Three

Part three: The wrong way to use a Pine cone

      He was so close that he was not going to let it get away again. Morris knew that the apparatuses had not gone far and would be back. He couldn’t help but slightly panic anyway, he still remembered what happened the last time but that was ancient history, literally.

    Fran told him she was friends with the local pawn shop so if anything turned up there, that belonged to her, she would get a phone call. She also called the police to make a report of stolen jewelry and art.

    “Darling, let’s go get some doughnuts and coffee. I could really use a crawler. We can bring some back for these sleepyheads.” Morris suggested to Fran as she looked over at his sleeping friends.

   “No, no thanks. I think I just want to clean the backyard up from last night. Bring me a doughnut back?” Fran asked as she slowly headed for the door.

    “Sure thing. What kind?” He asked.

    “Surprise me.” Fran said and then let out a heavy sigh. “I think I just want the sugar.” She forced a laugh as she walked out of Morris’s kitchen door and into the yard. Morris finished getting dressed and then went to wake his friends.

    “Moonbeam? Betsy? Do you want a doughnut or coffee? I’m going to the doughnut shop.” Morris shook Betsy’s leg as he asked. She just shook her head and curled into a ball in the papasan chair. Moonbeam with hair and beard a mess, slowly rolled over and looked at Morris.

    “Coffee. Mocha. Almond.” Moonbeam said with a dry mouth and a thumbs up then rolled back to where he was. Morris cover each of them with a blanket before he left. He decided to ride his skateboard which was next to the door. It was really nice outside and quiet. Most people were still asleep as he glided through the neighborhood effortlessly.

     He jumped off his board and picked it up as he jumped onto the curb as he came to the shopping center with the doughnut shop. He glanced into the windows of the second hand thrift shop as he walked by. A green velvet skirt caught his eye, he’d have to stop in and buy it on his way back. The sign in the window indicated that they would be open in 20 minutes. He pushed the door of the doughnut shop open and inhaled the heavenly smell as he entered the store. There was an older man in the shop sitting at the bar drinking a coffee. Morris sat at the bar too.

     “Welcome to Hobo Tom’s Doughnuts, what can I get for you, sir?”  The young man behind the counter asked Morris. His name tag read ‘Hobo Joshua’.

      “This is an order to go. I would like,” Morris looked over all the doughnuts on the wall behind the counter he was sitting at, “ a half dozen crawlers, three eclairs, two jellies uum, how many is that?”

    “Two more,sir. Will make a baker’s dozen.”

    “And two glazed.” Morris said as Hobo Joshua put them into a box. “Can I get some coffees too?”

     “Sure thing.” Joshua said as he set the doughnut box down so he could close the lid. “What can I get for you?”

     “The big 10 cup, just black and another but mocha with almond milk.” Morris said. Josh hurried himself to make the coffees. The older guy, sitting down the bar, smiled at him.

    “Getting enough for the whole office?” He asked.

    “You could say that! Trying to get some still drunk bodies awake and out of my apartment.” Morris said with a laugh. The man laughed too.

    “Name’s Dwight. I run the thrift shop on the end of the building with my wife.” Dwight walked over and offered his hand to Morris.

    “Hey, you know Fran, my neighbor. I’m Morris. I just moved in next to her yesterday. Isn’t she just a darling?” Morris said as she shook Dwight’s hand.

     “Yeah, we go way back. She’s a good soul, always finding interesting things. Did she show you that pine cone she found the other day? I bet it’ll fetch her a lot of money if she decides to sale it.” Dwight said as she sat in the seat next to Morris.

    “Oh, the pine cone, yes but it’s since gone missing. It seems to have grown legs and walked off last night while we had a little soiree in the backyard.” Morris told him. Hobo Joshua set the coffees on the counter.

    “That’ll be 25.50, please.” He said. Morris paid him then turned back to listen to Dwight.

    “What a shame. I had some things I pulled up online I wanted to show Fran about pine cones in ancient history. Well maybe it’ll turn up. You have a nice day.” Dwight said as he got up and headed for the door.

    “Actually, I seen something in your store’s window that I absolutely need!” Morris said to him as he held big bag of doughnuts and coffee in one hand and picked up the skateboard with the other. Dwight opened the door and held it for him. “Thanks.”

    They walked to the thrift shop together, Dwight opened the door again for Morris. Morris set his skateboard down off to the side, on the floor, with the doughnut bag on top.

