By Bus with Vicki - Part 13

Hello FFFs,
I pray you forgive this shameful delay
In posting this story so late today.

But, it's still Friday morning. :) I'm on vacation, at my grandparents', slept in, have had trouble with my computer, and everything seems to be taking twice as long to do as usual.
No, I haven't written anything this week. I've watched Little League instead. :) We are enjoying the World Series and were thrilled last night when our favorite team (from TN) beat KY. No, we didn't start out with a favorite team when we began watching at the beginning of the week, but TN has just grown on us. We love watching them play, their interaction with each other, the advice and encouragement the coaches give, and well, just everything about them.

I'm also trying to keep on top of planning for a "blog party" next month! :D Very excited about that! Stay tuned to learn more. Plus hanging out with my grandparents, helping with different projects and just taking a break from the usual things.

I also decided last night (I hadn't known about it before) to join my sister and Mom, in memorizing the book of 2 Timothy. Scripture Memory Fellowship has a challenge to memorize the entire book in 4 months. You can win a t-shirt and other things. Do any of you want to join me? Wouldn't it be fun to keep each other accountable, to encourage each other, and press on together in hiding God's Word in our hearts? Join now and let me know if you're in! And remember, I just started too. :)

I was going to tell you all kinds of things, but since it is already late, and I have some emails to reply to, I'm just going to go and let you get to reading.

By Bus with Vicki

Part 13

    As she sat, swinging her feet and wondering if she could find someone new to talk with–for Rose was quiet and the Greens were talking together–she heard crying. It sounded like a young child and Vicki, suddenly missing her younger siblings, leaned out into the aisle to look. It was a little fellow, not much younger than Johnny.

    “The poor mama,” she murmured to herself catching a glimpse of the mother’s face. “It must be hard to keep someone that young happy on a bus.”

    Something came flying over the seats and rolled to a stop at Vicki’s feet. It was a small ball. Instantly Vicki picked it up. Making her way carefully up the aisle, she stopped beside the seat where the young mother was trying to occupy her little son. “Can I play ball with him,” Vicki asked, smiling at the small tot. “We could roll it in the aisle. My name is Vicki. Did you just get on at the last stop?”

    A relieved look crossed the mother’s face. “Yes, we just got on. It’s the first time I’ve tried taking Tommy on a bus. I should have known he wouldn’t do well. But I hoped he would fall asleep.”

    Sitting down in the middle of the aisle, Vicki held out her hands. “Come sit with me, Tommy, and we’ll roll the ball. Rose, can’t you sit down there and play too?”

    Rose’s dark head looked around the seats. For a moment she hesitated, then timidly scooting over, she moved to the aisle.

    Tommy was delighted at the prospect and his tears disappeared. Back and forth the bright red ball rolled. Sometimes it bounced when Tommy threw it instead of rolling it, but the other passengers simply kicked it back into the aisle and the game continued.

    “I have a brother named Johnny,” Vicki confided to Tommy’s mom. “He’s two. But my oldest brother is named Thomas. I think he used to be called Tommy, but I wasn’t around then, so I don’t remember.” She chuckled at the thought. “Do you have other children?”

    Tommy’s mother shook her head. “No. Only Tommy.”

    It was beginning to grow dark when Tommy tired of the game. His young playmates left him sitting in sleepy silence by the window with his thumb in his mouth. The sight made Vicki a bit homesick.

    “I’ve had a lot of fun on this trip,” Vicki confided to Rose after the two girls had resumed their seats. “But I think I’ll be glad when I see my sister. I was supposed to get there in the morning but I tried to visit Montana instead. When do you get off?”

    “At the next stop, I think.”

    “So soon? I was hoping you were going all the way to San Jose.”

    Rose shook her head. “No. But I will be glad to get home again. I’ve missed my family.”

    Quietly the two girls talked as darkness settled over the land and the bus wheels continued to hum over mile after mile of highway.

    When the sun rose the following morning, Vicki sat up, stretched, and looked about. It was quiet. Only a few passengers were awake, but no one talked. Across the aisle, Mr. and Mrs. Green still slept with their seats leaning back. “I didn’t have to do that,” she thought. “I had the whole seat to myself, so I could lie down.” Rose had gotten off last night, and Vicki checked in her purse to make sure her new friend’s address was still there. It was, tucked away safely inside a pocket. “At least I can write to her,” she thought.

    To Vicki, the day dragged by. There were no adventures to delay the bus, for which she was grateful, for, though she didn’t really want to admit it, she was growing tired of traveling. Her active body longed to be out in the fresh air and her feet craved movement. The passengers remained stiff and silent. Only the Greens, who to Vicki’s great delight, were traveling all the way to San Jose, were friendly and tried to amuse the girl.

    “I suppose,” Vicki remarked after an unusually long period of silence, “that no one wants to be friendly with strangers because they don’t know them. On the first bus I was on, no one wanted to talk much until after we had a flat tire. I don’t want another delay, but something should happen to make people friendly.” Thoughtfully she rested her elbow on the arm of the seat and leaned her chin in her hand. “I suppose if we all played a game, it would help the time to go by faster. We do that at home. But what game could we play? We can’t play ball because Tommy and his mother got off earlier. Hmmm.” Absently she shoved back her headband, and her swinging foot nudged her sweatshirt about on the floor.

