Two Years Later
“It will take as much money to fix this place up as it will to buy it,” Louise said.
“More, probably,” Dan told her. “And a whole lot of labor.”
“Still, it’s a beautiful spot,” she said.
“Can’t argue that,” he agreed.
They stood outside the boarded-up lodge, turning in slow circles as they studied the property. The balconies lining the second floor of the motel appeared to be hanging on by a thread, and the small cabins, also boarded up, were tagged with graffiti. Even the FOR SALE sign was in disrepair. Still, on a clear-blue day in autumn, with the sequoias towering above, there really was no denying the majesty of the place.
“Wasn’t somebody murdered here?” Louise asked.
“I think so. I don’t remember who or how, though,” Dan said.
Louise shrugged.
“Well, I guess we might as well see the rest of it,” she said. “There’s supposed to be a stunning trail on the other side of that meadow.”
They started across. The grass was thigh-high, and now and again one of them would stumble over an old car part or a discarded piece of furniture. When they reached the tree line, Louise turned back around for one more look.
“It’s like a ghost town,” she said. “Like something out of the Wild West.”
And just as she said it, a shriveled little man wearing a torn plaid shirt and faded jeans emerged from the forest just a few yards away. He held a fishing pole in one hand and a tackle box in the other. His mostly gray hair, thinning up top, hung below his shoulders in the back. He wasn’t old, but his shoulders were stooped and he seemed to have trouble walking.
“Howdy,” he said, his expression none too friendly.
“Hi there,” Dan answered.
“We aren’t trespassing,” Louise said, as though she anticipated a scolding. “We talked to the realtor, and—”
“Ah, you’re investors,” the man said.
“Something like that,” Dan said.
Rudy looked the couple over. They were young, attractive. They had most of their adult lives ahead of them. He felt a wave of resentment that bordered on hatred.
“Well, you won’t find anything better to do with your money,” he said, forcing a grin.
“You think so?” Louise asked.
“I’m sure of it,” Rudy said. “If I had the money, I’d buy the lodge myself. There’s nowhere in the world like it.”
Louise took another look over her shoulder.
“I think you’re right,” she said, locking arms with her husband. “I think this place has real potential.”
“It does,” Rudy said. “You couldn’t ask for better bones.”