Later that night, Lightning found himself looking out at a herd¹ of sleeping tractors. "Mater," he said, "I'm not doing this."

 

"Oh, c'mon," Mater urged, "you'll love it! Tractor tipping's fun! When I say go, we go. But don't let Frank catch you. Go!" Mater took off.

 

"Whoa!" Lightning cried. "Wha-who-whowho's Frank?" He peeled off after the tow truck. "Mater. Wait, Mater!"

 

" 'Kay, here's what you do," Mater explained as he arrived at the bottom of the hill where the tractors stood sleeping. "You just sneak² up in front of 'em and then honk³, and they do the rest. Watch this." Slowly and quietly, Mater drove up to a tractor.

 

Honk!

 

The tractor startled awake. It let out a low moan as it very slowly started tipping over. A puff⁴ of smoke burst from its exhaust pipe.

 

Mater cracked up. "I swear, tractors are so dumb!" he cried gleefully. He snuck up on another one and honked⁵, then laughed as it tipped over. "I don't care who you are, that's funny right there. Oh, your turn, bud!"

 

"Mater, I can't," Lightning said. "I don't even have a horn."

 

"Baby!" Mater teased. Then he started imitating a chicken. "Bwak, bock, bock, bock!"

 

"Fine, stop, stop, okay?" Lightning sighed. "All right. I'll do something." He drove up to a sleeping tractor and revved⁶ his engine.

 

The roar was so loud that the whole field of tractors startled awake. With a group moan, they all tipped over.

 

Lightning and Mater laughed.

 

Suddenly, there was a strange whine⁷, and in a moment, a giant tractor combine appeared. Blades whirling, he lunged at them like an angry bull.

 

"That's Frank!" Mater shouted, whipping around.

 

Lightning took off after the tow truck.

 

"Run! Run!" Mater hollered, laughing his bumper⁸ off. "Old Frank's gonna catch you! Run! He's gonna get you!"

 

Lightning didn't know why Mater was laughing; that combine was big and angry! Frank closed in behind as they tore toward an opening in the fence. They made it through the hole just in time and raced onto the open road as fast as their wheels could carry them.

 

"I haven't seen Frank that excited about somethin' since the last time he was excited about somethin'," Mater said as he and Lightning made their way back to town. "Must've been your red bumper. Tomorrow night we can go and look for the ghost light."

 

"I can't wait, Mater," Lightning said sarcastically⁹.

 

"Oh, boy, you gotta admit that was fu-un," Mater said happily. "Well, we better get you back to the impound lot."

 

"Um, you know," Lightning said awkwardly, "actually, Sally's gonna let me stay at the motel."

 

"Oh … getting cozy¹⁰ at the Cone¹¹, is we?" Mater teased, arriving at the motel's parking lot.

 

"You're in love with Miss Sally."

 

"No, I'm not," Lightning said. "No way."

 

"Way. You're in love with Miss Sally." Mater turned his teasing into a singsong. "You're in love with Miss Sally." The tow truck turned around and started driving backward, taunting¹² the race car. "You love 'er, you love 'er, you love 'er, you love 'er—"

 

"Will you stop that?" Lightning said.

 

"Stop what?" Mater asked.

 

"That driving backwards¹³ stuff," Lightning said with a shudder¹⁴. "It's creepin' me out. You're going to wreck¹⁵ or something."

 

"Wreck? Shoot, I'm the world's best backwards driver. You just watch this right here, lover boy." With a whoop¹⁶, Mater peeled out backward and wove between the Cozy Cone's traffic cone guest rooms. He cut close to them but didn't knock over a single one.

 

"What are you doing?" Lightning shouted as Mater swerved¹⁷ back and forth¹⁸. "Watch out! Look out! Mater, stop showing off now, okay? Hey, take it easy, Mater! Look out!"

 

Mater hooted¹⁹ as he drove off between a few trees and shrubs²⁰. "Ain't no need to watch where I'm going," he bragged²¹ as he headed toward Lightning at top speed. Just as he and Lightning were about to collide, Mater spun²² around and came to a full stop, facing the shocked race car. "Just need to know where I been!"

