I was certain I was
going to lose her, she seemed that ready to break and run.
“We can start all over if you want. My name’s
Janeway, and I’ll still loan you the thirty if
you’d rather do it that way.”
She let out a long breath and said, “No, I’m
fine.”
“And your name is Eleanor Rigby, I understand.
It’s a great name, by the way. Really. How’d
you come to get it?”
“The same way you got yours, I imagine. I come
from a family of Rigbys and my father liked the name
Eleanor.”
“That’s as good a way as any.”
Now she looked away, into the rainy night. “This
is going to be a lot of trouble for you.”
“Trouble’s my middle name. Which way do you
want to go?”
“Get on the freeway and go south. Stay in the left
lane. When you see 1-90, branch off to the east, take
that.”
I turned the corner and saw Interstate 5, the cars
swirling past in the mist. I banked into the freeway,
glancing in my mirror. No one was there…only Poe,
interred in the backseat.
“You’d better turn that heater on,”
she said. “God, you’re so wet.”
“I will, soon’s the car warms up.”
She gave me a look across the vast expanse of my front
seat. “I guess you’re wondering what I was
doing in a bar if I was so broke.”
“I try not to wonder about stuff like
that.”
“This is the end of a long day, in a very long
week, in a year from hell. I was down to my last five
dollars. The only thing I could think of that I could buy
with that was a margarita. I had two and killed the five.
Sometimes I do crazy things like that.”
“So now what do you do? Do you have a
job?”
She shook her head.
“At least you’re not stranded here. I
couldn’t help noticing the Washington plates on your
car.”
“No, I’m not stranded. Just lost on planet
Earth.”
“Aren’t we all. I’m not so old that I
don’t remember what that feels like.”
“You’re not so old,” she said, looking
me over.
“You must be all of thirty.”
I laughed. “I’m not doing you that big a
favor. I’ll be forty years old before you know
it.”
“Almost ready for the nursing home.”
“You got it. Where’re we going, by the
way?”
“Little town called North Bend.”
Ah, I thought: Grayson country.
She sensed something and said, “Do you know North
Bend?”
“Never been there.”
“I’m not surprised. It’s just a wide
place in the road, but it happens to be where my family
lives. You know what they say about families. When you come
home broken and defeated, they’ve got to take you
in.”
She was still tense and I didn’t know how to
breach that. Food might do it: I’d seen that happen
more than once.
“Have you had dinner?”
She looked at me. “Now you’re going to buy
me dinner? Jeez, you must really be my guardian
angel.”
“So what do you say?”
“I feel like the last survivor of the Donner
party. That means yes, I’m starving.”
I saw an intersection coming up, filled with neon
promise.
“That’s Issaquah,” she said.
“There’s a Denny’s there. It was one of
my hangouts when I was in high school. Can you stand
it?”
I banked into the ramp.
“You look terrible,” she said. “I
don’t suppose you have a change of clothes. Maybe
they’ll let you in if you comb your hair.”
“If I get thrown out of a Denny’s,
it’ll be a bad day at Black Rock.”
Inside, we settled into a window booth. I ordered steaks
for both of us, getting her blessing with a rapturous look.
I got my first look at her in good light. She was not
beautiful, merely a sensational young woman with
world-class hair. Her hair sloped up in a solid wall,
rising like Vesuvius from the front of her head. It was the
color of burnt auburn, thick and lush: if she took it down,
I thought, it would reach far down her back. Her nose was
slightly crooked, which had the strange effect of
going to lose her, she seemed that ready to break and run.
“We can start all over if you want. My name’s
Janeway, and I’ll still loan you the thirty if
you’d rather do it that way.”
She let out a long breath and said, “No, I’m
fine.”
“And your name is Eleanor Rigby, I understand.
It’s a great name, by the way. Really. How’d
you come to get it?”
“The same way you got yours, I imagine. I come
from a family of Rigbys and my father liked the name
Eleanor.”
“That’s as good a way as any.”
Now she looked away, into the rainy night. “This
is going to be a lot of trouble for you.”
“Trouble’s my middle name. Which way do you
want to go?”
“Get on the freeway and go south. Stay in the left
lane. When you see 1-90, branch off to the east, take
that.”
I turned the corner and saw Interstate 5, the cars
swirling past in the mist. I banked into the freeway,
glancing in my mirror. No one was there…only Poe,
interred in the backseat.
“You’d better turn that heater on,”
she said. “God, you’re so wet.”
“I will, soon’s the car warms up.”
She gave me a look across the vast expanse of my front
seat. “I guess you’re wondering what I was
doing in a bar if I was so broke.”
“I try not to wonder about stuff like
that.”
“This is the end of a long day, in a very long
week, in a year from hell. I was down to my last five
dollars. The only thing I could think of that I could buy
with that was a margarita. I had two and killed the five.
Sometimes I do crazy things like that.”
“So now what do you do? Do you have a
job?”
She shook her head.
“At least you’re not stranded here. I
couldn’t help noticing the Washington plates on your
car.”
“No, I’m not stranded. Just lost on planet
Earth.”
“Aren’t we all. I’m not so old that I
don’t remember what that feels like.”
“You’re not so old,” she said, looking
me over.
“You must be all of thirty.”
I laughed. “I’m not doing you that big a
favor. I’ll be forty years old before you know
it.”
“Almost ready for the nursing home.”
“You got it. Where’re we going, by the
way?”
“Little town called North Bend.”
Ah, I thought: Grayson country.
She sensed something and said, “Do you know North
Bend?”
“Never been there.”
“I’m not surprised. It’s just a wide
place in the road, but it happens to be where my family
lives. You know what they say about families. When you come
home broken and defeated, they’ve got to take you
in.”
She was still tense and I didn’t know how to
breach that. Food might do it: I’d seen that happen
more than once.
“Have you had dinner?”
She looked at me. “Now you’re going to buy
me dinner? Jeez, you must really be my guardian
angel.”
“So what do you say?”
“I feel like the last survivor of the Donner
party. That means yes, I’m starving.”
I saw an intersection coming up, filled with neon
promise.
“That’s Issaquah,” she said.
“There’s a Denny’s there. It was one of
my hangouts when I was in high school. Can you stand
it?”
I banked into the ramp.
“You look terrible,” she said. “I
don’t suppose you have a change of clothes. Maybe
they’ll let you in if you comb your hair.”
“If I get thrown out of a Denny’s,
it’ll be a bad day at Black Rock.”
Inside, we settled into a window booth. I ordered steaks
for both of us, getting her blessing with a rapturous look.
I got my first look at her in good light. She was not
beautiful, merely a sensational young woman with
world-class hair. Her hair sloped up in a solid wall,
rising like Vesuvius from the front of her head. It was the
color of burnt auburn, thick and lush: if she took it down,
I thought, it would reach far down her back. Her nose was
slightly crooked, which had the strange effect of
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