“Let’s go then,” Billy Joe challenged as he put his leg over the big I beam that served as a side rail.
Jack followed suit.
The two boys sat on the side rail and looked down. People from all around the river edge watched them. Now they had to jump or lose face with all their classmates and friends.
“Go ahead,” Billy Joe said to Jack. “I’ll give you the honor of the first jump.”
“That sho’ is big of you.” Jack smiled.
It did look a long way down.
Jack realized that the longer he took to decide, the harder the decision to jump would actually be. He pushed off on an impulse and after that there was no turning back. He was in the air on the way down.
He tried to keep his body straight as a knife to slice the water cleanly. That would not only look good but it would keep the flat surfaces of his body striking the water to a minimum. However, it did hurt.
He entered the water cleanly but he thought he would never stop going down. Then, for a few seconds, he didn’t know which way was up.
There was a little panic as he looked around under the water. Then he saw the bright surface of the water and swam up to it. As his head broke the surface, he said to Billy Joe and, incidentally, to all those watching, “It’s nice, come on in.”
Billy Joe looked around and realized that he had no choice now, and he jumped.
Both boys jumped several more times until the other boys decided they would try it. Jack and Billy Joe sat in the edge of the river and watched. It was too hot to sit in the sand outside the water.
It was beginning to get boring and Jack knew that Billy Joe would only tolerate so much boredom before he started walking toward town and home.
It’s gettin’ close onto noon time and I’m hungry,” Jack said, knowing Billy Joe would always eat.
“Me too,” Billy Joe said predictably. “What kinda sandwiches did you bring?”
“Momma made me a peanut butter and jam ’cause she knows I always like that. Then I asked her to make me another one out of some sliced pineapple we had.”
“Pineapple!” Billy Joe exclaimed. “That sounds terrible.”
“Nah, it’s good,” Jack promised. “I’ll give you a bite.”
Jack unwrapped the pineapple sandwich and held it out for Billy Joe to bite it. He did.
“Man, that is good,” he declared. “I’m gonna have Momma make me one of those from now on. I’ll trade you one of mine for the rest of that’un.”
“Nope.” Jack grinned. “You just look forward to the next sandwiches your momma makes for you.”
“You didn’t say that it had mayonnaise on it too. That’s what makes it good,” Billy Joe said, suddenly becoming a pineapple sandwich expert.
“If you like that, you might wanna try a banana sandwich made the same way. Slice the banana lengthwise and it stays on the bread better,” Jack recommended. “Put mayonnaise on that too.”
The boys ate the remainder of their lunches along with a Nehi soda from a cooler in the bus. Mr. Pittman at Nehi had furnished two cases of drinks and the bus driver had bought two nickel blocks of ice from the ice house. Blocks of ice chipped up lasts longer than ice cubes and it’s hard to make that many ice cubes anyway.
After they had eaten, Billy Joe said, “You wanna swim some more?”
“Nah, we ain’t supposed to swim for an hour after we eat, you know,” Jack pointed out.
“Well then, let’s find a shady place and maybe catch a nap for that hour,” Billy Joe suggested.
“There’s a place under the bridge that’s been in the shade long enough that it must have cooled off. Let’s try it.” Jack started in that direction and Billy Joe followed.
Sure enough, the sand was cool in the shade of the bridge. The boys laid their towels out on the cool sand, lay down on them and nodded off to sleep.
“Help! Somebody help!” was what woke the boys.
It took them a minute to remember where they were and figure out what was happening.
The screaming was coming from the downriver end of the swimming area where they had seen girls playing before.
Jack and Billy Joe jumped up and ran for the girl who was screaming.
“What’s the matter with you?” Jack asked as they ran up to her.
“Lillian and a bunch of us were playing around a bunch of tree roots down there.” She pointed to a place in the water. “But Lillian hasn’t come up in a while. I think she’s stuck.”
Jack and Billy Joe wondered how she could be “stuck” but they didn’t have time to get an explanation now. They both jumped into the water and swam down into the tree roots. They could see somewhat but the girls playing there had made it a little murky. They also had to feel around to try to distinguish the girl from other solid objects.
