It wasn’t often that a drag would end in a cliff going out from under them, but the fact remained that the gray Buck Sterling was down a canyon with his kid riding shotgun and his sun-yellow Cherokee a couple hundred feet where it shouldn’t be. The roll-bars kept them safe, but somewhere along the way a rock kicked him square in the chest. When they landed, he finished the rip in his shirt, dusted his shorts off with the ribbons, and hucked the heap of cloth into the back. He turned to check his boy over. The tan pup was unscathed safe for the shock. He picked him up out of the seat and held him tight in his great big arms.
“Pop’ll get us out of here Junior, don’t sweat it.” he said coolly. He set him back down on the seat and gunned the SUV in reverse, backing away from the leviathan rock pile.
Buck swung one sandalled paw down on the brakes and revved the engine up, dropping the car into gear, and into rear-wheel drive. He tousled his six-year-old’s scruff before asking, “ever gone rock-climbing in a hot-rod, kiddo?”
The boy shook his head.
“Ready to try?” A cocky grin lit up the gray wolf’s wide muzzle.
Junior gave his old man a bear hug for the ages. “I’ll help you lick ‘em when we get to the top.” he smiled bravely. Buck gave him a great big squeeze. He buckled the tike up, and kicked the throttle down. The Cherokee leapt onto its back wheels and screamed towards the mountain of rubble. Buck and Junior fell back into the seat. When the time was right, the gray wolf hit the brakes with both paws.
The Jeep landed right on the rocks with her front wheels, her rears still kissing the canyon soil. “Pretty good wheelie, huh?” Buck chuckled. He got a thumbs up from Junior. “Cool. Let’s help her up.”
He threw her into four-wheel drive and eased onto the gas. Slowly, the Jeep pulled herself onto the hill of rubble, wheels clambering over the rocks and slabs. Whenever it got steep, he’d lean on her and rub the wheel, and it kept her going. “I gotta take you to a cool mountain pass sometime.” Buck said. “There’s a trail that will take you right to the peak. You can see the whole desert. Sound like a good time?”
Junior nodded. The small talk kept the kid calm as they got nearer and nearer to the cliff. For a moment, it seemed like the avalanche had formed the off-roader’s staircase back to the main road.
Then came a rumbling beneath them. A loud, shifting sound of rock coming loose. Buck swung the throttle down hard as the Cherokee leapt and bounded over the stones, the mound beginning to slide down. Closer and closer they came until, with a final heave, the front wheels made it.
If only the rear wheels had.
The SUV sat perched on the ledge, but Buck wouldn’t let up. The front wheels spun and spun, the weight of the car sending stone and dust crumbling down into the canyon. She almost teetered, but Buck and Junior leaned forward, keeping her front wheels on solid ground.
Inch by inch, she pulled herself more and more onto the cliff.
“C’mon sweetheart, you got it.” Buck encouraged, patting the wheel.
Further and further the Jeep went until, at last, the rear wheels made contact, and in a flying leap up, the Cherokee roared away, back onto the road.
Junior was elated. His old man could only sigh. “Let’s get you home to Ma. Ain’t no need for any more adventures like that for a while.” He eased off and let his dependable little four-wheeled critter cruise…until he caught sight of the reason for the hair-raising escapade.
In the bushes were their one-time challengers. A crew of wretched reds and grays piling into a ramshackle red convertible, fixing to flee, with breaker kits and detonators thrown into the trunk. Past the pack of wretched scavengers was the canyon.
“Keep your head low kiddo,” Buck ordered. “We ain’t letting any of this happen to our friends, right?”
Junior shook his head and sank low into the seat. He held his pop’s hand, and he held his tight. Buck slammed on the brakes and whipped the Cherokee around.
“Need a hand?” he growled. He pounced on the throttle, claws out on all fours. The Jeep hurled into the convertible’s trunk. Her bull-bar hooked the bumper as she shoved the Caddy forward, through the bushes, and towards the canyon. One of the reds shot at Buck while the gray scavenger fought to spin the car around. Only one would leap before the Jeep sent her trappers over the edge and into the shadows of the canyon with a metallic crunch.
A thin, gangly-looking red wolf bolted off into the desert brush. Buck gunned the Jeep in reverse, the convertible’s rusted bumper sliding off his bull-bar. He was ready to give chase when he felt a tap on his thigh. The father looked to his son.
“I think we scared him, Pop.” he said innocently.
Buck looked up to the fleeing scavenger, then back to his boy. “We’ll let Hell Patrol lick that cat,” he sighed.
Buck backed the Jeep onto the road. Before taking off, he tussled his pup’s scruff one more time. “Next time,” he smirked, “we only go racing ‘round the fields and with friends, got it?”
Junior nodded. And just like that, it was all behind them.