For Thursday's headlines: Lofton County learned that a race car could indeed be chased down by a pickup truck.
Mrs. Thornton woke up in time for the work she had been laid off from – “Go back to bed, Maggie!” her cousin Margie Bell howled. “Get the extra sleep for me!”
“Nah. Gonna get us a head's up on today's shopping and cooking because I have time, because you know Friday is the biggest day for the ministry.”
Unknown to Mrs. Thornton and Big Loft, trouble would soon be racing toward them at well over 100 miles an hour.
Enter Horace Hyde IV, young race car collector who loved to flaunt the rules and drive his collectibles at top speed on the open road. Prior to 2019, he was allowed his foolery as long as it was occasional, but he had stopped being occasional, and the new captain of Tinyville's police force wasn't having it.
Mrs. Thornton had just stepped out of Big Discounts for Your Loft when the chase entered Big Loft – as shocking as it was to see a race car whipping along Road 88, it was even more shocking to see a Ford pickup truck right on its tail. It was so brief that Mrs. Thornton blinked, and was only sure she had seen what she had seen because of the cloud of dust.
“Well, I'll be,” one other observer said.
“Got to be doing at least 200 – that truck is souped up, but good!”
This made it all the more shocking for Mrs. Thornton to see that just a mile down Road 88, the Ford truck was in front of the race car, and the race car had crashed into it! The truck was unharmed except for the paint. The car had crumpled. However, it had not been too high a speed, because there was enough hood for the driver to be crying on as he was none-too-gently being handcuffed by the law officer.
“My car--- ooouuuoouuwaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!”
“You ought to thank God it's just your car, boy – imagine if you had gotten into the middle of town, driving like a fool! You think about that while you sit in my jail!”
Later on, Mrs. Thornton told Captain H.F. Lee about it, and he chuckled.
“Horace Hyde IV tried it on my cousin Captain Hamilton one too many times, I see.”
“But how did Captain Hamilton get that pickup truck going that fast – 200 miles an hour!”
“He didn't, and neither did Mr. Hyde – not on these country roads. A Ford truck is much better suited for high speed on such a road, so they were evenly matched, probably around 120mph. Another problem for a race car driver: those things always need fueling up. By the time you saw the chase, Mr. Hyde surely needed a pit stop – and Captain Hamilton provided a permanent one.”
“Young Mr. Hyde lost the race when he started it,” Mrs. Thornton said.
“Yes, ma'am – a common tragedy for the less thoughtful in life.”
Photo by Peter Zhurakhovsky on Unsplash
Thanks for your writing! I enjoyed it
You're welcome -- I'll be writing more, Lord willing!