Lexie's Last Resort

Driving away from home, at 38, for the first time in her whole life, Samantha and her daughter were on an adventure. After reading an article on the prettiest little ghost towns in America, one of the towns seem to call to Samantha’s heart. So, Samantha researched, on the internet, the picturesque, gold-rush, ghost town. It was literally a population of zero and for sale: lock, stock and barrel for a steal! She had always been the person in her family that took care of everyone else. Sam needed to be away from all that. She needed to be self-reliant and independent. She needed to put herself and Lexie first, for once. The gorgeous 14 year old Lexie was learning what her beauty and voice could get her. There were too many opportunities to take advantage. Samantha was not prepared, to let her daughter, make choices that would irrevocably change her. They would be entirely alone in this quaint empty town and that was like music to Samantha’s ears. They were never alone, just the two of them, when they were at home. The family home consisted of herself, her ailing mother, and Lexie. Sam’s recently under-employed sister had moved in with them, bringing her two young and busy sons and the not to be forgotten, untrained, misfit fur ball dogs; a very full house indeed. There was always someone needing something in her family, until they were sucking all the fun and energy out of Sam’s spirit. Sam had always been the glue, of the family. Whenever there was a rift she would be the go between for all communications. So this escape was as much for Sam’s good as for her daughter. Lexie, being young and optimistic, was excited about the adventure. But she was sure her mother didn’t really mean they would live there forever. She knew they would be going home to the family in a couple of weeks when Mom got sick of all this alone time. She wasn’t really keen on being as “unplugged” as this adventure implied, either. When they arrived at the town square, the town was a page right out of the history books, complete with a jail, general store, saloon and bank. The preservation of the buildings was remarkable and a bit surprising. The quaint outhouses, horse troths, and water pumps, where not so quaint, when Lexie realized that was where they were going to get water and go to the bathroom. Getting out of the car, in sort of an awed state, both Lexie and Samantha just stood and looked slowly around, taking it in. The scene was just a bit eerie, as the wind blew through the street. Lexie and Sam both reached to put their long, beautiful, brown hair into fast ponytails to control it from the breeze. “Well, kiddo, let’s get started. I believe the Saloon has rooms so let’s check it first and we will move in there.” “Mom, kids aren’t allowed in the Saloon!” “Sweetheart, there are no cowboys or bandits to bother you in this saloon, so I think it will probably be okay.” Samantha laughed and kissed her daughter’s forehead. “Mom, is there really no indoor plumbing?” Lexie was making a really nasty face that Sam ignored as she moved to hold the door for Lexie to walk through. Just like the scene outside, the Saloon was a picture of a different time. From the wood floors, bar, chairs, tables and stairs, there was nothing to indicate this century in the space. It was purely 1800s all the way. It was a wonder the place hadn’t burnt to the ground or been eaten clean through by wood ants or termites. Cobwebs and dust swirled in the breeze being allowed to come in as Sam stood frozen in the doorway, again an eerie feeling settled over both of them. Whoever had owned the town previously made sure things were clean before they had left. The tables and chairs all sat in a perfect arrangement. The vast bar would have gleamed if not for the dust layer that had settled over time. No bottles were left but you could easily imagine them in their slots on the latticed wall behind the bar. A large, stone fireplace stood on the wall adjacent to the bar which would have warmed the tables near the bar. The opposite wall held a small tiered stage. It must have held small acts in the time when men mined, gambled and lived hard and women shared their finer talents here. “Wow…” escaped Lexie’s mouth in a whisper. It was enough to dislodge Sam’s frozen state and she strode through the room to inspect the stairs for wood rot or termite rot. They seemed solid, which was another happy surprise. “I can’t get over how well preserved everything is!” Sam clapped her hand on the rail, in a move meant to cut the silence and test the strength of the rail. She led the way up the stairs to inspect the rooms. Knowing what a saloon’s upstairs was used for, she was a little concerned about what the rooms might reveal about previous tenants, but she was again shocked by the first room she opened. The room was dusty with age but clearly taken care of and cleanly lived in, by the previous owner. Blue and white