Sheltering just inside a moist warm laundry mat with a clear view of the cabins, the neighborhood old biddy committee convenes on the holiday morning to discuss the fact that the two young brothers in Cabin 8 are now facing Thanksgiving alone with little food and no money. There's still no sign of that big black car with the gruff, dark-haired man that would signal that the boys' father had made it back. The Winchesters' temporary landlady, Amanda Marvin, has just finished telling Mable and Irene how excited the older boy was to discover the food supplies and gloves they had seeded the empty cabins with for him to find while he cleaned.
"Dean's going to shovel for you again today, isn't he?" Mable from the Git'n Go asks, and when she gets confirmation she devises a plan to drop a five dollar bill on the sidewalk where he'll find it. Irene says she'll wait until he's finished shoveling the walks around the cabin and offer him cash to do the one in front of the laundry mat. Mable also hands over today's supplies to be conveniently left inside a cabin: jelly, bread, a couple apples, four individual serving size boxes of cereal, more milk.
Irene throws in a couple of candy bars from the snack machine, but Amanda says no one leaves candy behind. The women look over the small haul sadly. It's not much food, but they're trying to make it believable as left behind items. Irene adds a couple pairs of warm socks that have been left behind at her laundry mat and an old flannel shirt that should fit the older boy. If he wears it under that hoodie he's been using instead of a winter coat, he'll be warmer.
"I'm going to invite Dean to bring his little brother over for a real Thanksgiving meal today. I don't have a turkey, but I can roast a chicken and make fixings. At least it'll be something hot with meat." But even as the landlady says it, she doubts he'll accept her offer. "That boy has a proud streak. I don't see him coming if he thinks it's some kind of charity." Amanda has been growing more worried about the situation. If these boys' father doesn't show back up, she can't just let them keep living alone in her cabin. She could end up in all kinds of legal trouble.
Her friends understand without too many words. They also start wondering if maybe getting the preacher involved isn't a good idea - better than calling the police. Maybe the preacher can find out if these boys have kin somewhere who will take them in. At any rate, the group decides that if the dad's not back by Sunday, they will have to do something.
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade is playing on the television set for Sammy who is wrapped in a blanket eating his second bowl of cereal and milk as Dean gets ready to go shovel the walkways for the cabins. It's bitter cold today after last night's snowfall, and because Sammy is going to stay inside, Dean borrows his brother's hat and scarf, and puts on the gloves he found cleaning a cabin yesterday. He wishes his shoes were better protection, or that they were dry from walking through slush last evening.
Dean kind of wishes he could just curl up under the blanket with Sam and watch the parade too, his throat hurts and he feels achy. But with Dad gone, Dean's got to do his best. Dad will be really pissed off at him if he doesn't do his job – take care of Sam. "I'm gonna to be right outside Sammy. Then I'm probably going to help clean the empty cabins, but I'll be back in time to make lunch, okay? You just watch this, cause at the end – Santa comes to town." Dean's voice is scratchy, making his young voice sound deeper, more like their dad's.
Sam turns a skeptical eye to his brother; Sam has the existence of Santa Claus under consideration, but even as young as Sam is he can see something is wrong with his brother. "Are you sure you should go out, Dean? You sound kind of sick." Sam voices his concern, turning big hazel eyes of worry on his brother. Dean just ruffles his hair before telling him to lock up until he comes back.
While Dean is shoveling, he finds a five dollar bill which he tries to give the landlady, but she tells him tersely that it isn't hers. She sounds even more curt than usual, and Dean has no way of knowing it's because she can tell he's getting sick. He pockets the bill, hoping the store is open so he can buy something special for dinner so Sammy doesn't feel left out of normal celebrations. Sometimes Dean thinks he should tell Sammy the truth about how their mom died or what dad's doing, but he wants Sam to not be so afraid – and knowing that stuff so young is scary.
"When you're finished my walks, the lady at the laundry mat offered to pay you to do hers. You can use that shovel."
Dean looks up from the scarf he has wrapped around his face, green eyes overly bright. "Thanks. Ma'am. I'll be as fast as I can so I can get the rooms done too." He's a little nervous about her offer. Cleaning the rooms is what is keeping them in their cabin, he thinks. Besides the rooms have really been useful with food and even the gloves he's wearing left behind by former tenants - Dean's amazed at how wasteful some people are. "If that's okay with you, Ma'am?" He ends in a fit of coughing that takes them both by surprise, and it scares her enough that she almost barks out her next sentence.
"You come and find me when you're ready to clean the rooms." She stomps back into the office heading for the phone to call her friends. If the older boy is sick, it changes things as far as she's concerned. She's sure the biddy committee will agree. They are going to have to take some kind of direct action. Damn that man leaving two little kids behind to fend for themselves.
. . . . . . .
Nov. 11, 1988
A sign outside the bar says "Hunters Welcome" and the four Supernatural hunters blend in with the small crowd sitting mostly at round tables in the dimly lit, smoky, little unnamed bar in Devil's Elbow, Missouri. "What are we some kind of committee?" Paul Robertson shouts, drawing unwanted attention to the group. The town, on the east side of Fort Leonard Wood, made a convenient meeting place as the men prepared to go out after the thing that had killed Robertson's partner.