 

"Whoa!" Lightning said, truly impressed. "That was incredible." He laughed out loud. "How'd you do that?"

 

"Rearview mirrors," Mater said simply. "We'll get you some, and I'll teach you if you want."

 

"Yeah," Lightning said thoughtfully, "maybe I'll use it in my big race."

 

"What's so important about this race of yours, anyway?" Mater asked.

 

"It's not just a race." Lightning suddenly became serious as he explained. "We're talking about the Piston²³ Cup. I've been dreaming about it my whole life. I'll be the first rookie in history ever to win it, and when I do, we're talking big new sponsor with private helicopters; no more medicated bumper ointment²⁴, no more rusty²⁵ old cars—"

 

"What's wrong with rusty old cars?" Mater asked, sounding hurt. After all, he himself was rusty and old.

 

"Well, I don't mean you, Mater," Lightning said, realizing his mistake. He hadn't meant to hurt Mater's feelings. "I mean other old cars. You know, not like you. I like you."

 

"It's okay, buddy²⁶," Mater said. "Hey, you think maybe one day I could get a ride in one of them helicopters? I mean, I've always wanted to ride in one of them fancy helicopters."

 

"Yeah, yeah," Lightning said casually²⁷. "Yeah, sure, sure."

 

"You mean it?" Mater's engine hummed in excitement.

 

"Oh, yeah," Lightning promised. "Anything you say."

 

Mater's smile disappeared, and his expression turned serious. "I knew it! I knowed I made a good choice."

 

"In what?" Lightning asked.

 

"My best friend," Mater said simply. Lightning smiled. Then Mater spun his tow cable like a helicopter propeller²⁸ and sped away backward, flashing his one good headlight. "See you tomorrow, buddy!" he called. "Lightning and Sally, parked beneath a tree, k-i-s-sumpin', sumpin', sumpin' … t," he sang as he drove away.

 

Lightning couldn't help laughing as Mater's voice faded into the distance. Finally, he turned and started looking for his cone.

 

"Number one … ," he muttered as he searched.

 

"Number one … " He found it. The race car drove inside and looked around. "Ah, this is nice—"

 

"Hey, Stickers!" Sally said, appearing outside the cone. "I overheard you talking to Mater."

 

Lightning was horrified²⁹. Had she overheard Mater teasing him about having a crush on her? He hoped not.

 

"When? You just—just now? What did—what did you hear?" he asked nervously³⁰.

 

"Oh, just something about a helicopter ride," Sally said.

 

"Oh, yeah, yeah," Lightning said, half to himself. "He got a kick out of that, didn't he?"

 

"Did you mean it?" Sally asked. "You'll get him a ride?"

 

"Oh," Lightning said absently. "Who knows? I mean, first things first. I gotta get outta here and make the race."

 

"You know," Sally said, "Mater trusts you."

 

Lightning thought about that for a moment. He hadn't really taken his promise to Mater seriously, but Mater would take it seriously. "Yeah, okay."

 

"Did you mean that?" Sally pressed.

 

"Look, I'm exhausted," Lightning said, not knowing what else to say. Then he added, "It's kinda been a long day."

 

"Yeah, okay," Sally said. "Night."

 

"Hey," Lightning called as she started to drive away. "You know, thanks for letting me stay here. It's nice to be out of the impound. And this is … it's great. Newly refurbished, right?"

 

Sally smiled. "Yeah." She was proud of her motel—and Lightning had just given her a real compliment. Maybe there's some good in him after all, she thought. "Good night."