    It took some time before Vicki was able to think of a suitable game for the scattered passengers on the bus. Then, with a little coaxing, she managed to persuade most of them to move to seats near each other and presented her game. It was a continuing story, but Vicki had torn up a newspaper someone had left and each person was required to include one of the headlines in his or her part of the story.

    That lasted until lunch time. In the afternoon, Vicki decided that taking a nap was the best way to pass the time and joined the rest of the passengers in slumber. In that way a few more hours slipped by.

Have you ever played ball in a vehicle?

Are you ready for Vicki to arrive at her destination?

Are you going to join the challenge to memorize 2 Timothy?

By Bus with Vicki - Part 12

Hello, FFFs,

Did you all have a good week? 

I think I did. It was so crazy and busy that I have to stop and think. Oh, yeah, it was a good week. I have managed to get 5k written already (on TCR-6 in case you were wondering) in spite of hardly getting anything written Monday evening and nothing on Tuesday. I attended the re-organizational meeting of our county's republican central committee of which I am a member. I taught writing class, I worked a little on planning a "virtual party" (stay tuned to learn more of this fun fall party!), I got my "new" short story kindle book ready for pre-order and have been sending out ARC copies these last few days, as well as answering questions for interviews.

Plus I've been working on that Bike Trip book I told you about a while ago.  It's been fun to watch the trips settle into pages with photos and diaries. :) But it takes a long time! One trip I did has 21 pages! It's going to be one long book!

Now, I hope you enjoy this next part of this long story. I did warn you that it was long you know. You probably just didn't expect it to be this long. :)

By Bus with Vicki

Part 12

    “Yup.” The man must have realized that he had a bus full of listeners, for he launched into a story that may not have been entirely true.

    Even Vicki was a little skeptical about a few parts of it, but she only whispered to Rose, “I like the story, even if it is partly fiction.”

    Thanks to the distraction of the storyteller, no one had noticed the passing of time, and when the driver finally returned to the bus, no one grumbled about the delay.

    Pulling into the next station, the driver announced that they would eat there and that some passengers would change buses. That included Vicki and, to her delight, Rose. The driver escorted them to the station and introduced them to their new driver. “Is this the last time I’ll have to change buses now?” Vicki asked.

    The young driver nodded. “Yes. Make sure that you don’t get on any other buses.” He turned to the new driver, an older man with gray hair. “She got on the wrong bus last night and went four hours out of her way.”

    “I’ll make sure both young ladies are on the bus before I pull out of any station,” promised the new driver with a smile at Vicki and Rose. “Now, suppose you both go inside and eat a good dinner. I’ll make sure you get on my bus.

    Vicki was surprised at how hungry she was. “All I’ve done is ride on a bus all day,” she remarked to Rose and Mr. and Mrs. Green. The girls were once again sharing a table with the friendly couple. “I get hungry at home when I’ve been riding my bike or playing with the young ones, but not when I haven’t done anything.” With a shrug, she picked up her breadstick. “Oh, don’t let me forget to call my parents before we leave,” she said. “I should do it tonight so they can let my sister know I’m going to be late.”

    Before anyone rose from their places at the table, the driver came over. “Do either of you, young ladies want to stretch your legs or anything before we leave? We have ten minutes.”

    “I should call my parents if there is a pay phone,” Vicki said. “I tried to call them last night, but the phone was out of order and the line for the other one was too long.”

    When a phone was pointed out to her, she rushed over and was soon waiting for someone to pick up the phone. “Henry!” she squealed when a familiar voice answered. “I didn’t think I’d get to talk to you. Where are Mom and Dad? Is Suzuki all right? Did Clyde call last night? Of course he couldn’t tell you because he didn’t know, but I got on the wrong bus and was going to Montana. But now I’m back on the right road, but the station man at the other stop said I’d be late getting to San Jose. I don’t know Amber’s phone number, so someone is going to have to call and let her know and–”

    “Whoa! Vicki, hold on!” Henry ordered. “I can’t answer anything when you keep rattling on like that. Mom and Dad are at the park with the younger ones. Yes, someone called for you last night, but what is this about a wrong bus? How late are you going to be getting to San Jose?”

     Vicki shrugged, forgetting her brother couldn’t see her. “I don’t remember when the driver said. And it might depend on if we have any more adventures. We’ve had so many already! But I can’t talk long, Henry, because the bus is going to leave and I can’t miss it. I know I went four hours towards Montana before I could get on a different bus. But I’m having so much fun! Oh, I’m going to have to go soon.”

    “Vicki, where are you now?”

    “Um . . .” Vicki looked around and finally said, “Just a minute and I’ll ask. I was too busy playing a game to notice.” Turning around she called to the driver, “Where are we please and when will we get to San Jose?”

    The driver stated the town and gave the estimated time of arrival. Vicki quickly repeated it to her brother. “Now I have to go, Henry. Tell Mom and Dad I’m quite well and having a marvelous time. I’ll call again when I can. And oh, I have so many stories to tell you! Good bye!”

    After she had hung up, Vicki skipped over to the bus where her new driver was standing. “This is the right bus, isn’t it?” she asked, a smile spreading across her face.

    “If you’re heading to San Jose it is.” The driver returned her smile and gave her a wink.

