“Does that sound like a job for you?” Bill asked.
Revver could not believe his pointy little ears! He had a job! With a race team! He did, in fact, have a VALUABLE SKILL! It was more than he had ever imagined! Who’d have thought it? I am perfectly suited for an actual JOB at the track! Fetching NUTS! Well, maybe not the kind of nuts I usually fetch, but a nut is a nut is a nut, right?!
Revver nodded, as best as a squirrel can nod, to make sure that Bill understood that this sounded like a fine arrangement.
“And no more poopin’ in here, right?”
Revver looked very serious. He shook his head to say no.
“Wow, that is SOME special squirrel,” someone said.
Then everyone started talking at once.
“If Jack finds out about this, he’ll have a fit.”
“Well,” said Bill, “I’m not sure how the team owner could be upset with a helper who works for peanuts!”
Everyone laughed.
“Seriously, though, Bill, if that squirrel gets into any trouble, Jack will have our heads. Remember his rule: NO ANIMALS, and NO PETS around the cars. You’re flirting with danger here.”
“But he’s so smart! And he can help.”
“I vote we let him stay around.”
“And just look at him! He’s such a cute little fella! He doesn’t look like he could ever cause any trouble, does he?”
24
Revver and Bill got right to work.
Revver sat, concentrating hard. Whenever a lug nut dropped, Revver pounced and caught it. He gathered them up into a pile, and, every once in a while, Bill would pick them off the floor and reward his furry helper with a big handful of peanuts.
Revver learned to slide on the shiny white floor. With a running start from several feet away, he could catch the nut in the air as he slid to a stop. He loved that fast, breezy feeling!
Before long, Revver was an expert at fast slides and high jumps in pursuit of each precious lug nut. Bounce and Sprite would be so proud! Revver thought. Bill was definitely impressed. He would catch a glimpse and say “Wow” or “Nice move” or “You got some real speed that time, fella!” Revver smiled to himself.
Revver wanted to go faster. This time, he backed WAY up for a long running start. When he saw the lug nut pop into the air, he began running toward it at full speed. Then he planted his two back feet flat on the floor and began to slide. He raised his paws high into the air, preparing to catch the nut.
But somewhere along the way, one back paw found the tiniest drop of motor oil on the smooth floor—and before he realized what was happening, Revver was facing the wrong way, flipping and flailing. He tried to keep his eyes on the nut so he could still make the catch, but there was no hope.
He barrel-rolled before finally coming to a stop, headfirst and facedown, at Bill’s feet, with all four paws and his tail spread out wide.
Bill picked Revver up from the floor by the scruff and looked him in the eyes to see if the squirrel was okay—and a lug nut flew out of Revver’s mouth and SMACK! hit Bill on the forehead, right between his eyes.
Bill rubbed the small bump the lug nut had made and said, “Again? Dude! I told you before: you don’t want to be eatin’ those!”
Revver saw the red mark on Bill’s face. Bill sounded angry. Revver’s heart sank and words began spilling out: “Oh no! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to . . . I was going too fast . . .”
Revver shut his eyes and braced for the worst. Probably, Bill was going to eat him.
But nothing happened.
Revver opened his eyes and faced a puzzled-looking Bill.
“You remember I have no idea what you’re saying, right? Hey, don’t look so upset. Are you worried you’re going to get fired?” Bill laughed.
Revver screamed, “Set me on FIRE?! Is that what you do?! Oh my word! That sounds worse than being eaten!”
Bill looked at Revver. “Hey, relax, dude; I was kidding! It’s no big deal, bud. Accidents happen. Making mistakes . . . that’s how we learn. Got it?”
Revver nodded, relieved. He made mistakes all the time! Learning from them was SO much better than getting eaten for them! This felt like something that needed to be remembered. Inside his brain he thought, Learn from mistakes, and he tucked the idea away for safekeeping.
Bill put Revver back on the ground, and they both got back to work—Revver caught lug nut after lug nut and ate peanut after peanut. It was happy work.
