Tippy, Chapter 22

By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist

Continued from last week.

I was underwater and gasping for air. I had been asleep on the banks of the Miami River and must have rolled over into the water. Unfortunately, at that point a boat came close and pushed me underwater.  

Not only did I need air, but I also need to avoid the boat’s propeller.  

I burst to the surface, and the chicken was making a racket. For once, I had been in a place where the chicken couldn’t help me.

It took us the rest of the summer to carefully go down the river to Cleves, Ohio. We were watching the land side for creatures that might do us harm and being careful not to have another accident in the water. Right past Taylor High School, we came upon a four-lane highway.

The chicken reconnoitered.

When she came back, she said, “This road is Route 50!”

“Can’t be.”

“Well, it is. We have overshot your beloved Ivy Hill Drive, and we will have to go back east.”

So, we started going back east. Since it was a four-lane road, we went along the left-hand side so that we were facing traffic. We went back to our old habit of traveling at night and hiding during the day.  

We had to be even more careful here since we had not been in an area this congested since we came through Hillsboro last winter.  

We couldn’t make much progress each night. Too many dangers to dodge. After a week, we got to the Monsanto plant in Addyston. Later, I overheard this is where some of the ingredients were made for Agent Orange and Roundup.  

I still do not know what this means, but later on I heard humans talking about these things, which is how I know they were made there.

Route 50 here is along the Ohio River. There were many terminals, tank farms and other industrial facilities in the narrow strip of land between the highway and the river.  

We decided to try hiding over there for a night or two and quickly discovered that it was a mistake.  

These facilities had humans working there day and night and you never knew when one would come around the corner.  We went back to sleeping in the ditch on the left side of the road.

After a while, hills started to rise up on the left side of the road.  Now it seems even more crowded than it was before. Looking ahead, we could see this large hill to the left, the road, a tiny strip of land, then the Ohio River. Traffic on Route 50 was nearly continuous, day and night.

To be continued.

Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press.