    With a giggle, Vicki climbed aboard after Rose. The bus already had quite a few passengers, but the girls found a seat across the aisle from the Greens. In a few minutes they were again in motion and once again Vicki was on her way farther west. For a time she was content to talk with Rose and the Greens, but after a while she began to wish for something else to do. She couldn’t read because her bag was on another bus, as was everything else she had so carefully packed to help pass the time. 

Have you ever forgotten your bag of things on a trip?

What would you do if you had?

Only 2 more parts of this story. Will you be back?

By Bus with Vicki - Part 11

Hi FFFs!

I'm hungry. Glad it's almost breakfast time!

Well, that was a different way to start this blog post! Anyone else hungry?

This week I've been focusing my writing time on TCR-6. It still has a long ways to go, but it's moving. I did write my 3rd beginning for this book though. I'd written one, didn't like it and it didn't go anywhere, so I started a new way. This one was actually working and I was over a 3rd of the way done, but I felt like something wasn't right. Back I went to reread the entire thing. Ah ha! Ever had those moments? Well, I had one. I was trying to cram too much into too few days. Now things are much better. It's a bit hard to know how to update my progress bar though because I'm taking scenes from later and moving them to a different place. Kind of like working a puzzle.

And there will be a new short story coming out in kindle format soon. Well, actually it is not new. It was originally published in "The Lower Lights" but, since that book is not being made into a kindle book, I decided to pull some of the stories and turn them into kindle books. So, be on the look out for this new story.

 Well, that's it for today. I'll let you join Vicki on her bus again. Tell me, would you like to ride on a bus with Vicki? Or is she just "too much" for you?

By Bus with Vicki

Part 11

    By the time everyone had run out of ideas and each suggestion had been hashed over, the driver was slowing down, ready to turn back onto the highway again. There had been no sign of any kids near the road. Upon seeing a State Patrol car on the side of the highway, the driver stopped the bus and opened the door.
    The patrol officer came over.
    “Can you tell me why the road was blocked?” asked the driver.
    Inside, the passengers waited in breathless silence. “Sure. There was an accident. One semi loaded with cattle lost control and smashed into another from behind. One flipped over and the tailgate of the other came open. There’s a mess of raw chicken and loose cattle everywhere. If there hadn’t been that exit, you’d be sitting there a long time.”
    As the bus turned back onto the highway, many exclamations were heard.
    “I said it was an accident.”
    “Raw chicken? Gross!”
    “Someone should have called the Texas Rangers,” quipped a man wearing a Stenson, “they know about roundin’ up cattle.”
    “But I still like that idea of a prank,” Mr. Green laughed. “It was so original.”

    The rest of the morning passed swiftly for Vicki, who found her new friend an eager listener and the other passengers friendly and social after the detour. When they stopped for lunch, Vicki and Rose made their way to a table with the couple from across the aisle.
    “Does you tongue ever stop spilling words, Vicki?” Mr. Green asked, a twinkle in his eyes.
    Grinning, Vicki nodded, her mouth full of her hamburger. A moment later she replied, “I can listen if others want to talk. The problem this morning has been that no one else seemed to want to talk except when we had the detour, so I did.”
    Mr. Green’s hearty laugh rang out in the dining room and even his wife joined in. “Vicki, you are priceless,” he said when he could speak again. “I wish I had you at some of the meetings I have to go to. No one wants to talk there. either”
    “Well, maybe if you told them about your bus trip, they would be interested and could tell about their own trips.”
    Aside to his wife, Mr. Green remarked, “I wonder what would happen if I did.”

    Not long after, as the bus was traveling onward once again, the conversations inside began to lag and one by one the passengers started to nod off. “I don’t see why everyone wants to take a nap in the afternoon,” Vicki whispered to Rose. “Especially since most of them slept in the morning.” She shook her head as snores in different tones drifted through the bus. “There is too much to see. But I suppose it wouldn’t be very nice to talk a lot since so many want to sleep. Do you like to play tick-tack-toe?”
    Rose nodded and produced the necessary paper and pencil, and the girls began.