   “Hey, I’m back.” Dwight called into the store as he walked in. “Take your time.” He said to Morris before walking to the back of the store. Morris looked over all the random things in the store. It reminded him instantly of Fran. There was wild colorful clothing, hats, shoes, old books, weird art, antique kitchen gadgets, and vintage home furnishings. He ran his hand over the little sculptures and racks holding fake jewelry. He had found another happy place. A woman emerged from the curtain that separated the back of the store from the front.

     “Isn’t it just beautiful?” She asked Morris. She had kind eyes. Morris took an instant liking to her. She stood in front of a jewelry case sipping from the coffee cup Dwight brought back for her.

    “Yes! Can I just live here? I love it.” Morris was looking at everything. He tried on a few hats and rings but none quite suited him. He walked around with a scarf made of an old quilt. When he got to the green skirt displayed in the window he stopped. “This. This is what I came in here for. I love it.” The mannequin wearing the skirt could have been Morris’s twin, all it needed was some crazy hair instead of the hard plastic one piece head hair.

    “Let me help you get that off of Phillip. He sometimes can be tricky. I’m Virginia, by the way. Dwight says you’re Fran’s neighbor, Morris.” She said as she pulled the mannequin sideways and the top half of him detached making the skirt easily accessible.

     “Phillip? Oh poor Phillip, you’ve broken him in half, darling!” Morris let out a loud laugh and then pulled the skirt off of the bottom half of Phillip. He put the skirt over his arm and put the scarf on top of it. “This is it. I need to get home and help Fran clean. We had a little soiree last night, we’ll have to have another soon to invite you and Dwight.” He walked to the cash register and Virginia followed. She rang him up.

    “That’ll be ten dollars.” She smiled at him.

    “Ten dollars? No honey, this is worth more.” He handed her a 20 dollar bill. “Mark everything double. I’m bringing my friends back when I come back.” He laughed at this. Virginia didn’t know what to think.

   “Um. Okay.” She said and put the twenty into the register. Morris gathered up his purchase, put it in the doughnut bag and picked up his skateboard.

    “Thanks! Lovely meeting you, darling. We’ll get together soon. Goodbye, now!” Morris called out as he exited the pawn shop. He rode his skateboard with the bag in one hand. He switched the bag between his hands for balance around the corners. He got onto the sidewalk and hopped off his board when he arrived in the courtyard of the apartments and set it against the wall so he could unlock his door. He heard two people talking so he turned to watch a man and young woman knocking on apartment D. Then the man pulled a gun out and walked around the corner towards the south gate. They hadn’t even noticed him.

     “Welcome home, Morris.” Moonbeam was sitting up on the couch wrapped in the blanket with Fran sitting next to him as Morris came into the apartment.

       “Call 911 now!” Morris said while dropping the bag on the table. Gun shots were heard. They all stopped to listen. Three total. They could hear a kerfuffle and loud crashes coming from apartment D. Fran got out her cellphone and dialed. Morris told them to say in the apartment. He opened the door and looked. The door opened of apartment D and the two brothers helped each other out and into the courtyard. They fell into the grass as Morris ran over to help.

      They moved the hurt brother to the other side of the yard with the help of Onslo. Fire was destroying apartment D. What had just happened in there? Emergency vehicles were there just as things were looking really bad. An ambulance and EMT took over treating the brother that was losing a lot of blood. He had been shot in the leg. Fire crew put out the fire but the building was unsafe until it was inspected and apartment D was demolished. The police took statements from them all.

    When Morris came back to his apartment Moonbeam and Betsy were gone. They had taken some coffee and doughnuts. Fran and Onslo joined him in his kitchen.

    “You two got somewhere to go while they do the inspection and tear off apartment D?” Onslo asked as he selected an eclair from the doughnut box and sat in a chair. Morris and Fran looked at each other.

    “Actually I could call in a favor.” Fran said. She still had her phone in her hand and went into the backyard to make a call. Morris sat with Onslo and the two ate doughnuts while they recounted the events that just happened.

    “I’m going to go stay at the senior center. I should be thinking about just making it permanent.” Onslo told Morris. Morris looked at him sympathetically. They had been friends for a long time and Morris knew what Onslo meant without him having to say it.

    “If you feel it’s time. I can have Moonbeam come over with his SUV and help you move.” Morris put his hand on Onslo’s shoulder and smiled at him as Fran came back into the kitchen.

