The Song of the Dock Trolley

Every morning at ten to eight, the trolley at the canoe dock starts to sing. It is not a pleasant song. It is a thin, rising squeal, like a kettle that has lost its confidence, and it follows Gina down the whole length of the jetty.

Setiap pagi pukul delapan kurang sepuluh, troli di dermaga kano mulai bernyanyi. Itu bukan lagu yang menyenangkan. Itu lengkingan tipis yang menanjak, seperti ketel yang kehilangan kepercayaan dirinya, dan lengkingan itu mengikuti Gina sepanjang dermaga.

Gina has managed the hire dock for six summers, and she has made her peace with most noises. The water slaps the pontoons. The paddles knock together in their racks. The gulls complain about everything. The squeal is different, because customers have started to mention it.

Gina sudah mengelola dermaga penyewaan itu selama enam musim panas, dan ia sudah berdamai dengan sebagian besar bunyi. Air menampar ponton. Dayung-dayung saling beradu di raknya. Burung-burung camar mengeluhkan segalanya. Lengkingan itu berbeda, karena para pelanggan sudah mulai menyinggungnya.

"Is that normal?" asks a man in a brand-new sun hat, pointing at the trolley with a paddle.

"Apakah itu normal?" tanya seorang pria bertopi matahari baru, sambil menunjuk troli dengan dayungnya.

"It is a feature," Gina says. "It tells the canoes that breakfast is coming."

"Itu fitur," kata Gina. "Itu memberi tahu kano-kano bahwa sarapan akan datang."

The man does not laugh, and she cannot blame him. She wheels the load of life jackets to the end of the jetty, the squeal keeping time with her steps. The joke, she decides, has run out.

Pria itu tidak tertawa, dan Gina tidak bisa menyalahkannya. Ia mendorong muatan jaket pelampung ke ujung dermaga, dengan lengkingan itu mengikuti irama langkahnya. Lelucon itu, pikirnya, sudah kehabisan tenaga.

Jada arrives at eight, carrying two coffees and a toolbag that is too clean to have been used much. She is the new summer assistant, a student of engineering, and she has been told she will mostly be handing out paddles. She stops on the jetty and tilts her head.

Jada tiba pukul delapan, membawa dua gelas kopi dan tas perkakas yang terlalu bersih untuk sudah sering dipakai. Ia asisten musim panas yang baru, seorang mahasiswa teknik, dan ia sudah diberi tahu bahwa pekerjaannya sebagian besar membagikan dayung. Ia berhenti di dermaga dan memiringkan kepala.

"What is making that sound?" she asks.

"Apa yang membuat suara itu?" tanyanya.

"The wheel," Gina says. "It is the squeaky wheel. Everyone knows the squeaky wheel gets the oil."

"Rodanya," kata Gina. "Roda yang berdecit. Semua orang tahu roda yang berdecit akan diberi minyak."

"Have you tried oil?"

"Sudah dicoba pakai minyak?"

"I have tried three kinds. I have tried a spray, a thick grease, and some cooking oil from the café. The squeak ignores all of them."

"Aku sudah mencoba tiga jenis. Semprotan, gemuk yang kental, dan minyak goreng dari kafe. Decitan itu tidak peduli pada semuanya."

Jada puts down her coffee and crouches beside the trolley. She looks at the front wheel for a long time. It is a small grey wheel on a bent metal fork, and it looks perfectly innocent. Then she stands up, rubs her hands together, and smiles the way people smile when they have been given a puzzle.

Jada meletakkan kopinya dan berjongkok di samping troli. Ia memandang roda depan itu lama sekali. Roda abu-abu kecil pada garpu logam yang bengkok, dan tampak sama sekali tidak bersalah. Lalu ia berdiri, menggosok kedua tangannya, dan tersenyum seperti orang tersenyum saat diberi teka-teki.

"I would like to solve this," she says. "If you do not mind."

"Aku ingin memecahkan ini," katanya. "Kalau kamu tidak keberatan."

"I would like you to solve it more than I would like almost anything," says Gina. "Be my guest."