chintz, faded by time, decorated the bright room, which the sun shone through. The room had a two-drawer nightstand next to a full, wood carved, four-post bed, a hand carved wood rocking chair, in the corner, next to a small circular table, by one of the windows and a wood dresser, of three deep, wide drawers. All the furnishings were probably worth a fortune, if you thought about their age, but they belonged to this space and you couldn’t want to separate them from it. As this was a corner room, it had south and west windows bringing in a great deal of afternoon warmth and light. “Lexie, what do you think of this room? It will probably be the warmest one since there is no electric heat here.” Sam waited for Lexie to inspect the room and absorb that last tidbit of information. “Mom, how are we really going to live here? There is nothing here. There isn’t any electricity, gas, or plumbing… It is so far out here.” Lexie squared Sam with an intelligent, patient look, a look of trust and trepidation. “Baby girl, we are stronger then we have ever had to be. We are smart and capable; we also have all that we know of the world today, as advantages to yesterday. I do not know right now all of the details, but I did not come unprepared. There is a generator attached to the trailer and we will need to use its energy wisely. We can get it refueled and the car when we need to, by trekking back to the next town. We will also need to get groceries and supplies there. We will just need to plan ahead for all things and conserve where we can. We will need wood to build fires; water will be pulled from the well and boiled before use. We have food in the cooler and we will need to find a way to keep perishables cool enough for as long as we can. I would think in the ground on the north side of the Saloon would be a good place. That could be why the bar was on that side of the building to begin with. I am going to look at all the other rooms and pick one for myself. Why don’t you head back to the car and get your things to make this room feel comfy for you, please?” “Yes, ma’am,” Lexie responded automatically, while still trying to grasp all this at once. As she stepped down the last step to the main floor, she glimpsed a figure behind the bar. Or she thought she did. She looked hard at the area but there wasn’t a dust bunny out of place. She shook her head and made her way outside to the car to get her things. The room next to Lexie’s was more of a closet than a room in size. It was sparse but also clean prior to the dust layer. Maybe it was a servant quarters with just a small twin bed and two-drawer, side table, on the back wall and not much walk room besides. It could be used by them as a closet if they needed to. The next room was much more classically what Sam had expected. Everything was a satiny, dark red wine color with matching draperies. Clearly this room was used for things best left in the dark. Thankfully Lexie was down in the car. It was larger, though and would suit once the curtains were down and the bed clothes were changed. Again the wood carved furniture was beautiful once it was revealed by the sunlight. The room was set much like Lexie’s in arrangement so that would make things easy. They would just remove the furniture from the small room to make closet storage or maybe it could be a bathroom between them. There were four more rooms on the floor; three more servant rooms and two more full sized rooms, all arranged as the previous. The final room on the northwest corner was clearly the coolest room and had the heaviest furnishing to help keep in the warmth. It was good they chose as they did but maybe in summer this would be the room to suit. Beside that room was a hidden staircase that seemed to lead up and down. Sam decided she needed to know all there was to know about their new home. First, she headed up to see where it led. There were just a few stairs up and they led to a railed loft probably used as a costume and prop room, she imagined. It was empty now but actually a really nice sized room. There was also a small cat walk the led across the stage. Sam contemplated the room’s use as a school, master suite or media studio. She wasn’t going to decide now, so she went to head down the secret stairs and see where they led, on the main floor. They didn’t lead to the main floor, but to the stage door. So the acts must have used those stairs a lot. Up and down the performers would have run and back again in a change of costume to perform. Sam was standing center stage staring upward when Lexie came through the door with her arms full. “Mom, what are you doing?! Aren’t you going to help move in?” “Yes, baby, I was just getting the lay of the land. It is really quite something! Take the back stairs when you are done with getting yourself settled in. You will love it!!” “Ugh…more stairs! I am already tired and I haven’t even been up to my room twice yet!”