Chapter Seven

Isabella was groggy as she opened her eyes. The first thing that she noticed upon waking up was that she was lying in a bed, underneath the covers. She felt a source of light and warmth immediately to her left, which was a turned-on lamp atop a nightstand that also had an alarm clock and a bible on it. Her eyes then darted to the clothes dresser and the TV atop it on the other side of the room. Then they moved to the dull, green and white wallpaper haphazardly glued to the walls for decorative purposes. On the other side of the nightstand was a second bed, the same size as the one Isabella was in, and beyond that the entrance into the bathroom.

Given all that evidence, Isabella deduced where she was.

"A motel room."

And then, she stated the obvious question.

"How did I get here?"

She felt a buzz in her head as she tried to remember.

"Let's see, I got caught in the storm for the SECOND time in as many days, my hot air balloon is unrepairable, I had to run for shelter, found a road, saw a vehicle heading my way, slipped and fell trying to flag it down, and… that's it?"

Putting the pieces together helped Isabella get a sense of things. That was until a new, more frightening question came to mind.

"Why was I brought to a motel room?"

Not feeling comfortable, Isabella threw off the bed sheets. She gasped when she saw that she was no longer wearing her clothes. All she had on was a very large long-sleeve shirt that had the words DAD GUM on it. It was so big that it easily extended all the way down to Isabella's knees. But that was it. She felt nothing but the cotton of that shirt against her body.

Her eyes quickly moved to the brownish-red carpeted floor, searching for her socks and shoes. They were nowhere to be found.

"Paw! PAW!"

Suddenly, Isabella heard the shrill voice of a woman outside her room. That was followed by a second, raspier male voice.

"Why you yelling, Maw? We got a guest!"

"What have I told you about bringing other women here?"

The phrase other women set off alarm bells in Isabella's head. Quickly, she slid out of bed and dropped to the floor. She continued to hear the two adults converse outside her door as she searched for anything she could use as a weapon to defend herself.

"She ain't no woman, Maw, she be a girl!"

"You know there are laws against that kinda stuff, Paw!"

"Get your mind out of the henhouse! She be a CITY girl!"

"That ain't no different than usual."

"ARGH! Woman, if we didn't have two kids AND our families would start their 150-year feud up again if we separated, I would've left you years ago!"

"It ain't been no picnic either, having to put up with your womanizing ways for the last 33 years!"

"Look, we have to find out if she's okay! Or at least see if she has any money on her to charge her for the night!"

Hearing them approach the door, Isabella reached for the bible on the nightstand. She then hid in the corner, behind the door so that she would not be seen when they opened it. If they were planning to do something sinister with her, she was not going to go down without a fight.

She heard a key being inserted into the lock, and she stood at the ready. Once unlocked, the door calmly opened. The two adults walked into the room, and the first place they turned was the bed. Isabella raised the hardcover book above her head…

"Where she be?" asked the man.

"Take this!" screamed Isabella.

Isabella swung the book, hitting the man with enough force to knock him to the ground. She then swung at the woman, and she fell, landing on top of her husband. Isabella tossed the bible away, in which direction did not matter to her, and she turned to run out the door.

But it was blocked by a teenage girl and a seven-year old boy. One who was ecstatic about what Isabella had just done.

"Wow! Do it again, do it again, do it again!"

The teenager pulled out a hardcover book of her own, albeit pocket-sized. Isabella thought she was going to hit her with it, but instead, the girl opened it, and started writing on it, using a pen that Isabella just noticed she had up by her ear. She read her musing aloud as she recorded it on paper.

"Dear Diary. The girl we saved from the storm just did a number on the 'rents. My friend's stories about city girls are lies. City girls are just as tough as us country gals."

"Wait," Isabella interjected. "'Rents, as in, parents?"

Isabella spun around and saw the two adults were getting back to their feet, although both were now favoring the backs.

"Perhaps you should add that city girls also," the father said, "despite what we're led to believe, have no respect for their elders!"

"You can't tell me what to write!"

And with that, the girl left.

"Daughter, at least go see if the girl's clothes are dry yet!" he screamed after her.

