"All right," said Worm still looking at Woody. "I'll do it."
Randy didn't say anything. He just grinned and gave Worm a firm little punch in the chest, and Worm looked a little foolish.
Woody, Mary Jane, Steve, and Worm went down to San Diego in the Dodge, starting early on Friday morning. In San Diego they met Randy and all had dinner together. Mary Jane said afterward that Randy was the most fascinating man she had ever met. Certainly he was an excellent talker, full of wit and optimism. Perhaps in deference to Mary Jane, he didn't limit the conversation to racing and racing cars but spoke as readily of the different countries of Europe, with an anecdote to adorn each of them, as a man would speak of his own home town.
He talked of sailing on Lake Geneva, in Switzerland, and of the mistrals, or sudden winds, coming out of the mountains, which made the sport dangerous; of the Casino at Monaco and the Tivoli gardens in Copenhagen. All in all he enchanted everybody, so that Mary Jane wanted to know all about him and both Steve and Woody made him number one on their hero list.
Woody noticed when dinner was over that Randy was a little awkward in getting out of his chair. He thought nothing of it at the time, but the detail had not escaped Mary Jane.
When they returned to their motel and Randy had left them, Mary Jane turned to Worm and asked, "Has Randy got something the matter with his legs?"
"Ye're a noticing young body," said Worm. "His legs are all right, but he's only got five toes."
"Five toes?" said Mary Jane, horrified now that she'd said anything at all.
"Aye," said Worm. "He lost his right foot about fifteen years ago. But it doesn't trouble his driving, and he walks without a limp. I've no doot it took him a lot of practice. There was some talk of barring him from racing, but he proved he's as good a driver as men wi' two feet of their own. He has a cupboard full of trophies won all over Europe. But this is the first time he's racing in America."
"You mean he's racing an unknown car on a course he's never seen before and with only one foot?" cried Woody.