    Though Vicki didn’t want to miss a single mountain flower, cattle ranch or small town, the sounds of steady breathing, the light sway of the bus, and the warm afternoon sun, combined with her interrupted night, made her drowsy. After nearly fifty games of tick-tack-toe, Rose had settled herself to look out the window, and not long after, Vicki realized that she was sleeping too. “I don’t want to sleep,” she yawned. “I don’t take naps at home. But maybe I’ll take a really short one.” Leaning her head back, she let her eyes close and was soon dozing as soundly as the rest of the passengers.
    She was roused some time later by a gentle kick. Opening her eyes she saw Rose was also awake. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to kick you,” whispered Rose.
    After a stretch, Vicki smiled. “That’s okay. I didn’t want to sleep anyway.” Scooting up on her knees, she looked around the bus. It seemed that most of the passengers were still sleeping. Across the aisle Mr. Green was snoring while Mrs. Green read her book.
    “Rose, do you hear a funny sound?”
    The dark haired girl tilted her head and listened. “I think so.”
    “Me too. I wonder where it’s coming from?” Vicki began moving in her seat, her ear cocked to try and locate the source of the strange sound. “Hey!” she exclaimed suddenly, “We’re slowing down. But there’s nothing here, no towns I mean. Oh, Rose, we’re pulling to the side of the highway. Do you think we’ve got trouble with the bus?”
    Rose gave a little gasp and her eyes widened at the idea.
    “If we do, I’m sure the driver can take care of it,” Mrs. Green said, looking up from her book.
    Thus assured, Vicki half stood up to look out the front window. “Why do you suppose we stopped?”
    Passengers were waking up all around, but no one volunteered any answer. The driver stood up and turned around. “The engine was making some strange noises,” he explained, “I’ll go check it out. It’s probably just some loose bolt. Everyone please stay where you are. We’ll be going again in no time.”
    As the driver disappeared off the bus, Vicki gazed out the window at the empty landscape around them. There were no houses or buildings of any kind anywhere. “Do you think there are any wildcats or bears around here? Henry said they lived out west, but I don’t think I’d like to meet one.”
    “Oh, I wouldn’t worry,” answered one older man with a grizzled beard. “This highway has got too much traffic fer their likin’. ‘Sides, I don’t ‘spect they’ll be comin’ ta pay us any visit ‘less we take a hike up inta the wilderness an’ search fer ‘em.”
    Vicki leaned over the seat before her to better see the speaker. “Did you ever see any bears or wildcats?”
  

What do you think is going to happen now?

Every seen a semi turned over an it's contents spilled?

Are you interested in reading the new short story?

By Bus with Vicki - Part 10

Hello, Faithful Friday Fiction Fans!
I hope you've been staying cool. This past week or so has been HOT! When it's 80º at 5 AM, and 103º at 6 PM, you kind of get the impression that it's hot. ;) And don't forget to add the humidity to that.

Life has been busy! Tuesday I worked as an election judge for 13 hours (not counting the 30 minutes before the polls opened and the hour 45 min. I spent packing up, taking the ballots to the county courthouse and driving home), so that didn't leave any time to do anything else. On Saturday I spent most of the day out doing lit. drops (leaving literature about a candidate on people's doors) for a man running for State Rep.  (Side note: He won! :) ) And since both of those days were really busy, I've been trying to catch up on everything. And of course during those busy days, either while I was gone or when I was trying to catch up on other things, everyone decided to post at least once, some times more than that! So, sorry if I haven't commented on your blog. I'm trying to catch up still. :P Can't you all just post when I'm not quite so busy? ;)

This hasn't been a very good writing week so far. No writing Saturday evening. I was too tired.
No writing Monday. I was getting ready to leave at 5:15 in the morning.
No writing Tuesday. I didn't get home until almost 9:00 PM.
I did write Wednesday and last night, but both nights were slow! Only 1,000 words each time. Maybe I can get more written tonight. We'll see. The last two nights I have NOT wanted to write at all! You can pray that I want to. :) I jumped back to TCR-6 last night and something unexpected happened. :) I just love it when my stories do that!

Anyway, here's the next part of that long bus trip. :) I really liked this part. :) So enjoy!

By Bus with Vicki

Part 10

    Seated beside each other a few minutes later as the bus rolled along the road, the two girls chattered as though they had been friends for years. Vicki, always the most outgoing in any gathering, told all about the day before, about her brothers and sister and cousins back home, and about anything else she could think of. Her excitement over the mountains she could see, fairly bubbled over, causing smiles among the other passengers. “And to think,” she exclaimed after pointing out a delightful view, “that we had to miss so much of this because it was dark last night!”

    “But if we didn’t travel at night it would make the trip twice as long,” observed Rose.

    Vicki gave a sigh. “I know, but sometime I want to come this way in my own car and only travel when it is light so I can see everything.”

    As the morning passed, many of the passengers fell asleep, or at least dozed in their seats, but Vicki had no intention of joining them. She and her new friend Rose were wide awake, though they tried to keep their voices low so they wouldn’t bother the others..

    Looking up ahead, Vicki saw an orange sign. “Does that say Detour?” she asked Rose.

    Rose nodded slowly. “I think so. Yes,” as the bus neared it. “It does say detour.”

    “Oh, do you think it means us?” In her excitement, Vicki forgot to whisper.

    Glancing up from her book, Mrs. Green, the woman who sat across the aisle with her husband, asked, “What was that?”

    “That sign says Detour and I was wondering if we were going to have to take a detour or if it was for another road.”

    “We’ll soon know. If we follow the arrows, it probably means us.”

    There was no answer from either girl, for they were watching the signs carefully and trying to guess if they would really have to take a detour or not. “It looks like we have to go on the detour!” Forgetting others were still sleeping, Vicki spoke quite loudly.

    “Huh? What was that?” Mr. Green, startled out of a snore, sat up and blinked.

    Vicki gave an excited bounce in her seat. “A detour. See, we are turning just like the sign says to do. Do you think the detour was known to the driver?”

    Mrs. Green exchanged glances with her husband before replying. “I would think so, but I don’t know.”

    The other passengers around them were beginning to sit up and look around, wondering what was going on.

    “Rose, do you want to go up front with me so we can ask the driver?”

    “No, I don’t like to walk when the bus is moving, if I don’t have to.” And the dark haired girl shook her head decidedly. “It makes me feel funny.”

