Luc and Patrick walked into the lobby of the B&B. Dotty looked exhausted.
“Dotty, take a break, we’ll help out,” said Patrick.
Dotty smiled and ran.
Luc looked around at all the people still milling in the lobby. He cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. The sub-vocals were subtle, but made everyone snap around.
“I’d like anyone who isn’t already a guest to depart. There has been a death in the family, and we’d like time to grieve in private. There are other hotels in Spoon River that would be glad to have your business. However, this establishment is closed until after the funeral. Do you understand?” said Luc.
“You don’t have any right to kick us out!” yelled one man. “That old man was a werewolf, and we know they’re hiding something. The damn dog disappeared and they have to be one in the same!”
“The dog disappeared?” asked Patrick.
“Yeah! Everyone says you never saw the dog and the man together ’cause they were the same person. So don’t go trying to tell us he wasn’t a werewolf,” said the man.
“So, just because a dog disappeared and an old man died who needed a shave and a haircut, you’re saying that he was some kind of supernatural being?” asked Luc.
“Yes! And the owner of this place knew it! She tried to kick the paramedics out before he shifted on them and then wouldn’t let the sheriff or the coroner see the body. They just whisked it off in the middle of the night to hide the facts! Won’t tell us where they took it either!” the man said loudly.
“And what was that dog’s name?” asked Luc.
“Aw, everyone knows the dog’s name is Buster. Big old smelly looking husky thing,” said another man.
“Sort of like that dog over there?” asked Luc pointing to ‘Buster’ who had decided to watch things from the hall.
“Um, yeah,” said the man looking a little shook by the sight of the dog lounging in the hall.
“Did you ever think that maybe, just maybe the dog was inside? Or, that he was asleep in that fancy dog house of his outside? Or do you always jump to conclusions?” asked Patrick.
“Well, they said it happened and I’ve never known them to make things up like this,” said a woman.
“Ma’am, it was 3am. They got woke up and put out on a call. They nearly scared an old man to death by trying to do vitals on him and pushing his best friend out of the room. They made it up because they screwed up. Brian wasn’t a werewolf, he was just a very old and rather hairy man,” said Luc.
“I still say there’s something fishy going on! How on earth did ‘family’ show up so fast? Especially when he didn’t have no family that I ever heard of,” said the first man.
“Well, we were up here a few weeks ago,” said Patrick. “We were visiting Brian then and my wife is related to him.” “Here’s hoping Ginny will forgive me for that little white lie,” he thought.
“Yeah right. Just more lies,” said the man.
“ENOUGH!” shouted Luc this time, heavy on the sub-vocals. “I give everyone three minutes to leave the premises. After that, I’m calling the sheriff.”
Everyone was so shocked, that they left. Luc locked the front door and Patrick turned the sign to Closed.
“That should take care of that,” said Luc as they walked down the hall towards the kitchen. Patrick nodded and was still trying to get the goosebumps to go away.
*
“You said what?” asked Ginny,
“It was just a little white lie,” said Patrick. You yourself said you had a grandma from Canada. What’s the possibility that you are related? Pretty damn close? Sort of like you are to Luc?”
“Well, okay. That reminds me. We need to go through his stuff and find his real relatives,” said Ginny.
“Why don’t you and Meg go do that while the men and ‘Buster’ go take a look around,” said Angie. “I’ll help Sam.”
“Is that alright with you?” asked Luc. Angie was right. A walk with ‘Buster’ would help squelch a lot of things.
“Don’t forget to have him go by the Dog Bar for a slice of pizza,” said Sam. “When he was feeling good he’d go by and they’d always give him a piece.”
“Good idea. We’ll be back soon,” said Luc as he, ‘Buster’ and Patrick went out the back door.
Sam turned to Ginny. “Here’s the key to his room. Go through the stuff and figure out what you need to keep or toss,” she said.
Ginny nodded and headed down the hall with Meg trailing behind her.
Three hours later, Ginny was pouring over a diary. Meg had laid down on the bed and taken a nap. Ginny was shaking her head, not able to believe what she was reading. “Damn! Patrick didn’t lie!” she thought. She re-read the family tree in the back of the diary again.
Me and Natalie
(1916) Jenny and?
(1931) Lizzybit and David
(1948) Margaret and Jonathan
Ginny had found the family tree first as there had been a bunch of pictures stuck in the back of the diary. She glanced at the writing when the name Margaret jumped out at her. Margaret and Jonathan were her parents. That made Buster her great-great grandfather.
Buster had somehow lost track of the family prior to her birth or that of any of her siblings as none were listed. She’d been going through the other boxes first. Lots of pictures, a uniform with more ribbons than tunic and lots of memorabilia. There was also a picture of a young woman with a baby on her hip wearing Roaring Twenties style clothing. The writing on the back was smeared, but Ginny could make out ” ta l e n J n” She was looking at a picture of her great-great grandmother and her great grandmother.