“OK, so this is not what it seems … the earthworms needed some help after all that rain. I just discovered them.”
Nine-year-old George Ludlow was helping earthworms by the handful get back to the soil that had crawled to the top of a bunch of soil-filled sandbags, and Capt. R.E. Ludlow was just letting it happen, controlling his impulse to pull his grandson out of all that dirt.
“You know I could use some help here,” George said.
Capt. R.E. Ludlow stuffed down what generations of Ludlow men would have said to him at nine years old if he would have been helping earthworms back into the soil, and just got busy with his grandson.
“See, I get why Amanda is a vegetarian and I may stay over there too, because once you start working with animals, you don't really want to kill them,” George said. “I mean, I would like to know if earthworms taste like gummy worms or spaghetti, but I guess I will never know.”
“I guess not,” Capt. Ludlow said with a smile. “All principled stands require some trade off.”
Major Ironwood Hamilton rolled up with a tractor and a smile.
“Thank you for looking out for the worms,” he said when he heard the explanation of what was going on. “I am going to get them home in one good go, actually.”
“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!” George said, and embraced his big cousin.
“Y'all can go on, or stay and watch me return this dirt to the fields, and spread it out.”
“Can I ride?” George said. “Please, Papa?”
“Of course,” Capt. Ludlow said.
“There's enough room for both of you up here,” the Hamilton cousin said, and Capt. Ludlow smiled and helped George up before climbing up himself and enjoying the ride as Tinyville's chief public safety officer returned the last of the soil used to control water flow from Hurricane Mneme to the fields of Tinyville.
“I need this type of job!” George said later.
“Well, you can come be a deputy for me in just nine years,” the police captain of Tinyville said. “But you have to have a good grounding record to pass the background check, so don't get grounded until you are ten years old.”
“Oh, I got this!” George said while his cousin winked at a suddenly chuckling Capt. Ludlow.