Figments & Fragments

The Vanishing Bus

Tomorrow I’ll be a sergeant in Spearestown, thought Bardstown police officer Tibbs as he switched on his lights and siren. All I gotta do is create a distraction at exactly 3:54.

Disgraced ex-choir master Letzall Singh glanced at his watch as he came down the freeway exit ramp with the band bus’s right turn signal flashing. He was cunningly disguised as mild-mannered bus driver Ralph Cramptin, and at exactly 3:54 he turned left toward Spearestown instead of right toward Bardstown.

As soon as I deliver these kids to Spearestown, I'll be a choir master again, he chortled to himself.

He’d used a heavy foot on the gas pedal to open up a half-mile lead on the two buses following him. Their view of his bus was briefly blocked by a slight rise in the freeway as he turned the opposite way from what he’d signaled.

The good citizens of Bardstown, waiting to greet their visitors and kick off the Founder's Day Celebration, were all gawking at Officer Tibbs’ cruiser as he carved doughnuts in the Piggly-Wiggly parking lot. They completely missed the wayward bus as the road to Spearestown took it behind a grove of spreading chestnut trees. The two following buses, loaded with parents and honored guests, pulled up in the town square to join in the confusion.

“Where’s the band?” asked Mayor Writon.

“I’m sure I saw them turning toward Bardstown,” said the puzzled driver of the second bus.

“Change of plans,” called out Mayor Doyle of Spearestown when the band bus pulled up to an opulent mansion just inside the city limits. “You’ll be playing for Judge Leonard’s son’s 21st birthday party instead of the Bardstown Founder's Day Celebration.”

Why’s the band bus at Judge Leonard’s place, wondered Sam Writon as he passed by on his way to apply for a position on the Spearestown police force.

His father, the Bardstown mayor, wanted him to become a namby-pamby poet, but Sam wanted to be a cop. His investigative instincts kicked in, and he soon had Bardstown police captain O’Leary on the line.

“Captain O’Leary, there’s something weird going on over here, the Founder's Day entertainers are setting up at Judge Leonard’s house!”

“Hang tight, Sam, I’ll have the State Police there in twenty minutes.”

Everything worked out in the end. The band and choir were rescued in time for Founder's Day, Sam replaced officer Tibbs, and Letzall Singh joined Mayor Doyle and Judge Leonard in the hoosegow.


Author's note: ▼

Second place in the September 2021 round of The Bard's Hall Contest.



Prompt: Cop Shop Mystery!

What happened to the Greyhound bus bringing the choral group and band to perform for Bardstown Founder’s Day event's 21st decade?

Story must be exactly 21 sentences long.

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The Bard's Hall Contest  (13+) APRIL: Flash Fiction, 500 word limit. #981150 by StephBee - House Targaryen