Girl On A Motorcycle

1 Is there a motel? Kenny is going across America by bus. One evening in summer, his bus arrives in a little town in California. ‘I want to stop here tonight,’ says Kenny to the bus driver. ‘Is there a motel, do you know ?’ ‘ Y es,’ says the bus driver. ‘There’s a nice motel across the river. It’s not expensive.’ ‘Is there a bus to San Francisco tom orrow ?’ asks Kenny. ‘Y es,’ says the bus driver, ‘there’s a bus every d ay.’ Kenny gets off the bus with his bag. 1 B Give me the money! In a street in Los Angeles, som ebody is robbing a security guard outside a supermarket. The robber is sitting on a motorcycle and has a gun. ‘Give me the m oney!’ the robber tells the security guard. ‘O K , O K !’ says the security guard, and gives the robber the money. Then the robber rides away - but a camera is taking pictures. After the robbery, the supermarket manager phones the police. ‘Y es,’ he says. ‘A robbery . . . yes, long blond hair, and with a m otorcycle. . . a man or woman? We don’t k n o w . . . yes, we have some pictures . . . OK! Q uickly.’ I 2 3 Roam twenty-three In the little town, fifty kilometres away from Los Angeles, Kenny goes into the motel and asks for a room. ‘R oom twenty-three,’ says the man at the desk. He gives Kenny a key. ‘Thank you,’ says Kenny. And he goes up to his room. Girl on a Motorcycle An hour later, Kenny comes down to eat. T m hungry,’ he thinks. He sees a girl arrive on a motorcycle. She walks to the front desk, and the woman gives her a key. ‘Room seventeen,’ says the woman at the desk. ‘I think I know her face,’ thinks Kenny. ‘Is she som ebody fam ous?’ 4 4 is it her? Early the next morning, Kenny puts on the T V in his room. A news-reader is talking about the superm arket robbery. There are some pictures from the superm arket camera. 5 Girl on a Motorcycle Kenny watches the news. ‘The robber is som ebody with long blond hair, and with a m otorcycle,’ says the news-reader. Suddenly, Kenny remembers the girl at the motel desk. ‘Is it her?’ he thinks. ‘Is she the robber?’ 6 5 Can I s it here? He goes for breakfast. The girl is eating her breakfast at a table near the window. Kenny looks at her. ‘Is it her?’ he thinks. ‘I think I know her, b u t . . . ’ He walks across to her table. ‘Can I sit here?’ he asks. The girl looks up. ‘We l l . . . O K ,’ she says. 7 Girl on a Motorcycle Kenny sits down. ‘M y nam e’s Kenny,’ he says. ‘Pleased to meet you,’ she says. ‘I’m M el.’ ‘Where are you from ?’ asks Kenny. ‘San Francisco,’ says Mel. ‘I’m going there later this morning. Where are you from ?’ ‘Boston,’ says Kenny. ‘I’m going across America by bus. And I’m going to San Francisco later this morning, to o .’ ‘Are you?’ the girl says. ‘I don ’t like buses. I like motorcycles. Look, excuse me. I need to make a phone call.’ She gets up and leaves the room. E Nat the police A young man near the door is watching Mel. ‘Why is he watching her?’ thinks Kenny. ‘Does he know her face, too? Is he thinking she’s the girl from the robbery, too?’ Kenny goes to sit next to the young man. ‘H i,’ he says. ‘M y nam e’s Kenny M u ir.’ ‘H i,’ says the young man. ‘I’m . . . N ed .’ Girl on a Motorcycle They begin talking. Kenny tells N ed about the news of the robbery on TV . He looks across at Mel. ‘Are you thinking that’s the same