After a while, Susan came over to Bill. “Hey, Bill, I have an idea. Can you bring that critter and take a look at someth—” Then she saw the big mark over Bill’s eye. “Holy smokes, what happened?”
“Just a lug that got away.” Bill rubbed the bump and winked at Revver. Revver was grateful that Bill, like Sprite, could keep a secret. “Whatcha need?”
“Just somethin’ I thought Revver might be able to help us out with . . .”
Revver followed Susan and Bill around a partition to A CAR! It was RIGHT THERE, bright, shiny, and beautiful! Revver ran ahead of them and wrapped his arms around one of the front go-a-rounds, hugging it hard.
Bill and Susan watched him. Susan looked confused. Bill looked at Susan and shrugged. “I guess he likes tires.”
25
Tires! Revver had another new word. Go-a-rounds were called tires!
Some crew members were standing around the car, talking to one another. Something BIG hung in the air above the front of the car.
“Where’s your squirrel?” one of them asked when he saw Bill. Bill pulled Revver quickly off the tire he was still hugging, and lifted him up. They stood around the car with the others.
There, dangling in the air, was something BEAUTIFUL. It took Revver a few moments to realize what it was. In the strangest way, it looked a little like something Sprite might weave together out of all sorts of different things. Everything fit together perfectly. He noticed all the twisty parts and pieces, and finally he understood! His mouth hung open: it was the rumbly-ma-jingy thingy! He wanted to touch it but was afraid it would be hot.
Bill looked at him and somehow understood. “It’s okay, Revver. You can touch the engine if you want.”
Ohhh! The rumbly-ma-jingy thingy was the ENGINE! A real, live drivers-start-your-engines ENGINE! Revver thought he must be dreaming. He touched a small piece of the metal carefully, but it was not hot this time. In fact, it felt a little cold. There was so much to learn. Revver wanted so badly to understand it all.
He raised his paw and pointed to the thing holding the engine up in the air. He looked at Bill, hopeful for answers. “That’s the engine hoist,” Bill said, and Revver nodded to show Bill that he wanted to know all the words.
Then he watched closely as the engine hoist, smoothly and carefully, lowered the engine into the car, guided by some of the crew.
Revver peeked in. The engine! It took his breath away! He looked at all the strange, beautiful shapes; the shiny metal parts; the twisting tubes and colorful wires. Everything looked special and strong and important. Revver studied it all as hard as he could. He just knew: he was looking deep into the heart of the car. He thought back to the twigs and the angry bee he had used to make his own car engine. He first felt very foolish, but then he remembered his latest note, learn from mistakes. Revver was already learning SO MUCH.
“So, little guy . . .” Susan cleared her throat. “Um, you understand me, right?” she asked.
Revver nodded like crazy.
“Wow, this is weird. But okay, so we’re wondering . . . Do you think you could help us with something? Since you’ve got those tiny paws and you can fit into tight spots and all, we were thinking that you might be able to help us with some wiring.”
Revver had no idea what wiring was. He had no idea what he’d have to do, but he didn’t care! All he KNEW was that he’d be learning and helping! He was here with a real race car with a real race team, and he might have ANOTHER skill to help.
A “Vr-vr-vr-VRRROOOOM!” roared out of Re
vver in excitement.
Suddenly a booming voice shouted, “What the Sam heck was that?!”
Bill quickly leaned over, grabbed Revver, and hid him behind his back. No one said anything.
The voice shouted again, “I said, WHAT WAS THAT?!”
“Oh, hey, Jack. We didn’t hear you there.”
Jack! Revver thought, the team owner! Revver felt nervous and stayed very still behind Bill’s back.
Doug stuttered, “U-um, sorry, Jack. That was just, um, me. I was . . . just, uh . . . singing.”
“Well, it’s horrible! Don’t give up your day job. Everything okay in here?”
“Oh sure, just working away.”
“Yep.”
“All good.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good,” said the team owner. “Keep at it.” And he walked away.
Revver decided that he did NOT like Jack.