    It took Vicki a moment to get her balance when she stood up, for the road wasn’t as smooth as the one they had just left. Staggering somewhat, and clutching onto the backs of seats, she made her way to the front.

    When she returned a few minutes later, her face was glowing and her eyes sparkled with excitement. “He said he didn’t know anything about this detour! But he doesn’t think it will be much out of the way.” Her face had fallen some over the last words, but then she brightened again. “But it will be something else that wasn’t expected! Oh, I just love having adventures!”

    The entire bus had been fully roused by this time, and there were a few grumbles, but Vicki’s evident excitement over the entire thing seemed to remind them of how a child often sees things and the grumbles soon died.

    “I wonder why there’s a detour and the driver didn’t know about it,” Vicki began. “I know! Let’s all think of a possibility and then we can see who’s right.” Her clear, young voice carried through the bus, and thoughtful faces showed that at least some of the passengers were trying to come up with solutions. Turning to Rose she asked, “Can you write all the ideas down?”

    Quickly Rose shook her head. “I’m not very good at writing.”

    “I’ll do it,” Mr. Green volunteered. “I’ll take it down in short hand for now and then write them out later.”

    “Oh, goody!” Vicki clapped her hands. Standing in front of her seat, hanging on to the back of the one before her, she waited a few more minutes. “Now, who has the first idea?”

    There was a moment of hesitation, but once the ideas started, they came quickly from all over the bus.

    A rock-slide had blocked the road. Construction work but no one had been notified. An avalanche on the mountain peaks had filled a small canyon the highway ran through. Vandals had torn apart a guard rail. There had been a bad accident on the road and it had been closed. They were hunting for a vicious mountain lion and didn’t want anyone traveling the road for fear he might attack.

    The last idea brought a round of laughter from the passengers before they went on.

    It was a fight between the Indians and the US Cavalry on the road. A bridge had collapsed. Highwaymen were having a stand off with the police. There wasn’t enough traffic on the other roads so the government decided to close the highway.

    “No, no,” one man near the back of the bus said, standing up. “You’ve got it all wrong. It was the prank of a few kids who ‘borrowed’ the signs from a friend who works in construction and no one has found it out yet. The kids are probably along the detour selling something. I expect we’ll be seeing them before too long if we keep our eyes open.”

    The bus fairly rocked with laughter over this suggestion, and several people kept their eyes on the windows to see if they would see any kids.

    Rockslides and accidents were the ideas most mentioned, though the suggestion of a prank was seconded by several.

What do you think happened?

Have you ever guessed what caused a detour?

Will you return to find out what really happened?

By Bus with Vicki - Part 9

Good morning FFFs!

Did any of you find any extra days lying around? I'm pretty sure I lost a few and thought they might have blown away. I mean, how can it be Friday again so soon?

It's been a good week. A productive one, but a fast one. I have written 6k words so far this week. And yes, they were mostly on one book. Sorry, but "Finding Joy" is writing itself and leaving TCR-6 behind. Maybe next week I can work on TCR-6. Of course there will be at least two days when I won't be writing. I'm working as an election judge again on Tuesday, so no writing then. And I don't write well the evening before since I try to go to bed a little early since I have to be up by 4:30. But we'll see what I can get done. As you may have noticed on the home page of Read Another Page, "Finding Joy" is now past the half-way mark! We're on the home stretch! (Or something like that. ;) )

I hope you are enjoying this story about Vicki. I told you it was long! I guess traveling with Vicki might take a while. ;)

By Bus with Vicki

Part 9

    The hum of the engine, the gentle swaying of the bus, and the warmth of the heater all combined to make her drowsy and before she had thought of a dozen names, her eyes were closed and she slept.

    Looking back at her, the driver relaxed when he saw she was asleep. “I wonder if she’s the kind of kid who gets upset when things don’t go right,” he mused. “Of course she didn’t seem upset when she got to the bus, but you never can tell.”

    The sun was well up when Vicki awoke. The excitement of the previous day, as well as being up in the night, had made her sleepy. For a moment she lay curled up on the seat, blinking. She was traveling, she knew that much, for when she opened her eyes she could see right out onto the road. But she was up awfully high, and in their van at home she couldn’t sleep lying down. “The bus!”

    Her excited exclamation startled the driver, and he looked in his mirror as she sat up. “Good morning,” he greeted her.

    “Good morning! Oh, isn’t this just so exciting?”

    Venturing another glance in the mirror to make sure the girl was talking to him, the driver said, “What is?”

    “That I’m traveling by bus to California! And I’ve already had so many adventures. If nothing else happens along the way, I’ll still have plenty of things to tell my sister when I get there. Did you get to hear about our trip yesterday?”

    When the driver shook his head, Vicki launched into an account of the blown tire, the walk to town, stopping for the fire to move away, and finally about her getting on the wrong bus. “Of course that wasn’t on purpose,” she explained. “I was just so sleepy and I saw another passenger who had traveled with me all day getting on the bus, and I thought it was the right one. I’ll make sure I get on the right bus if I have to change busses again. Do I?”

    “Yep. Just once though.” The driver didn’t add that he personally was going to make sure she got on the right bus.

