Boomtown (28 page)

“
Firearms safety?
You're pulling my leg, right?”

“No, sir, I'm not. He's usually a lot more careful.”

“And now he robs the bank on Mondays?”

“Oh, him and I worked that out a while ago. When he got here, about all he knew how to do was rob banks and make license plates. We didn't need any license plates, so the town agreed to let him rob the bank. Just on Mondays, though.”

“You're serious?”

“I told you everybody in town has a job, 'cept for Denk, of course. Frank just wanted to keep himself sharp. We figure he gives our town a little character, and in return the residents pay him a small salary to keep a roof over his head. Pretty fair deal, if you ask me.”

I doubted that Boomtown needed to pay anyone to give it any more character than it already had.

Burton took Frank to jail, where he was released the next day, promising to be especially careful in the future. From then on Sheriff Ernie tried extra hard to make it to the bank on time for his Monday appointment.

The No Parking sign was removed and installed in the lobby of the library. Visitors would see it there; someone was sure to tell the story about the Reverend Button, who was
almost
shot by Frankie the Banker.

I stayed inside my house for almost a month after that, except on Sundays. I kept the door locked and my head down. I even gave up shaving—afraid I might die in a horrible shaving accident. But was that the end of it? Not by a long shot.

CHAPTER 14

Fourth of July

M
arch soon gave way to April and Easter week. At Boomtown Church, we remembered the season in typical fashion, starting with the annual children's procession on Palm Sunday. The children marched down the aisle of the church bearing palm branches and singing the hymn “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna!” Then we held a solemn Good Friday service filled with quiet prayers and burning candles. Finally, it was Easter morning; it began with a joint sunrise service in Chang Park sponsored by all three of the town's congregations and was followed by joyful celebrations in each of the three respective churches.

Then, in traditional Boomtown fashion, the real fun began. Everyone gathered on the museum grounds for a community Easter brunch, Easter egg hunt, and other holiday games. Children ran back and forth through the bushes and along the paths searching for eggs. The boys wore jackets and ties, and the girls were dressed in their finest Easter dresses. Parents stood in cheerful groups watching their children and enjoying a delicious breakfast cooked by the museum kitchen.

Even Denk was there with his seven children, and Walter the Butcher put in an appearance; this was the one public gathering a year they both would attend. It was quite a sight to see the two gigantic men standing silently next to one another, arms crossed, scowls on their faces, like two gnarled trees in a for-est. But their frowns were unable to dampen the mood. The sun shone brightly in the clear blue sky with not a rain cloud in sight. A cool breeze blew through the blossoming apple and cherry trees. Stomachs were tucked full of eggs and ham and fresh coffee and fruit juice. It was the perfect Easter Sunday.

Still, I don't think I'll ever get used to the traditional Hen Grenade toss, where kids throw egg grenades at a five-foot-high paper mâché Easter Bunny piñata until it explodes and candy goes flying everywhere. It could only happen in Boomtown.

April turned to May, and before you knew it children were out of school. Like other farming communities, Boomtown followed a modified school schedule in order to accommodate families who were busy planting and harvesting crops. School didn't officially begin until October and continued uninterrupted—except for winter break—until mid-May. Kids would be out for eight weeks until after the Fourth of July and then back in school for part of July and August. May was busy with planting the fall crops; June was set aside for bringing in the winter wheat harvest and cherry picking; August and September for alfalfa, barley, corn, cabbage, squash, turnips, apples, and more. It was always a busy time for Boomtown.

Of course, that didn't stop anyone from making preparations for the biggest celebration of Boomtown's year—the Fourth of July parade. In spite of everyone's full schedule on the farms, they still made time to build elaborate floats, sew costumes, iron uniforms, practice band music, erect grand-stands and booths, bake cakes and pies, make caramel apples and cotton candy for sale, and decorate every fence with red, white, and blue bunting. The Hopontop Circus was in town for that week, and so was the Bonitelli Brothers' Traveling Carnival. That meant rides and rodeos to go along with the blasts and booms of the huge fireworks show held on the shores of the river in Chang Park at sundown on the Fourth of July.

