farmhouse, and we knew this time it was the right one. Just as I hopped out of the car, heart thumping, to repeat my inquiry, there was the sound of a car pulling up behind us, and out popped the nurse. "I see you've found it! I forgot about those other two white houses; they weren't here then. I just had to come out and make sure you found it all right!" Together we went up the porch steps to the front door, at which a lady with a big smile, minus one or two teeth, had already appeared. The nurse spoke authoritatively to her: "Do you remember an automobile accident here quite a long time ago?"

"Why, yes . . . yes, there was one."

"In 1952?"

"Yes, yes! That must have been about when it was . . ."

The lady beamed and almost giggled as she spoke. She seemed to be sharing in the general air of joy and amazement. The nurse continued, smiling, "Well, these people would like to ask you some questions about it. And now I have to be running along!" And we all said good-bye and waved, and the farmer's wife giggled, and the nurse disappeared as swiftly as an angel.

Never before, the farmer's wife told us, had anyone come around to ask about the accident. She had almost forgotten it herself, but now we had reminded her. She began to recall the morning of the accident: the mailman had just put the mail in the box and was still there, when she heard a crash. She thought of her children, and rushed to the door. The sight that met her eyes was so horrible, however, that she remained in the house. She couldn't bring herself to go out and face all the blood. "But my husband, now, he could tell you more. He went out and he brought blankets for the people who were lying on the ground. He was out there while they were waiting for the ambulance to come from town." She pointed out towards the fields, and in the sunlight we could see a big, brawny figure forking hay in the midst of a herd of cows. We smiled thanks to the lady and strolled out to the field, feeling as easy and natural as if this was a little walk we took every morning. There were cows all around, and the old man was busy forking hay, and a younger man (probably a son or son-in-law) was standing by, holding on his shoulders a tiny third-generation family member. They were all smiling as we walked up and exchanged "Howdies" and "Good Mornings", and it seemed almost as if they were expecting us. The old farmer was a man of a big smile and few words, though these were said emphatically. When we asked if he remembered the accident, he thought for a moment before replying; he seemed to be reaching back into his memory with some effort. "Gee . . .such a long time, I'd almost forgot.. but now you remind me of it, yup, yup! I remember." He mentioned, as his wife had, that the accident had happened just as the postman was delivering the mail. He (the farmer) heard the crash and rushed outside. Two cars had collided directly in front of the house. The west-bound car had gone off the road and into his driveway. Several injured people had been thrown from the car and were lying in the mud. "It was sure terrible to see. I hope I never see anything like that again." He described the scene slowly, and told us several times that he had nearly forgotten it, but now it was all coming back to him. He also said that no one had ever asked him about it before.

We asked if he knew anything about the other, east-bound car and its driver; he replied, "I think he was, you know, some sort of a veteran", he gestured to his legs. This confirmed what I had always heard, that the driver of the other car was a war veteran, a double amputee*, driving a car especially built for him. Beyond this, we were not able to find out anything about him. Nobody that we spoke to in Prague that day knew him; they all thought he was from another county. He didn't show up at the clinic, because apparently he wasn't injured in the accident. Of course, his name must be recorded in the State Police records of the accident, and

*Correction: The driver of the other car, whose name was Anthony Joseph Palmieri, only had one leg amputated. Told to me by his brother in 2010 Webmaster Jk