TWO

"Afternoon," said a man coming out from the building at the station. "Strangers in town, huh?"

"Yes," said Piper. "Could you fill it up with premium unleaded? We're just passing through and would like to get on our way as soon as we can."

"Sure," said the man. "We don't get many strangers here. Mostly just the local folks. Where you from?"

"San Francisco," Phoebe said.

"'Frisco, huh?" asked the man. "I used to have an aunt who lived in 'Frisco. Haven't seen her in more than twenty years."

"San Francisco," corrected Phoebe. "The name of the city is San Francisco."

"Sorry," apologized the man. "I heard that the residents don't like it being called 'Frisco. I didn't mean to offend you."

"You didn't," Paige said. "Where are we anyway?"

"Loganville," replied the man. "Founded in 1873 by Robert Logan. One of his descendents, Robert Logan IV, is still our most prominent citizen. He owns the local factory where most of the locals work. We're kind of a close knit group here."

"Like every other small town I'd imagine," Phoebe said. "Is there a local restaurant around here?"

"The Logan Inn," said the man. "It's not really an inn. I heard it was fifty or sixty years ago. Now it's just a restaurant. Serves the best chicken fried steak around."

"You hungry, Phoebe?" Piper asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Phoebe said. "I hadn't realized it until I got out of the car. I thought we might stop for something to eat. It's going to be late when we get back and I'm sure you won't want to cook after the long drive."

"I could go for something," Paige interjected.

"Well," Piper said, "we do still have a ways to go. I guess it wouldn't hurt to get something to eat before we continue on. Where is this Logan's Inn?"

"Straight down Main Street on the corner square," replied the station attendant. "It'll be on your right just past the stop sign. You can't miss it."

"Thanks," Piper said as she paid for the gas. "Well, thanks for the service."

"Any time, ma'am," said the attendant.

"Ma'am?" Piper questioned as they drove into town. "Since when did I become old enough to be a ma'am?"

"I'm sure he just meant it out of respect," Paige said.

The town was as quaint as they all imagined it would be. Many of the people walking the streets stopped to look at them as they passed. They found the restaurant just as the man had said. It was nearly deserted with only about half a dozen people inside.

Even Piper commented on how good the food was. As a professional chef, she knew good food. And although it wasn't quite up to her unusually high standards, for a restaurant she said it "wasn't bad". They finished their meal and paid for it. Then they went out to the car and began the drive back to the highway.

"Did you see how those people were looking at us in there?" Paige asked. "Like we were some sort of freaks or something."

"Yeah, I noticed that," Phoebe said. "I guess the station attendant was right. They must not get much company in this town."

"Well I for one will be glad to be away from here," Piper said. "Something doesn't feel right here."

As they drove toward the city limit Piper looked around. Nothing seemed amiss or out of the ordinary. It looked like any spring day in the countryside of California. But she still couldn't shake the feeling that something was out of place. That there was something wrong in the air. Neither Phoebe nor Paige said anything about it so she decided it was probably just her imagination. She was, after all, a city girl.

As the car reached the city limit it suddenly stopped. The stop was so violent that only the girls' seatbelts kept them from being thrown into the windshield. As they recovered from the impact, Piper checked to make sure the other two were okay.

"What happened?" asked Phoebe. "Did you hit your breaks for some reason?"

"No," Piper said. "The car just stopped moving."

They sat listening and could still hear the engine running. From their vantage point there didn't seem to be any damage to the car. Cautiously Piper pressed on the accelerator moving the car forward. It eased forward several feet, and then suddenly came to a complete stop. The tires just spun on the pavement as if the car had suddenly come up against a wall of some kind.

"I don't understand," Piper said. "It's like something is preventing the car from moving. But there's nothing there."

"Maybe it's some kind of invisible shield," offered Phoebe. "Maybe that's what we encountered when we first entered this town."

"Well, whatever it is," Piper said, "it's not going to keep us here. I don't like this place and I have no intention of staying even one more minute."

She raised her hands and tapped into her explosive ability. Phoebe and Paige watched as nothing appeared to happen. Piper tried again, and then just looked at her hands.

"It's not working," she said. "I can't explode it. It's like my powers were suddenly taken away."

Phoebe and Paige just looked at Piper in astonishment.

"Okay," Paige said. "Let me see if I can orb to the other side of this barrier."

Piper and Phoebe watched as Paige concentrated. She tried for several long moments but nothing happened.

"That's weird," Paige said finally. "I can't seem to orb."

"This is beginning to annoy me," Piper said. "I don't like it. We'd better get inside before something else happens. I saw a hotel in town. Let's get a room there and see if we can figure this thing out."

She turned the car around and headed back into town.