Author Note: The author admits to being map-challenged so freeway miles may be fudged a bit.
This friendship story is about a tax accountant who lost his way and his friends and doesn't want to end up lonely. He needs a friend. He needs someone who believes he has a future.
His car breaks down in a small town…will he meet someone who can show him the way or will he be stranded in more ways than one? This is after Season 8, AU and totally fiction. That is my disclaimer.
Stranded in More Ways Than One
Chapter 01 – What Was That Noise?
xXx
Late Fall 1984 –
Dragging a weary hand through his hair, Eric flopped down into a kitchen chair. He was not ready to go on another road trip so soon. The Vista Cruiser had been acting up and he was hesitant to tell his dad so he sighed and said nothing. "Honey, I made you a couple of sandwiches for the road and your dad left you a map." Kitty Forman, the best mom in the world, put her plastic wrapped tuna salad on top of her son's briefcase.
Eric pulled out the map of Wisconsin and studied to route to Waukesha from Point Place. It looked like a straight drive up north on the interstate and a left a Greenfield and would probably be a two hour ride at most. Kitty put a grilled cheese sandwich on the table. "You need to eat before you go; I noticed you didn't have any breakfast sweetie."
"Thanks mom. I'm just tired. I got back for one day and now they're sending me out again." Eric complained lightly.
Kitty smiled, "Well, it's like you said, one more job and a two week vacation. You'll be back just in time for Halloween."
Red Forman entered the kitchen holding the day's mail. "Here Kitty, it's another letter from your sister. Eric, you got…" Red shuffled the remaining letters and said, "..you got nothing." He looked at his son and grinned. "Isn't that too bad?"
Kitty opened Paula's letter and exclaimed, "Oh! She sent me more!" Newspaper clippings spilled onto the tabletop. Red looked over, "What is that?"
Kitty smiled happily. "Well, there's this advice columnist in Indianapolis that writes the best column and my sister sends me the articles. They are just wonderful. Do you want me to read you one?"
Red scowled, "No and I think the garage needs me." Red left the rest of the mail on the table and went back outside. Kitty smiled and turned to Eric, "You have to let me read one to you. They are just wonderful."
Eric was a captive audience. If he got up without eating his mom would get mad and he didn't really want to hear unwanted advice. He sighed and replied, "Sure mom…read me one."
Kitty sat down in the chair, "Now, this is fun. The column is called, "Love Miss Hart - The Miss-Adventures of the Uninformed". She's an advice columnist. Oh, and she always has a word play in her replies. Let me read you the first one."
"Dear Miss Hart
My brother is dating Sally; a woman no one in
our family can stand. I hate her! She selfish and
scheming. He thinks Sally she is just
perfect. I tried to talk to him last week
after she ruined a family dinner – again!
My brother says he is upset because I don't
like her. What should I do?
Confused in Colorado"
Kitty looked at Eric and confessed, "I know a woman from the League with this same problem! Let's see was Miss Hart has to say.
"Dear Confused:
Don't ever say another negative thing about her.
Cover your mouth with both hands!
Be nice, or you may have the Miss-Fortune of
Sally becoming your sister-in-law!"
Kitty looked amazed. "…the misfortune of Sally becoming a family member! Isn't that a great play on words? Oh, that's what happened to your Uncle Marty. Ahahahaha…Red hated that first wife of his and Marty married her out of spite and now they're divorced!"
"That's great mom." Eric wasn't really listening, he was thinking about what his next hotel room was going to look like. He folded the map and watched his mom reading another Love Miss Hart column. He picked up his sandwich and kissed his mom on the check. "I'll see you in a couple of days."
Kitty read the last paragraph and chuckled. "Oh dear this is so funny! Oh, Eric you have a safe trip and call us when you get settled!"
xXx
Eric arrived at the Waukesha Friendly Hotel around 7:00 p.m. He checked in at the desk, received his itinerary and went to his room. He dutifully unpacked his suitcase, took a shower and went to bed after requesting a 5:00 a.m. wake up call. He fell asleep with the lights still on.
The next morning he drove to Waukesha Widgets and Wonders, a toy manufacturer, and began auditing the company books and payroll. The employees were pleasant and made this audit less painful than most. With luck, he could be out of there in three days.
xXx
Jackie Burkhart was a faithful listener to the weather stations. The park ranger had predicted an early storm and reminded citizens of the town to get their errands taken care of early in the day or wait until the snowstorm was over. Jackie knew how to take care of business.