"I'll help!" shouted the boy. "And I'll get her shoes!"

He departed as well, letting the door swing closed behind him. Isabella made no attempt to leave the room, seeming to have realized that she was not in any danger after all.

"How can a small little giblet like you have that much power?" the man asked as he sat down on the bed.

His wife took a seat next to him.

"If this is what you city folk do to thank someone after we save your life, me thinks we should start leavin' you Yankees out there after all!"

Isabella quickly apologized for her actions, bowing profusely for forgiveness.

"I'm very, very sorry! I thought you were…"

"Oh!" exclaimed the wife. "You heard all that jive we were spewing outside? We just do that to add some spice to our everyday conversation!"

"Gotta do something to keep the flame burning inside!" added the husband. "Year 34 ain't any easier than Year 1! But where are my manners. I'm Paw, and this here is my lovely wife, Maw! And the two youngins you saw are our offspring, Daughter and Son."

Isabella raised an eyebrow, a little perplexed by the names.

"Paw, Maw, Daughter, and Son?"

"First you try to maim us, and now you question our simple family naming scheme? You city folk really have no respect for us country bumpkins!"

"I mean no disrespect. They're… fine names."

"Darn tootin' they are!"

"So, what's your name?" asked Maw.

"I'm Isabella."

"My, that's a lovely name too. Paw, didn't you know a girl by that name once? You know, the one that was a vamp?"

"She wasn't a vamp, she was a vampire! She tried to bite me in the neck!"

"Now, Paw, don't be putting out tall tales! You'll scare the city girl here!"

"They're not tall tales, they're true! And I have the wooden stake to prove it!"

"You do not, Paw. Show me this stake!"

"It's right where I left it, you know. Still in her!"

Isabella felt uneasy again, and once more edged towards the door.

"Well, this has been fun, but I'm sure you two want to be alone to have a spirited debate about creatures of the night and such, so I'll be going…"

"You won't get far," warned Maw. "The road to the south is littered with tree branches and them power lines. The same to the north. You're trapped here in the sticks, girl!"

"You mean the middle of nowhere?"

"You catch on quick!"

"But that can't be! I need to get to Washington! My Fireside Girl troop is counting on me to lead them!"

"Fireside Girl?" Paw scratched the underside of his chin. "Don't have none of them 'round these parts."

Suddenly, Isabella had a bright idea.

"Wait! I can call for help! Where's my cell phone?"

Paw and Maw looked at each other, not sure what Isabella was talking about. She thought they had not heard her right, so she repeated herself.

"Where's my cell phone?"

"Cell phone?" questioned Paw. "What's that?"

"You don't know what a cell phone is? It's like a regular phone, only portable, and you can carry it in your pocket!"

They both shook their heads.

"Wait, who undressed me?"

"Not me," Maw said, before turning to Paw. "Maybe it was Paw."

Paw quickly defended himself. "For Pete's sake, Maw, the girl is 9!"

"I'm 11," corrected Isabella.

"She's 11!"

Isabella coughed, ending the argument and getting the pair back on topic.

"Oh, Daughter undressed you."

At that moment, they heard a knock on the door.

"Speaking of which…"

Paw got up and opened the door. Daughter and Son entered the room, the former with Isabella's dry, folded clothes in hand and the latter with Isabella's shoes.

"Um," Isabella said, pointing at her left shoe, "this one still has water on it."

"Son!" barked Paw. "How many times do I have to tell you this? A spit shine requires you to spit on AND shine the shoes!"

Son slapped himself on the forehead. "I forgot! I can fix it!"

"That's okay," Isabella cut in, taking back her shoes. "I'll fix it."


A couple minutes later, Isabella emerged from the bathroom with all of her everyday clothes on, as well as her shoes. Her hair was still a little bit of a mess, but given the circumstances, she would allow it to remain that way for the time being.

"That's better. Now about my cell phone…"

"Cell phone?" Daughter asked.

Isabella rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you don't know what that is."

"Oh, I know what they are. All of my friends have them. I don't."