“Whoa, that was close. You gotta be careful, Revver; we don’t want Jack to toss you outta here.”
“Or worse.”
Revver wasn’t sure what worse was, but he was pretty sure it would have something to do with being eaten or set on fire. And just as scary: I almost lost my chance to stay with the team! Revver’s heart was beating fast. He went into his brain burrow and took out one of the notes: Revving is good! Then he added the word SOMETIMES.
Then the team got back to work, so Revver did too. He listened to the instructions from Susan and the others and carefully fed wires through tubes and into places, just as he was instructed. Revver tucked himself deep into the engine, under pedals inside the car, and around the wheel wells just as he was asked. As he worked, he learned. The wires moved power to different places in the car. Everything in the car was connected to everything else in some way. It was a fascinating idea. Revver felt that the idea might be important enough to save, so he put the thought safely into his burrow: Everything is connected to everything else.
When he finished each task, someone handed him something delicious: he tasted apple, grapes, something called “cookie,” and delightful little things called “M&M’s.” He also learned he was not a big fan of “jerky,” which reminded him of tree bark.
Revver was surrounded by friends, friends who loved cars and racing as much as he did. Finally, he was with others who understood! They knew that racing and cars and being fast were IMPORTANT. This, THIS was why he wanted to leave the trees and live at the track! For the first time, Revver felt something different . . . He thought hard. He tried to put a name to this strange new feeling . . . At last, he decided it was happy. Revver was happy.
That night, Revver cuddled in a corner of the garage with a pile of clean shop towels that Bill had fluffed up to make Revver a nice, comfy little bed. Revver was thinking and smiling, not quite able to believe it all. In the quiet, Revver thought all about the adventures of the past day: getting into the track and riding in the race car and all the work he’d done. He could LEARN THINGS. He was HELPFUL. He was USEFUL. He had SKILLS, important skills. He was part of the team.
He thought a lot about the wiring. He thought about how things were all connected, and he wondered if that might be true for things besides cars.
He wished so badly that his brothers, and especially Sprite, were cuddled around him so he could tell them all about everything he’d done. And even Mama, who was always so frustrated by Revver in Squirrel School, would be so impressed by how much he could learn.
The longer Revver thought, the more he realized: even though he felt so happy, way deep down, there was the littlest feeling of sadness. Revver missed his family.
26
The team worked hard preparing for race day. Revver helped wherever he was needed. Along the way, he kept learning. He learned and learned.
There was so much more to cars and racing than what he had seen from the nest! He learned about the “chassis” and the “body.” He learned that the lid that covered the engine was really called a “hood.” And there was “fuel.” Fuel was very important! He learned about “pit stops.” He could see pit stops from the nest, but he could never understand what was happening. During a pit stop on race day, filling the car with fuel was one person’s ONLY JOB! They called that person “fuel man,” but they also called him Doug. Revver knew now that “Doug” and “fuel man” meant the same thing. Revver learned that “air” was as important for the car as fuel. But there was no “air man.” Revver was still trying to understand that part.
Bill and the crew taught Revver everything they could while he watched them work. Each time they gave him a new word or explained something new to him, Revver would nod hard. He wanted to show them how much he liked to know new things.
The team chatted and whistled and laughed while they worked. Sometimes, while Revver watched them work, he would point to something with his paw. Then whoever was closest would say something like, “That’s the ‘crank shaft.’ It turns the ‘gears’ and makes the car go.” Revver would nod. Little by little, Revver started to understand.
Revver learned how the fuel and the air mixed together to create a little explosion inside the engine that made it move. He learned words like “fuel injector” and “cylinder.” He learned about “rods” and “crankshafts” and “gears” and “transmission” and “exhaust” . . .
He learned that Bill was also called “tire changer” and that he was very strong and very fast at his job. Revver just loved that about Bill! He learned Bill’s zhhht-zhhht-zhhht-zhhht-zhhht tool was called a “thunder gun.” Or sometimes they called it an “impact wrench.” Revver was not sure why some things—like Doug and Bill and Bill’s tool—got two names. But he tried to remember all the words.