    “I got us a place to stay, oddly good timing too. Dwight says Virginia and him were invited to a wedding but weren’t going to go because of the shop. So if we work at the shop while they are away we can stay in the little apartment above it for free. He said you met them this morning. I thought I recognized that green skirt.” Farn said. Morris just stood with his mouth open and hands clasped together next to his face.

    “Yes! Oh but I’ve got to work. Actually, I have some vacation time saved up. Yes, let’s do this. I am so down to hang out at that store for,” he paused, “how many days?” Morris said totally serious as he looked between Fran and Onslo. They both began to laugh. “What?”

   “The man I talked to said seven to ten days for the safety inspection to pass.” Onslo said with a sigh.

   “Dwight and Virginia will be gone for a week. They are flying out to the wedding on a horse ranch. Virginia’s cousin or niece, I forget what she said now.” Fran tilted her head sideways and smiled. “Suppose I should go pack a bag or two, put out extra food for the cats, and lock up. Dwight said he’d come pick us up.” She grabbed a doughnut and left through the kitchen door.

   “A week is perfect for me.” Morris said to Onslo. “Have you been to that second hand thrift store? It’s like I’ve died and gone into a big closet heaven of vintage clothing and antiques.” He put his head on his hand and sat for a moment with a dreamy look on his face.

    “I should go pack too. I’ll call the senior center and let them know to send the bus for me.” Onslo said as he stood up. “Do you mind if I take one of those doughnuts for my sweetheart?”

    “Onslo! You didn’t tell me! Who’s the lucky lady?” Morris took a bite of a jelly filled doughnut. It burst open and jelly dripped on his shirt. “Oh, dang it!” He said as he tried to wipe the glob off with a towel. He stood up. “I better change out of this. Take as many doughnuts as you want and leave the door open on your way out.”

   Onslo only took one of the doughnuts and waved to Morris as he left. There was still five left when Morris looked into the box. He took off his dirty shirt and packed his suitcase. They would be allowed back into the building but the deconstruction would be loud and dirty, best if they weren’t there. He filled his suitcase with more than enough clothing then changed from his pants into the green skirt and put on a blue top. There was a knock on the door.

    “You ready?” Fran asked him through his opened the door. Dwight was sitting in his truck waiting for them out on the street. He was busy listening to the police scanner.

     “Sure am, darling. This is going to be fun!” Morris wheeled his overstuffed suitcase out of the door and locked it behind him. He helped fran put her suitcase into the back of Dwight’s truck and then put his in behind hers. They then climbed into the cab with Dwight, he turned the volume down on the scanner.

    “Good to see you again, Morris. I didn’t think it would be so soon though.” Dwight said with a chuckle.

     “I know, right?” Morris said back to him. “I’m so thrilled you are able to help us, I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to pay you back.”

     “Don’t worry about it. Fran is a trusted friend, so Virginia and I are glad you two can stay while we are gone. We didn’t really want to close the shop. We have so many regulars that wouldn’t know what to do with their early afternoons if we closed up for a week.” Dwight smiled at the two of them as he drove back to the shop. “She is so excited about seeing family that she hasn’t seen in about 10 years. This will be good for us to get away for a bit.” He parked the truck in the parking lot of the shop and got out. He helped Morris get the bags from the back of the truck. They all walked into the shop.

    “So glad to see you again!” Virginia said as they entered the store. “Come on, follow me. I’ll show you where you can put your things. Fran and Morris rolled their bags and followed her through the back curtain then up a flight of stairs, that were wooden and painted dark brown, to the second floor apartment. “It’s all yours!” The apartment looked like it was stuck in the late 1960’s. Morris felt like he had died and gone to heaven.

    “I could cry, it’s even more lovely than downstairs.” Morris stood for a moment looking around at everything. The carpet was an avocado green. The walls were covered in orange and gold floral wallpaper. The furniture was all wicker with dark orange cushions. The decorations were velvet paintings of nude ladies and spider plants in macrame holders. It looked like a page right out of a magazine. Morris set the smaller bag he was carrying down next to Fran’s big bag.

    “Sorry it’s only a cozy one bedroom but there is a pull-out couch in the bedroom.” Virginia gave them a little tour of the apartment. “The hot water heater is on the other side of this wall so the water get’s hot quickly coming from the tap. Dwight fixed the showerhead so it’s not spraying all crazy like it was. You shouldn’t have any problems with anything while we are gone. If you do there is a handyman’s number on the list I put on the fridge. The number of my brother’s horse ranch where the wedding is is on there too. Make yourselves at home.” She left them to it and went back down the stairs to work in the shop.