She put on her warmest insulated vest and stuffed her mittens in the pockets. She tucked her thick cotton socks into a pair of warm boots and slipped into her fake fur jacket. Her truck keys and handbag were grabbed on the way out the door.
Five steps across the wooden porch and three steps down put her on the gravel path towards her auto. She paused and looked around to make sure the bear traps were still set. Good. She knew a few mama bears were roaming for food before giving it up for hibernation. The heavy V8 Chevy engine roared to life. The outside air was cool but the inside of her truck was downright chilly.
Her drive into town was relatively short, but when it started to snow, it would be a little slower and she would have to drive more carefully. She didn't mind. She loved this tiny town.
She was greeted by Katie, the town mail clerk, "Hello Miss Jackie, you got three packages to sign for and a bag of mail." Katie handed over a pen and the three brown paper wrapped boxes. "Are they early Christmas presents?" Katie always liked to guess what came in the mail. Jackie looked at the sender, "Nope, just some stuff I ordered. Is the co-op going to be open?"
Katie looked at her watch, "Probably for another hour. If you want fresh veggies, you should get them now before they sell out."
Jackie smiled. "You want something from there? I can bring it back."
Katie waved her hand, "No, I'm good - stocked up yesterday. The mercantile is going to be open until 2:00 p.m. That's just before the storm hits. You drive safe Miss Jackie and we'll see you later in the week."
xXx
Eric put his suitcase in the backseat and looked at the ominous grey skies. The company president's secretary told him he should leave early due to the approaching storm. Eric smiled and went along with her caution, he had lived in Wisconsin all of his life, he knew a bad storm when he saw one, and this was just snow.
When he got to the Greenfield freeway onramp, there were police and fire trucks blocking the entrance - Traffic was being re-routed west to take Interstate 43 instead of Interstate 94 South. Damn, now he was going to have to go all the way to Elkhorn and then go west to Point Place! A definite three hour detour – the sky was getting darker.
It must have been somewhere after East Troy, Eric accidently drove over a pile of large rocks that were scattered over the freeway lane and also what must have been a large boulder. BAM! the oil pressure started to drop and his engine began making a loud horrible knocking noise. Smoke was rising from the front of the car – Eric got a sick feeling in his stomach.
He didn't want to pull off the side of the road but his oil gauge was all the way at zero and now there was smoke coming out from under the hood. Without looking, Eric took the first off ramp as the engine shuddered with a loud bang and he coasted to a stop on a tree lined road.
In the middle of nowhere.
With an approaching storm.
Crap.
xXx
Jackie was loading her purchases into the back of her truck. Danny, the store clerk, helped her with the heavier items. "There you go Miss Jackie; I hope you don't get snowed in too long."
Jackie smiled – Danny had always been sweet on her. "Thanks Danny, I've got plenty of magazines and batteries and wood. I'm all set but thanks for asking. Do you think Eddie's garage is still open? I'd like to fill these extra gas cans. I may need to use the generator later."
Danny scratched his head and looked at the approaching dark clouds. "Yep, he'll stay open until he can't see any new customers. You should go soon."
"Thanks, I will." Jackie replied as she climbed into the cab of her truck. The cab was still cold so she tucked her hair into a knit cap and slid on her mittens on freezing fingers. Eddie's garage was just around the corner from the mercantile store.
Outside the garage:
Jackie pulled up to the gas pump, quickly climbed out and opened the tailgate. She set the two gas cans on the ground and caught an odd spectacle out of the corner of her eye.
Eddie's tow truck was backing a Vista Cruiser into the garage. Jackie shook her head, how many of those cars were still in existence? She filled the cans and replaced the caps. A Vista Cruiser in the mountains? It almost made her chuckle.
Inside the garage:
"Well, let me put this up on the lifts, but I can tell you right now, I know for a fact you have a busted oil pan. I can smell it but I don't know what other damage you have under there. What did you run over?"
Eric put his cold hands in his pants pockets. "It looked like someone spilled a pile of rocks on the freeway and I slammed into the middle of it. Look, how long will it take to fix this?"
Eddie was not the kind of guy you could rush. He leaned back against his truck, took the toothpick out of his mouth and said in long drawn out voice, "Wellllll…..considering they don't make this kind of ve-hic-le anymore, I have to call around to see if I can find a suitable replacement. May have to fab-ri-cate one for ya."
Eric rubbed the back of his neck – the tension was almost overwhelming. He just wanted to be home! "Sir, can you call around now and find out for me? Please?"
Eddie put the toothpick between his lips and started chewing on it. "I guess I could see if they have one in Elkhorn…but I doubt it. You have a di-no-saur here son. Did you know we have one helluva storm coming?"