 

那天夜里，麦坤看着一群正在熟睡的拖拉机，悄声说：“板牙！我不想这样做……”

 

“老兄，少装啦，”板牙不耐烦地说，“你会喜欢这个游戏的！拖拉机四脚朝天的样子很逗的。听着！一会儿我说开始的时候我们就一块儿出发。千万不能让阿呆逮着你，开始！”说完，板牙便出发了。

 

“喂！”麦坤大喊。“谁是阿呆？”他跟在拖车后面出发了。“板牙，等等我！”

 

“好，接下来听我讲。”板牙解释说。“俩人来到谷底，此时，一群拖拉机正站着睡觉。你先悄悄溜到他们前面，然后朝他们鸣笛。剩下的就等着看好戏吧!我给你示范一下，嘿嘿！”他蹑手蹑脚地走到一辆拖拉机前。

 

嘟嘟！

 

拖拉机猛然惊醒，他低鸣一声后慢慢仰倒在地，排气管喘出几股烟。

 

板牙捧腹大笑。他幸灾乐祸地说：“我就说吧，拖拉机真是愚蠢到家了！”接着，他溜到另外一辆拖拉机前。一声鸣笛后，板牙大笑着看着拖拉机仰倒在地。“我不在乎你是谁，快乐就在眼前!老兄，该你了！”

 

“板牙，我不行，”麦坤说，“我连喇叭都没有。”

 

“太小儿科了！”板牙一边嘲笑一边模仿鸡叫的样子。“咕咯，咕咯……”

 

“好啦好啦，别这样行吗？”麦坤无奈地叹气。“这样吧，我想想办法。”他走到一辆熟睡的拖拉机前面发动引擎。

 

发动机的声音真大，以至于把田野里睡觉的拖拉机都惊醒了。他们不约而同，先是一连串的呻吟，然后集体仰倒在地。

 

麦坤和板牙捧腹大笑。

 

突然，远处传来一声怪叫。眨眼间，一辆巨型柴油收割机滚动着齿轮，像疯牛一样，咆哮着向他们冲来。

 

“阿呆来了！”板牙惊呼着闻风而逃。

 

麦坤撒腿就跑，紧随其后。

 

“快跑！快跑！”板牙一边大喊一边笑，差点把保险杠笑掉，“老阿呆要追上你啦！快跑！他要追上你了！”

 

麦坤很好奇板牙在笑什么，那辆收割机看上去又魁梧又凶猛！阿呆紧追着他们，俩人无路可逃只能往栅栏开口处跑去。他们及时冲出栅栏逃到开阔的马路上，尽可能快地飞转车轮。

 

“自上次以后，再没见到阿呆像今天这样兴奋了，”在返回小镇的路上，板牙说，“一定是你的红色保险杠惹恼了他。明天晚上我们可以去找鬼灯，怎么样？”

 

“我都迫不及待了，板牙。”麦坤讽刺地说。

 

“老弟，你必须承认，刚才确实很好玩，”板牙兴奋地说，“差不多了，我们还是先回拘留所吧。”

 

“呃，其实……”麦坤尴尬地说，“莎莉打算让我今晚住旅店……”

 

俩人来到旅馆的停车场。板牙又拿麦坤打趣：“哦……锥形旅馆吗？那里住起来很舒服！”

 

“你爱上莎莉小姐了。”

 

“不，我没有，”麦坤急忙说，“不可能的。”

 

“完全有可能，你喜欢莎莉。”板牙说着说着便情不自禁地唱了起来。“你喜欢……莎莉……”他转过身倒着往回走，一边走一边对着麦坤嬉笑，“你喜欢她，你喜欢她，你喜欢她……”

 

“你能别这样吗？”麦坤说。

 

“别怎么样？”板牙问。

 

麦坤打了一个寒战，说：“倒着走，吓死我了！你再这样小心碎成一堆烂铁。”

 

“一堆烂铁？乌鸦嘴，我可是世界上最好的倒车手。看见没，你就看着这里然后倒车就行啦（板牙指着倒车镜说），小朋友！”他刚说完，便欢呼着飞快地把车倒了出去。板牙在一间间路障汽车旅馆的客房之间游来窜去。他与房间擦肩而过，却没有发生任何碰撞。

 

“你疯啦？”麦坤冲着到处乱窜的板牙大声喊。“当心！你小心点！板牙，现在不是炫车技的时候，懂不？我只是随便说说而已，当心！”

 

板牙响着喇叭在树丛中穿梭。“不需要知道我往哪个方向去，”他一边炫耀一边全速向麦坤冲去。就在两个人即将相撞的时候，板牙原地打转，稳稳当当地停在了一脸震惊的麦坤面前。“只要知道我在哪儿就行啦！”

