Chapter Five
Graham
"The motel is just right up ahead here," the man who called himself Boom Boom said from the tractor.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
We had been riding for what already seemed like far too long and had long since passed through all of the buildings that I assumed made up the hollow. I had a sinking feeling that hopping into the back of a hay wagon driven by a man I had never met and who was apparently named for the sound of explosions was one of those things that I probably should have learned not to do when I was a child. That whole stranger danger thing was alarming loud and clear, but Boom Boom nodded reassuringly.
"Absolutely," he said. "It's just up a bit more. The Hollow Day Inn."
I looked at Holly, whose eyes lifted to mine. We stared at each other for a beat, her expression looking about as incredulous as I felt.
"Really?" I asked. "There's one of those all the way out here?"
"Sure. It's been here for a couple of generations. I didn't know that there were any other of them anywhere, though."
I was getting ready to ask him what he could possibly mean by that when we approached a sign.
"Hollow Day Inn," I said, letting the words sink into my mind. "That fucking says Hollow Day Inn."
"Now I don't know for sure that you're going to be able to get a room. Business has been pretty high over the last few days."
I honestly couldn't tell if he was kidding or if maybe he thought one or two wayward travelers stopping by the motel counted as business being high.
"What's been happening?" I asked.
"It must be the big doings going on in the hollow this weekend. All sorts of people coming in. But there might still be something. You just go right on in the lobby and talk to Day. She'll be there. She has to be. She lives in 1, 2, and 3A. "
"Day?" I asked.
"She's the owner."
"Of course, she is."
"Hopefully she'll be able to find you something even with all the ruckus. It is Christmas season, after all. People who are having trouble finding room in the inn have a pretty good track record around this here holiday."
He laughed boisterously as he pulled the wagon to a stop.
Perfect.
"I know that you said that you didn't want any help with your bags," I said. "But I'll go ahead and offer again."
"Sounds great, thanks!"
I looked up and Holly had already hopped out of the wagon and run toward the front door to the main building.
"Hey!" I shouted after her. I looked over at Boom Boom. "Keep an eye on these for a second, will you?"
"Sure can."
I chased after Holly and got into the lobby just in time to see Holly accept a key from an older woman at the desk. The woman I assumed must be Day smiled at me as I approached.
"That was fucking low," I muttered to Holly as I approached, then turned my attention to Day. "I'm going to need a room, please."
"That's just fine," Day said, gesturing at Holly. "Your wife already got one."
"She is not my wife," I said nearly before she got the entire sentence out of her mouth. "We are not together."
Day looked startled.
"Oh," she said. "I'm sorry. Miss Abbott here had just mentioned that there was a problem with the train, so I just assumed that you were traveling companions."
I shook my head.
"No. Not companions. Right, Holly?"
She glared at me and Day looked confused.
"Holly?"
She glanced at the registration card that Holly was filling out.
"It looks like you wrote down 'Hollister'."
I leaned over to peer down at the card.
"Nope. Holly. See," I pointed arbitrarily at the name, "it's just her handwriting. That right there is a 'y' and then maybe her middle initials."
"Huh," Day said as though fascinated by the decoded name. "Well, why don't you go ahead and fill out a new card. It will make it easier." She took the card and replaced it with an empty one. "Holly," she said with a grin as she watched her fill out the new card. "You must just love this time of year."
I grinned as I saw Holly's hand tighten on the pen.
"I'll take one of those cards, too," I said.
"For what?" Day asked.
"My room," I said, looking at her quizzically.
"Oh," she said, drawing out the word and looking at me regretfully. "I'm sorry, but that's just not possible. She got the last room."
I looked at Holly and my eyes dropped to the key that she had put down on the counter. We both snatched for it at the same time, but she got it into her hand first.
"Look who has the fancy sleeper car now," she said mockingly.
I glared at her and turned back to Day.
"You're sure that there is nothing else available?"
"I'm sorry, but the renovations aren't done yet, so we don't have any suites available."
I couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or if someone had possibly punched a hole in a wall and they were making the most of it by turning both rooms into one. She didn't blink, and I stepped back from the counter.
"Perfect."
I started toward the door and heard Holly calling after me.
"Where are my bags?"
"Outside," I called back. "You can bring in your own bags."
Boom Boom was still sitting on his tractor, staring at the luggage, when I got back.
"Where's the next hotel?" I asked.
He drew in a breath and let it out with a heavy, loud exhalation like he was thinking through what I had asked.
"It seems to me that there's one up in Elton, but that's a good hour or two up the way. They're a mite bigger than Whiskey Hollow, so they might not have any rooms, either. You better call ahead."
I took my phone out of my pocket and checked it. There was enough service to make a phone call, but I wasn't holding out hope that I was going to be able to do much browsing.
"Do you happen to know any of the phone numbers?"
"Not right off the top of my head, no," Boom Boom said.
"Can you wait for just another minute?"
"Sure. I don't have anywhere else to be. Usually about this time after visiting the train station I just go riding around the woods, but that hasn't done me any good yet, so I might as well shake things up a bit."
I nodded at him and went back into the lobby. Holly was just finishing up her registration card and shot me a smug look as she walked out of the building.
"Can you get a phone number for me?" I asked.
"What number would that be?" Day asked.
"Any hotel in Elton."
"Now, I don't make it a habit of supporting my competition."
"Fine."
I walked back out of the building and saw Holly lugging one of her bags out of the wagon and heading toward the rooms. I pointed toward her over my shoulder.
"She only has one of her bags."
"I hid the other one. I figured you might need to buy some time. Or that you'd just like to aggravate her some."
"Good work."
I scrolled through the contacts on my phone and selected Bryan's number.
"How's the train?" he asked by way of answering.
"It's not."
"What do you mean?"
"It's kind of a long, deeply infuriating story that I don't have the patience to tell you right now. I need you to do something for me."
"OK."
"Look up hotels in some place called Elton. I need a room."
"For how long?"
"I hope to all that is only one night."
"Give me a second, but when you get back, I want the whole story."
"It's not as interesting as you would want it to be."
I heard what sounded like Bryan putting the phone down and glanced up to see Holly stomping away from a room door and into the lobby. I waited a few seconds and then she came stomping back out, stalking down to the wagon.
"What did you do with it?" she demanded.
"With what?" I asked.
"My other bag."
"I didn't do anything to your bag."
"What bag?" Bryan asked.
"Not you," I said. "What did you find out?"
"You said you were going to carry my bags in."
"Yeah, and then I didn't."
"Didn't what?" Bryan asked.
"Not you."
"All three hotels in Elton are full," he said.
"Shit."
"Was that for me?"
"Yes. There's nothing available?"
"What did you do with it?"
"Nothing," Bryan stated.
"I didn't do anything with your bag."
"Who are you talking to?"
"A woman, who the devil sent to aggravate me."
Holly let out a growl of exasperation and stomped back toward the building.
"A woman?" Bryan said. "I thought that you said that it wasn't an interesting story."
"It's not. She just some woman who…" my eyes slid over to the room door that was standing open from where Holly left it, "crashed my sleeper car."
"She did what?"
I grabbed my bags and looked at Boom Boom.
"Thanks for the ride," I said.
As I started toward the door, I glanced back and saw Boom Boom reach under the hay and pull her bag out, resting it on top again as if it had never moved. I chuckled and rushed toward the door.
"Is there somewhere else you want me to call? Wait -- why am I calling them if you're calling me?"
"No, I'm good. Thanks for your help. I'll give you a call tomorrow."
Before Bryan could question me any further, I slipped the phone back into my pocket and stepped into the motel room. I grinned as I tossed my bags to the floor and closed the door behind me.