Чарльз Кроуфорд - Three-Legged Race

"I wish we could bring something back for Brent."

"Why don't we?" Kirk said.

"Nothing's open."

They passed a shop full of handthrown pottery and original jewelry and a shop with jeans and jersey tops.

"What do you take a guy in the hospital when none of the stores are open? I wish we had thought of it earlier. At least we could have taken him a cup of popcorn or something," Amy said.

"We could break a window and steal something," Kirk laughed. "Pull a heist, so to speak."

"What kind of a getaway could we make with you in a wheelchair?"

"Slow."

"Exactly."

"I can see the headlines now: 'Mono Bonnie and Wheelchair Clyde Strike Again.' Somehow it seems a little too dramatic."

Kirk stopped the wheelchair and leaned over. He picked up a candy wrapper from the sidewalk.

"How about this? Do you think Brent needs a used candy wrapper?"

"Aren't you thoughtful, but I think he has enough already."

"That's the trouble with trying to find a gift for someone who has everything. We could take him flowers," Kirk said. "You always take people in the hospital flowers."

"Kirk, that's a wonderful idea. Where are we going to get flowers at a time like this? I didn't notice an all-night florist on the way to the movie."

"Yeah, I know, but I bet I do know where we could get some flowers at this hour."

"Where?"

"There's a cemetery less than a block from here."

"You've got to be kidding," Amy said.

"No, really, I'm serious. There are always tons of flowers lying around a graveyard begging to be picked up."

"We couldn't do that."

"Sure we could. No one would ever miss them. A flower here, a flower there, what's the difference? They practically have 'Pick These' signs all over the place."

Amy laughed. "I guess you're right. I hope we don't get caught."

"Now who would catch us at this hour?"

The bank clock on the corner said eleven thirty.

Kirk wheeled ahead and Amy followed. On the other side of the small park was a church with a graveyard. Kirk and Amy moved through the warm darkness past the gates into the cemetery.

"It's spooky," Amy said. The fireflies were high in the trees now. The light from the streetlamps barely reached that far into the blackness.

Amy wandered among the tombstones. Kirk wheeled across the damp grass.

"Somebody's bound to notice the tire marks tomorrow," Amy said.

"They'll just think it was a ghoul with training wheels," Kirk replied.

There were a few pots of planted flowers - geraniums, petunias and summer marigolds.

"I don't see anything worth picking yet. Geraniums smell like mud. Only the best for Brent," Kirk said.

They wandered farther into the darkness.

"Hey, look at this," Kirk said. Amy came to him. Kirk had stopped by a grave piled high with fresh flowers, full wreaths of white carnations, piles of long roses wrapped with white ribbons.

"They must have buried someone here just today," Kirk said. "There are sure lots here we can take."

"I don't feel right about it," Amy said.

"So what's the difference, Amy? We'll take just a few. Nobody will notice. Brent will appreciate them more than this person. Here, pass me some of those roses. I'll hold them in my lap."

Amy bent down and picked up a few roses. She handed them to Kirk, cutting her finger on one of the thorns. She sucked on it until the bleeding stopped.

"Hand me some more," Kirk said. "We can't be cheap about this."

Amy bent down again and passed him some more roses and some carnations. There were so many flowers, no one would be able to tell that a few were missing.

"More, Amy. Really pile me up."

They finally stopped when Kirk could hold no more. His lap was heaped high with flowers. They seemed to glow in the dim white light.

"They're beautiful," Amy said. "I think Brent will like them."

"Sure he will. It was a good idea."

Amy leaned back against the tombstone.

"I feel all tired out," she said. "It's been an evening, all right. I loved it. If we stayed here all night, we'd be covered with dew by morning. It would sparkle in our hair. If Brent were only here, I wouldn't move an inch."

Kirk said, "We'd better head back."

They started to move. Amy turned back to the grave with the flowers. "Thanks," she said. "Brent needs them too. I hope you don't mind."

"Come on, crazy girl," Kirk said laughing.

They passed through the dim graveyard between the tombstones in the darkness. They returned to the sidewalk and the streetlights.

"Boy, do you look silly. Like a rolling greenhouse," Amy said.

"I've got this thing about flowers. They follow me everywhere. It's kind of embarrassing on the school bus sometimes."

A dog started barking from the porch of a darkened house. Amy and Kirk looked toward the noise. The dog, a huge German shepherd, stood on the edge of the steps growling loudly.

"Nice doggy," Kirk said. "Choke on a bone, why don't you."

The dog ran down the steps and out the front sidewalk toward them. It was still barking loudly.

"It'll wake the whole neighborhood," Amy said. She began to run. Her shoes pattered along the sidewalk. Kirk spun his wheels as fast as he could. The dog ran after them a little way and then stopped, still barking, at the corner of the property.

Kirk shouted back, "Hush up, Rover." He caught up to Amy, threw her a carnation and wheeled right on past. Amy walked along behind him swinging the flower in the lamplight. She sang a no-song in the night air, humming a tune that had no name. Kirk slowed down and Amy skipped along beside him for a moment, hitting him on the head with the carnation.

They reached the hospital doors.

"Shhhh," said Amy, out of breath and laughing. "We're burglars. We're stealing flowers into the hospital. No one had better hear us or we'll be in real trouble."

She pushed the swinging door open and Kirk passed inside. Amy followed. The entrance lobby was dark and deserted. Across the corridor the light of the elevator sign glowed. They moved quietly toward it. Amy couldn't stop giggling.

"Shhh," Kirk said. "Can't you ever be serious."

Amy giggled even louder.

"You look so funny rolling around half covered with flowers." She picked up a carnation and stuck it behind Kirk's ear.

Kirk pressed the "Up" button and the elevator doors opened. They entered and pushed for the sixth floor. The elevator carried them up. On the sixth floor the doors swished open again. This hall was brighter than the lobby had been. Down the corridor Amy saw the light from the nurses' station.

"Quietly, now. Let's not get caught."

Amy tiptoed, but the quiet taps of her shoes on the tile floor seemed impossibly loud in the stillness of the hallway. Even the whirr of the wheelchair carried in the silence. Amy giggled again when she looked down at Kirk half covered in flowers.

They were almost to Amy's room when Nurse Schultz swung out of the nurses' station and said, "Well, there you are, our two escapees. You had me scared to death, until finally Brent explained. And don't be mad, I had to almost strangle it out of him."

"Did you tell anyone?" Amy asked.

"No, I didn't, although Lord knows I should have reported it immediately. It was a foolish thing to do, particularly for you, Amy, in that cool night air."

"It was beautiful out."

"I know," said Nurse Schultz. "I hope it was worth it. Now both of you, hurry to bed. It's late."

Amy turned into her room. "Give Brent his flowers, will you, Kirk? And tell him good night for me. Thanks, Kirk. I liked the movie."

"Night, Amy. See you tomorrow."

Nurse Schultz pushed Kirk the rest of the way down the hall to his room. She clucked her tongue several times and laughed quietly once.

"Thanks, Nurse Schultz. Good night."