Eric threw his hands in the air. "Yes! I shouldn't even have been on this freeway. I was trying to go east but got rerouted because of an accident or something."
The toothpick moved to the other side of Eddie's mouth. "Yeah…I heard about that. A tanker hit the center meridian and flipped. That's a bad accident. Good thing you weren't on that freeway son."
Eric could feel a headache coming on. Eddie was lowering the Vista Cruiser onto the hydraulic lifts. The car creaked and groaned as the chains placed it back on the ground. "Son, you may want to get your personal stuff out of there."
Eric retrieved his suitcase and the briefcase and set them by the door. He watched as the lifts raised his car and the sight of underside damage made him blanch. The oil pan had busted open and was now just a gaping hole that smelled like burnt oil. Eddie took a flashlight and pointed to the sway bar, "Yep, that'll have to be replaced or it won't hold up the new oil pan."
"So, what you're saying is that basically I'm screwed." Eric grumbled. Eddie looked at the young man with the nice clothes and possibly fat wallet and replied, "Yep. You are. Do you have auto club?"
Eric shook his head no.
Eddie continued, "Here's your options son. One, you can call a tow truck to come up from Elkhorn to get ya… but you have to beat the storm. Two, you can leave your car here, call a taxi to come up from Elkhorn to get ya… but you have to beat the storm or three, you can see if there's any open rooms at the bed and breakfast…"
"…but I have to beat the storm. Yeah, I see a reoccurring theme here. Do you have a telephone I can use?"
"Well son, if you're going to call someone to come get you….they better beat the storm!" Eddie grinned at the young man and pointed to the office. "There's a phone in there."
"Thanks. I'll be quick." Eric mumbled. Eddie chuckled, "I only said that cuz once the storm hits we might lose the phone line."
Outside the garage:
Jackie grabbed her wallet and ducked into the garage. "Hey Eddie, I filled up my gas cans. Can I pay you now or should I wait until Violet gets back?"
Eddie pressed the button to lower the lift, bringing the Vista Cruiser back to the ground. Jackie looked at the damages and grimaced, "That doesn't look good. One of my old friends had a car just like this."
Eddie laughed, "Maybe I can call him and buy his oil pan, cuz this guys gonna need a new one!"
Jackie handed Eddie a ten dollar bill. "Keep the change." Eddie slid the bill into his pocket. "Why thank ya Miss Jackie. How's that Chevy doing?"
Jackie looked out the garage door at the dark blue truck. "She's good. I'm having some problems with the heater but considering I'm only driving around town it's no big deal."
Eddie transferred the toothpick to the other side of his mouth. "Well, bring her in after the storm and I'll have a look at the heating system. We'll get it fixed up for ya."
Inside the garage office:
"Mom, is Dad around?"
"Eric, where are you sweetie? There's a big storm coming down from the north. You shouldn't be driving."
"Tell me something I don't already know. Mom, I busted my oil pan and I'm at a garage. I think I'm going to have to take a bus or taxi home."
"Where are you?" his mom asked in a worried tone. Eric wanted to say, I'm stranded…in more ways than one.
Eric looked around the garage office and found some mail with a return address. "I'm in Alpine. Alpine Valley." Now why did that name sound familiar? Suddenly the line went dead. Okay…now I'm in hell. Eric placed the telephone receiver back in the cradle and went into the garage.
Inside the garage:
Jackie thanked Eddie for his help and turned to go. Eddie saw Eric coming back in. "Sir, the phone line went dead. Just like you said it would. It's like the Force is working against this Jedi today." He sighed.
Jackie had heard that voice before. She slowly pivoted on her heel and rested her eyes on five feet eleven inches of a shaggy brown haired Eric Forman. What was he doing here?
Eric saw a figure starting to walk away from the garage mechanic but they stopped and turned around. He was suddenly looking at a pair of multicolored eyes from the past. Jackie Burkhart? What was she doing here?
Jackie stepped forward as Eric stepped forward – were they both seeing the same thing - basement friends from Point Place? "Eric Forman." Jackie smiled.
He grinned. "Jackie Burkhart."
Eddie frowned. "Miss Jackie. You two know each other?"
Jackie smiled at Eddie, "Yeah, we both came from Point Place."
Eric almost smirked at Eddie but the fate of his car rested in the hands of this stranger. "Old friends."
Eddie lifted a brow. "Well, it looks like ya solved the problem of where ya gonna be staying."
Both Point Place friends said, "What?"
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