"Aku ingin kamu memecahkannya lebih daripada hampir semua hal lain," kata Gina. "Silakan."

Jada makes a rule before she starts. They will not touch the wheel until they know something real. First they will listen, and write down what they hear. Gina finds a pencil behind her ear and a crumpled hire form, and she turns it over to make a notebook.

Jada membuat sebuah aturan sebelum mulai. Mereka tidak akan menyentuh roda itu sampai mengetahui sesuatu yang nyata. Pertama mereka akan mendengarkan, dan mencatat apa yang mereka dengar. Gina menemukan pensil di balik telinganya dan sehelai formulir sewa yang kusut, lalu membaliknya untuk dijadikan buku catatan.

The first clue arrives within ten minutes. Jada pushes the empty trolley up and down the jetty four times, and it makes no sound at all. It rolls as smoothly as a trolley in an advert. Then Gina loads it with twenty life jackets, and the squeal comes back at once, as shrill as before.

Petunjuk pertama datang dalam sepuluh menit. Jada mendorong troli kosong itu bolak-balik di dermaga empat kali, dan troli itu tidak bersuara sama sekali. Ia bergulir semulus troli dalam iklan. Lalu Gina memuatinya dengan dua puluh jaket pelampung, dan lengkingan itu langsung kembali, senyaring tadi.

"So it is not the wheel," Jada says slowly. "Or not only the wheel. Something in it changes when there is weight."

"Jadi bukan rodanya," kata Jada perlahan. "Atau bukan hanya rodanya. Sesuatu di dalamnya berubah saat ada beban."

"The wheel has not changed," says Gina. "I have been looking at that wheel for six years."

"Rodanya tidak berubah," kata Gina. "Aku sudah enam tahun memandangi roda itu."

"Then the weight is pressing on something else. The frame, maybe, or a part under the load."

"Kalau begitu beban itu menekan sesuatu yang lain. Mungkin rangkanya, atau suatu bagian di bawah muatan."

Gina writes on the form: Clue one, silent when empty.

Gina menulis di formulir: Petunjuk satu, diam saat kosong.

The second clue comes from the customers. A family of four wants canoes at nine, and Gina sends Jada down the jetty with the loaded trolley while she deals with the paperwork. From the desk, she listens. The squeal starts at the top of the ramp, grows louder along the wooden boards. Then, near the very end of the jetty, it stops.

Petunjuk kedua datang dari para pelanggan. Sebuah keluarga beranggotakan empat orang menginginkan kano pukul sembilan, dan Gina menyuruh Jada menyusuri dermaga dengan troli bermuatan itu sementara ia mengurus berkasnya. Dari meja, ia mendengarkan. Lengkingan itu dimulai di puncak jalur landai, makin keras di sepanjang papan kayu. Lalu, di dekat ujung dermaga, lengkingan itu berhenti.

Jada comes back, frowning. "It stopped by itself at the last three boards."

Jada kembali sambil mengernyit. "Dia berhenti sendiri di tiga papan terakhir."

"It always does that," says Gina. "I assumed the boards were smoother there."

"Dia selalu begitu," kata Gina. "Kukira papannya lebih halus di situ."

"Are they?"

"Memangnya begitu?"

"No. They are the oldest boards on the dock. They are the roughest."

"Tidak. Itu papan-papan tertua di dermaga ini. Yang paling kasar."

They look at each other. A rough surface should make a noise, not silence one. Gina writes: Clue two, stops on the oldest, bumpiest boards. Jada taps the pencil against her chin and watches the wake of a passing paddleboard slide across the water.

Mereka saling pandang. Permukaan kasar seharusnya membuat bunyi, bukan membungkamnya. Gina menulis: Petunjuk dua, berhenti di papan tertua yang paling bergelombang. Jada mengetukkan pensil ke dagunya dan memperhatikan riak dari sebuah papan dayung yang lewat menyebar di atas air.

"What if the squeak is not rolling at all?" she says. "What if the bumps shake it loose?"

"Bagaimana kalau decitan itu sama sekali bukan karena menggelinding?" katanya. "Bagaimana kalau gundukan-gundukan itu mengguncangnya hingga lepas?"

