Author: Edward Guenther
Uploaded: November 11th, 2011
Jonny was the master go-cart maker. Give Jonny a tricycle or two and he could fandangle a newly designed four-wheeled, super-duper hot rod. Donny, Eddy, and Davy always admired him for this.
His go-carts never had motors, but with the steep logging roads here and there on the property, none were needed. One of the great runs, engineered by Jonny, had a corner that spelled disaster. In the ditch, on the outside corners, he had the boys heap great piles of thistles! Nobody ever crashed on the corners, but those thistles still jumped out threateningly on every ride! Another run, high up the mountain on the old Daily property, was so steep and dusty that goggles were required!
The greatest machine Jonny ever threw together had a rather dubious end. Jonny had built it with a long plank using a set of back wheels from a tricycle for its front wheels and another set for its back wheels. The curved tube-like extension coming off of the tricycle’s front section provided the go-cart’s steering wheel. This section was attached to the plank with one large nail… the sharp end pointing upwards. The nail offered a single pivotal point, providing great steering. Jonny bent the nail over on the topside for safety reasons, pointing out that a large nail sticking straight up could present difficulties or even cause injuries!
With this masterpiece, Jonny, Donny, Eddy, and Davy trouped to the top of the nearest and steepest hill, a grassy patch on what they called the ‘Blackberry Patch Hillside’. It got this name because Pa always kept that hillside burned off… so the berries would grow better. Later, Pa had to stop this practice because the neighbors across the road didn’t have a lot of faith in Pa’s safety precautions with the fire. But for now they had a cleared go-cart run with little brush.
The hill was very steep and, at its bottom, was a head-on collision with the flat lands.
Jonny, as the eldest, placed himself in the most hazardous position on the plank… the front. This also made him the driver. Next came Donny, then Eddy, and then Davy (being the smallest he had the most protected seat in the back).
As they sat at the top of the hill getting ready for their descent, Donny suggested that this might not be the wisest thing to do… but there they all sat, looking down on certain disaster!
They didn’t think for long. Soon their legs lifted up, and down they plunged, bouncing and hurdling along on that tall grass. The laid down grass added to their speed. What a flight! Jonny was a genius.
Down, down they went, faster and faster. Then at the bottom of the hill, where the hill met the flat, their wheeled plank speared itself right into the earth! This sudden stop jettisoned the four boys forwards, sliding each of them right off the front of the plank. …zip-zip-zip-zip. As they flew off, the sounds “Rip…rip…rip…rip!” split the air.
Picking themselves up and examining themselves, they determined that each of them had torn his britches wide open on that bent nail! Jonny reminded them of his foresight in bending the nail. Donny, Eddy, and Davy all nodded their heads in agreement as they examined the damage. If that nail had not been bent… Then they noticed, amazingly, that not one of them had a scratch! That was hard to figure, unless…
As luck would have it, when they got to the house, the front room was full of company. Shame was upon them. They did some tricky, nonchalant maneuvering to get past the company unnoticed, and into their room.
Soon, new duds and a new adventure were in quick order! Jonny led the way. What a big brother!