Jack found her first, grabbed Billy Joe’s arm and pointed to her. Both boys felt down the girl’s body to see where she was caught. Jack discovered that her leg was trapped at the ankle by two roots, each about two inches in diameter. He came up for air. Billy Joe was up too.
“Her ankle is clamped by two big roots. Let’s go back down and I’ll try to pry the roots apart while you pull her out.”
“Okay, go,” Billy Joe said and they both went back under the water.
Jack went directly to the roots holding her ankle. He felt both roots to determine what the best way was to spread them apart. They were long roots that came out of the tree root ball, curved around and crossed over each other. Jack figured he should be able to just pull them apart. He grabbed Billy Joe’s arm and pointed at the roots indicating that he was ready.
Billy Joe went down and grabbed Lillian’s leg with both hands and waited for Jack to spread the roots. Jack pushed on one root and pulled on the other and they spread apart. Billy Joe pulled the girl loose and started for the surface with her. He and Jack swam toward the shallow water, pulling her along.
Jack commanded in a loud voice, “Put a blanket on the sand over in the shade of those trees to lay her on.”
One girl grabbed a blanket and did as she was told.
“Let’s put her on the blanket face down so we can try that ‘artificial respiration’ training we got a month ago,” Jack said.
The boys half carried, half dragged her to the blanket and placed her on it face down.
Jack crossed her hands under her face, tilted her head slightly back, opened her mouth and raked it out to get rid of any objects she may have swallowed. There were none so Jack laid her head down on her hands with her face turned to the right. He straddled her upper legs and began artificial respiration. He pressed on her back just under her shoulder blades using his entire weight and listened for the outgo of air. He heard a bubbling sound. He then grasped her shoulders and pulled back with a steady pull. All of this was repeated over and over until Lillian started to sputter and cough. She moaned, looked around and said, “What’s the matter? Where am I?”
An adult woman who had run down from the bridge said to her, “Just relax, Lillian. You’re gonna be fine.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Lillian said and looked around the crowd watching her.
“Do you remember what happened?” the woman asked her.
“Some of it but there’s a place where I can’t remember any more.”
“Do you feel like telling me what you do remember?” the woman asked.
“No, ma’am, but it’s not much.”
“Just try,” the woman prompted.
“Why you want her to remember that?” somebody asked.
“Because it will be best if we can find out while it is fresh on her mind and maybe we can fix it so it doesn’t happen again,” the woman explained, although she really didn’t have to.
“Now, what do you remember?” she asked Lillian.
“We were playing on the tree roots. A couple of them were real springy. We would stand on one of them, bend our knees and push down. The tree root would spring down and when it came back up it would push us up. We also jumped, which would throw us out of the water like a fish jumping. That was fun. I don’t remember anything else.”
“That’s good, Lil,” she said. “Don’t try to remember any more.”
The woman turned from Lillian to the boys and said, “I’m Miss Hicks, a teacher at Moselle High School. Could you boys tell what caused her to get hung up in those roots?”
The boys looked at each other and Jack turned back to her and said, “Yes, ma’am, I think so. This tree musta fell over in a high wind. It gets plenty of water so it’s still alive. The roots have stayed springy. The two roots that caught her come out from the root ball and curve around. At one point, they cross over each other. When Lillian was springing on one of them, her foot must have slipped off and gone down between the two roots. Before she could pull it out, it sprung back and grabbed her ankle and she was trapped. If she had been a little bit stronger and, I suspect, a little calmer, she could have spread the two roots enough to pull her foot out. The more panicky she got, the more water she sucked into herself and the weaker she got until she passed out. That’s about it, the way we see it.”
“It does sound as if you boys have figured it out perfectly. You just saved this girl’s life. Does that make you feel good?” Miss Hicks asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” Billy Joe said, “but anybody woulda done the same thing, I reckon.”
“I know you think that anyone should have done the same thing but, believe me, most people don’t keep their heads well enough to have done what you two did.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Jack said, “but I think we both would just like to forget about it and be happy that Lillian is all right.”
A tear came into the eye of Miss Hicks. She wanted to make sure these two boys were recognized for their heroic action that saved a girl’s life but they seemed to seriously not want that praise.
