City Girl Pt. 02

"Yeah no problem." Chase replied, "I'm still out in the pasture but I'm already headed back so I can just run out there and help 'em out."

"Thanks man, I knew I could count on you." Randy answered, sounding relieved.

"No problem. Go ahead and tell them I'm on my way."

"Will do. Thanks again." Randy said before he hung up.

With that Chase took the tractor back to the shop and dropped off the saw and picked up a clevis. He then headed out his driveway to the road. As he neared the road, he realized that he wasn't sure if any of the lights worked, not that he had any time to try. He reached down and turned the light switch to the "hazard" position; the lights on the fenders began flashing. Feeling lucky, he turned it one more notch to the "road lights" position. The front lights came on as well.

"Nice." He thought out loud. "Now let's hope they keep working." He then shifted to the first gear in transport range, made sure no one was coming, and pulled out onto the road headed towards town. As he shifted through the four transport gears, he made sure he wasn't particularly easy on the accelerator pedal. He wanted to see just how well the old engine would perform after being given a couple hours to run. Plus, he just really liked the sensations associated with putting an old diesel to work. The roaring sound, the vibration, the clouds of smoke, and that diesel smell. The old tractor handled it just fine which left him somewhat impressed. With a satisfied smile on his face, he continued on his way.

Within a couple of minutes, he spotted an SUV along the side of the road with its hazards on. "That must be her." He thought to himself. As he drew closer he noticed that the road went through a curve right before where the vehicle was. He reasoned that the driver had been caught off guard by how slick the road was, and attempted to take the turn to quickly. It was a mistake he'd made before.

Upon reaching the vehicle he turned the tractor around so that it was facing the direction he had come from. As he backed up to the vehicle two women got out, one of whom he recognized as Randy's girlfriend, Stacy, but he didn't know the name of the other woman, although she looked at least a little familiar. He climbed out of the tractor and went to meet the two of them.

"You two alright?" He asked as he approached them.

"We're fine," Stacy answered, "Just a little spooked."

"Is your car damaged?"

"I don't think. Feel free to take a look though."

"Alright, Let me grab my chain first." Chase said. He then turned and walked around to the loader bucket and grabbed the log chain. He carried it back to where the SUV was sitting. As he approached, he noticed that the engine was still running, a good sign that nothing was too seriously damaged. He took a quick look at the body of the vehicle, which didn't show any damage.

"She must not have been going very fast." He thought to himself. Not wanting to waste time, he knelt down in front of the vehicle and found a frame member that he could wrap the chain around. He wrapped the chain twice to try to prevent it from sliding. He then took the other end of the chain and drug it to the tractor's drawbar. He pulled the clevis out of his pocket and attached it to the drawbar before pulling the chain through the clevis and hooking it to itself. He walked over to the driver's side window of the vehicle and Stacy rolled it down to talk to him.

"I've got you hooked up, you can probably just put it in drive while I pull. Just make sure you keep your tires pointed towards the road." He explained.

"Ok." Stacy answered.

Chase nodded and got back into the tractor. He picked the lowest gear he could to avoid jerking on the chain. He then made sure to feather the clutch until the chain got tight. He then set the differential lock and continued to ease up on the clutch. The tractor didn't even hesitate and pulled the SUV along with ease. It did take some time before the front tires got enough traction to pull it up out of the ditch but it did eventually. Once the vehicle was free of the road ditch, he parked the tractor and Stacy allowed some slack to form in the chain before she parked her vehicle and got out.

"Thanks for that." She said to him as he got out of the tractor to start unhooking the chain.

"You're welcome." Chase replied as he began to unhook the chain from his tractor.

"I don't know what happened. I was fine until I hit my brakes, then it was like I lost my steering." Stacy explained.

Chase stood up with the chain thrown over his shoulder. He looked back to where she'd initially slid into the ditch. He could see the tracks but not very well. He silently walked back to investigate a little bit.

"Where are you going?" he heard Stacy ask from behind him.

"Just a second." He responded as he approached the tracks. A quick look at them confirmed his suspicion. The tracks were completely smooth, meaning that the tires had most likely locked up when she hit her brakes. Realizing this, he decided to see if the ABS light in her car was on. As he passed the SUV he looked in the window and sure enough, the ABS light was on.

"What are you thinking?" Stacy asked as he approached her. Her friend had apparently been standing beside her the whole time, she just hadn't said anything.

"Your ABS isn't working." He explained. "So when you hit your brakes, your tires locked up and you lost your ability to steer. I think Randy has a code reader, He could probably figure it out and probably fix it for you."

"Ahh I see." Stacy said, "I'll get him to look at it then. Thanks for the advice."

"Anytime." He responded before heading back to the tractor. As he passed her friend he noticed that she was looking at him. Not sure how to respond, he cracked a gentle smile and nodded before continuing on his way. As he tossed the chain back into the loader bucket, he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd seen that girl before. He climbed back into the cab and took off back home. As he turned into his driveway something in his head clicked... That was the same girl Stacy had brought down to the bar earlier that summer. He tried to remember her name.

"Sarah!" He thought, "That's who that other girl was." He just hadn't recognized her in her winter clothes. His mind started going back to that night as he parked the tractor, closed the shed up, and headed inside to warm up a bit. As he got out of his overall and jacket, he found himself picturing her the way she looked that night. He remembered her long, light brown hair with its gentle waves as it draped just below her shoulders. He remembered seeing her honey brown eyes and her gently rounded features. He hadn't really ever taken the time, or gotten the chance, to look at the rest of her since he'd only ever seen her sitting down. Not that he hadn't seen anything, but he didn't spend much time looking at her.

"Of course apparently she lives close by." He thought to himself, suddenly wishing he'd paid attention to which driveway they turned into. He figured that regardless he'd probably get to see her around at least sometimes. For now though, he was going to make himself some lunch and would probably spend the rest of the day investigating he equipment.