Have you ever loved someone so much that you'd do anything for them? My Cindy is that someone. She was the answer to a dream I've had for a long, long time. I may have taken things too far by this Snow Monster scheme, but it was the only way! I'm going to tell the whole story, and then you'll see that I'm only guilty of one crime: the crime of loving her too much.
Cam slid the deadbolt snugly into its metal casing and, whistling idly, fastened the chain across the door. He poked the cold, grey embers in the fireplace before climbing upstairs to bed. He grimaced as the top stair let out a shrill squeak of protest that threatened to wake up most of the guests. With amusement, he noticed that Terrence's light was still on, so he poked his head in to say goodnight.
" 'Night, Terrence," Cam whispered to the elderly man sleeping on the bed, who awoke with a start.
"What? Huh? I was just resting my eyes," Terrence mumbled. "Oh, its you, Cam. Glad you're still up. I want to talk to you."
Puzzled, Cam strode into the room, the hardwood floors groaning under his feet. "What's up?" He perched on the edge of the bed, avoiding Terrence's bad leg under the covers.
Terrence rubbed his eyes and stroked his gray mustache. "I'm an old man," he began. "I'm not going to be around forever, you know. I…just…want to make sure that you'll take care of Cindy for me…when I'm gone. I'm all she has left."
"No. She's got me, too," Cam interrupted. "I won't let you down, Terrence."
"I know, Cam…I know..." With a sigh, he rolled over and was soon snoring contentedly.
Cam gave a weak chuckle and flicked off the bedroom light before creeping down the hall to see Cindy. He snuck into her room and slipped under the covers to join her in dreamland.
After that night, I got to thinking about, well, the future. I knew that the frozen northland was no place to raise a family together, but I knew that Cindy wouldn't leave her grandpa alone to fend for himself. So while she was out with guests on the ski slopes, Terrence and I had a chat.
"Let me get this straight, son," Terrence wheezed. "You want ME to sell this old place? So you two can go off'n get married and leave me to retire to an old folks' home in Miami!?"
Cam bit his lip. "Well, it didn't sound that bad until you said it like that," he mumbled apologetically. "Never mind."
Terrence grabbed Cam's arm. "I was JOKING! Cam, my boy, that's the best idea I've heard in a while. But I've been trying to sell this old place for years. No one wants it any more than I do!"
"Really?" Cam grimaced. "So what would happen if you had to sell the place a little…cheaper?"
"Cheaper? People would probably flock to buy it…but how would I do that?"
"You know that old snow monster legend 'round these parts?" asked Cam with a wicked grin.
"That bunch of hooey?" Terrence scoffed. "What about it?"
"Well, what if it became real?"
And that's how it started. We agreed that I'd dress up as the legendary snow monster and drive down the land's value so Terrence could finally sell the lodge and we could leave this chilly northland. Since I got the firewood all the time and was constantly in and out of the lodge anyway, no one would miss me while I was playing snow monster. It worked well; guests stopped showing up and people cancelled their reservations. Mentally, I was counting down the days until I would become Mr. Cam Squall! (What? You expected me to keep the name 'Filbert'?)
"I just don't understand it," Terrence moaned, hanging up the phone after another cancellation. "If'n business don't pick up soon, I'll have to close down the lodge and expire!"
"You mean 'retire,' grandpa," Cindy corrected gently, pressing a mug of cocoa into his hands. "And people will show back up, I promise."
"Not if that snow monster keeps scarin' em away, they won't," Terrence retorted.
Cam placed an elbow on the mantle and sighed deeply. "Snow monster? Isn't that just an old legend?" he asked. "I've been fetchin' firewood in all kinds of weather and I've NEVER seen any snow monster."
Terrence's gray mustache turned up at the corners. "Don't be too quick to dismiss legends."
Cindy hauled herself off the couch with a groan. "I'm going to get more cocoa. When I get back, we'd better be on a different topic than made-up monsters." Cam and Terrence shared a secret smirk.
As Cindy vanished into the kitchen, the phone jangled loudly. Terrence picked it up, expecting another cancellation. "Hello. Big Pine Lodge, Terrence Squall speaking." He grabbed a notepad and began scribbling down information. "Yes. Yes. Ms. Daphne Blake, is it? Okay, five guests; two males, two females and…a dog? Yes, we can do that. We'll be expecting you. Okay, bye."
"Who was that?" Cindy asked, breezing into the room with a steaming mug of cocoa.
"Guests for this weekend!" Terrence replied with forced enthusiasm. While Cindy cheered, Terrence and Cam exchanged worried looks.
This complicated things. I knew I had to scare them so badly they wouldn't want to come back. Also, later that day, Mr. Ruckus made a reservation as well. Now I had six people to scare away! And to make matters worse, no one had offered to buy the lodge! But you know what they say about desperate times…