It is – technically – Robertson's hunt, and John Winchester is mentally cursing his friend Bill Harvelle for asking him to work with this group, especially since Robertson is determined to remain in charge of the expedition, even though he doesn't have a plan, and he won't even consider John's plan, or look at the research John has collected. Robertson thinks it's some kind of vengeful spirit, but John has his doubts.
"If you'll just look at the information I've gathered." John starts again, his reasonable voice getting a little strained. "You'll see that the area your partner Gene went missing in used to be an Osage Indian village. Now, I know they packed up and headed further west in the 1820s, but that's because the other immigrating tribes were pestering them. I think after centuries of living here, the Osage left because one of those visitors became an evil spirit, a Wendigo."
Besides Robertson and John, the hunters include an old friend of Robertson who occasionally helps him with hunts. and a shaky forty year old who had been training with Harvelle's group but was still pretty green. John didn't expect much out of either of them, and he even wondered if he wouldn't be better going alone than having these half-wits in the woods with him. Dean's better trained, and he's not even ten yet. But John needs Dean to look after his little brother right now. He feels a twinge of regret at not having been home in more than a week; he'd call but there's not much he can say except to keep doing what they know they should.
John's kind of interested in this hunt. A Wendigo isn't his usual fare of werewolves, shapeshifters, witches, ghosts, and other vengeful spirits. Plus, it really is hunting season here. It feels nice to have an easier time blending in, and it's Veteran's Day. Surely as a Marine, he's entitled to lift a few today. But first, he needs to work things out with Robertson.
"I don't see why you won't take these protection runes with you. It can't hurt and it might help." John's patience is threadbare. "And take along a flamethrower. Shooting it is just going to piss it off."
"I don't know what you're thinking, Winchester. Wendigos are Algonquin. Those tribes are on the Atlantic coast, not smack dab in the middle of the country." Robertson has lost patience too. He wants payback for his buddy Gene's death and he thinks Winchester is just trying to complicate things. "Wendigos are demonic, fast, and cannibalistic. We know that. We also know this ain't where you find them."
John throws back another shot as he gathers his research. "Suit yourself. Just don't expect me to follow you into a battle unarmed."
. . . . . . .
When Dean finishes the shoveling and the cabin cleaning, he's loaded down with his finds, so he isn't terribly surprised when Mrs. Marvin offers to help him carry things back to the room. He is surprised that two other women, the ones from the convenience store and laundry, and an older man are waiting for him.
Dean turns betrayed eyes to the landlady. "What…?" He croaks out, voice failing as fear clamps down on an already swollen throat.
"Don't worry, son. We aren't here to hurt anyone. We all just need to talk to you." The man's voice is deep and calm, but it only causes Dean to panic more.
"I'm not your son." Dean lets his anger rise. He knows what this is, this is adults thinking he can't do his job, can't take care of his little brother. Angry tears start falling, and it just makes Dean madder because he thinks that will make him look weak. "I'm not going to let you in, so go away." He wishes his nose would stop running because he knows he's blubbering. Dad wouldn't like that, and he doesn't want to scare Sammy by crying in front of him. "Go away." He repeats more quietly after wiping his face on the scarf.
And right when Dean starts to hope the group will just walk away, the cabin door opens and Sammy is standing there still wrapped in his blanket. "Dean? I thought I heard you. I was getting scared because you've been gone so long…" Sammy trails off as he takes in his big brother's tear-stained face and the strangers outside. "Oh."
Dean is swept inside as the adults enter with him and shut the door. The two boys end up huddled together on the couch as the women check over the room clucking over what they find. They put away food and straighten the room. Irene collects the laundry hanging here and there to dry after being hand washed in the bathtub. She heads out to the laundry mat. Mable makes a tching sound about what little food is there before rushing over to the store. Amanda picks up and puts back down the few books and play items she finds. But it's the man who draws the boys' attention.
Dean has Sammy on his lap now and the blanket draped over both of them. Sammy thinks his brother is cold because he's trembling.
"Boys, I'm Reverend Wright. I'm here to help." He ignores Dean's snort. "We've noticed your dad's not here right now, and it's a holiday. One where we thank God for our existence and the many blessings we have. It's also one where our community always tries to share what it has with those who have less." Reverend Wright sees he has the littler boy's interest. "Do you like turkey? Mashed potatoes? Pie?"
"Dean loves pie. Don't you Dean?" Sammy squirms around to try to catch his brother's eyes. He thinks getting a real Thanksgiving dinner sounds like a great plan, and he is too little to understand Dean's upset.
"Be quiet, Sammy." Dean mutters at him.
"But it sounds good, Dean, and Daddy said we were going to go to Pastor Jim's for Thanksgiving. And we would 'a had a real Thanksgiving." Sammy is fixing Dean with sad eyes. "I want turkey, Dean. And I'm hungry."
Dean feels as though he's being torn in half. He wants Sam to have a nice meal. He really doesn't want him to be hungry. But Dean knows that he'll already be in trouble because there are strangers in their room. Dad is going to be so mad at him. He is still trying to hold back tears, feeling stuffy and sick and hot, and his stomach betrays him with a loud growl.
Reverend Wright concentrates on the littler boy. "Tell me about Pastor Jim."