Previously:
Stretching his arm, Tommy yawned the next words. " I don't know about you, but I am tired and need to get some shut-eye. We've got a day of unknowns ahead of us tomorrow. I think we need all of the rest we can get."

*********

Everyone slept well without incident. At least, no one had any remarkable or memorable dreams. No one expressed a need to share any significant images intruding throughout their dreamscapes.

Sipping precious water from the bottles provided by Tommy, reminded Liz of the time-worn saying that reads, 'what goes 'round, comes 'round'. The fact Tommy provided them with water was a returned gift for their distributing the teens with bottles to fill with the spring water in the cave.

The two long-distance travelers had piled the many bottles of water, discovered by Linda, into their backpacks. Liz smiled as she called to memory Linda rummaging around in the rear of the Fit hatchback and her cheering when she had unburied a bag of water bottles.

Though she didn't remember putting them in there, it was a blessing Linda had at some point long before their trip to Montana, thrown the bag of water bottles into the back of Liz's Honda hatchback Fit,

"Everyone ready?" Tommy was raring to begin the day. Since they were away from the insipid heat of the brush fires, Tommy had turned off the car engine to give it a rest.

When they realized he had done this, Liz and Linda both placed their hands together in a prayer position. They were worried there might be a reenactment of the car battery going dead. Their eyes followed Tommy's every move.

He got out of the passenger's side, positioned himself in behind the steering wheel, lowered the sun visor, checked the rearview mirror, and turned the key.

The two expelled a sigh of relief upon hearing the hum of Tommy's Honda Accord. Neither believed it had ever occurred to Tommy there could be a possible negative outcome, such as his car battery being dead.

He nonchalantly exited the rest area onto the highway and headed toward the hill leading to the Grille and, hopefully, the much-needed garage.

As he accelerated toward the brow of the hill, Tommy shook his head with a bemused expression. "This is weird. It's like a ghost town here. This place is usually loaded with tourists.

"I guess I don't have to worry about finding a good parking space." As he pulled into the section directly in front of the Grille, he said, "What?"

Liz and Linda were at a loss as to what Tommy was so expressive about. They'd never been to this mini-mall, therefore had no idea what to expect. They were just thankful to finally be there.

They were wondering if the bad car Karma was continuing to stalk them when they heard his next words.

"It's closed. The Grille is never closed. All of the gift shops look dark too. What is going on here? Let's get out and see if we can figure this out." Tommy turned off the ignition and stepped out onto the hard pack ground.

The rear-seat passengers shrugged at each other with growing anxiety. Sliding out of the back seat, they painfully stretched to stand to scan the surroundings. Though they could see what Tommy was referring to, they were still puzzled as to why he was upset.

He did have a dramatic side to him, but this seemed different. They weren't quite sure how to broach the topic, so they decided they'd just wait to see what would be revealed.

They glanced over at Tommy who was doing windmill twists. They were meant to loosen his shoulders, moving his arms around while spinning at his waist. When they saw him shaking his hands out, they knew he must have been relieved not to have them glued to the steering wheel. He, like they, welcomed the freedom to stand and move around.

When he saw them looking in his direction, he continued his rant. "Closed." He pointed downward. "Look, the grass has barely been groomed. I don't think anyone has tended to anything in weeks." He waved his hands to the building behind him. "Closed also. Nothing seems to be in business. I hope your garage is open."

Liz and Linda looked at each other in horror.