-ROUGH RIDE-

Wednesday, 10.00pm

Chet Morton pulled away from the Hardy house, waving to Frank and Callie. He turned up the CD player. He was glad Joe was driving Callie and Vanessa home. While he would have been more than happy to give any of his friends a lift, he was secretly pleased to be driving home on his own. None of his friends shared his excellent taste in music as far as he was concerned. He travelled along Elm Street happily singing along to Cyndi Lauper’s ‘True Colours.

It had been a very enjoyable BBQ. He’d had some laughs, got along brilliantly with Joe’s new friend AJ, eaten several slices of Aunt Gertrude’s blueberry pie, and his belly was pleasantly full. What more could you ask for in life?

As Chet neared the end of the street, he put his foot on the brake pedal in order to slow for the turn. To his surprise, the vehicle did not respond. He put his foot down harder. Still no response. Swinging the wheel hard, he managed to complete the turn without slowing. Keeping his eyes on the road, Chet reached down and pulled on the handbrake. To his horror, the handbrake came clean out of its rightful place! Tossing it on the passenger seat, Chet gripped the wheel with both hands, his knuckles turning white as he tensed up. In front of him, Davis Street , complete with its reasonably steep descent, loomed. At the bottom of the hill was an intersection. If any vehicle was about to cross Davis Street , there would be a major collision.

Trying not to panic, Chet weighed up his options. He could open the door and throw himself out onto the road, but then he’d have no control over what damage his vehicle might cause. There was no way he could live with that! Think, Morton, think! He told himself. What if I deliberately crash into something, he thought to himself. Some distance beyond the rapidly approaching intersection, Chet remembered that there was a large property with metal gates across its driveway. If he could make it across the intersection, Chet knew that the gates were his best target.

While it probably wasn’t the wisest thing to do given that he was behind the wheel of his beloved 4WD, Chet couldn’t help momentarily closing his eyes as he went across the intersection. The loud blare of a car horn and the screeching of brakes told him that a disaster had been narrowly averted. Forcing his eyes open again, Chet searched desperately for the set of iron gates he remembered. He had once delivered a load of cow manure there to Mr. & Mrs. Mc Gillacuddy and admired their magnificent gates.

The vehicle was gaining more speed. The streetlights were flashing by. The gated driveway appeared ahead on his right. With a quick prayer, a mental apology to the Mc Gillacuddys, and a sharp intake of breath, Chet swung the wheel hard and crashed headlong into the Mc Gillacuddy’s shining metal gates to the strains of True Colours. With the collision, the music ceased and the engine died.

 

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.