Humans sometimes had many words for the same thing. He learned the names of all the crew members, but he was sometimes confused when they were also called things like “Doofus” or “Wise Guy” or “Dork” . . . And sometimes “Doofus” or “Wise Guy” or “Dork” were DIFFERENT PEOPLE! This was confusing. Revver just kept paying attention, trying to figure it all out.
As race day got closer and closer, each new day felt busier. Once, Bill snuck Revver under his jacket and took him along to pit road, where Revver could watch the action on the track during qualifying.
Revver stayed low and out of sight so the team owner would not see him.
He could see and understand so much more than he could from the nest! Revver laughed when he remembered how scared he had been when he saw his first car. Now he could even laugh at himself when he thought about how he had tried to build his own car!
Watching the crew at work was amazing. When the car would pull into pit road, someone would quickly check over the tires while another someone would hand the driver a water bottle and someone else would wipe off the nose of the car and clean the windshield. It all happened at lightning speed!
Back in the garage, the crew practiced for race day. Revver watched jackman, tire changers, tire carriers, fuel guy—all jumping into action at just the right time, working together perfectly. Revver realized that each one played an important part in making the car go, everyone working together for a win. Everything is connected to everything else, he thought again.
Revver continued helping—picking up lug nuts for Bill or doing other little jobs just right for a little creature with little paws. I’m part of the team. It made Revver proud when he thought about that.
Now and again, someone would whistle or cough to let everyone know that the team owner was around and they needed to get Revver out of sight. Before lunch, Bill had to quickly toss Revver inside a stack of tires to hide him. Revver sat there for ten minutes (which felt like a very, VERY long time) while the team owner watched the crew, pointed his finger at things, and barked out instructions.
How can anyone be so GRUMPY when they get to be around racing and these fast cars every single day? It just made no sense to Revver. And he did not like the way Jack talked to his friends. It reminded him A LOT of how Sprite sounded when she scolde
d him.
Despite Grumpy Jack, Revver was happier than he ever remembered being—even watching racing from the old nest never made him feel this joyful. He was grateful for Bill and the crew. They were starting to feel more and more like a new family. Being around them and the cars was beginning to feel like home. Everyone worked hard, but they always had time to scratch Revver behind his ears, show him something new, let him help with the work, or give him a little treat.
These were good days.
27
The next day was NOT a good day.
Something was very wrong. The crew members were having trouble with the car, and they could not figure out why. Race day was tomorrow, and they were running out of time.
The driver kept saying the car felt off. It sometimes skipped a beat. It wasn’t catching sometimes. Revver learned that all this really meant that the car wasn’t going as fast as they wanted it to go. When they tested the car on the track, everyone knew there was a problem, and Grumpy Jack was even grumpier than usual. Actually, everyone was grumpy. Revver remembered how he felt when the car he had made would not go and he could not figure out why. He guessed that everyone felt a lot like that. He felt sorry for all of them. He even felt a little sorry for Grumpy Jack.
Today, no one was very nice to Revver. When Revver tried to get close, the team kept shooing him away. “NOT NOW, Revver,” they scolded. “Go hang out over there. Go on! We’re too busy to mess around today.” Everyone had their faces in and around the car, checking and tightening. They took things out and put them back in. But nothing seemed to fix the problem. The day wore on. The crew got grouchier and grouchier.
Even Bill was not very nice. He gave Revver food and water in a corner, but that was all. When Revver accidentally got in Bill’s way, Bill yelled, “Out of the way, Revver! We’re busy! Stop getting underfoot!” The yell made Revver jump. He felt a heavy knot in his stomach. Bill had never yelled at him before. In fact, he had never heard Bill yell at all before that. Back home, Sprite had scolded Revver often—so often that Revver was pretty used to it, and pretty good at ignoring it. But Bill’s scolding felt different . . . and so much worse.
Revver the Speedway Squirrel Page 6