    “Isn’t this just adorable?” Fran asked Morris as she sat on the orange couch. She recognized some of the things in this apartment, she had found the lots of the things around town then Dwight bought them from her to decorate the little apartment.

    “Yes! Can we stay forever? I love it!” Morris sat down on the wicker couch and put his feet up on a little matching footstool.

     “I should call Jess and let her know we are here now. I called her after I got off the phone with Dwight, she’s been working a lot of doubles.” Fran dialed Jess’s number and it went to voicemail. “It’s your ma, we are here at Dwight and Virginia’s store. Safe and sound. Talk to you later. Bye.” She hung up her phone.

     “You are the sweetest momma ever.” Morris said to her as he put his arm around her and gave her a hug. “And I better let my work know I’m taking a few of my sick days now. They’ll be happy. Janice is always trying to get me to go do something other than work. This is the perfect vacation for me, a trip to the sixties.” Both Fran and him laughed. Dwight came up the stairs to the small apartment to see if they needed anything.

    “Is this going to work for you two?” Dwight asked as he set down a bag of clean linens.

    “It’s perfect.” Morris said as he got up and spun around. He skirt flared out and knocked into one of the tables making it wobble slightly.

    “Great. That table is broken but everything else should be fine.” Dwight said as he pointed to the wobbly table. “Here’s some more linens. Our flight leaves at 8:35am tomorrow morning, if you two could to watch over the shop for a few hours today, so Virginia and I can go pack, that’d be great.” Morris’s eyes got big and his mouth dropped open.

   “Yes! Teach me everything there is to know, I have a great memory and won’t forget.” Morris got a serious look on his face.

    “Well, okay then. Let’s go downstairs and get to it.” Dwight said as he turned and headed back down the staircase. They followed. Dwight went over how to use the cash register and what was not for sale in the store. Morris took notes on a little notebook that Virginia gave to him and Fran so they could write this all down. It was pretty simple, standard small shop stuff. Dwight told them not to worry about the security cameras too much and showed them how to watch it on their computers, if they wanted to at night.

   Dwight handed Fran the keys and gave them the code for the alarm. Virginia hugged them both before leaving the store, Dwight shook their hands. He was going to make a deposit too, so that there wasn’t much money in the store in case they got robbed. It never happened, but Dwight was still cautious.

    “See you early tomorrow morning.” Morris said to them. Dwight didn’t want to leave his truck at the airport for a week so Morris was driving them to the airport at 7am in it, then driving it back to the shop.

     Fran and Morris watched over the store until closing time. Plenty of people came in to shop but no one came in with Fran’s stolen items and she had not heard from the police either. Jess stopped by shortly before closing time and told her mother that she was working an early double the next day so she wouldn’t see her in the morning. This was fine with Fran as she planned to get up 10 minutes before the store needed to be open, she was going to treat this like a vacation too. Morris would be back from the airport by then so it wouldn’t matter if she was half asleep still.

  Morris was gone and back a little after 9am the next morning after dropping Dwight and Virginia off at the airport. He went to the doughnut shop to get a few coffees and pastries for Fran and him to share, then went to the thrift store. The door was already unlocked so he didn’t need to struggle to get the keys out of his pocket.

   “Hello? I’m back. Fran?” Morris sang out as he walked into the store. He didn’t see Fran so he walked to the back of the store. He noticed that one of the display cases was pushed back several feet. Had it always been against that wall? “Fran?” He called out again. No answer but he could hear someone in the back of the store. He set Fran’s coffee and the bag of pastries on a jewelry display case then walked through the curtain behind the counter with the cash register. There on the floor sat Fran with a bloody nose, over her stood a young woman with short black hair, she was in her early twenties. She had her back to Morris.

    “Morris! Don’t come any closer.” Fran called out to him. The young woman turned her head to slowly looked Morris up and down then turned around to face him. She had the pine cone in one hand and the purse in the other.

    “I don’t want to hurt anyone else. I just need to get out of here. I need money, now!” She said as she pointed the pine cone at Morris.

   “How’d you get that?” Morris asked her. “Let’s be reasonable here. The owners left and took the money with them. We’re just here to watch over the shop while they’re gone. They owners on vacation for a week. Just put the pine cone down and we can figure something out.” Morris said as calmly as he could. The woman holding the pine cone gave him a weird look.

   “How do you know about this thing’s powers? How? I found this in the forest out at.. Oh. Ooh.” She seemed to have suddenly realized something and the fight went out of her for a moment. “F**k.” She said softly. “Then you have to give me money. Empty your wallets.”