    Vicki continued her excited thoughts. “I’ve never been in the mountains before. I wanted to watch as they got closer, but because of all the delays yesterday, I only got to see them in the distance before I fell asleep. I didn’t think I would be able to sleep at all on the bus. Before I left home I told Susie and Chrissy, they’re my sisters, that if I didn’t get to sleep on the bus, I’d be awfully tired when I got to Amber’s. So, I’m glad I can sleep on one. Oh, aren’t these mountains pretty? Do we have a long way to go before we get breakfast?”

    “Not too much farther.”

    Scooting to the aisle side of her seat, Vicki looked back towards the end of the bus, noticing that this one was fuller than the first one had been. “Why, almost every seat is taken,” she remarked to no one in particular. “I wonder where they’re all going? There are several who look interesting.” After watching the other passengers for a few minutes, Vicki turned her attention back to the windows and the front of the bus. There were a few cars passing them on the highway, and Vicki chuckled at how far above them she was.

    When the stop came for breakfast, Vicki was allowed to join the rest of the passengers but was firmly instructed that when she returned, she was to sit in the front seat. “I don’t mind if you sit somewhere else after we have gotten on the road again,” the driver told her. “But I want to make sure you are on the bus before we leave.”

    To this Vicki agreed quickly. She didn’t want to get left behind or get on the wrong bus again. Once was enough for her. As she followed the crowd into the station to the restaurant, she saw a girl about her size. The girl had long dark hair and darker skin. There was something in her manner that made Vicki think she was shy. Hurrying up to her as the girl stood hesitating in the doorway, Vicki said, “Hi!”

    The girl turned. A slight smile lurked in her dark eyes. “Hi.”

    “Are you traveling on the bus?”

    The girl nodded.

    “So am I! Are you alone?” When the girl nodded again, Vicki grabbed her hand and pulled her to a small table near a window. “Come on, let’s sit together. I’m traveling alone too. Is this your first time to travel by bus?”

    Shaking her head, the girl whispered, “Second.”

    “Oh, this is my first and I’ve already had many adventures, including getting on the wrong bus.” She giggled. “My name is Vicki Rogers. What’s yours?”

    “Rose Peterson. I’m eleven.”

    “I just turned twelve, that’s why my parents agreed to let me travel all the way to San Jose, California to visit my sister, Amber. She’s married. Where are you going?”

    “Back home. I visited my grandmother.”

    During their talk, plates with hot breakfasts had been set before them. “I always thank God for my food,” Vicki remarked.

    “Me too,” Rose whispered.

    Together the girls bowed their heads and Vicki whispered a prayer of thanks for their food. When they lifted their heads, they exchanged full smiles. Somehow that little act had united them.

    When the call came to board the bus again, Vicki explained to Rose that she had to sit in the front at first, so the driver would know she was there. “I don’t want to get left behind. But once we start going I can come back and sit with you. If you have an empty seat beside you.”

    Rose nodded but said not a word.

Have you ever found a new friend while traveling?

Do you like traveling in the mountains?

Will you be back next week?

By Bus with Vicki - Part 8

Good morning FFFs,
It's quite right now. All five kiddos have decided to sleep in. :) It's been a busy week. We had people in and out of our house all Monday morning, I had election training that afternoon, and then I wrote in the evening. Then came Tuesday. I was able to get some things done that needed done. The four kids who were going to be staying here during the last homeschool convention (in Woodlands) were over for supper. The following morning (after Nephew #1 got up before 6 AM!!!), we discovered that the trailer loaded with all the Light of Faith stuff had a broken spring. Time for Plan B. My brother had to rent a truck to take things down. But that meant there was no room for Nephew #2. So, Sis-in-law dropped him and Ti-K off over here for breakfast while she helped unload the trailer and pack the truck. Nephew #2 was going to stay here with his siblings but Ti-K was going to the conference. They didn't pick her up until almost 1. And we've been busy ever since. It's too hot to play outside. We have heat warnings and the heat index is at least 106º! So, we're finding things to do inside. And we have the kids until Sunday evening.

And in case you hadn't guessed, I haven't gotten anything written since Monday. I should be able to write next week. (I really hope so because both "Finding Joy" and "TCR-6" are knocking on my brain to be written.)

If you shared your votes, thoughts, and comments about this blog last week, THANK YOU! All the feedback has been very helpful in figuring out what I'm going to do. I haven't decided for sure, but I do know I won't shut the blog down. :) If you haven't voted, go read the last post and let me know what you think.

I hope you all enjoy this next part of Vicki's bus trip. :)

