Page 165 - my-people-abbie-harris-beck

behind the pilot seat and toward the bottom of the ship. He said if I would help him repair
his ship, he would get it airborne and head back to his home. I asked him where home
was, and he pointed toward the sun. He said it was a long way from Geneva. I guess he
was pointing toward Montgomery or Birmingham. It sounded like his home was a long
way from these woods!

Well I said I would help if I could, but did not know what I could do. I was just
twelve and I had never seen such a ship. He said he could fix the hole if I would get him
some material that he could use to patch the hole. "There's some tin on the roof of grand
daddy Grover's barn ", I told him. "Well, I really may need something without a wrinkle
or nail hole in it," he said. I told him what it sounded like he needed was some of Bob
Simmon's sheet metal, from downtown. He seemed not to know much about sheet metal.
He had never even heard of Mr. Simmons. I guess he must have been from Birmingham!

I told him I would be glad to help, but it was over three miles to town, and I didn't
have any way to get there except to walk. "Don't worry, I can get you there, "he
explained. Then he reached inside his ship and pulled a funny looking motor scooter from
the baggage compartment. I couldn't see any wheels so I guess they were tucked up
inside the fenders. He called the scooter a transporter and showed me how to crank it. I
jumped on the seat and took off. I yelled back at him and told him I would be gone about
an hour, depending on whether Mr. Simmons was even open on Saturday. He was back
at work tinkering on his engine, and I sputtered on off

This transporter was great! It seemed to skim along the top of the ground. I'm
not sure it even touched the ground. Anyway, I was downtown and out to Simmon's in no
time flat. He was open...I knew he would be. I looked around for a piece of sheet metal
the size I needed. I got a couple of pieces and tied them to the side of my scooter. I told
him daddy would pay him next week since I had no money. He agreed, and off I went.

When I had first left the woods, I had decided to travel as much as I could without
being seen. I didn't know how I would explain the transporter or what I was doing by
myself scooting around town on a quiet Saturday morning. Lucky for me everybody was
either out of town or staying inside on this fall Saturday. Anyway, the few looks I got
from passersby didn't slow me down any. The return trip was just as quiet. Most people
didn't even look up as I passed, and they probably just thought it was some kid on one of
those new Italian motor scooters that was becoming popular. I zigged and zagged behind
trees and houses until I was back in the country. I left the road and went cross country
back to the swamp where I had left the stranger with his even stranger flying machine.

When I got back to the spot, he had already wiped the mud and sticks off his
rocket ship. It really shined. He was cranking the engine and racing the motor. Air
sucked into the gaping hole and kept the engine from revving to full speed. He helped me
unload the pieces of sheet metal and held each piece up to the hole like he was measuring
it. He selected the bigger piece and placed it over the hole. Then he did the most amazing
thing out of all the amazing things I had seen that day! He pulled that flashlight