   “What? No. I have about 5 dollars in change.” Fran said as she sat wiping her face with a handkerchief.

    “I just spent what cash I had on doughnuts. Put that pine cone down and we can talk.” Morris took a step towards the two women. “What’s your name?”

    “Stop! Don’t you come any closer. You, go get your wallet. We’re going to an ATM machine. You have one minute then I destroy the place.” The young woman commanded Fran. Fran pushed herself up off the floor then quickly went upstairs. The woman with the pine cone and Morris stood frozen, staring each other down. “My name is Penelope.” She finally said in almost a whisper.

     “I’m Morris and she is Fran. You don’t want to do this, Penelope.” Morris said to her and sipped his coffee as calmly as he could. He was trying to act as casual as he could. He still had the trucks keys sticking out of his front pocket and his cellphone in the top pocket of his purple overalls that he was wearing. “You don’t know what that thing is capable of. Set it down and just leave it here. Go now and we’ll forget anything ever happened. Okay, darling?”

     “No! It’s too late for that.” Penelope was slightly dancing around and looking annoyed. “Come on! Let’s go!” She yelled out as Fran came back down the stairs with her purse.

    “Sorry, I was as fast as I could be.” Fran said as she gave Morris a quick look.

    “What was that? What was that look?” Penelope shouted. “Dump it. Dump your purse out.” She told Fran. Fran hesitated but Morris nodded at her so she turned it over and everything fell onto the floor, including her cellphone. “Get your ATM card. That’s all we need.”

    Fran pulled the card from her pocketbook and held it up for Penelope to see. They left the building. Morris stopped to lock the shop’s door but Penelope told him to leave it. They got into Dwight’s truck with Fran in the middle and drove to the nearest ATM machine. Penelope got out of the truck with Fran to use the machine and told Morris if he tried anything that she’d hurt Fran. She took the keys from him so he couldn’t leave either.

     Morris turned on the police scanner that was in the truck after the women got out. He then got his phone out and dialled 911. He quickly told the dispatcher that a friend and him were being held hostage and described the situation the best he could. The dispatcher advised him to leave his phone on but to turn the volume off so their kidnapper couldn’t hear it. He did this then put his phone back into his top pocket.

    “It’s not working. Something isn’t right. It says my funds are too low.” Fran was at the machine trying to withdraw the five hundred dollars Penelope had requested. Fran knew it wasn’t going to work but was stalling. She had texted Jess that she might be in trouble but without her phone tracking their movements on GPS she didn’t know how long it would take before someone helped them.

    “Move!” Penelope shoved Fran aside and tried to withdraw money herself but this only made it worse by locking her out and not giving the card back. Penelope screamed as she took a few steps back and pointed the pine cone at the machine. Fran got up off the ground and ran to the truck. The wall of the bank began to vibrate and crack around the entire ATM machine. It broke free of the building and set itself down on the sidewalk in front of Penelope. She walked to the side of it and tried to open a little door. It was locked.

     She stepped back a few feet and pointed the pine cone at the machine again, lifting it off the ground by a few feet then smashing it down hard onto the sidewalk there. It wasn’t working and this just made Penelope even more angry. She dropped the machine a few more times from much higher until money burst from the vault inside like it was a pinata. She collected as much as she could into her bag and then ran for the truck.

     “I need the keys if you want to go anywhere.” Morris reminded Penelope as she got into the truck. She took them from her pants pocket and threw them at Morris. The police scanner cut out for a moment as he started the truck.

    “Drive! Drive!” Penelope said as Morris took off driving out of the parking lot.

    “So, where are we going?” Fran asked as she tried to hang on and buckle her seatbelt.

     “You two are dropping me off at the airport and then you are free to go.” Penelope said as she adjusted herself on the bench seat next to Fran. She looped the purse handle over her wrist and put the pine cone in the same hand. She scooped out a handful of money. “Sort this.” She dug out of her bag a plastic bag filled with rubber bands.

    “Prepared for bank robbing?” Morris said in a snarky way as he drove onto the freeway.

   “Shut up. Just drive.” Penelope said as she looked around. “What is this noise you are listening too?”

     “Police scanner. I think you tripped a few alarms back there at the bank.” Morris said to Penelope. “They’ll be looking for us now.”

    “That’s not the worst thing I have done.” She paused for a moment before letting out a sigh. “Get off this freeway. Take the next exit. I know a shortcut.” Penelope told Morris. They drove for a few more miles until the exit. Morris stopped at the stoplight. The police scanner indicated that the police were now at the bank. Fran hoped they would find her card that had been stuck in the machine.

