WE GATHER TOGETHER by Edward L. Woodyard

We Gather Together Chapter One Hundred Fourteen

Scott McCulloch drove the Bimmer north out of Castlebury on Pleasanton Road and up the long hill that led to the straightaway to his home. Halfway up the hill, he flipped on his headlights as the sun was setting through the evergreen trees to his left. However, the engine was spluttering for the first time, alerting Scott that he was running out of gas. He saw the now-flashing icon of the gas tank next to the gas gauge.

"Oh, good Lord, we could be in trouble," he told himself.

When the Bimmer arrived at the top of the hill where the road leveled off, the gas in the tank shifted forward, hinting that gas flow into the pistons may have resumed. Scott was hoping to get as near to his parents' home as possible before he'd have to pull over onto grass along the shoulder and then figure out what to do from there.

Scott was praying for extended gas fumes. All he needed was another couple of miles' worth of fuel to make it to the end of his parents' driveway. Twilight had descended behind the old oaks and maple saplings near the pond where his father had taught him how to skate -- and he had taught Ben how to skate backwards. He was hoping against hope that the car would make it past the hillside meadow, which would bring them within a mile of their destination.

The Bimmer again balked and hesitated, forcing him to shift the car into neutral and let it glide for as long as it could. When it slowed almost to a stop, Scott forcefully turned the steering wheel to the right where the car found a safe spot in meadow grass among fallen leaves on the east side of Pleasanton Road.

Scott and Maya both looked at the digital clock on the dashboard; it read 4:00. They sat in the car, Scott turning its interior ceiling light on.

Outside, it was dark and there was no other car on the road.