In that fateful moment, Jessie looked up in to the eyes of Walt, and some spark in her was kindled, it was a feeling, an emotion that she had never experienced. She was left breathless, as if some unseen hand had brushed across her face, she blushed, she knew something was going to change in her life, and she was both full of wonder, and somewhat dazed.
Jessie was aglow with emotion. She believed she had at last found a path in her life that she had been searching for. She was happy with Jim, but, there was something lacking in their relationship.
"I must find an excuse to meet Walt again," she said to herself. She had met him on one other occasion, at the Arcade, Jim had hastily introduced them, but they barely looked at each other, it was a brief encounter. Without further argument with herself she turned back toward the feed store, deep in thoughts of how she could arrange her meeting with Walt. She felt a strange attraction to him, as if she had known him for a long time, he was so familiar to her.
Walt skillfully backed his loaded truck toward the rear coal chute at the Arcade, as Jim was giving him hand signals to insure correct alignment so that he did not hit the rubber bumpers too hard. Jim had placed them carefully at the rear of the building. Jim knew that Walt was some sort of a scoundrel, but never let on, and was always extremely cordial to Walt on his tri weekly deliveries. But Jim was always guarded with him, never too open.
"A little more Walt, easy, that's good .... Go ahead and drop the load, Jim instructed. As the huge truck stopped, Walt swung the door open, and with a trained flourish, swung back up on the rear of the truck, and with the motor running, reached for the transverse drive lever, that operated the stuffing box, that operated the "dump box," as Walt called it.
Walt slipped, ever so slightly, but enough for his hand to slip off the lever, and the momentum of his weight forced his right hand and arm in to the cam nut bolt adjuster, which was the essential moving part of the transverse drive. In an instant, it pulled his arm in up to his shoulder. Jim instinctively moved in to action, pulled the lever to its neutral position, and cautiously went to Walt's aid.
"Walt, its in all the way up your shoulder, can you feel anything?"
"Jim, I can't feel anything, but I think I am getting weak ... I'm losing a lot of blood, I don't think I am going to make it. Is there someone we can call to get me to the hospital, Walt inquired?"
Jim shouted to Harold, "Quick, get on the Power Plant Phone, and call the hospital, they have to get someone over here right away ... NO, I think I can drive this rig, come with me, and we will take him directly to the hospital, I think it will be quicker."
Jim had observed Walt before, and had seen how deftly he moved through the gear sequence, and was confident that he too could drive the big rig.
Jim was finally able to back the truck out, head up Church Street, and make his way over to Hudson to the City Hospital. He came to an abrupt halt in front of the entrance marked Emergency, and had Harold go inside to find some help.
Shortly, three white uniformed orderly's came rushing out and jumped up on the big rig. They hurried to Walt, asked a few knowledgeable questions, and slowly helped Walt extract what was left of his arm. Walt slumped to the cold steel deck of the rig, and his lifeless body fell in a heap. One of the white uniformed orderlies shook his head after checking for a pulse.
"Its too late, he has expired, I think from a tremendous blood loss," the white uniformed orderly stated.
Later on, Jim called the trucking company and informed them of their loss, and told them the location of the now idle big rig, and then, he and Harold started the sad walk back to the Arcade.
There was a slight chill in the air, the temperature was dropping rather fast, so Jim knew he had to get back to the Arcade basement, and increase the coal consumption of his precious auger driven unit, that in turn would produce more heat for his beloved Arcade.
As Jim headed down the stairs, he looked up and saw Jessie standing there .. "I heard there was an accident and that you took someone to the City Hospital. Who was it Jim, she asked?"
“It was Walt, the big rig truck driver, remember, I introduced you to him on one occasion here. I realize it was a brief introduction, but I think you might remember him."
"That's strange," Jim thought to himself, "it was such a brief introduction, Hmmmm."
