The train clattered on its way toward Keystone, South Dakota, the town at the foot of Mount Rushmore. (Sasha and Peter’s dialog of the previous day had been word for word from the movie, in which the train, the Twentieth Century Limited, had started out from Washington DC. But Sasha and Peter had been on the way to Chicago at the time, having first done their Thin Man re-enaction as their particular train had left New York.)
They were relaxing in the Observation Car, which consisted of large, comfy swivel chairs arranged in two rows, one on either side of the corridor, and curving glass windows that allowed people on either side of the car to gaze out at the scenery.
“This is the only way to travel,” mused Sasha, from her chair. Peter, from his chair, pursed his lips. They were holding hands, slouched in their comfy chairs, feet resting on the window sills.
“Too bad we don’t have our own private railway car,” he said. “So we could be sitting here with some appropriate music, enjoying the scenery, and doing a bit more than holding hands.”
Sasha grinned at him. “You’re an animal.”
He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it.
II.
Well, this is a bit of a bummair,” said Peter, a few hours later.
They were standing in the Mount Rushmore Visitor Center, where they’d just been informed that they could not climb up Mt. Rushmore, let alone down it, and there was security everywhere that would prevent them from attempting to do so clandestinely.
“This’ll teach us to do a bit of research on the web before we plan these little trips,” said Sasha disconsolately.
“Well, we should have known. Can you imagine the bad publicity they’d get, if five or six people a year fell off George Washington’s head?” said Peter.
“Yeah…well, as long as we’re here, we may as well see what we can see.”
III.
“The internet is wonderful,” said Sasha later on that night. She and Peter were lying in bed. Sasha had her laptop on her knees and was surfing the web while Peter was watching The Eiger Sanction on TMC.
“What have you found?” he asked.
“The Mount Rushmore that Hitchcock had Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint climb all over in the movie. It still exists.”
“You’re kidding me!”**
“Nope. Some wealthy oilman back in the 60s fell in love with the movie, visited Hitchcock, and learned that the Rushmore set was going to be destroyed. He bought it and plumped it down in the Arizona desert, in amongst all the Joshua trees. He’s dead now, but his family’s still there, and they let people climb it.”
“For a princely sum?” asked Peter.
“No, quite reasonable. As long as people are willing to sign a gazillion papers absolving them of all blame if they fall and kill themselves, they can climb all day for a reasonable sum.”
“How many people do they let climb at a time?” asked Peter, worriedly. While Cary and Saint had not made love on Mount Rushmore during the movie, that is what Peter and Sasha intended to do…take the exhilaration engendered by climbing around on one of the country’s icons and use it to have an absolutely spectacular sexual experience. But they were neither of them exhibitionists and if there was a chance someone could rappel down on their entwined bodies it would have a rather dampening effect on the libido.
“Only one group at a time. A group being a single person, a couple or a group. So…what do you think?”
Peter grinned at her. “I think we hop the next train to Texas.”
Sasha grinned back at him. “I like the way you think.”
________________________
**Sasha isn't kidding Peter, but I, the author, am kidding you. If you want to climb a replica of Mount Rushmore, you have to go all the way to Japan to do it.
No comments:
Post a Comment