The Legend of
Bastien
By Karen Singer
Chapter 1 – The Mistake of a Lifetime
Chapter 2 – The Letter of the Law
Chapter 3 – Dry Goods
Chapter 4 – Ready or Not
Chapter 5 – Chasm of Difference
Chapter 6 – Plotting
Chapter 7 – The Addendum
Chapter 8 – Home School
Chapter 9 – Saturday is a Workday
Chapter 10 – Sunday is a Workday Too
Chapter 11 – To Be the Queen
Chapter 12 – Snow Day
Chapter 13 – Small, Smaller, Gone!
Chapter 14 – The Battleground
Chapter 15 – Bang, Bang, I Shot You Dead
Chapter 16 – Hatching the Plan
Chapter 17 – They Don’t Teach That in
School
Chapter 18 – The Critical Calculation
Chapter 19 – The Town That Didn’t Exist
Chapter 20 – The Strangest Things
Chapter 21 – The Other Side of the Bridge
Chapter 1 – The Mistake of a Lifetime –
Part 1 of 2
Twenty
explosive charges were set to go off a quarter of a second apart, four charges
at a time. With the push of a single
button, the explosions began from the middle of the old wooden bridge and
quickly worked their way out toward the two ends. In two and a half seconds, the ancient wooden
bridge was reduced to splinters that fell a hundred and twenty feet into the
chasm and rushing water below. With the
falling of the bridge, the town of Bastien, Wisconsin fell into the realm of
legend.
But
why was the bridge destroyed and the entire town allowed to sink into
obscurity? For that answer, we need to
go back just a few years. Back to when
the bridge still stood strong and healthy.
Back to the time when the bridge was carefully maintained by the town
because the bridge was the only way in or out of the area where the remote town
of Bastien was located.
Before
the bridge was destroyed, there was a dirt road leading from each side of the
bridge. One side of the road twisted and
turned through the woods for eighteen miles, finally connecting with a small
rural highway that led to other towns and cities. If you didn’t know the dirt road was there,
you would probably miss it.
On
the other side of the bridge, you would see a pickup truck parked right near
the bridge. The pickup trucks belonged
to one of the eight town deputies who rotated the duty to watch the bridge day
and night. The bridge was that critical
to the entire community. Past the pickup
truck, the dirt road wound its way through the trees for another mile until it
ran straight into downtown Bastien.
The
community of Bastien, Wisconsin was primarily a farming community, with dairy
products and cheese being their main focus.
Other crops such as corn and grain for the livestock were raised as
well. The town tried to be as
self-sufficient as possible and prided itself on the degree to which they
managed it. But of course, not everything
could be home grown. Everything else
they needed had to be brought in over that ancient wooden bridge that they
guarded so carefully.
There
were no cellphones in Bastien because there were no cell towers anywhere near
the city, but they did have an old landline telephone system that worked just
fine for everyone, although not every home in Bastien had a telephone. The telephone system was connected to one of
two thick cables that ran under the ancient wooden bridge, one carrying
telephone access to the outside, the other carrying electricity into the
community.
Some
people in Bastien had TVs, but it was satellite TV service only. Most people in town didn’t have any TV
service at all. And of course, satellite
was how what few people that had internet service got that as well.
The
center of town was a quaint location where the entire community often gathered
on the village green. There were no
paved roads at all in Bastien, so of course, the streets were dirt and often
muddy. There was a grocery store and a
large dry goods store located just off the green. They were the only places in town where you
could buy anything. Thanks to the
internet, if the stores didn’t have what you wanted, they could get it for you,
and usually quickly.
Next
to the stores, there was a post office that handled all the mail and packages
that came in and a small bank to handle what little money was used in the
town. Most often, the people paid by
accounts in the stores, and the bank settled the money once a month directly
with the two stores.
At
the top of the village green was the combined courthouse and sheriff’s
department. The courthouse hadn’t been
used in years though and the sheriff and his eight deputies had gradually begun
using the space for extra storage.
On
the far side of the village green where the community held their gatherings and
celebrations, was the two school buildings.
One that housed the first through eighth grades, and the other that held
the high-school students. The school
students got the same classes as everywhere else…and they didn’t. The students all learned to read and
write. They learned basic math skills as
well. They also learned some history,
but the history classes weren’t like any other school taught. The classes in the Bastien schools instilled
into the students the heritage of the town and the importance of its founding
fathers, the Bastien family.
The
schools had a music program as well that taught drums, string bass, guitar,
fiddle, and accordion. Music
competitions were one of the highlights of Bastien life, and polka music was
king.
Every
girl was taught sewing and home economics skills from first grade through
twelfth. By the time the girls
graduated, there wasn’t anything they couldn’t cook or sew, and taking care of
children and babies was second nature.
The
boys all learned farming skills, everything from livestock care to how the
cheese was made. And when it came to
running and fixing tractors, every boy in town could tear a tractor apart and
practically rebuild it blindfolded.
But
our story isn’t interested in any of those things. Our story, the story of why Bastien,
Wisconsin was allowed to fall into the realm of legend, begins with something
that happened in the high school. It
happened in the middle of January, when there was almost a foot of snow
covering the village green. It happened in
one of the high school math classes that held select students from freshman
through seniors. And the entire tragedy
happened, because the school geek, the one boy who was so smart he could do
complex math problems in his head, made a mistake. But what a mistake it was!
--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---
“Okay class, competition time,” Gabe Goldman, the math teacher exclaimed. “We’re going to pick two teams and see which
one can solve the problems I give you the best…in your heads!” There was some groaning from a few of the
students. “Okay,” Goldman said. “The first team captain will be…”
“I
want Chris!” Billy Bastien called out immediately.