By Bus with Vicki

Part 8

"But don’t worry about when to get off, the driver of each bus will be instructed to make sure you get off and on at the right times and the right places.” The station master wiped his brow.
    “But what about my luggage that’s on the other bus?” queried Vicki.
    “I’ve already called ahead to the next station for that bus and it will be waiting for you at your end stop in California.”
    “You’ve gone to a lot of trouble for me. I didn’t mean to make so many problems. And I truly thought I was getting on the right bus. But then I fell asleep. I’m sorry.”
    The older man smiled and patted her hand. “Now don’t you go fretting none. There’s nothing like little ladies like you taking the wrong bus to add a little excitement in an old man’s life. Why, Child, your hand is like ice!”
    Vicki grinned. “That’s because my warm jacket is on the other bus.”
    “Well, we can’t have that, now can we? You just wait right here. Don’t go anywhere.”
    “I won’t.
    In a short time Mr. Lynwood was back with a sweatshirt. “We have a small gift shop over there,” he nodded his head in the direction he had come from, “and I thought you needed something to remind you of your stop here.”
    Impulsively Vicki flung her arms around the older man and hugged him. “Thank you!” The sweatshirt, though it was too large, was warm, much warmer than her light sweater had been. “I’ll always remember you and this place when I wear it,” she promised.
    A horn sounded outside.
    “That must be your ride. Come along. Don’t forget anything.” And Mr. Lynwood hurried to the door of the station.
    Almost before she knew what was happening, Vicki found herself in the front seat of a sheriff’s car, waving good bye to the station master. Turning to look at the officer driving, she realized that he was an older man. “I’ve never ridden in a sheriff’s car before! But earlier today–no, I suppose it was yesterday–I got to sit in a State Trooper’s car for a little while. We had to wait for a grass fire to move away from the road before we could keep going. Are you the sheriff?”
    The officer shook his head with a chuckle. “No. I used to be the sheriff around here, but then I retired. Found out after six months of doing nothing, that I didn’t like it, so I came back to the force. Now I’m just Deputy Conway.”
    “I’m Vicki; well, really my name is Victoria, but I’m only called that when I’m in trouble.” Before the deputy had a chance to reply, she went on. “How are we going to catch the bus? You don’t have any lights or sirens on.”
    “Well, it’s this way. We know the route the bus has to take. Because the bus is so large, it can only travel on certain roads, but we can take the short cuts. And, one of the other deputies has gone up ahead to find and stop it for us.”
    Leaning one elbow against the window ledge, Vicki rested her cheek against her fist in thoughtful silence. “Am I going to make this bus late?”
    “I don’t think so,” Deputy Conway reassured. “They usually have some extra time in their schedule for little delays.”
    Thus assured, Vicki relaxed. Not feeling in the least bit sleepy, for the cold, the fresh air and the novelty of being awake and riding in a sheriff’s car at three-thirty in the morning had awakened her fully, she began to talk. She told the deputy all about the adventures she had already experienced on her bus trip, about the people she had met, and about how much she was going to enjoy staying with her married sister. “I don’t know if they’ll let me ride a bus back home,” she confided. “They might be afraid I’d end up in Alabama or Wisconsin.” She laughed at the thought. “Have you ever gotten on the wrong bus?”
    “No, can’t say I ever did, but I got lost in my patrol car first day as a policeman in Denver.” Finding that he had an interested listener, Deputy Conway told stories of his early days as an officer for the police department. Long before his supply of stories was ended, the flashing lights of a patrol car could be seen cutting through the darkness with the lights of a bus just ahead. “And it looks like we made it.”
    Vicki thanked Deputy Conway and asked him to sign her autograph book. “I got the State Trooper to sign it too. And the station master.”

    With a long sigh, Vicki pulled her legs up on to her seat and leaned back with her shoulder against the window. It was still too dark to see anything, the other passengers were asleep, and the driver wouldn’t talk to her. “Get some sleep,” he had told her after he had been given his instructions about her and she had been seated right behind him.
    “Maybe he’s just been having a bad night,” she mused, trying to see his face in the mirror, but failing. “I did make him wait for me, and maybe he doesn’t want to be distracted. Daddy doesn’t like us to talk to him all the time when he’s driving.” The warmth of the sweatshirt was relaxing. Scooting down, she spread her sweater over her legs and stared up through the large windows into the starlit heavens. “That’s a lot of stars . . . and God knows each of their names.” She yawned. “I don’t think I could even come up with that many names. Let me see . . .”

Have you ever ridden in a sheriff's car?

Have you ever tried to come up with names for all the stars you see?

Will you be back next week?

By Bus - Part 7 and Help Wanted

Hello FFFs,
Yes, you are still getting the next part of Vicki's travels, but I also needed your help, your input, your advise, your two cents worth.

Here's the situation:
After this story, I don't have any other short stories written. I can post a little more of "Dylan's Story" and another section of "Hymns in the Hills" but that's all the new things I have that can be posted. You see, with trying to write two books (okay 4, but two aren't top priority right now), finish my website, write blog posts for Read Another Page, work on the big project of the Bike Trips, plus adding teaching writing this fall again, I just don't have time to keep trying to fit in short stories just for this blog. I was trying to figure out how I did it before. :P I guess I wasn't so focused on my books. And I didn't have a website, or 33 bike trips to turn into a book. 
So, the question is, what should I do about this blog after this story is finished?

• A.) Keep posting until I run out of new things and then shut the blog down.

• B.) Post until I run out of new things and then leave the blog up but don't do anything with it.

• C.) Finish the new things and then start re-posting the old stories from when I first started. 

• D.) Leave the blog up and post whenever I get a short story written.

• E.) Post any short stories on Read Another Page instead of this blog.

• F.) Forget writing books and only write short stories.

• G.) Open the blog for other writers to "guest post" their short stories.

• H.) Something else.

Please help! Give me your opinion. I don't want to lose my loyal fiction fans because I'm too busy to write short stories all the time. I don't want to completely shut this blog down as I've been posting every Friday for about 7 1/2 years! But I just can't keep it up. My books are calling louder than the short stories. ;) I have too many other things going on right now. Maybe later I could come back with more short stories, but I don't know. So please, tell me what you think!

