The Hamilton Motel - Part 1

The wind howled outside, in harmony with the rain pattering down one the old Chevy's windows. I turned my head from the gloomy environment outside.

    "Dad, how long is this gonna take?" My little brother Jimmy whined. I was silently asking myself the same question.

    "I don't know, Jimmy. I just don't know." Dad muttered. Dad muttered in reply, straining hard to see the road ahead through the rapid fall of rain and the veil of darkness.

    Even my twin brother, Tyler, looked pretty bummed out. He was usually goofing around, making everybody laugh. But right now, seeing his solemn face only made me feel worse.

    We were on our way home. Yesterday morning, we had come to a remote part of the country on vacation, just to get away from the city and enjoy the countryside. Now we were returning home, and coming to a rural, sparsely populated area just seemed like a bad idea to me.

    After a few minutes our car came to an abrupt stop. We all fell forward, and then back again.

    "Ow!" Tyler said, knocking his head on the front seat. "What the heck--"

    Dad got out of the car. The rain was louder than ever. I got out, too, pulling out an umbrella and walked towards the hood of the car where Dad stood. The hood was slightly open. Dad was holding a flashlight, illuminating everything under the hood.

    "Oh, darn," Dad murmured, apparently unable to figure out the problem.

    "What's wrong, Dad?" I asked.

    "That's the same thing I'm asking. I can't find the problem." Dad mumbled, scratching his head.

    Just then two lights appeared in the distance. "Oh, thank God. Somebody's coming." Dad said. As the lights drew nearer, I realized it was the pair of headlights of an SUV. The vehicle slowed down and came to a stop near our car. The door of the driver's side opened, and a tall figure in a black suit stepped out, and began to jog towards us.

    "Got a problem there, pal?" he asked. "I could give a hand." he unfolded an umbrella, and held it over his head.

    "Yeah. I can't find the fault, though." Dad answered, moving aside to give space for the newcomer.

    The tall man opened the hood wider and examined. "You've got a serious issue here, my friend." he said. Then he asked where we were headed, and we told him.

    "Is that so? Hmmm... It's a long way there." he seemed to think hard. "Tell you what? There's a motel closeby. I'm on my way there. Maybe you could stay for the night, and leave in the morning."

    We agreed. I was wondering what we were gonna do with the car. Then the man in the suit suggested that we go to the motel in his van, and tell somebody there to get the car. Then we got our stuff into the van. While we were going to the motel, Dad had a chat with the suit guy. His name was Edward Moore, and he was on his way to some place for some official work, which he didn't appear to be very willing to talk about.

[To be continued: refer part 2 in portfolio. Thank you.]