Ziff under fire

Part 4 - Jump Starting

Licia, Miguel and I grabbed our coats and sprinted across the road to Silverwood School. It was so cold the snow was squeaking under our boots and the wind made it seem even more frigid.

The school parking lot was deserted except for Dr Zhang's snow covered, old station wagon and a pickup truck clearing snow.

We found Denny cleaning up his office. 'Strewth! You just missed the excitement . . . Wait a mo . . . why did you guys suddenly show up?'

'We saw Murga and the Bunglers come out of the school,' Licia said, 'and we were worried about you. What happened.'

'Well, I'm okay . . . thanks. The police were here asking about that abandoned bus on the 416. Oddly, they seem to think I might know something about it . . . I lied.'

'And then Murga walked in through the electric bookcase, cool as a cucumber. I was just about to blow my top when the blooming Bungler guys from the bus showed up. Because of the cops, they pretended they didn't know who I was, and I pretended I didn't recognize them. Then, just when I was wondering what else could go wrong, Beryl arrives, her Uzi went off and the Bunglers cell phones blew up. I threw them all out before they wrecked the place.'

'Hey . . . don't tell Lee Zhang about this. If His Supreme Modesty Dr Zhang found out Murga was still using the electric bookcase, I would never hear the end of it.'

We left Denny sweeping glass into a dustpan and went outside where the pickup was pushing snow around the parking lot. It stopped in front of us and Jeremy rolled down the window. Jeremy was helping his uncle with alterations to the apartments at rue 69 Sumac while moonlighting with snow clearing contractors.

'Hey, Ziff. 'D'you know who owns that wreck, eh?' Jeremy waved toward Dr Zhang's station wagon, almost invisible under a mound of snow. 'My friend here, Shawn, got the plowing contract and it's in the way.'

'Be careful what you call a wreck,' I replied. 'That's Dr Zhang's favourite set of wheels.'

'Good. Would you get him to move it so we can get the job done?'

'Okay,' I said. 'Denny should have the keys.'

I ran back into the school and asked Denny to move Dr Zhang's wagon.

'I'm up to my blooming yin yang right now,' Denny sighed. 'I've been trying to find time to take it to the junk yard. Look, here's the keys and the vehicle permit. Lee Zhang's signed the vehicle transfer. Ask the plow driver if he would take it to the scrap yard on Richmond road. I already called them, so they are expecting someone to bring it in. They will pay him $150 for it.'

'Denny's busy right now,' I panted when I got back. 'But he says you could make $150 if you would you take it to the scrap yard.'

Shawn and Jeremy agreed so I gave them the keys and the vehicle permit.

Jeremy climbed reluctantly out of the warm pick up, zipped up his parka and tried to start the motor of Dr Zhang's station wagon. It emitted a forlorn, 'Urrrgh - h - h,' and then there was dead silence until Jeremy said something vulgar and released the hood catch. Licia, Miguel and I found the brushes and swept most of the snow off the hood and windows while Jeremy got Shawn's jumper cables and started to connect them to the pickup's battery.

'Not that way!' I urged. 'Connect to the dead battery first. Otherwise, if there's any hydrogen around the battery and you get a spark you will cause an explosion.' He carefully positioned the crocodile clips on Dr Zhang station wagon while I chanted, 'Red to red, positive to positive, and black to black, negative to negative.'

Jeremy climbed back into the wagon and the motor started with the customary roar from the leaky muffler. 'Get in,' he told us, 'I'll take you for a test drive.'

Miguel and I carefully disconnected the jumper cables and Licia managed to get one of the frozen rear doors open so we could squeeze into the back seat where we were out of the wind. With the wind chill, the temperature felt about minus twenty Celsius.

Jeremy fiddled with the controls until he found the windshield wipers and the headlights. 'Now,' he shouted above the noise from the muffler. 'Which one of these is the reverse gear?'

Licia leaned forward and pointed. 'It's got R on it,' she yelled. 'It's a stick shift.'

The gear box screamed like a dental drill as Jeremy forced the lever into gear and the station wagon suddenly jerked backwards.

'You're supposed to use the clutch,' Licia shouted.

'Oh! Yeah.' Jeremy spun the steering wheel and we backed rapidly toward the street, wheels spinning on the snow.

'Jeremy,' I yelled, 'Look out for that hydro pole, eh?'

Jeremy glanced over his shoulder and spun the steering wheel. The station wagon crashed through the snow bank and into the street.

'You didn't signal!' Licia shouted.

'Jeremy!' Miguel yelled. 'This is a one-way street! You're going the wrong way!'

The station wagon swerved madly from one side of the road to the other. 'I'm driving backwards,' Jeremy laughed. 'So it's legal.'

'Slow down!' Licia screeched. 'It's slippery.'

A faint musical tinkle sounded and Jeremy fished a cell phone from his pocket.

'Yo, dude, yeah . . . totally cool, man!' he said.

'Look out!' Licia, Miguel and I shouted together.

Jeremy swung the wheel. We were sliding backwards toward an expensive looking car parked in a driveway. We all braced for the impact but the wagon skidded to a stop, perched on the snow bank, with the rear wheels spinning in the air.

'Put it in neutral, you idiot,' Licia snarled.

'Hang on, dude,' Jeremy told the phone, 'one of my passengers is trying to say something.'

Licia reached over the front seat and jerked the gear lever into neutral and Jeremy meekly obeyed as she ordered him out of the driver's seat and took over herself. Jeremy continued his phone conversation while Miguel and I bounced the rear end of the station wagon sideways off the snowbank. We all climbed back in and Licia drove it carefully back to school, parking it neatly in the space Shawn had already cleared of snow.

'Licia,' I asked, 'where did you learn to drive?'

'My uncle lets me drive his tractor on his farm. It's a lot easier than driving a horse.'

Licia left the engine running to recharge the battery and we said goodnight to Shawn and Jeremy.

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