"Daughter," interjected Paw, "we are not having that conversation right now!"

"I'm 16, and everyone in school has a cell phone but me!"

"I'm 48, and I don't have one! It doesn't bother me!"

Isabella coughed once more, again redirecting the conversation back on topic.

"Sorry, but I didn't find a cell phone on you or in your clothes."

Isabella eyed Daughter suspiciously.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Are you sure."

Daughter placed her right hand on her chest. "I swear to G-"

"DAUGHTER!" yelled Paw. "What did I tell you about swearing in this motel? Go put a quarter in the swear jar back at the office!"

She grumbled as she reached for the doorknob to exit the room.

"Wait!" Isabella shouted, getting another idea. "You have an office?"

"Of course we do. We own this motel, after all. I thought we told you that."

"No. No, you didn't."

"Oh. Well… we have an office!"

"And a phone?" Isabella asked, her hopes getting up.

"Yes!"


Isabella and Paw and his family were now in the motel office. Paw had just hung up after making a call.

"Well, the Sheriff said there's stuff everywhere. Because we're a business, we get priority, but even then, it could be a day or two before we can get out of here."

"But I don't have a day, and definitely not two!" cried Isabella. "I needed to be in Washington yesterday!"

Paw shrugged his shoulders.

"Them tropical storms. What you gonna do?"

But Isabella was far from defeated. She had one more idea.

"The girls! I know it would pain them to leave the Jamboree, but if they knew I was in a pickle, they'd drop everything and come to rescue me! Quick, let me use your phone!"

Paw wrapped his arms defensively around the phone.

"Sorry, but the motel phone is for in-house and local calls only. Anything else, you gotta use the pay phone."

Now Izzy was the one confused.

"What's a pay phone?"


Isabella was taken outside the front door of the office to the pay phone.

"Oh! A pay phone!"

She inserted a quarter into the slot, picked up the phone and dialed a number. She was greeted by a friendly voice on the other end.

"To complete this call, please insert two dollars and 25 cents."

Isabella pulled out her coin purse and inserted the proper amount into the slot. Once the last quarter went in, Isabella heard a phone start to ring on the other end.

"C'mon, pick up!"


A cell phone started to ring from inside a bag amongst those belonging to Troop 46231, who were still on The Mall competing in Jam events even though the sun was starting to go down. Suddenly, a hand reached in to check it. It was Ginger.

"Adyson! Phone!"

Adyson shouted from off-screen. "Who is it?"

Ginger looked at the screen and saw a phone number.

"I don't recognize the number!"

"Then forget it! I'm busy!"

Adyson was showing double-knotting a rope that tied Milly's left leg and Katie's right leg together. But a pan up showed that Milly was dressed in a yellow chicken suit and that Katie was dressed as a human-sized egg.

"Now if someone asks if the chicken or the egg came first," joked Adyson, "we can say both! At the same time!"

Neither Milly nor Katie reacted.

"Oh, come on! I've been waiting to hatch that one all day!"


With Adyson not picking up, her cell phone went to voicemail. After hearing the beep, Isabella left a message.

"Addy, this is Izzy! Whenever you get a chance, use that phone tracer of yours to track this number! I'm stranded in the middle of nowhere and I'm stuck here because of the storm! I need a rescue, ASAP!"

Isabella then hung up, satisfied with her message. But she was not happy with the results, so she picked up the phone once more and dialed a different number.

"To complete this call, please insert two dollars and 25…"

"Yeah, yeah," grumbled Isabella, as she inserted the proper change.


In a car driving somewhere near the Appalachian Mountains, a cell phone began to ring.

"JEREMY!"

Candace lifted up her phone, expecting to see her boyfriend's face on the display. But when all she saw was a number, she stopped caring.

"Meh."

The phone continued to ring as Candace lowered her hand.


"C'mon!" Isabella exclaimed. "You're my last hope!"

Eventually, it got to the fifth ring, and Isabella was about to cry knowing the phone was about to go to voicemail. But at the last possible second, someone answered the phone.

"Hello?"

Isabella froze. She recognized that voice anywhere.

It was Phineas.'