He turned his horse’s head to point him due north, and they started riding up the narrow Idaho panhandle.
He pointed out interesting features and landmarks as they rode along—a burned part of the forest here, and the story behind the fire; some virgin, old-growth forest there; another place, where he had killed his first deer; and then where a moose had spooked Roly’s horse, and it had run all the way home, leaving Roly to walk back.
Jenny listened with only half her attention, wondering where Hugh was taking her.
Sometimes, they just rode along in silence, enjoying the beautiful forest, and the peace and quiet.
Finally, when Jenny thought that Hugh intended to just keep riding forever, they topped a ridge and broke out of the trees onto a little grassy meadow in a saddle of the ridge.
They dismounted next to a big, flat rock. Hugh jumped up on it, then held out his hand, and beckoned Jenny to come up and join him.
He told her that he’d always looked forward to coming up here on his outings. He told her that if she looked due north, that everything she saw over there was in Canada. Then, he told her that everything over her right shoulder was Montana. And, that the view over her left shoulder was Washington State. There were beautiful, forested views in all directions.
Jenny appreciated what he was showing her, but she was perplexed as to the reason why. “That’s interesting, Hugh, but…”
“The reason why I brought you here, is so you will always remember this as our spot, just as it has been my favorite spot,” Hugh said solemnly.
Then, he got on one knee, faced Jenny, and reached a hand into his pocket. When Jenny saw that, she brought her hands to her mouth, and her eyes filled with tears.
“Jennifer McDonald, I love you more than life itself. Will you share the rest of your life with me? Will you marry me?”
Jenny just stood there, looking down at Hugh, her eyes brimming with tears. Time was forgotten.
After awhile of waiting, Hugh said, “Uh, Jenny, this is where you are supposed to say, ‘Oh, yes, I will marry you. I love you too, Hugh.’”
“Oh, Hugh. A thousand times yes. I love you, and I will marry you.”
Hugh stood then, and opened the little box with the engagement ring in it. She put the ring on. It was a perfect fit.
“Your mom knew, didn’t she?” Jenny asked.
“Why do you say that?”
“A few days ago, we were in her bedroom, and ‘just for fun’ she had me try on some of her rings. We had found one that fit me perfectly, and your mom put it aside. It was to get the right size, wasn’t it?”
Hugh didn’t admit to anything.
“I had no clue. I guess I’m pretty naïve, huh,” Jenny said.
“Yes, sweetie, you are. But that’s one of the things I love about you,” Hugh said.
They stayed on the rock the rest of the day wanting to watch the sun set over Washington State. Jenny cradled herself in Hugh’s arms, as content as she had ever been in her life.
“Hugh, I have a surprise for you, too,” Jenny said.
“What is it, honey?”
“I had a long talk with your mom. About what we talked about. God, and all,” Jenny said with a quiet voice.
“Go on,” Hugh said.
“She told it basically like you did. I broke down, just full of repentance for my sins, and also felt a strong desire to be with God, and you and her, and all of your family in heaven. Hugh, I got on my knees and begged God to forgive my sins, then prayed to receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.”
“Oh, Jenny. That is just the best wedding present you could possibly ever give me,” Hugh exclaimed. “Thank you, Lord.”
Then he added, “But, you know? Ma didn’t say anything about that to me.”
“I asked her not to. I wanted it to be my surprise. I was going to tell you on this outing when the time was right,” Jenny said.
They sat on the rock for a little while longer, not talking, just enjoying the comfort of being together, as the sun finally began to set.
Then, as new lovers often do, they got into a conversation about when each knew that he or she might have first loved the other one.
“For me,” Jenny said, “it was at the Wells truck stop that first evening, just before I went in for my shower.”
“Really?” Hugh remarked, surprised to hear that. “Tell me about it.”
“Yeah, it was when you handed me the shower ticket, and I stood there, and didn’t pull it out of your hand. You just looked so confused, and so vulnerable.”
“Well, I … ” Hugh started to explain.
“See what I mean? You’re doing it again. You were just so cute, and nervous. I knew you weren’t the hardened type that I had figured all truck drivers to be. It was then that I decided that I couldn’t go along with my uncle’s plans. And you know the rest.”
“You sure could have fooled me, with the crappy way you continued to act at times,” Hugh said.
“I know. I still had a lot of baggage to deal with. But, that’s when my heart began to soften to you,” Jenny replied.
Then she asked Hugh, “So, when did you know?”
“You’re not going to like my answer,” he told her. “You just have to keep in mind that guys are different from girls. We’re wired differently. That Mars-Venus thing.”
“What do you mean?” Jenny asked, genuinely stumped by his answer.
Hugh then told her, “For me, it was that very first day, during that wrestling episode when you came flying out of the top bunk after sneaking back into my truck.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No. I told you, guys think differently than girls. I was practically lying on top of you. You were breathing heavy. The physical attraction was definitely there for me,” he said.
“I was so mad at you, beating on you and all. How could you be thinking about … that … at such a time?” Jenny asked.
“I don’t know. I guess it’s just a guy thing.”
“You’re right. Guys are weird, different,” Jenny replied.
