It took another ten minutes to get to their stop, going at a fairly easygoing pace on the poorly maintained road. Traffic had slowed because people were rubbernecking further ahead. The little booth had been erected at a spot with a better view. Well placed, in his estimation.
It was a ways until they reached the town, but it offered a distant view of the buildings and the water that lay just a bit beyond. A trail marked the way down to the side of the lake. A family was already down there, kids splashing.
He signaled again, well before he braked, just to be absolutely clear what he had in mind. He could smell the grease and the oil of the little stand well before he lifted up his visor. With his sinuses clear and his blood pumping, oxygen flowing through his veins, he might have said that he’d never smelled anything half as good, but he’d experienced this before.
“Oh my god, I could eat a whole cow,” his companion said, behind him, echoing the thought. She pulled off her helmet, and shook her head to let her cornrows loose where they’d bunched up closer to her neck.
“You should see the burgers here,” he said. “It’s pretty close to eating a whole cow.”
She put down the kickstand to her bike, then approached, throwing her arms around him. He hugged her back, and they rocked in place.
“Thank you,” she said, squeezing him tight. “For convincing me to do this.”
“You’re very welcome,” he said, smiling. He shifted his grip on her until one arm encircled her lower back. He faced the surroundings with her. The water, the trees, and a distant ghost town with far too many trees blocking the view. Sating curiosity without quite satisfying it.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I asked, last time I was around. Rumor is that it was something about contaminated water. Dumping way back when, leeching into the town’s infrastructure. I guess it was too expensive to salvage. I don’t know the full story.”
“Why the trees, though?”
He shrugged. “Maybe they thought it would be an eyesore.”
“We could go back and see if there’s a road we could take to go take a look?” she suggested.
“Shall we grab some food, first, miss Deidre?”
“Yes,” she said, without hesitation. She smiled. “Definitely.”
There were three other people in line before their turn came up. He let Deidre order first, then gave his own order to the man with a mullet. Burger with bacon and cheese, sweet potato fries, and fried zucchini.
He enjoyed the ambient chatter and people watching before the food was done. Food in hand, they left their bikes behind and walked down the path to the water, locking up their helmets and bringing their backpacks, just to keep the essentials on hand.
It took them a minute to get settled, sitting on a fallen tree, halfway between the water and the little roadside booth.
They took a minute to get straight to eating. A kid down by the water screamed. The beach itself was as much rock as sand, but the child didn’t seem to mind, running away from the waves as they approached, then chasing them as they retreated.
“Is this the place?” Deidre asked.
“The place?”
“You said there was one place you wanted to stop by, after Toronto but before Ottawa. Process of elimination…”
“Ah, yeah. This is the place.”
“You never said why. If there was a better view of the town, that’d be neat, ghost towns can be cool, but there isn’t.”
“It sounds dumb if I say it out loud.”
“Dumb?”
“You wouldn’t believe me,” he said.
She arched her fine eyebrows at him.
“Came through this area for the first time last year… it really sounds dumb if I say it out loud.”
“But you still plotted our entire road trip around this,” she said, before she took another bite of her pogo. “There was a detour.”
“Yeah.”
“You can convince me to come with you on a spur-of-the-moment road trip, but you can’t explain this?”
He smiled, taking a bite so his mouth would be full and unable to respond. She smirked at him.
“You’re going to have to tell me sooner or later,” she said.
He smiled, mouth still full, and nodded.
“Out with it, Dominic.”
He finished chewing, took a deep breath, then confessed, “I came through here last summer, and again in the early fall, because I was curious. Nothing came of it in the fall, but-”
“I’m not following.”
“It’s easier if I show you. Can I get you to take my burger?”
Deidre did, balancing the paper container on her knee.
Dominic licked his lips, rolled his shoulders, clearing his throat.
“Stop making such a show out of it.”
“Ahem,” he said. He cupped his hands together, thumbs side-by-side, then raised his hands to his mouth.
He managed a chirping sound. It took some adjustment until it was clearer and sharper.
“That was pretty bad,” Deidre said.
“Yeah.”
“If any bird heard that, it’ll probably take it as an insult.”
He smirked, taking his burger back.
No sooner did he have the burger in his hand when a bird appeared, surprising him enough that Dominic almost dropped his lunch.
“Hey!” he said, a short laugh escaping his lips. The bird was circling him, going a mile a minute. “Hey! Little guy!”
The bird chirped in response, matching the amount of flight to the sheer amount of noise it was making.
“Hey, stop, stop. Settle down. Stop! Want a bit of sweet potato?”
The bird stopped in the next heartbeat, settling on his forearm. A sparrow, a fraction smaller than most sparrows he’d seen.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said. He pinched off a bit of sweet potato fry and gave it over.
The bird stopped its constant chirping just long enough to down the bit of fry, then it started chirping for more.
“Okay,” Deidre said. “That’s almost adorable enough to justify the lengthy detour.”
“Almost?” Dom asked, in the same moment the sparrow turned its full attention toward her, chirping in time with his question.
“Almost,” she held firm.
“Little guy came with me part of the way through the states last summer,” he said.
“What? No way.”
“Rode with me. Lost him a couple times, but he always caught up to me. I think he just really likes motorcycles. I think he’s someone’s pet, or he was.”
The bird chirped.
“Could it be a she?” Deidre asked.
The bird chirped again. It almost sounded indignant.
“No, pretty sure it’s not a she,” Dominic said.
“How do you know? Are you a bird expert?”
“Definitely not a bird expert, but-”
“I say she’s a girl, then,” Deidre said.
The sparrow took flight. Flapping violently, as it moved from Dom’s left wrist to his right shoulder. It perched there, paused, then fluttered violently, remaining in place, before stopping, feathers fluffed up.
It chirped at her.
“Or not,” she said.
“That’s why,” he said. “I asked the same question, back then, and I got a very similar response.”
The bird settled, feathers going smooth, or smoother. It moved back to Dom’s left wrist, before chirping for more food. It watched with rapt attention as he dipped his fried zucchini in cucumber sauce and took a bite.