I have been enjoying both "Finding Joy" and "TCR-6" as they've been moving along. Not racing this week, but moving steadily. Hopefully tonight and tomorrow night will be productive days too because next week we'll have 4 of my nieces and nephews from Tuesday–Sunday. No time for writing then.

Okay, I'm going to be looking forward to your answers. Thanks. And enjoy the next part of this story.

By Bus with Vicki

Part 7

When she reached the very back, she stopped. Now where could they have gone? “Maybe the driver put them in the overhead,” she thought, catching a glimpse of the doors above the seats. “I’ll go ask him.”
    Staggering back up the aisle and trying not to fall on any of the sleeping passengers, Vicki at last made it to the very front. “Excuse me,” she said clearly, yet quietly.
    The driver glanced at her in the mirror. “Yes?”
    “I can’t find my bags. Did you put them in the overhead place above the seats?”
    “No, I don’t touch the things the passengers bring on the bus, just their luggage that goes underneath.” He turned and looked at her momentarily.
    Vicki gave a gasp. “Oh, what happened to the new driver?” She was suddenly wide awake.
    “Huh?”
    “The driver that drove us from where I got on introduced me to the new driver when we got to the station, but it wasn’t you.”
    Again the driver looked at her. “Miss, where are you going?”
    “San Jose, California.”
    The driver drew a long breath almost like a whistle before he spoke. “Well, you’re headed for Montana right now.”
    “Montana? But I don’t want to go to Montana. How can that be?”
    “You got off your other bus, right?”
    “Yes, but only for a few minutes. I was going to call my parents, but–”
    The driver interrupted. “Then you probably got on the wrong one.”
    “But I saw Mr. Newspaperman get on this one, and he was on the bus when I got on this morning.”
    “He probably had to take a different bus at the last station.”
    Vicki sat down in a seat behind the driver. It was strange to have a conversation with a man in a mirror, but she couldn’t see the driver’s face any other way. “Well, can’t you just turn around and take me back to the station? The other bus might not have left yet.”
    “That’s about two hours behind us.”
    “Two hours,” echoed Vicki, disbelief written all over her face. “But I didn’t go to sleep. I’m sure I didn’t. At least . . . I don’t think I did.” For a long time she sat in total silence trying to make herself realize that she, Vicki Rogers, had gotten on the wrong bus and was now going, not to her sister’s in California, but north to Montana. At last she spoke. “Do I have to go all the way to Montana?” She was thinking about the money it was going to cost to get a new ticket to California.
    “No, I’ll see what I can figure out when we get to the next station. You’ll be late getting to your destination, but we’ll make sure you get there.”
    The driver’s words were a welcome relief. “Thank you. But when will the next station be?”
    “Not for a while. You might as well go back to sleep again.” The driver looked at her in the mirror and smiled.
    Vicki smiled back. This was certainly an interesting trip she was taking. After tucking her purse between herself and the back of the seat, she curled up right where she was and closed her eyes. “And Mom and Dad think I’m on the right bus. At least they won’t be worried about me. Well, I wanted adventure. Now I have it. A lot of it. They’ll probably never let me ride another bus again as long as I live.” She yawned widely, and shifted a little. “Then I may as well enjoy this trip.” With those thoughts, she fell asleep.

    When she next awoke, the bus was coming to a stop. All was still dark, but Vicki thought she could detect a faint glow in the east. “But it might be a city,” she decided. Stretching, she remembered that she was on the wrong bus.
    Turning around after parking the bus, the driver looked at Vicki. Her headband was about to slide off the back of her head, she had an impression of her purse handle on her cheek, and she didn’t appear very awake. “Good morning, young lady,” he greeted her. “I want you to promise me you won’t step foot off this bus until I tell you to. I’m going to go see what I can do about getting you to where you are supposed to go.”
    Vicki promised solemnly that she wouldn’t stir from her seat without his permission. While she waited, she adjusted her headband and pulled her sweater closer. The warmer jacket her mother had insisted she take was in the other bus. “And here I am going farther north than Mom had planned. I wonder how I’m to get back to the right bus.”
    At last the driver came back with another man. Quietly he called Vicki off the bus. “This is Mr. Lynwood, the station master. You are to stay with him until transportation can be arranged to get you back on the right route. Please don’t get lost!”
    “I won’t. I’ll stay right with him.”
    Moments later the bus had pulled away and Vicki was sitting in a seat inside the quiet and almost deserted station. Though she had many questions, she didn’t ask any because Mr. Lynwood was busy talking on the telephone. Clutching the handle of her purse, the girl swung her feet and  yawned, letting her eyes wander around the empty room. They rested on a large clock. “I didn’t know it was quarter after three in the morning,” she thought. “No wonder I’m still tired.”
    Mr. Lynwood came over. “All right, young lady, we are going to attempt to catch the bus that left here fifteen minutes ago. A friend of mine who works for the sheriff’s department is going to take you in his car. That bus will take you to the station where you should have been had you not gotten on the wrong bus"

Have you ever gotten in the wrong car, bus, train, or something?

What would you do if you discovered you were heading in the wrong direction?

And what should I do about this blog?