Finally, the hillside was solid again. “Now, Clinton Slade, it is time for you to fulfill your part of this bargain.”
“I’m on it. C’mon, Jodi, we’ve got a withdrawal to do up to the bank, and darn little time to do it in. We’ve gotta get to town in less than an hour or the bank will close!”
We dashed to the truck and got in. “Strap in tight, Jodi—y’all’s in for a hell of a ride!”
Fountaining gravel, we pulled out of the gateway and thundered downhill, plowing over the newly-laid earth and leaving its first set of tire tracks. The new road around the first gash slowed me down some, being as it had to make a sharp curve, but I opened her up again and had all four wheels off the ground at the first drop on the straightaway. We jolted against the harnesses and even with the heavy shocks she nearly bottomed out. “Oy, Clint, slow down! We can’t make any withdrawals if we’re dead!”
“Ain’t no slowin’ down, sweetheart. If’n you remember when we drove through last time, takes all of an hour and ten minutes to get to town. And we can’t take that long nohow.”
“Your accent’s getting worse, Clint.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s ’cause o’ th’truck,” I said stoutly. “A pickup jest naturally brings out th’ inner hillbilly in a man.”
Pavement, albeit pretty crappy, was now under the wheels and I opened her up as much as I dared. There’s places where you can make over 70, and others where even a nutcase wouldn’t go past 30 on those roads, unless he was stone drunk. I drove like a stone-drunk nutcase and Jodi just hung on to the doorframe and said nasty words in Yiddish.
We came screaming down the main street with me riding the brake to get down below the limit as we passed the town line; I think Sheriff McCloskey almost lit off his lights before he saw it was me. I skidded us into a spot in the parking lot and jumped out for the doors, just as I heard the soft but final click of the bank door being locked for the day.
“Son of a—” I couldn’t quite stop in time to keep from whomping the doors. Arlene Ebsen, the manager, gave me a stern look, but turned around. “Clinton Jefferson Slade, I’ve known you since you were in diapers, and I know your mamma raised you better’n that!”
“Sorry, Miss Arlene, really sorry, but I’ve just gotta get into the deposit vault. Please!”
She pursed her lips. “Clint, you know we like the Slades as our customers, but I can’t just go openin’ and closin’ at someone else’s convenience.”
“Please, Miss Arlene, I’m beggin’ you. I’m right here on my knees, I mean it.” And I was. We just couldn’t miss it by this much, we just couldn’t!
She rolled her eyes. “Well, Lord, if it’s that all-fired important . . . just this once. But don’t try this again!”
The sound of the door unlocking was like the whole weight of my truck lifting off my back. “Hurry up, y’hear?” Arlene said. “That there vault’s on a time lock. Locks itself down in half an hour after closing, less’n someone’s in it, but if someone is in it, it screams fit to wake the dead.”
“Don’t you worry!” I said, racing ahead of her, key already out. “Be gone so fast you’ll think I wasn’t even here.”
Jodi waited back by the doors. After Arlene took my key, matched it with hers and opened the safety deposit box, she marched out of the vault heading for the phone. She was probably going to call Father to make sure there wasn’t some reason I might be trying to make off with the family treasures in secret. It didn’t take me long to get out the diamonds, since they weren’t loose but stashed in three little bags. I slammed the box shut again, locked it hastily, and hurried out of the vault towards the outside door. Passing Arlene, who was just hanging up with a slightly bemused expression, I said: “Thanks a million, Miss Arlene!”