“My wife’s not feeling well. I think we’d better leave now,” Mike explained to Mrs. Brewster who met them at the bottom of the stairs.
“If she’s ill, she should get some sleep. I can’t have you two wandering lost in the night. It isn’t hospitable!” she exclaimed.
“I’m sorry. Please make up our bill. We’d like to leave now,” Mike insisted.
Mrs. Brewster was about to argue the point when Millie and Paul came into the lobby. “Let him leave, Mother,” Millie requested. “You can’t keep them here.”
“We’ve never had a guest leave in the middle of the night. What will people say?”
“Mrs. Dupree is ill. They need to leave to get her some help,” Millie said. “People get ill. To hell with what people will think.”
“Don’t you swear at me, young lady,” Mrs. Brewster said.
The house shuddered again. Audrey lost her footing and stumbled down the last few stairs. “Please, Mrs. Brewster, let us go,” Audrey pleaded, hanging on to the rail. “We’ve had a wonderful stay. The inn is beautiful and so accommodating, but I feel bad and need medical attention,” Audrey said, forcing tears to well in her eyes.
There was a loud banging on the front door. Paul walked over and opened it.
“Not you two!” Mrs. Brewster shouted, seeing Mia and Murphy standing on the porch. “I have no room nor time to deal with you!”
“Mike, Audrey, leave now,” Mia said calmly.
Mrs. Brewster moved to block the door, but Murphy pushed her back, holding his axe in a menacing way.
Mike grabbed Audrey’s hand, ran by the protesting woman and out onto the porch.
He took a moment to look back before heading down the steps and over to the van. He opened the door for Audrey, and she jumped in. He circled the car and got in, watching the porch of the inn for any sign of trouble. He started the van and drove away from the building. He passed the PEEPs truck and pulled off the road a few yards from where Cid and Burt stood filming.
Audrey got out of the van and ran to Burt and hugged him so hard that he had a hard time breathing. He put the camera down, facing the light show, and asked, “Are you alright? I was worried. What are you wearing?” he asked, looking at the long-john-wearing, flannel-gowned, fur-coat-topped redhead.
“Layers,” was all Audrey got out before Burt kissed her. “I missed you. Did you have a good time with your parents?”
“Excuse me, but could all of this wait? We have a bit of a crisis here,” Cid said, backing away. The bulge on the infrared was red hot and shrinking.
Mike ran over and picked up the discarded camera. “Go on, Burt, take care of Audrey. She’s had a time of it.”
“How is it in there?” Cid asked.
“The inn is shuddering, trying to maintain its position, but the ley line is too powerful. Mia and Murphy showed up in the nick of time and got us out of there.” Mike lowered the camera and looked at Cid. “Hey, it just dawned on me that I saw Murphy,” he said.
“You can tell us all about it later. Film,” Cid ordered.
Mike set the camera on his shoulder and refocused as the inn wavered before them.
“It’s my inn! Get out of my inn!” Mrs. Brewster shouted over and over as Murphy backed her up behind the desk.
“Millie, Paul, we have to leave now. I’m not sure what’s going to happen here. Mrs. Brewster, you too. Come with us. Leave the Dew Drop,” Mia urged.
“I’m not leaving my inn! Get out. You too, Millie. You’re a traitor. You get out of here and take your farmer husband with you.”
“But, Mother, it’s over. You don’t have to stay imprisoned here anymore. Let go of the inn, let it go!” Millie pleaded.
Paul drew his distraught wife away towards the door. “Come home with me, Millie. She won’t be alone. She has the inn to keep her company,” he explained.
Murphy waited until the couple left the porch and were walking out into the night before releasing Mrs. Brewster. He nodded to Mia and walked towards the door. “It’s time.”
“Mrs. Brewster, since you won’t leave, please listen to me. The Dew Drop is going to move on. Whether it stays intact or not is a mystery to me. You could end up in limbo forever if you stay here,” she warned. “Come with us. The inn doesn’t need you anymore. It will travel to the end of the line, and then it will be free. Let it go, come with us,” Mia urged.
“Nonsense. The Dew Drop Inn will always be a place of class and hospitality. We will serve the lost travelers, giving them a safe harbor for the night, and they will leave the next morning with a stomach full of…” Mrs. Brewster stopped speaking. “Who will cook the breakfast?”
“Don’t look at me. I turn perfectly good sausages into doorstops,” Mia admitted. “Please come with us. Your daughter and son-in-law are waiting for you. Your husband waits at the doorway to the great beyond. Come, let the inn go,” Mia asked for the last time.
“No. Now get out of here. I have guests to prepare for,” Mrs. Brewster said and pointed to the door. “And take that axe-wielding hooligan with you!”
“You heard her, Murph, let’s go.”
Mia ran out the door with Murphy on her heels. They jumped off the porch, landing on the frozen ground of the field.
Cid caught a flash of heat exiting the shrinking ley line that cooled to a deep blue as it moved towards him. “Murphy?” he asked.
CRACK!
Ted spun around, hearing Murphy’s call sign and looked at Mia who was just opening her eyes.
“Whatcha doing?” she asked.
“Researching tropical holiday destinations,” Ted said as he gathered his wife up in his arms. “Don’t you ever…”
“Move a meteorite without an exit strategy?” she asked.
“Well, yes.”
“Done and done,” she said. “Murph needs some joy juice, Teddy Bear.”
Ted got up and pulled out the T drawer and gathered up two of the battery cubes. He activated them and tossed them out. He had to grab hold of Maggie who thought the cubes were toys to be chased. He pulled her back inside and over to where Mia was struggling to get out of the artic sleeping bag. “What’s the hurry?” he asked.
“First, I want to kiss you long and hard. Then, I’ve got two ghosts to see to. Mrs. Brewster decided not to join us on this side of reality.”
Ted gathered her into his arms and gave her the asked for kiss.
Ted’s kiss cleared the cobwebs from her mind. The strange effect the explosive tumble had on her faded the moment her soul connected with his. She drew strength from the love that surrounded her. “I love you, Ted. You are my home, my life and my love.”
“And your barista,” he said, fighting his emotions. “How about a cup of coffee before you venture out into the cold again?” he asked.
“I’ve got your love to keep me warm. But I’d like one once I make sure Millie and Paul are headed in the right direction.”
“It’ll be waiting for you. Now scoot, I’ve got important readings to download.”
Mia jumped off the truck, letting Maggie follow her. She nodded to Murphy who wanted nothing to do with what she was going to supervise next. “Watch Maggie, will you? She may get a bit excited.”
Murphy nodded nonchalantly. He got to his knees and enjoyed the attention the dog gave him. Evidently he was missed by someone.
Mia walked up behind Cid and Mike. “You see any spirits around here?”
“Lady, you’re asking the wrong people,” Mike said.
“Where are Burt and Audrey?” Mia asked, looking around.
“If my hearing is as good as it was, then they’re in the van making out,” Cid said as he widened the focus of the infrared on the fluctuating line. “You should see this — oh, you can see it.”