“Well, thank you boys,” she said. “You have done a great thing.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” they chorused as they turned back to their swimming.
Something has got to be done for these boys but I don’t know what,
she thought.
I’ll have to talk to Lillian’s parents and the principal of Moselle High School and maybe even the mayor of Ellisville.”
“What have you done now, boy?” Jack’s father asked him.
“I don’t know what you mean, sir.” Jack looked at Billy Joe, who shrugged to say he didn’t know either.
“Well, His Honor, the Mayor, wants to see you, me, your mother and Billy Joe’s parents in the City Hall as soon as we can get there. You got any idea what that’s all about?”
Jack and Billy Joe looked at each other again and they both shrugged again.
“I just got off the phone with your mother, Billy Joe, and she doesn’t have any idea what this is all about either. You two haven’t robbed a bank, have you?”
They all laughed nervously at that joke but the adults had not ruled that out as yet.
“I told her that we would bring you along to the City Hall, Billy Joe. Y’all ready to go then?”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Jack, “but I really don’t know what this is all about. I can’t think of a thing that we have done that would bother the mayor so, can you, Billy Joe?”
Billy Joe had turned a few shades paler since this topic had come up. “Naw, and I know we haven’t robbed no banks.”
“Let’s just get in the car and drive down to the City Hall and find out,” Jack’s father suggested.
“Yes, sir,” Jack agreed. “I think that would be best.”
All four trooped out through the utility room, into the garage and in the car. Jack’s father backed out into the street and slowly drove to the downtown area and the City Hall. He found a place to park in front of the City Hall in one of the “Visitors” spaces. Jack’s father opened his car door but all the others hesitated.
“Let’s go and get this over with,” he said to them and all the other car doors opened and the occupants dismounted.
Billy Joe’s father had just parked two spaces down and he stopped at Jack’s family car.
“Jess, you got any idea what this is all about?” he asked.
“I do not and I don’t think the boys know either,” Jess answered, “unless they have turned into the two best actors in Ellisville.”
“Let’s just go in and see,” Jack’s mother sensibly suggested.
The six of them went in, each with a different frown or look of concern.
At the mayor’s office door they stopped and waited while Jack’s father knocked.
The mayor looked up, smiled and said, “Y’all come on in.”
They filled the office that was never meant to hold seven people and there were certainly not seats for them all.
“How have y’all been?” the mayor asked.
“I think we’ve all been fine until you called and asked us to come here this morning for something about Jack and Billy Joe. Since then, we have all been sorta nervous. Can you tell us now, why we are here?”
“Well, yeah, I could, Jess, but that’s not what the principals to this case want,” the mayor said with a straight face that nobody could read.
“What principals and what case?” Jess said with growing impatience.
“I tell you what let’s do,” the mayor said, ignoring the question. “Let’s all go into the boardroom where we have enough chairs for everyone. I think that would help.”
The mayor turned and walked toward the boardroom door, which puzzled everyone even more.
They all dutifully followed the mayor through the door, which was a testimonial to his natural leadership abilities. He stopped behind the chair at the head of the table and said, “Everyone, please be seated wherever you like and I’ll be right back.” He walked to another door in the back of the room, opened it and allowed five other people to enter.
“I will introduce these folks and ask them to be seated as I do,” the mayor said, and he pointed to the first man and said, “This is Lawrence Smith, the principal of Moselle High School.” He smiled and sat in a vacant chair at the table. “This is Mary Hicks, a teacher from that good school.” She nodded and sat at the table. “These two people”—he pointed at a man and a woman—“are Marvin and Elizabeth Shook of Route Two, Moselle. The fifth person, and a pretty young lady she is, is Lillian Shook, whose life was recently saved by our own Jack and Billy Joe. I had hoped to have the Chairman of the County Commission here but the press of his work would not allow him to attend. However, he has commissioned the drawing of these two plaques”—he held up two handsome plaques—“for presentation to Jack and Billy Joe this morning. The plaques are identical except one is to Jack and the other is to Billy Joe. I’ll read the inscription.”