"Worm's going," said Woody, "and he'd take care of you. Your Mother and Dad both know him. And Randy will be there." He launched into an enthusiastic description of Captain Randolph that made it quite clear that the owner of the Black Tiger was now Woody's hero.
"Well, I don't know," said Mary Jane. "We'll just have to see."
Mr. Jackson was at first reluctant to let Mary Jane go to the Torrey Pines race. But Mrs. Jackson came to her daughter's aid.
"She's almost eighteen," she said, "and you've just got to get used to the idea that she's very nearly grown up. She isn't a child any longer."
"Young people these days haven't any sense," grunted Mr. Jackson. "I'm just concerned about whether she'll get hurt at the races. That's all."
"Well, she could just as easily get hurt crossing the main street here," said Mrs. Jackson.
"Oh, all right," said Mr. Jackson, who had suddenly recalled that his grandmother came West in 1865 in a wagon train at the age of fifteen. Secretly he realized he was rather pleased at his daughter's enterprise. It would be something to mention casually at the club next time Wilson mentioned his son's speedboat.
5
The Torrey Pines Road Race shaped up even better than Woody had expected. He and Steve had proposed to pay their own admission, which would not have allowed them to mix with the cars and their drivers in the pits where the cars were serviced and given emergency repairs. But on the Wednesday before the event, there was an unexpected development.