itself was over twenty feet tall. The cable was suspended a good distance from the ground. The incline was not too great. Em knew that Koval would descend rapidly. He sent his men ahead in teams of two to the three lowest points along the cable’s route. He told them to sit atop of each other’s shoulders and attempt to slow Koval down as he made his way past them. Em was pleased when he saw Corby order his team to do the same. He then saw Corby running to the bottom of the hill. There he directed two of his men into the pit to catch the cargo. Em knew he had to get two of his men into the pit. He descended the tower and ran toward the bottom of the hill. He was barely halfway when he heard Jack yell, “Here he comes!” Em ran faster. He knew he had to be in the pit to stop Koval. He reached the bottom and quickly jumped into the mud. Hamilton and Smith jumped in with him. Now he had to wait on the cargo. He looked over at Corby just as he was looking back. At first, their looks were intense. Then they both smiled. After all, this was kind of fun. What had started as a fierce competition now seemed unimportant. Em knew by the look on Corby’s face that they were going to be all right.
Em looked up the hill as both of their cargos began to pick up speed. As they reached the halfway point, they were neck and neck. It was going to come down to who was the cleanest. All of a sudden, both riders began to get closer. Em heard Corby screaming to his team to let him go and not to slow him down. Em quickly yelled to his team, “Slow him down! Keep him clean! Slow and easy!” Em jumped out of the pit so he could catch Koval before he got too close. Morris and Smith were grabbing at Koval’s feet as he passed them. When Koval sped past them, Morris was knocked off his feet. He slid twenty feet, down the hill. Smith managed to grab Koval’s head, slowing him down minimally.
Corby’s cargo was coming down fast! Corby now stood on the ground next to the pit and was going to try and stop his cargo by himself. Every other member of his team looked as if they had purposefully camouflaged themselves with mud. Em turned in time to see Corby get hit. His cargo was going too fast. Corby was knocked off his feet. He flew backward into the pit, sending mud flying everywhere. Wilson, Corby’s cargo, clung to the cable. He was halfway out of the harness but still moving rapidly toward the cable’s end. He hit the end of the cable with a thud, held on for a fraction of a second, and then fell into the mud beside Corby.
Em was transfixed. He almost forgot where he was. He wanted to laugh along with the half of a dozen other wailers that he heard, but he knew he had one shot to make this work. He jumped into the air and grabbed the cable. As quickly as he could, he swung his feet over the cable. He knew he would have to let Koval hit him right in the head. It was basically the only clean part of his anatomy that was readily available. He desperately hoped that they had slowed him down enough. Em closed his eyes and tried to prepare himself for the impact.
He counted. One…two…three…four…five…six. Bam! Lights out!
He felt himself being grabbed. Hands were touching him all over. He raised his hands to wipe the mud from his face. He opened his mud-caked eyes and saw the blurry image of Jack. He was smiling. “You did it, hillbilly. Are you okay?” Other than being muddy, Em did not seem to suffer any other consequences. His hands were fine, and so was his head. There was just a dull throbbing in his temples. He looked around for Koval. There he was, twenty feet beyond the pit, standing alone on top of a wooden pedestal. From where Em stood, he looked to have remained clean.
The rest of the morning turned out to be the beginning of the best day since their arrival. Sergeant Cannon let them all sit and relax for almost an hour. He even arranged for them all to have a Coca-Cola. To Em, it tasted like the best drink ever made. He drank it slowly as he sat with Corby, Larry, and Jack.
“I’ve got to hand it to you, Em. That was quick thinking. But it’s a wonder you’re able to think at all, considering Koval knocked you out.” Corby was smiling. “Are you sure you’re all right?” He tried to wipe the smile from his face. A glob of mud fell off his ear, and the laughter was contagious.
Corby told Em how he had seen him flip head over heels and land in the mud pit. He could not stop laughing now that he knew Em was not hurt. “And then”—he chuckled—“he landed.” He chuckled again. “And still curled up…in a little bitty ball…headfirst…Splat!” He laughed so much that it spread to other groups.
All four of them laughed so hard they began to roll on the ground. The mud started to dry on their clothes. Em began to wonder how he was going to get all these clothes clean. When he voiced his concerns to the others, it started a whole new laugh festival. Corby even suggested that instead of calling Cannon “Mom,” maybe they should call Em “Mom.”
None of them could believe that they were actually having a good time. Today was already a great day, and it was not even lunchtime yet. When Em thought about the time, he realized he was kind of hungry. He hoped that Cannon would be screaming for his chow runners soon. When Corby saw Cannon approaching their group, he instinctively got up and straightened his uniform.
“Relax, Cookie.” Cannon squatted down to their level. “Good job out there, boys. Saw some excellent skills. Good teamwork too.”
Whoa, Em thought, actual praise.
Then as if Cannon hadn’t even said what he had just said, a look came over his face as he began to scream once more. “Where’s my chow runners?” he bellowed. Em was certain that Cannon knew exactly where they were. Yet he had a reputation to uphold.
After Corby and Larry began to double-time it to the chow hall, Cannon ordered Em to form up the flight. Em wondered if this was his “reward” for doing a good job. He quickly realized that the praise they had just received was for their ears only. When it came to where their little group stood with Cannon, absolutely nothing had changed. He had no intention of letting up on any of them.
As Em marched alongside the flight, he kept thinking of the feelings he had been having lately concerning Corby. He had briefly been envious of Corby. He could not quite come to terms with these emotions. Was he envious now that Corby was beginning to become a leader himself? Corby had always depended on Em. That’s just the way things were, according to Em. Now that Corby was showing some independence, Em realized he needed Corby to depend on him. It made him feel useful. After all, Corby had been leaning on him for most of their lives. Em did not know how it would feel to not have Corby around.
He marched the flight onto the tarmac in front of the chow hall. “flight! Halt!” he bellowed over the sound of a plane taking off. His eyes immediately found Corby and Larry. They were the last ones in the chow runner line. Two sergeants stood in front of them. Both of them had veins bulging from their temples. Em was no longer envious of Corby. He could not imagine having to put up with such abuse on a daily basis. Em felt a sense of pride in the way that Corby was handling his new popularity. Larry had learned how to deal with it also.
Em saw Jack snickering when he looked at Corby and Larry. Then he looked at Em and laughed out loud, narrowly avoiding drawing unwanted attention. Em could not help but smile himself. He thought that the four of them were going to become like the picture on the recruitment poster. Make lifelong friends, the poster said.
By design, their flight was the last flight through the chow hall. Whatever mud that had not dried while they marched around now dried and fell off onto the floor. Cannon gave them ample time to eat, which was unusual. Em sat at the table with Larry, Jack, and Corby. None of them cared that they were covered with drying, cracking mud. Their appetites were strong. They also did not speak until most of the food was gone.
“That really was quick thinking back there, Em,” Jack said as he stuffed carrots into his mouth. “I thought all that work was for nothing.”
“Thanks, Jack.” Em was chewing the last bites of the spongy meat product. “But if it weren’t for Corby and his team beating us to the end, it would have never
