Jim McGuire skidded his bike to a stop in front of the large blue sided
house. Setting the bike up against the white picket fence, the
eighteen-year-old glanced at his watch. He smiled as he saw that he was
right on time. Not that Mrs. Burke wouldve been angry if he had been a
little late, but it was a matter of pride to the sandy haired young man
that he showed up places when he said he would.
Originally, he had planned to spend this week in Florida. His parents
had promised him a trip to the Kennedy Space Center as a graduation
present. Hed been interested in space since he was ten and had been looking
forward to the trip for years. But the Challenger disaster last January
changed all that. He told his parents that hed go when the Shuttles flew
again, even through some critics were saying that might not be until 1987,
or 88.
Good afternoon, Mrs. Burke. he called out as he spotted the silver
haired woman waiting on the porch.
Afternoon James. the fifty-two year old waved back as she pulled a large
stack of mail from the box.
Christine Burke had been a fixture in the neighborhood since long before
Jim McGuire had been born. Almost every kid in the area looked on her as
sort of an adopted Aunt. Without any children of their own, she and her
husband, Doctor Ron Burke had made up for it by getting involved in many of
the youth oriented activities in the small town. In fact it was as a Den
Mother that Jim had first met her when he joined the Cub Scouts. A few
years later, when he graduated to the Boy Scouts, Ron Burke had been the
senior Scoutmaster.
The memory of his days in the Scouts made Jim think once again what a
shame it was what happened to Dr. Burke last year. He had been coming
home late one night after visiting a patient and was involved in a head on
collision with a drunk driver. The police said the other driver had been
doing ninety miles an hour when he slammed into Dr. Burkes station wagon.
The fact that he didnt survive the crash either was a poor consolation.
It was because of Dr. Burke that Jim had been coming over these last
few days. After a year, Christine Burke had decided that her husband of
almost twenty-eight years would want her to get on with her life and not
spend it mourning his death. So she had begun to clear out some of his
things. Clothes to various good will agencies. Parts of his library to
the local boys club. And now, most of his scouting gear to the troop.
Technically, Jim wasnt a Boy Scout anymore, having passed his 18th
Birthday three weeks before. But he had been filling in for the one
remaining Scoutmaster who was away on vacation. Besides, with all the
Burkes had done for the troop over the years, it was the least he could do.
You know where everything is, James. Christine said as she stepped off
the porch. Im going to run a few errands before it gets much hotter.
Although I cant really imagine how it could.
I heard over in the drugstore that its supposed to drop to a cool
eighty-five degrees tomorrow. Jim grinned as she walked passed him.
Id better dig up my winter coat then. Christine laughed.
As he watched Christine Burke get into her car and pull out of the
driveway, Jim was glad she had decided to put the tragedy behind her. In
fact, hed heard more than a few of the older men at his Dads hardware store
remark that theyd love to date Christine now that she was a widow. Of
course a few of them had put it in a lot blunter terms. Theyd been friends
of Ron Burke and many times over the years had envied the woman he went to
bed with each night.t.