    “Which way?” Morris said as he waited for the light to change.

   “Towards the hills.” Penelope pointed to the left as she said this. Morris took a left turn and they drove into the cover of the hills and trees. Penelope instructed Morris as to which way to go. Fran handed her back stacks of money wrapped nicely in rubber bands to Penelope. She put them all in her bag. They drove for a long time, winding their way through the hills.

    “Are you lost?” Fran asked as they came to a bridge that crossed a deep gorge. Morris stopped the truck in the middle of the bridge. They hadn’t seen any other cars for a while now.

    “No! What are you doing? Why did you stop?” Penelope was not happy with him stopping the truck, she had the pine cone and purse back in her hands and ready to use.

    “We are lost.” Morris said calmly. “And I need to pee.” He looked at Penelope when he said this. “I had a lot of coffee this morning and I never got to use the toilet at the shop.”

     “Fine. Go pee.” Penelope said as she opened the passenger side door. All three of them got out of the truck. Morris walked to the side of the bridge and peed over it. It was really quiet and calm where they had stopped. They could see for miles in either direction down the gorge. Fran stood leaning against the truck.

     “We gave you money, now it’s time for the trade. Put the pine cone and purse down or I drop the keys off the bridge.” Morris said as he turned to face Penelope. His arm was stretched out over the railing of the bridge with the keys dangling from one finger.

     “Don’t you dare.” Penelope held the pine cone up to point it at Morris. Morris held his other hand, palm facing her, out. She stood facing him with her mouth open in disbelief.

    “You throw me off the bridge and the keys will go with me.” Morris said as he wrapped his hand around the keys. Penelope walked over to Morris, still pointing the pine cone at him.

   “Give me the keys. Throw them to me.” She demanded.

   “You said earlier, “That’s not the worst thing I’ve done.” What did you mean by that?” Morris said as he clutched the keys to his chest and looked right into her eyes. This question caught Penelope off guard.  She shook her head as if she had not heard him right.

    “I said that outloud?” Her eyes rolled around in her skull as she thought about it. “I.. I have hurt some people, badly. I need to get to the airport now. Give me the keys!” She screamed at him and stamped her feet. Morris threw the keys at her. She caught them in the hand holding the purse then she turned around and ran to the truck.

       “Run.” Was all Morris said to Fran, he waited for her to catch up to him.They both then ran as fast as they could in the opposite direction the truck was facing. They heard Penelope getting more frustrated with the wrong keys.

    “What did you do?” Fran asked as they ran. Morris pulled the keys for the truck from his pocket.

    “Separated the keys while I was standing there.” Morris said as he grabbed Fran’s hand. Penelope got out of the truck and screamed.

    “Stop right there. Don’t make me use this on you!” Penelope screamed at them. The stopped running and slowly turned to face Penelope. “Where’s the keys?” She walked closer to the edge and threw the wrong set of keys off the bridge.

   “They are now with the keys you just threw over.” Morris said to her. Penelope ran to the side of the bridge and looked over. The faint sound of sirens in the distance could be heard.

   “No! No! F**k! Then you are walking with me!” Penelope yelled as she turned away from them, with the pine cone in her hand, she pointed it right at the truck. The truck lifted into the air.

   “No!” both Fran and Morris yelled as they ran back towards her. Penelope stared at the truck for only a moment. Then it flew back and fell over the side, to the bottom of the gorge. The three of them ran to the bridge railing to see it hit. The truck exploded upon impact. Fire and money flew into the air. Penelope screamed again.

    “No! My money!” She yelled as she turned to Morris and Fran. She held the pine cone out. Morris put his hand out again. Penelope stared at Morris as hard as she had the truck, but nothing happened. She screamed again as the sirens came even closer. The handle of the purse suddenly snapped in half and slid from her hand. It landed gently on its bottom with a hollow sound. She tried to use the pine cone on Morris again and nothing happened so she threw it at him. Morris caught the pine cone and handed it to Fran.

    The police cars rounded a corner and stopped at the end of the bridge. Officers began to get out of their cars. Penelope watched this start to happen and then climbed over the rail of the bridge. She looked back at Morris and Fran before leaning out and releasing her grip. Morris and Fran hugged each other until the police began their way over. Jess was not with the officers and this was a relief for Fran, she didn’t want her daughter to see her like this. She bent down and picked up the broken purse.