Where Eagles Fly Chapter 3
by D. H. Price
The movie buffs...and the money is in the bank.
How did Jimmy Trumbo, a lost, lonely, and skinny 18-year-old kid who showed up on a warm spring day on the streets of Moab, Utah, in 1967, become a Canyonlands legend?
Blame it on an over-the-hill cowpoke, by the name of A.J. Johnson, or on John Springfield, the famous Hollywood set designer, or blame it on the great John Wayne himself, or maybe Western writer Zane Grey had a hand in it.
It all came to pass when Johnson, Springfield, and Trumbo sat around a makeshift poker table in the bunkhouse of the Lazy Double J on the night the trio had returned from Dead Horse Point. They may have shared a bottle of Crown Royal, but that wouldn't even explain the lore of the Trumbo Kid since he'd rather drink a glass of milk than sip on anything that had alcohol in it.
Springfield had waited all day to drop the 'good news' to Jimmy.
A.J. and Jimmy waited patiently as they heard the latches on John's briefcase unhinge. The papers would follow, and John uttered the words, 'Jimmy, it would seem you have inherited quite the sum of money and the ownership of a mine over in Green River.'
'I, what?'
John went on and explained to Jimmy that Max Fried had left him a nice little nest egg, and 'it will be official, in five, four, three, two, one!' John tapped on his wristwatch. 'Jimmy, you are officially 21 now, right?'
'I guess. I haven't celebrated any of my birthdays since Sister Anne...'
Springfield went on to explain that Max had no children, never married, and Sister Anne was the youngest of the Frieds, and the only sibling. What do you think of those marbles, Jimmy?'
'My goodness!' Jimmy said in utter disbelief.
John added: 'Max had an LA firm handle all the particulars. So, just sit back and relax. Here's the check for $500,000, along with the paperwork for the Green River mine, which, by the way, is exactly 42.8 miles from your bunkhouse to the front gate of the mine...make that 30 miles if you could hop aboard one of those eagles you follow.'
A.J. and Jimmy looked at one another and continued to shake their heads.
'Why now?' Jimmy questioned John.
"Max must have figured you'd someday follow those eagles right back to Utah when you were given the chance. You showed up a bit too early by arriving here and meeting up with A.J. in '67!' Now you're legal in every sense of the word,' Springfield explained as he handed the bottle of Crown Royal to the now 21-year-old.
A.J. got in on the conversation. 'You have to be 21 to drink in Utah!'
Jimmy took a swig of the Crown Royal and felt an instant burning pain in his chest.
'It takes some getting used to,' A.J. said, quickly taking the bottle away from the birthday boy. 'Congratulations and Happy Birthday. Let me get you some milk out of the frig.'
Once again, another round of laughter from all three.
*****
Springfield would spend one more night in Moab. Done with his executor duties, his final evening with A.J. and the Trumbo Kid would be delightful. He would quickly learn of all the escapades and accomplishments the young man from the St. Mary's Home for Boys had achieved in such a short three years -- although it was plenty of time to launch a legendary hero amongst the backdrop of the Canyonlands red rock and the Colorado River.
'There's nothing that boy can't do,' A.J. said proudly. 'Jimmy was out roping me in just three months, he was herding cattle in no time at all, and he was simply a natural in the saddle.'
Springfield surmised that he acquired the knowledge needed to become a cowboy from those Zane Grey novels or by watching John Wayne perform on horseback. I mean, it was such a smooth transition in such a short time.
'You seem to like the guy,' John said.
'I love the boy!'
'Stop it, A.J., I'm not all that..."
'Oh, yes, you are!'
A.J. turned to John. 'I took the boy shooting and within a few weeks he was hitting targets right and left, with a 30-30, a .22 rifle, a hand gun, or my nickel-plated 28 gauge shotgun for goodness sake!'
'Last year, he took up riding wild horses. He was a natural. Jimmy had become experienced enough, after being tossed to the ground in the corral over 100 times, that I finally entered him in a couple of rodeos in Laramie and one over in Sterling, Colorado. My God! We took a bunch of seconds in calf roping, and he rode some broncs, even busted a few, and he was in the money. He's just a natural at everything he touches.'
'And I see he reads and writes.' John said, eying all the books and piles of paperwork stacked about the bunkhouse. 'I talked to a few locals and got the impression Jimmy has become a natural Western historian, too. They say he's a walking encyclopedia when it comes to Zane Grey and Western movies, especially from the 1950s and 1960s; forget it, he'll name the entire cast and who starred in the film.'
'That is so true,' A.J. said. 'Let's try it.'
'Okay, Jimmy. Try this one: The Big Country
Before John could even get the word 'country' out of his mouth, the Trumbo Kid was rolling.
'That would be Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Charles Bickford, Chuck Conners, and Burl Ives.'
'Burl Ives! That's good!
'How about The Last Train From Gun Hill?'
'That's an easy one. Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, Carolyn Jones, and Earl Holliman."
'Okay, one more for 500,000 dollars! Broken Lance.'
A.J. smiled. 'I think Jimmy's money is safe.'
'Broken Lance, hmm! Do you want all the characters in that one,' Jimmy said, trying to seem perplexed.
'Well, yes, I do. John said, knowing he had probably been taken advantage of, and there would be no money coming back his way.
'Well, let's see. Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Jean Peters, Katy Jurado, Richard Widmark, Earl Holliman, again...and Hugh O'Brian, and...'
'That's okay, Jimmy. I give up!'
According to A.J., the Trumbo Kid had bolted to the top five on the short list of adventure guides. Jimmy is a walking encyclopedia with instant recall of the past and present of Canyonlands, and he continues to add to his resume. To top it off, Jimmy is no longer a skinny kid but, along with his 6-2 frame, has put on a good fifty pounds. Jimmy has often said, 'I give all the credit in the world to Maria and her visits to the ranch. She needs to be the head cook at some fancy restaurant.
'That is simply amazing,' John said. "Jimmy, you are flying with the eagles. You are right where you are supposed to be.'
*****
It was a breezy morning, and John Springfield was about to leave one world for another.
He shook hands with 'money bags' and with A.J. and cleared the gate at the Moab Airport and boarded the Convair 580, a two-engine prop job, destined for Salt Lake City. He would make his connection to LA, grab his car in the short-term lot, and head back to Thousand Oaks.
John was sure Jimmy and A.J., too, would put Fried's money to good use. That was Max's attention all along, and he never wavered in that endeavor. He certainly had left the Trumbo Kid with plenty of room to roam and plenty of ammunition to soar with the eagles.
Back at his desk in Thousand Oaks, Springfield began to clear his desk and figure out what to do with the rest of his life. Retirement was just ahead. He needed to answer a letter on his desk, another movie was to be born, and the project was to star John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, and Jimmy Stewart. There was another note. A slight delay for The Shootist, maybe a year or two.
That was the nature of the movie business. Hurry up and wait.
One thing was for certain back in Moab: the Trumbo Kid would not be slowing down anytime soon. The Canyonlands had become a National Park in 1964, three years before the arrival of Jimmy Trumbo, and now the Arches received the same designation during the winter of 1971 by President Richard M. Nixon.
Eight years ago, Jimmy was a wide-eyed 13-year-old witnessing John Wayne do his thing in The Comancheros, with the majestic La Sal Mountains lingering tall and glorious to the east. In the blink of an eye, Jimmy was now a wise 21-year-old and heading up an excursion that covered many of the trails inside the Arches. The destination on this fine day: Balanced Rock.
Jimmy Trumbo had his group take a knee, sit, and take a break. He pointed north, 'Look closely now, the eagle has landed.'
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