Ben'sThree-Wheeler Mishap

“Come on, Benj,” Scott addressed his younger cousin. “Hop on the back. We gotta bring the cows in.”

Eleven-year-old Benjamin was eager to oblige his cousin as he mounted the Honda three-wheeler. Riding the three-wheeler was always fun even though nobody ever let him drive. Who knows? He thought to himself. Maybe today is the day? He leaned back on the seat and tightly grasped the warm metal bars of the cargo rack that was mounted on the back of the ATV. Scott turned the key, bringing the machine to life, and shifted into first gear before pressing the accelerator lever with his right thumb.

The boys drove up the barn hill, past the big sliding doors on the barn, and past the shop where Uncle David worked diligently replacing triangle blades on the cutter bar of the farm's haybine. Ben leaned close to his cousins back as they approached the sugar camp. There was a single strand of bared wire stretched across the driveway. Scott leaned forward and pinched the wire between two barbs with his thumb and fore finger. He picked the wire up over his and Ben's head as he drove underneath on the way to the pie pasture.

“You ever drop that on your head?” Benjamin asked.

“No,” Scott replied. “But Luke forgot it was there once and drove right through it.”

“Man,” Ben replied with a grimace. “I'll bet that hurt.”

“Oh yeah,” Scott confirmed. “His tummy was all scratched up. He was pretty tough about it though. Right up until mom saw, that is. She made a big deal about it and he started crying. Funny how mom's can do that, huh? You know, ruin your tough attitude with one 'oh honey, what happened?!'”

Ben nodded in response as they drove by the lumber barn. The slab pile laid put front. The top boards were bleached from the weather. That's why it was so obvious that Scott had been searching through the pile for slabs that might be useful for his purposes. Scott had developed an interest in carpentry thanks primarily to the influence of his grandfathers. Scott wasn't allowed to use the lumber from the barn for projects without his father's expressed permission, but the slab pile was fair game. He made regular trips back and forth between the slab pile and his “shop” in the sugar camp.

The boys turned left into the pie pasture (so named for it's triangular shape) and drove along the high tensile fence line to the back corner of the pasture. The cows were all bedded down in the lower back corner where the trees from the woods provided a welcome relief from the hot summer sun. The cows heard the sound of the three-wheeler and glanced lazily across the field at the approaching boys. Some of the older and more experienced cows took the initiative and got to their feet. By the time the boys go to the herd, half of them were already moseying in the general direction of the barn.

Scott carefully steered the ATV through the remaining cows, poking them with a length of one and a half inch black pipe he carried for herding purposes.

“Hyaa,” he hollered as the cows paid him just enough mind. “Come on. Let's go. We don't have all night.”

Scott maneuvered the three wheeled vehicle back and forth behind the lumbering herd, ensuring that the stragglers didn't get left behind. After an amount of time that wasn't nearly as long as it felt to the boys who were riding around on a vehicle going well below optimal driving speed, the last cow finally walked into the barn. It took quite a while for the herd to get far enough into the barn for the boys to successfully close the gate. There wasn't a reliable water source in the pasture so the cows crowded around the large watering trough, insistent on drinking their fill before continuing to the feed bunk. It always amazed the boys how quickly the cows could take a five hundred gallon trough from overflowing to empty.

Scott closed the gate and wrapped the chain around the post to keep it closed. He turned to his cousin.

“You wanna drive?” he asked with a smile.

“You bet!” Ben replied, his voice thick with excitement.

Ben jumped onto the three-wheeler and waited impatiently as his cousin climbed on behind him.

“Okay,” Scott began. “Shift with your left foot. Up is up down is down. Brake on your right.”

“Okay,” Ben replied as he put the ATV in first gear. “ Here we go.”

He apprehensively pressed the accelerator lever and the vehicle slowly started up the sugar camp hill. He was so excited. He was finally getting a chance to drive the infamous three-wheeler. His excitement was dampened slightly when the three-wheeler stalled halfway up the hill. The boys began to roll backwards down the hill.

“Brake, brake. Brake!” Scott instructed with increasing urgency.

Benjamin did not step on the brake pedal and Scott was too far back on the seat to do so. Instead, the two cousins and the machine upon which they rode rolled backwards down the hill and over a small bank right through a single barbed wire fence that separated the driveway from a cow lane that lead to the heifer pasture. The three-wheeler flipped backwards causing Scott to land on his back in the rocky dirt. Benjamin's landing was somewhat softer as his fall was broken by His cousin's soft paunch. The three-wheeler would have mad the situation much worse of Scott hadn't managed to catch it somewhat with his feet. The boys laid there stunned for a few moments before Scott broke the silence.

“Can you get off?” he grunted. “I don't think I can hold this thing much longer.”

Ben rolled out from in between Scott and the machine and awaited further instructions.

“Can you hold this so I can get up?” Scott inquired of his cousin.''

Ben grabbed both handlebars and steadied the three-wheeler while Scott got up. The boys gently returned the machine to it's upright and parked position and took a few moments to catch their breaths.

“Um,” Scott began. “I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but I think I'm going to drive.”

“Yeah,” Ben replied with a sheepish grin. “ I think that's probably a good idea.”

Eventually, Benjamin got a second chance at operating the three wheeler with much more favorable results. He eventually became a proficient operator. This just goes to show, if at first you may not succeed, make sure you have your overweight cousin on board to break your fall.