“No, I said ‘wired differently,’” Hugh said.
“Weird is more like it,” Jenny replied.
“Well, anyway, the emotional part came later, gradually, and I admit I fought against it for the longest time, but that wrestling episode is when I began to think of you as an attractive, desirable woman, and not just as an obnoxious, unwanted passenger. That’s where it all got started for me.”
“Well, lover, I’m glad it did then,” Jenny answered, snuggling closer against him.
Before it got too dark, Hugh spread out the ground cloth, and built a fire for their dinner.
“Do you suppose beanies and weenies is an appropriate engagement dinner?” Hugh asked. They both laughed at the shared memory of their first meal together.
‘“Sumptuous fare, m’lady’” Hugh quoted himself from way back then. “I felt so stupid saying that. You really made me nervous,” Hugh recalled.
“I was just as dumb-sounding with my ‘brave knight.’ I was very nervous too,” Jenny replied.
“Things sure have changed dramatically since those days when you picked me up off that lonesome Nevada Highway,” Jenny added.
“Amen, to that, and thank God,” Hugh replied.
As they rode back down into the ranch yard the next day, Mary was the first to see them. She came leaping down the porch steps.
She had been told about Hugh’s intentions and, seeing the new ring on Jenny’s finger as soon as she had alighted from her horse, she ran up to Jenny and gave her a big hug. “Hello, Sister Jenny, I am so happy for you I could cry.”
“I’ve done enough of that for both of us,” Jenny replied, and hugged her sister Mary back.
Then the rest of the family came out of the house, and congratulated Hugh and Jenny, and everybody hugged each other, even including Jimmy.
“I guess you won’t be having to take me over your knee after all, Dad,” Hugh said.
Jenny
looked questioningly between Hugh and his dad for an explanation, but none was forthcoming.
“Speaking of secrets, you never did tell me the true story about Old Grouch,” Jenny reminded Hugh.
“I’ll tell you later,” Hugh whispered to her. “It’s a story you’ll have the rest of your life to hear.”
Neither one of them could have guessed the extraordinarily strange turn that their lives would take in the very near future—a turn that would threaten their future marriage, and even their very lives.
Author’s Notes
In my career as a big-rig truck driver I had personally experienced or witnessed many of the events that have appeared in this story. Some of the events are adapted from true stories told by truck drivers over coffee in drivers’ lounges, or they were taken from actual news events. I’ll leave it to the reader to determine which were which.
One article I read reported that there are several hundred hijackings or attempted hijackings of big-rig trucks every year. So, it’s not all that uncommon. All of the attempted hijackings in this story were based loosely on the events surrounding actual hijackings. Even as I was telling a Sheriff’s sergeant friend of mine about my story, he related to me that he had a good friend who was found dead in his truck by the side of the road on California Highway 58 near Tehachapi. His head had been bashed in, and he had been robbed.
The James character in my story is a real person. He actually was my trainer, and then my mentor once I began driving solo. And, he remains to this day my good friend. This novel is dedicated to James. You’ll notice that James doesn’t have a last name. He wanted it to be that way. It’s one of those things where if I told too much about his exploits, both in the SEALS and while driving truck, he’d have to kill me. I believe him.
Some of my readers have asked me how I came up with the Jenny character. Honestly, the story just needed a beautiful, blonde, spunky gal, so I just let my subconscious create her. It wasn’t until after the story was finished, and I was musing absently in my office one day, that I happened to glance at my wife’s picture on the wall, and I realized that all along I had been describing my beautiful, blonde wife from when we first began dating 34 years ago from at the time this story was written. Yes, I’m that lucky.
And, no, I am not Hugh. I wish. But I’m way, way past being 36 years old. I’ve never been in the Marines. I’m not a martial arts guy. I’m not 6’2”. I’m not 220 pounds of lean, hard muscle. But, who’d care to read a story about a 60-ish, 5’9”, 180-pound, former-newspaper-publisher-turned-truck-driver? So, we have Hugh. Much more interesting, don’t you think?
Throughout the story, I have tried to remain faithful and accurate in my descriptions of locations, highways, travel centers, and shippers’ and receivers’ facilities, as well as conditions and travel times while driving a big-rig truck. Obviously, I’ve had to use a little bit of literary license in some cases in order to make the story flow right.
While this story was never meant to be a travelogue, one could follow the routes taken by James and Hugh and see the same sights, and stop at the same locations as they did. Truck drivers who have driven the seven Western states should recognize much of what I’ve described in this story.
Where are Hugh and Jenny headed from here? The last paragraph of the story obviously hints that further adventures are in store for the pair. I don’t want to give the future stories away, but suffice it to say that up until now they have just been getting warmed up in their adventures.
Hugh wants nothing more than to just continue to peaceably drive the Western highways with Jenny as his wife and companion. But, because of the nationwide notoriety that he had gained from his breaking the hijacking ring, he and Jenny find themselves thrust into a life-threatening, and murderous, situation that separates them for a time, but that also has far-reaching, national implications and consequences.
Thank you for reading Crimson Highway.
David Wickenhauser,
[email protected]
News writer at TruckingTruth.com
Crimson Highway Page 25
