Dropping a nickel into the change collector, then walking to the back of the swaying bus was the start of a new adventure. My brother was taking a pouch of coins to the Beacon News building. It was this week's paper route money. It was my first trip without Mom or Dad taking me. My brother, Michael, had actually volunteered to take me along. So many times he would go somewhere by himself, leaving me to play with my toy cowboy collection either under the porch or the lilac bushes. Rainy days were spent in the back of the attic drawing wanted posters, or Patty Mathew. Bad guys were chased across the attic floor by the fastest posse of toy cowboys.
Crossing the old and shaky High Street bridge, the bus driver shifted gears as the bus struggled to get over it. Looking down, you could see steam engines taking train cars to the different shops to be fixed. The bridge spanned the rail yards of the CB&Q railroad. My dad and some of my uncles worked there, at the Q.
The wood planks of the sidewalk bounced as the bus passed by. Someday this old bridge is just going to fall down, a man said to me. Passing St. Nick's church and Great Auntie Ann's house, the bus rolled on stopping here and there to pick up more passengers. Some people knew who we were and asked about Mom and Dad.
Reaching our stop, Michael pulled the cord to stop the bus. He actually took my hand as we started to weave our way across town to the Beacon News building. Downtown was a busy place when I was little. A dozen boys waited to turn over their route collection money. Bobby Miller, Roger White, and two other Pigeon Hill boys were in line ahead of us. They were interested in trading comic books with Michael and asked if my brother had seen the movie at the Paramount, "Space Invaders.” It was Saturday and tickets were half price up till six o'clock. Science fiction was Michael's favorite genre of books, and movies too. It was my first movie, even then I could see the wires holding up the flying saucer. There was a lot of booing and popcorn being tossed.
The bus ride home had more adventure than that movie. Robert Tayler in The Last Buffalo Hunter was going to be there next week. I began drawing buffalos then from a nickel I'd taken from Dad's dresser drawer.
