I had seen my two aunts just once in my life and that was when they came back east for my mother's funeral. I was very unimpressed with them. They looked exactly like the type of country women that they were. The only thing missing from their attire were the sunbonnets that plains women are always shown wearing. The skin on their faces showed the ravages of years and years of exposure to bright sunlight and their hands were rough and calloused. Needless to say, I didn't spend a great deal of time in their company. As a result, I knew very little about them or their lives. So, the news of their sudden deaths and the summons from their local lawyer came as a tremendous surprise. The biggest surprise however, was the fact that they had left everything they owned to me! I had known that they were comfortably off, but, imagine my surprise when I found that they were both multi-millionaires! I wasted very little time in quitting my job and I began what I thought would become a life-long vacation.
Part of my legacy was some kind of country lodge. The Lodge at Murdock Crossing, to be more specific. I had no idea where or what that establishment was so, when the lawyer suggested that I take some time and drive out west and look this place over, I jumped at the chance. Little did I know that this damned lodge was almost clear across the country!
Now, here I was, hot and tired and driving through some of the most barren country I had ever seen. Even though this was an inter-state highway, I hadn't encountered much traffic and I had not seen a single tree for what seemed to be an eternity. Finally, some sign of civilization appeared. It was a sign and it read:
MURDOCK CROSSING
20 mi.
I breathed a sigh of relief for the end of my journey was at last in sight. As interested as I was in finding this God-forsaken place, I damned near missed it! As I was roaring along, I almost over looked another sign. This one was smaller than the first and it said:
MURDOCK CROSSING
And it had an arrow pointing to the right. I tromped on my brakes and swung into a dirt road. Almost at once, I found myself crossing a two-lane country bridge that had definitely seen better days. I stopped at approximately the mid-point of the bridge and looked in both directions. There was not a drop of water to be seen anywhere! I mused to myself, "No water so why the bridge?" After another few minutes of concentrated thought, I gave up on that problem and started on over the bridge. So far, there were no people or buildings to be seen. During my drive, I had been more or less mesmerized by the constant vision of brown scenery so that I had failed to realize that there were mounds in what I thought was perfectly flat land. As a result, the actual buildings of Murdock Crossing came into sight rather suddenly. If you have ever seen a B-class western movie, you have seen Murdock Crossing! The only things missing were the horses, the hitching posts and the wagons. Once more, I had to step on my brakes rather abruptly or I would have gone past the, 'MURDOCK CROSSING CafΓ©.'
Then, I received yet another surprise. Admittedly, the so-called parking lot for the cafΓ© wasn't very large, but I had to drive around it three times before I located a spot in which to park my car! As I stepped out of my car, I couldn't help but stare at the other cars in the lot. They all sported out-of-state license plates! Some of those cars were from as far away as my home state! The surprises were not over, however. As I stepped into the cafΓ©, I saw that there weren't any males present. The whole lot of customers were all female!
A Pleasant looking, bosomy woman came out from behind the lunch counter with what I took to be a menu in her hand. She gestured for me to follow her as she led to a table off to one side.
"Our lunch menu features country-fried steak and hash browns. It's pretty good if I do say so myself."
She made no attempt to hand me the menu so I assumed that I had a choice of one.
"That sounds good. I'll have that. With some iced tea. Driving out here can really make your throat dry."
Without any answer, she turned and walked away in the direction of what I took to be the kitchen. They must have cooked up a whole side of beef for she wasn't gone but a minute when she came back with a heaping plate of meat and potatoes. I knew that I could never eat all of that, but, it did smell good, so I thought I'd eat what I could. Once she put the plate down onto the table, she stood alongside the table -- obviously waiting for some sort of comment from me.
"For being this far off the road, you seem to get a good crowd."
"Yeah, we do. You plannin' to drive on this afternoon?"
"No, I'm planning to stop at the lodge. There is a lodge, isn't there?"
"Sure that's what all these gals are here for. If'n I were you, I wouldn't dilly-dally too long or there won't be any rooms available in the lodge. Do you know where it is?" I shook my head. "Well, in that case, turn left when you leave here and go about four miles thata way." She pointed in the direction that I had been heading when I entered this excuse for a town. Then, she added, "See that redhead over there?" Again, I nodded. ""She's driving the yellow Caddy and she's going to the lodge same as you. Jes' follow along behind her and you can't miss the place."
Since I didn't know just how soon that woman would be leaving, I scoffed down as much of my meal as I could stand so that I was ready to leave as she got up to go. I did drink all of the iced tea because my throat felt as though I had been hiking across the Sahara desert all morning. Then, as the other women got ready to leave, I rose, paid my bill and prepared to follow them. Just as I reached the door, the chesty waitress came up to me and said,
"If you are plannin' on staying the night at the lodge, ask them for a room in the guest cottages. That way, you can get your bearings and a good night's rest."
Before I could even speak to her, she turned and was gone. I couldn't try to follow her for an explanation for the caravan of cars was already pulling out of the parking lot. I got in my car, started it up and roared out after the others. They weren't racing, but they weren't dawdling along either. In a very short while, the string of cars began turning off the road and onto a dirt path that passed for a driveway.
MY first glimpse of the lodge was a shocker. It was definitely an antebellum mansion and, although it had been very well maintained, it still looked like a southern mansion right out of the Civil War. The train of cars pulled into the parking lot and stopped. All of the other women headed up onto the huge veranda and went in through the front door. A small battalion of females came from around the side of the house and began unloading baggage from the cars.
"You stayin' the night?"