"Shake what loose?"

"Mengguncang apa hingga lepas?"

"I do not know yet. Something that gets squeezed when the trolley is heavy and the ground is smooth, and that gets free when the ground is rough."

"Aku belum tahu. Sesuatu yang terjepit ketika troli berat dan tanahnya halus, dan terbebas ketika tanahnya kasar."

The third clue is the strangest, and it is Gina who finds it, by accident, at lunchtime. She is sitting on an upturned bucket, eating a sandwich, when the youngest child of the morning family comes running up the jetty. Her father is close behind. The girl is about four, and she is crying with the full force of someone who has lost the most important thing in the world.

Petunjuk ketiga adalah yang paling aneh, dan Gina yang menemukannya, secara kebetulan, saat makan siang. Ia sedang duduk di atas ember terbalik, makan roti lapis, ketika anak bungsu dari keluarga pagi itu berlari menyusuri dermaga. Ayahnya menyusul di belakang. Anak perempuan itu berumur sekitar empat tahun, dan ia menangis dengan segenap tenaga seseorang yang kehilangan benda terpenting di dunia.

"Her duck," the father explains, out of breath. "She had it in the canoe. We looked everywhere. It is yellow, about this big. It makes a noise when you press it."

"Bebeknya," sang ayah menjelaskan dengan napas terengah. "Dia membawanya di kano. Kami sudah mencari ke mana-mana. Warnanya kuning, sebesar ini. Dia berbunyi kalau ditekan."

Gina is already shaking her head, because nothing yellow has been left in any of her canoes. Then she stops, with the sandwich halfway to her mouth, and she hears something. It is faint. It is the memory of a sound she has been hearing for a month and has never once named.

Gina sudah menggelengkan kepala, karena tidak ada benda kuning yang tertinggal di kano mana pun. Lalu ia berhenti, dengan roti lapis setengah jalan menuju mulutnya, dan ia mendengar sesuatu. Samar. Itu ingatan akan bunyi yang sudah ia dengar selama sebulan dan belum pernah sekali pun ia beri nama.

"Does the duck," she says carefully, "squeak?"

"Apakah bebek itu," katanya hati-hati, "berdecit?"

"Like a mouse with a cold," says the father.

"Seperti tikus yang sedang pilek," kata sang ayah.

Gina puts down her sandwich. She stands up. She walks to the trolley, which is parked in the shade by the desk. She presses down hard on the metal frame above the front wheel. Nothing happens. Then she calls for Jada and asks her to sit on the load of life jackets.

Gina meletakkan roti lapisnya. Ia berdiri. Ia berjalan ke troli yang diparkir di tempat teduh dekat meja. Ia menekan keras rangka logam di atas roda depan. Tidak terjadi apa-apa. Lalu ia memanggil Jada dan memintanya duduk di atas tumpukan jaket pelampung.

Jada sits. The trolley sinks a little on its springs. From somewhere deep inside the hollow tube of the handle frame comes a long, thin, unmistakable squeal.

Jada duduk. Troli itu turun sedikit pada pegasnya. Dari suatu tempat jauh di dalam pipa berongga rangka gagangnya terdengar lengkingan yang panjang, tipis, dan tak mungkin salah.

"Clue three," Gina says. "It squeaks when somebody squeezes it."

"Petunjuk tiga," kata Gina. "Dia berdecit kalau ada yang meremasnya."

Together they lie flat on the jetty and look up into the open end of the frame. For a moment they see nothing but darkness and a spider's old web. Then Jada shines her phone torch into the tube, and a small round yellow eye looks back at them.

Bersama-sama mereka berbaring telentang di dermaga dan menengadah ke ujung rangka yang terbuka. Sesaat mereka tidak melihat apa-apa selain kegelapan dan sarang laba-laba tua. Lalu Jada menyorotkan senter ponselnya ke dalam pipa, dan sebuah mata kuning bundar kecil balas menatap mereka.