“Billy,”
Goldman replied. “I haven’t announced
the captains yet.”
“Yeah
well, we all know I’m going to be one of them.”
Goldman
knew he was faced with a delicate situation.
He walked over to Billy and softly said.
“Billy, we all know that as a Bastien, your leadership skills aren’t in
question. You’re already at the top of
the list. But sometimes they need us to
evaluate the other students so we can see if they have any potential for some
of the more important jobs after they graduate. Do you understand?”
“Oh…yeah. Sure,” Billy replied with a grin. “I get it.
Time to see what the dumb shits can do.
Go ahead.”
“Thanks
Billy, and thanks for speaking up so quickly too.”
“Anytime,”
Billy replied.
With
that catastrophe avoided, Goldman turned back to the class. “The two team captains today are going to be
Chris Moore and John Bolt. You two are
going to each pick your teams from the rest of the class. Chris, even though you’re only a freshman and
John is a senior, I know you both can do these math problems easily. Because of that, neither of you are allowed
to give your teams the actual answers.
You can each only suggest how the rest of them can solve the
problems. Tell them how to do it if they
don’t know and then confirm if they have the right answer or not. Remember, this is a lesson in not only math,
but in teamwork. Okay?
“Now
I’ll flip a coin to see which of you gets to pick first. John, you take your team to that side of the
room, and Chris, your team is on the other side. John, you call the coin toss.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a
coin. With a flick of his thumb, he sent
it spinning high into the air.
“Heads!”
John called.
The
coin was allowed to settle to the floor.
The students crowded around it.
“Tails!” one of them proclaimed.
“Chris,
you get to pick first,” Goldman announced.
“I
pick…”
Billy
started to get up from his seat, sure that Chris was going to call him.
“Judy!”
Chris finished.
Billy
was flabbergasted. He was always picked
first.
John
picked one of the other boys in the class.
Chris
picked. John picked. Back and forth, but neither of them picked
Billy Bastien. And Billy got angrier and
angrier. Finally, only him and one of
the girls was left. He was sure Chris
was going to pick him now, but Chris picked the girl.
“Okay
Billy, you’re on John’s team,” Goldman finished.
But
Billy didn’t go to John’s side of the room.
He angrily headed for the school geek instead. “Why didn’t you pick me?” he said angrily to
Chris. “I’m a Bastien. I always get picked first, and I’m always on
the winning team.”
“Billy!”
Goldman said quickly, trying to step in before something bad could happen. But two seconds later, it was too late.
“Are
you kidding?” Chris replied. “I wouldn’t
pick you for anything. You’ve got to be
the dumbest piece of shit in this entire school!” Murmurs of surprise and shock were heard
throughout the room. “I don’t even know
why you’re in this class. Just because
you’re a Bastien you think you can do anything at all. You think the entire world will give you
anything you want. Well it won’t! You’re too stupid. You don’t deserve to rule this town
someday. I don’t want someone as stupid
as you on my team. I want to win!”
“Chris!”
Goldman called quickly. “Stop that. Apologize to him right now!”
“Like
hell!” Chris replied, staring Billy right in the face.
“I
said apologize!”
Chris
shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he replied,
much more contritely.
But
Billy was seething. With a quick look at
everyone else, he walked out of the classroom.
Goldman
grabbed Chris by the arm and dragged him out into the hallway. “What the hell did you think you were
doing? You know what can happen in this
town when someone insults a Bastien.”
“It’s
not right. And he is dumb as shit.”
Chris replied. “Besides, I apologized.”
“Let’s
just hope it doesn’t lead to anything else,” Goldman said. “Now let’s get back to class.”
Back
in the room, everyone was staring at Chris, but he ignored them all. When the math competition started, it took
him a bit to get the hang of explaining how to do the problems to his team, but
in the end, his team won easily. But the
damage had already been done. Even
though nobody knew it yet, the town of Bastien was now on its way toward
obscurity, slowly sinking into the realm of legend and nothing more.
Shortly
after the math competition, Chris headed to the boy’s room to pee. He got through the door and found Billy there
with his usual four friends, Pete, Sam, Tony, and Chet. Chris was heading for one of the urinals when
Billy rushed over in front of him and slammed his fist as hard as he could into
Billy’s stomach. Chris went down in
pain, gasping for breath. “You’ve got a
lot to learn,” Billy whispered menacingly.
“I always get picked first, and I run this town!” With that, he brought is fist down as hard as
he could into Chris’s face, sending Chris in terrible pain completely to the
floor. Billy kicked Chris over and over
again, hurting him as much as possible.
Finally, he leaned over top of Chris.
“I should kill you for that,” Billy said. “Maybe I will.”
“Yeah,
explain it to him good!” Pete exclaimed with a laugh.
“Hey
look,” Sam said, pointing at Chris. “The
dumb shit wet his pants.”
Laughing
over it, Billy led them all out of the restroom, leaving Chris in a world of
misery. He was found a few minutes later
by another boy from the school who had just entered the bathroom. Seeing Chris, he ran to the school office to
get help. It was only a few minutes
before the school principal, Hugh Pomeroy, got there.
“What
happened?” Pomeroy asked.
“I
made a mistake,” Chris admitted sorrowfully.
“What
mistake?”
“I
called Billy Bastien a dumb shit.”
“You
didn’t! Chris, how could you?”
“He
is, and I did,” Chris admitted.
“Come
on,” Pomeroy said. “Let’s get you to the
office. Are you okay to stay in school?”
“Yeah,
but…”
“Damn!”
Pomeroy exclaimed. “You wet your
pants. I’ll call your mother and get her
to bring you another pair.”
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