~10~ Broken Bow Cardboardeaux
We had a lazy morning the next day and eventually dragged ourselves out of town about eleven o'clock. We got into Broken Bow, Nebraska at around seven. I decided to take a break from the cheesy Winchester-style motels and stay someplace nice. Of course, that decision was helped by the total lack of any good choices in where to stay in Broken Bow. There were five options and I didn't really like any of them, so, we are staying at The Cobblestone Hotel & Suites. Really nice place with an indoor pool and hot tub.
We lazed around the pool until they kicked us out at ten that night. We ordered room service and watched movies in the rooms. I think we were all steeling ourselves for what lay ahead. It was going to be a sad stop on our road trip, but one we all agreed couldn't be missed. The next morning, Sammi, Cat and I went to a local grocery store to buy supplies for the day. Cat got the drinks, while Sammi and I covered the food. We were going on a picnic, of sorts.
Back at the hotel, we made sandwiches and popped them into the mini fridge in the suite. Cat got the wine chilling and we all headed back down to the pool. We didn't plan on going out until late afternoon, so we decided to take some time to relax. We all climbed into the hot tub and realized one of our number was missing. "Where'd Charlie go?" I asked. Everyone glanced around, shrugging shoulders. Just then she came into the room. "You get lost?"
"Nope. Just taking care of some business at the front desk." She said with a smirk. We all looked at each other in confusion and worry. What was she up to?
"Charlie? I can't imagine any business you might have with the front desk that could be good." El said. We all laughed. Charlie really would make a great pair with my Nicky.
Charlie climbed down into the hot tub with us, getting comfortable. "Trust me guys, you will thank me." She said this with a pointed look at the screaming kids playing over in the pool that we were all trying to ignore.
Cat squinted her eyes at Charlie. "I don't know what you're up to, but I'm game."
"Ditto."
"Same."
"Oh, hell..."
While we sat considering Charlie, a guy came in from the hotel staff and blew a whistle, making us all jump. He walked over to the families and those using the pool and talked quietly to them. They all began packing up their things and leaving. El cocked an eyebrow at it and then at Charlie, who was grinning like a fool. The employee came over to us and looked at Charlie. "Miss Winchester, the pool area is yours for the next two hours and the items you requested will be delivered shortly."
"Thanks, honey." Charlie said with a sly grin and a wink. The poor guy actually broke out in a blush and hurried from the room.
After closing our mouths, we just stared at Charlie. "How'd you...?" Sammi questioned.
"Hey $400 bucks may not rival Dean and his mastery of the pool table, but it'll buy us private use of a hot tub and some drinks." She said.
"Miss Winchester?" El asked.
We all laughed and leaned back, relaxing into the hot water and quiet of the now empty room. A few minutes later a different young man came in, set a box and a bag on a small side table next to a few deck chairs nearby. "Anything else, Miss Winchester?"
"No, sugar, you did just fine." Charlie answers with another evil grin and wink. After breaking out into a blush of his own, the young man left. Charlie got out of the hot tub and produced iconic red plastic solo cups. She turned the box around, revealing a spigot on the other side. She poured some of the contents into a cup and handed it to El. "Only the best for my girls! I present to you the cheapest cardboardeaux money can buy!"
El laughed taking the cup of cheap wine with a gracious nod of her head. Charlie proceeded to serve us all. I took my cup but just held onto it, not being a drinker myself.
We all relaxed and enjoyed our time, courtesy of Charlie.
"Dee." Sammi said a little while later.
"Hmm?" I answered with my eyes closed and head leaning back against the edge of the hot tub.
"You haven't had one sip of your drink."
"I don't really drink, guys. But don't let me ruin your fun." I lifted my head and noticed everyone had stopped chatting and were looking at me. "What?"
"I think it's time you started." El said, with a gleam in her eye.
"Guys. Someone has to stay sober in order to drive later." I said trying to reason with them.
"Dee, we won't be leaving for another three or four hours and it's only boxed wine, for goodness sake!" Cat said.
My eyes wandered to each face noticing the raised eyebrows and looks of expectation on each. I sighed.
"Don't be rude to your hostess." Charlie said in a poor approximation of an english accent.
"Fuck yeah, Dee. Don't wanna be rude!" El said, teasingly. I sighed again.
"Fine. Fine." I raised my cup so all could see it and took a small sip. It wasn't really so bad. I was expecting something bitter, having only ever tried beer when I was twelve. "Happy?" I asked them.
"Seriously?" Sammi said.
"Yeah. What the fuck was that, Dee?" Charlie asked.
"What? I took a -" I was cut off before I could finish by El starting up a chant.
"Chug, chug, chug, chug." The rest joined her.
"Oh my...Fine!" I raised my cup again and drained it. I turned it over, so they could see it was truly empty. "Now are you satisfied?!" This was met with a chorus of cheers from the girls.
"That's what I'm talking about." Cat said with a grin.
Charlie got out and refilled everyone's cups, mine included. When she handed mine back to me, she gave me a stern look until I took a sip. She then smiled and climbed back into the hot tub. I must say, for someone who never drinks and my small frame...that boxed wine knocked me quite loopy, much to everyone's amusement.
We hung out at the pool and hot tub for our two screaming-kid-free hours just enjoying each others company and even the silence that fell between bouts of conversation. One of the things I liked about these guys is how we didn't feel the need to fill the silence with mindless drivel. We cleaned up our cardboardeaux and cups and headed back up to our rooms to clean ourselves up and get ready for our field trip. "So, how do we know where we're going?" El asked while we were going about getting dressed.
"Same as Sam's apartment. Sammi found the info on the message boards online. I guess a few who live out this way have actually been to Harvelle's." I answered.
"Seriously? It's a real place?" I answered with a nod of my head while focusing on my shoelaces. "Doesn't that strike you as fucking odd? I mean, I can understand one or two of these places from the books as having been real...but...every one of them? Come on!" She was right. It was odd, but I had been afraid to say anything out loud for fear of sounding crazy.
"What's up in there?" Cat's voice came through the door.
El opened our bedroom door and waved her hand in my direction. "Dee says Harvelle's was a real place and that online, people have said they've actually been there."
"Sweet! Another $400 bucks! I hope they have a dart board!" Charlie exclaimed.
El rolled her eyes at Charlie. "No, Charlie, not sweet! Doesn't it bother any of you how every place mentioned in the books has been a real place?!"
"I wouldn't say it bothers me per se." I answered quietly. "More like peaks my curiosity?"
El let out an exasperated sigh. "Sammi! Help me out here! Cat?"
"Well. It does seem quite odd..." Sammi offered.
"Maybe," Cat put in, "maybe, Carver was just an eccentric traveler and took all the various places he's been to and put them into his books. Makes the books more exciting, don't you think?" Cat smiled, raising her eyebrows at us, looking for agreement. I nodded at her but inside I was beginning to feel what El was going through. I don't think any of them even thought about it at the time, but we even had a guy after us named Dean who accused us of stealing his car. A car that just happened to have a trunk full of real weapons.
"Yeah." Charlie said. "Just a traveler. We about ready to go?" Her question derailed El's questions as we all gathered what we would need for our evening out.
Once we were in the car and driving, Sammi piped up with a question of her own. "You think it...you know...?"
"Burned down?" I asked.
"Yeah. I mean, the message boards didn't really say a lot about it other than it was a real place and where it was."
"Guess we'll just have to wait and see."