It takes a bent coat hanger and some patience to pull the thing out. The duck comes free with a soft pop, grey with dust and slightly flat. Its beak has been chewed. It has clearly spent a long time wedged in the tube. Every heavy load that rolled over the bumps has squeezed it.

Dibutuhkan sebuah gantungan baju yang dibengkokkan dan sedikit kesabaran untuk menarik benda itu keluar. Bebek itu terlepas dengan bunyi pop yang lembut, kelabu karena debu dan agak penyok. Paruhnya sudah dikunyah. Jelas ia sudah lama terjepit di dalam pipa. Setiap muatan berat yang melindas gundukan telah meremasnya.

"It has been in there since the start of summer," says Gina. "Someone's child must have dropped it down the open end of the handle."

"Dia sudah di dalam sana sejak awal musim panas," kata Gina. "Pasti anak seseorang menjatuhkannya lewat ujung gagang yang terbuka."

"And every time the trolley carries a heavy load," Jada says, "the frame bends a little and squeezes the poor thing."

"Dan setiap kali troli membawa muatan berat," kata Jada, "rangkanya melengkung sedikit dan meremas makhluk malang itu."

"And on the rough boards the bumps keep shaking it away from the squeezing point."

"Dan di papan yang kasar, gundukan-gundukan itu terus mengguncangnya menjauh dari titik remasan."

"So the sound stops."

"Jadi bunyinya berhenti."

They sit back on their heels and look at each other, and then they start to laugh. They laugh so hard that a man in a kayak turns his head to see what is wrong with them. A whole summer of oil, of grease, of apologies to customers, and the answer was a duck.

Mereka duduk di atas tumit dan saling pandang, lalu mulai tertawa. Mereka tertawa begitu keras sampai seorang pria di kayak menoleh untuk melihat ada apa dengan mereka. Satu musim panas penuh berisi minyak, gemuk, dan permintaan maaf kepada pelanggan, dan jawabannya ternyata seekor bebek.

The four-year-old is called to the desk. Her own duck is still lost somewhere on the lake, and Gina kneels down to her level. The trolley duck is wiped with a damp cloth, and it is held out with great ceremony.

Anak berumur empat tahun itu dipanggil ke meja. Bebeknya sendiri masih hilang di suatu tempat di danau, dan Gina berlutut menyamakan tinggi dengannya. Bebek dari troli itu dilap dengan kain lembap, lalu disodorkan dengan penuh upacara.

"This one has been waiting for a new owner," Gina says.

"Yang ini sudah menunggu pemilik baru," kata Gina.

The girl presses it once, to check, and the familiar squeak fills the afternoon. Her tears stop as though someone has switched off a tap.

Gadis kecil itu menekannya sekali, untuk memeriksa, dan decitan yang akrab itu memenuhi sore hari. Air matanya berhenti seolah seseorang menutup keran.

"Thank you," says her father. "She will tell this story for years."

"Terima kasih," kata ayahnya. "Dia akan menceritakan kisah ini bertahun-tahun."

"So will we," says Gina.

"Kami juga," kata Gina.

When the family has gone, the trolley rolls up the jetty in perfect silence. It is the quietest it has been in years.

Setelah keluarga itu pergi, troli bergulir menyusuri dermaga dalam keheningan sempurna. Itu yang paling sunyi selama bertahun-tahun.

Jada fetches her clean toolbag and opens it for the first time. Inside is a small screwdriver, a tape measure, and a roll of bright blue tape. She tears off a strip, takes the pencil from Gina's hand, and writes on the tape in neat capital letters: DUCK-FREE SINCE JULY. Then she presses it firmly along the handle of the trolley, just above the open end of the tube.

Jada mengambil tas perkakasnya yang bersih dan membukanya untuk pertama kali. Di dalamnya ada sebuah obeng kecil, meteran gulung, dan segulung selotip biru terang. Ia merobek sepotong, mengambil pensil dari tangan Gina, dan menulis di selotip itu dengan huruf kapital yang rapi: BEBAS BEBEK SEJAK JULI. Lalu ia menempelkannya erat-erat di sepanjang gagang troli, tepat di atas ujung pipa yang terbuka.