 

麦坤佩服极了，他惊讶地说：“哇！太不可思议了。”他大声地笑了出来，继续问道：“你是怎么做到的？”

 

“后视镜，”板牙没卖关子，“回头我给你也装上一对，你想学的话我可以教你。”

 

“好啊!”麦坤若有所思地回答，“说不定会在大赛中用到。”

 

“这场比赛对你真的很重要吗？一定要参加吗？”板牙不解地问。

 

“这可不是一场简单的比赛，”麦坤突然一脸严肃地解释起来，“我们说的可是活塞杯。我一辈子都梦想着自己有一天会拥有一座活塞杯，我将成为有史以来第一个赢得活塞杯的新手！如果我赢了，我还能签约新的赞助商，他们会赞助我私人直升机。我再也不用给防锈涂层代言了，也不用见那些破烂的汽车……”

 

“破烂的汽车？他们不好吗？”板牙沮丧地问，似乎很伤心。毕竟，他自己就是一辆又老又破的车。

 

“呃……我不是说你啦……”麦坤意识到自己说错话了，虽然他不是成心想惹板牙伤心。“我是指其他的旧汽车，你和他们不一样，我喜欢你啊。”

 

“没关系，伙计，”板牙说，“喂，你说会不会有一天，我也能坐一坐直升机？我一直梦想着能坐上豪华的直升机到天上兜兜风……”

 

“当然！肯定可以啊！”麦坤随口答应。

 

“说话算话？”板牙的发动机激动地轰鸣起来。

 

“对啊，一定，你说的我都满足你。”麦坤对板牙做出承诺。

 

板牙的笑容消失了，他突然严肃起来：“我就知道我的选择是对的。”

 

“什么选择？”麦坤问。

 

“把你当作我最好的朋友。”板牙真诚地说。麦坤听了会心地笑了笑。板牙把牵引索甩动起来，就像直升机的螺旋桨一样。他闪着仅有的一个能用的车头灯，倒行着飞奔而去。“老兄，明天见！”他一边走一边唱，“麦坤和莎莉躲在树下，亲啊……亲啊……”

 

板牙的声音渐渐消失在夜色里，麦坤情不自禁地笑了起来。最终，麦坤转身开始找他的房间。

 

“一号房间……”他一边找一边自言自语。

 

“一号房间，哦，在这里，”他驶进房间打量了一番，“哇，这地方挺不错的……”

 

“嗨，闪电侠！”莎莉来到门前打了声招呼，“我无意间听到你和板牙的对话了。”

 

麦坤惊恐万分。莎莉会不会已经听到板牙说我喜欢她的话了？当然，麦坤还是希望她没听到。

 

“什么时候？就刚……刚才吗？你都听到什么了？”麦坤紧张得语无伦次。

 

“哦，没什么，就是听板牙说要坐直升机。”莎莉回答。

 

“哦，对，对，他一定乐坏了吧!”麦坤半推半就地说。

 

“你不是开玩笑吧？”莎莉紧接着问，“你会让他坐你的直升机，对吗？”

 

“呃，”麦坤显得心不在焉，“谁知道呢？我的意思是，要事第一，我首先得离开这里，去参加比赛啊。”

 

“板牙很信任你。”莎莉说。

 

麦坤思索了一会儿。他确实没有把给板牙的承诺当回事儿，但现在看来板牙把他的话当真了。“嗯，当然了。”

 

“你是认真的？”莎莉追问。

 

“好了，我已经精疲力尽了，”麦坤实在不知道该怎么回答，他接着说，“真是漫长的一天。”

 

“哦，好的，”莎莉说，“晚安！”

 

“喂，”莎莉正准备离开的时候，麦坤叫住了她，“真的很感谢你让我住在这里，这儿比拘留所舒服多了。呃……这里太棒了！是新装修的对吗？”

 

莎莉微微一笑。“是的。”对她来说，这几间汽车旅馆是让她引以为荣的杰作，而麦坤的赞美也很实在。这家伙看来也不是一无是处。莎莉心里想。“晚安！”

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