Of course, Chang's Famous Fireworks Factory had been producing full tilt since January in order to meet the demand for fireworks. They were busy filling orders for as far away as New York and Florida. They also had to supply the nine
tons
of rockets, shells, firecrackers, Roman candles, girandoles, cherry bombs, spinning wheels, whistles, snakes, bottle rockets, fountains, sparklers, smoke grenades, gerbs, firefalls, and set pieces needed for the residents of Boomtown.

Every season, Chang's would unveil something new and exclusive just for the townspeople: a more spectacular fountain, a louder firecracker, or a specially colored sparkler. This year Han-wu and his team had modified the rocket they'd been testing. It stood six feet high, two feet in diameter, and was filled to the top with hundreds of fireworks. It would fill the sky with a magnificent finale of shooting stars, fiery rainbows, dazzling sparkles, and ringing blasts. The huge rocket joined the rows and rows of cannons positioned on Left Foot Island. Workers checked and double-checked the arrangements while the whole town counted the hours until the big blastoff scheduled for a few days later.

Sheriff Burton Ernie was busy with his own concerns. The day after the Monday bank robbery, he was back down at the river below the fireworks factory trying to find more pages from the mysterious letter. He looked for footprints and tire tracks. He tried to find signs of digging. From there he traveled all over town searching high and low for the opening to the tunnel that
had
to be somewhere, but he couldn't find it. New mounds appeared every now and then. Wood posts and boards came up missing from the Straightline Lumber Mill.

Food was taken—freshly baked pies from Gramma Edna's windowsill, eggs from Lazy Gunderson's hen house, and a side of ham from in front of the Red Bird. No one was seen. Nothing was heard. It was driving Burton crazy.

Everyone else was too busy to notice. There were crops to harvest, dresses to sew, food to prepare, stands to build, circuses to attend, broncos to bust, rides to ride, and a parade to plan. Janice and the kids were caught up in the fervor. Janice was helping some of the ladies sew banners and bunting. Jonny and Sarah were wrapped up in their secret class project, a special float built by the children of Boomtown School. Ruth, as Slug Queen, would be riding with Waldo Wainwright, the Slug King, and her entire court of Slug Princesses. I had been recruited, along with Reverend Platz and Reverend Tinker, to serve as masters of ceremonies for the parade.

The floats would gather at the west end of Boom Boulevard, wind their way around the statue of Chang in the center of Town Square, and then head north along Bang Street accompanied by bands and cheerleaders and dancers and marching teams. Bringing up the rear would be the annual Founders' Day Float, a plaster re-creation of the old city on a hill that would be blown up from the inside. This was scheduled to happen just as it reached the center of town. It commemorated the founding event of Boomtown and was always a parade favorite.

As one of the three masters of ceremonies, I was assigned a position in front of Chang's statue where a public address system was installed. It was our job to announce each float and group as the parade passed through Town Square. I was nervous—
very
nervous—being surrounded by stuff exploding in my face every two seconds.

Ruth came to my rescue. “Here, Dad,” she said, handing me a Slug football helmet.

“What's this for?”

“I knew you were nervous about all the fireworks. Waldo let me borrow this from the team.”

“Thanks. I need all the help I can get.”

“Did you want some football pads too? I can probably get some of those.”

“No, the helmet should be enough, sweetheart,” I said, giving her a quick hug. “Burton promised to keep an eye on me. And the two reverends, of course, they'll be guarding my safety. It's like having my own security detail.” I hoped I wouldn't need it.

The morning of the parade finally arrived. Helga the librarian was in charge of getting everyone lined up. She hustled up and down the line, handling last-minute emergencies, encouraging the musicians, straightening ribbons and bows, and telling everyone to smile, smile,
smile
.

Mayor Tanaka and his wife, Kyoko, rode in the lead car waving to the crowd. A float that re-created his heroic act during the war—a battleship on fire—followed behind. Akihiro's son stood on the back of the float firing a small, brass cannon. The blasts echoed off the sides of the buildings and rattled the glass in the windows. It was a fitting display for the start of the parade.