wanted to help Earl, and he needed to stop at the drugstore. It’s hard to live a normal life if you can’t shop for the things you need from time to time.”

  “I understand that. But you shouldn’t lie to take him out. There’s no restaurant called Dos Amigos. You made that up.”

  Earl wasn’t making much progress. He tried to keep his toes off the floor, but when he raised them, he felt more pressure on his knees. The pain was fierce, forcing him to move ahead a little and then drop his feet to ease his agony. Teller hadn’t taken breaks for pain into account.

  “You’re right. I did make that up. But do you see the symbolism in the choice? Two friends. That’s what Earl and I are—deep and lasting friends—and from now on we won’t be able to see each other. I know you think a couple of octogenar—or whatever they’re called—don’t have such feelings, but in a place like this, it means a lot to find a friend.”

  Earl was getting closer. He saw Teller’s feet move back a little to let him get through. But Earl knew he was in front of Stacey now. He didn’t know how he would ever get past her without her hearing him. But he waited again and then felt Teller’s foot give him a gentle nudge against the outside of his thigh, as though to prod him along.

  Earl didn’t appreciate that.

  “What was that?” Stacey asked, and Earl worried that she might be leaning out to look over the counter.

  “Nothing. I just shuffled my feet. I do that. You probably don’t realize it, but as we get older, it’s harder and harder just to stand in one place. It’s partly the loss of balance and partly that our legs aren’t as strong as they used to be. But let me ask you something. Where are you from originally? I’m picking up on just a hint of an accent.”

  Teller seemed to be running out of things to say; Earl knew he had to push ahead a little faster and get this over with. If she didn’t hear him crawl, she would soon hear him start to cry.

  “Accent? I don’t have an accent. I’ve lived in Salt Lake my whole life.” But she was laughing, maybe relaxing, and Earl thought he could take a bit more of a chance. He did a little more “shuffling” of his own.

  “I thought I heard some lilt in your voice—just this little musical quality, the way Swedish girls speak. It’s the loveliest thing in the world. I spent a whole summer in Sweden, and I fell in love with a charming girl. But you know, I think it was that sound in her voice I loved the most. I didn’t speak much Swedish, and she didn’t speak much English, but I kept talking just to hear her talk back to me.”

  “Are you sure it was just talk, Teller? Is that all that was going on?”

  “Well, we might have done a little smooching between sentences. I don’t mind admitting to that. But I haven’t heard that lovely sound for all these years, and I thought I heard it in your voice just then. Of course, you’re much prettier than she was. If she had been as pretty as you, I might never have left Sweden.”

  “Teller, I told you already, I can’t believe a word you say.” But she was laughing again, and Earl had made it almost to the front doors. It was time for Teller to get her away from the desk.

  “Say, let me ask a favor. Do you happen to have any aspirin or Tylenol, or anything like that? I’ve got a headache, and I’ve run out of all my pain meds.”

  “No. We don’t keep medicine here at the desk. Just talk to the nurse. She can get—”

  “I tried that this morning. I think she must not be on duty today. One time I asked Mrs. Kritchlow for some Tylenol, and she found some in the back room—through that door back there.”

  “Maybe she had some at one time, but I’m pretty sure we don’t have any now.”

  “Could you just take a look? I don’t usually get headaches, but I’ve got a bad one today.”

  Earl waited, didn’t hear a reply for a few seconds, but then Stacey said, “Okay. I’ll take a look, but . . .” As her voice—lilt or no lilt—trailed off, Earl made his move. He lowered his head and pushed it against the glass door. But the door was heavier than he expected. He raised his body a little and pushed with both hands. The door did start to open, but Earl knew he had to hurry. He twisted to use his shoulder against the door, and then he tried to squeeze through the opening he had created. But his head got through without the rest of him, and he had to push rather frantically to save his life.

  He worried about all the noise he was making, but he exerted himself, pushed harder, then dragged himself through the first door only to arrive at space in front of a second door. He knew he couldn’t be subtle any longer; she would be back, and he was wearing out. So he raised up on his knees and threw both hands against the second door, then mashed his way through. He was sure he had blown the whole endeavor, but once he was outside, he heard nothing from behind him. He was only conscious that he was down on all fours again and anyone who came by might wonder whether he had fallen and needed help. The last thing he wanted was someone to come to his aid.

  Seconds ticked by, and a car passed by on the street, but the driver didn’t seem to notice Earl. He tried to stay as low as he could, but his heart was pounding, his breath coming in noisy gusts, and his knees felt permanently damaged.

  Then the door behind him swung open, and he heard Teller whisper, “Hey, buddy, what are you doing, playing marbles?”

  “Help me,” Earl gasped.

  And Teller did. He grabbed him from behind and hoisted him upward. Earl needed someone taller, but when he got part way up, he was able to get his feet under him, and he stood. “We need to get away from this door,” Teller said. “Let’s hurry and grab our bags.”

  Teller clearly had no idea what he was asking of Earl. Earl’s knees hurt far too badly for anything like hurrying. All the same, fear motivated him to move, and he hobbled away.

  Free at last.

  Chapter

  Earl was sitting in Teller’s Oldsmobile, and it really was the most beautiful car he had ever seen. But several minutes had gone by, and Earl was starting to feel conspicuous. It was a good ten minutes before Teller came out the front door, locked it, and then strolled down the driveway, grinning. He opened the door, handed Earl a road atlas, and then got in. With his short legs and ample middle, he had to wedge himself behind the steering wheel, but then he looked over at Earl and said, “Earl, my man, our joyride starts now. You’re about to have the best time of your life.”

  Earl grinned. It was hard not to feel some of Teller’s enthusiasm. “Which way are we going?” he asked.

  “Well, that’s a good question. Do you have a preference for the route we take? Through Wyoming or Colorado?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t thought about that.”

  “Well, let’s head out of I-80 through Wyoming and get some miles behind us before anyone knows we’re gone.”

  Earl gave a couple of head bobs—his idea of looking cool. “Let’s do it.”

  So Teller drove east to I-15, turned north to catch I-80, then ascended Parley’s Canyon. He drove faster than seemed necessary, but what concerned Earl more was Teller’s habit of taking his eyes off the road when he turned to talk.

 

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