"We're in trouble," Landon said. "The whole town. Money trouble."
"The whole country is on a downslide these days," Patrick said. "You had enough to put up a new hotel and street signs. You've even got a traffic light. Didn't most of you have your money buried under an old tree somewhere?"
Landon laughed. "We dug it up to pay for the hotel and the traffic light. The rest was pooled in a diversified investment account. Lost nearly 25%."
"Could have been worse."
"It is worse," Landon said. "We had a good thing going here with the Bigfoot thing."
Patrick smiled. "So the Westcotts are still living here?"
Ruth returned to the table with three sets of silverware and a pot of warm pancake syrup. "Some of them," she said. "Daniel and Ward, are here. So are Mary and Richie, but Stan lives in Seattle now. He teaches Junior High History."
"Stan is a teacher?"
"He got electrolysis," said Landon.
"Never would tell anyone how much that cost," Ruth added. She went back into the kitchen.
"Turns out the poor S.O.B is uglier without the hair than he was with it," laughed Landon. "Not long after he left, Richie's old truck broke down on the highway. He was out giving it a shove to get it off the road when a family drove by. You know he never wears a shirt. So word hits the papers that people seen a Bigfoot attacking a truck and we got hit with a couple dozen fools with cameras roaming around our woods looking for the next big scoop."
"So you decided to give it to them," Patrick concluded.
Ruth entered with three steaming plates of pancakes and eggs. They all ate as Landon finished his story. "Went really well for 6 years. We could guarantee sightings, kept them to a minimum, just enough to keep interest going. Put up a hotel, a gift shop…"
"Remodeled the diner," added Ruth.
"It's lovely," nodded Patrick. "And these pancakes are wonderful."
Ruth beamed.
"Then some smart-ass reporter did a little snooping and put it in the Truthfinder that it was all a scam. Just a hairy family."
"The Truthfinder is hardly a serious paper," Patrick said.
"Our clientele hardly read serious papers," said Landon.
"And we had coupons in the Truthfinder," added Ruth.
"The other tabloids picked up on it and that was that," said Landon. "We're left with an empty hotel only 5 years into a 30 year mortgage."
"And a traffic light," Patrick said.
"With no traffic," said Landon.
"So how can I help?" Patrick asked.
"We're thinking of turning this into a different kind of business," Landon told him. "We're exposed as carny-folk, so why not go with that? Ruth can still walk the high-wire. Tony and Marco still have their Motordrome."
"They've got to be in their 70's!" Patrick exclaimed.
Landon waved him off. "They have nephews who beg to be let in that thing. They're out there every weekend wheeling around."
"We want to do a retro-style permanent set up," Ruth said. "Bring in some new people, train them – geeks are very big these days. We've got all the old equipment. We can set up the old concessions and games, Carl's been restoring the old carousel…"
"Sounds good," said Patrick. "You're close enough to the highway to get a decent draw. Advertise on a few billboards…"
"Only one thing missing," said Landon.
"What's that?" Patrick asked.
"A psychic," said Ruth.