by D. R. Mather
“Ah Kevin?”
“Yes Will?”
“Could I inquire, if I might, what happened to our rooms?”
It stopped Barb mid-sentence.
“Well, you could, but for now you’re just going to have to trust me when I say I took good care of the both of you. Can you two do that?”
Will looked to Barb, then back to Kevin, “Trust you, I can safely say, I can do.”
They wrapped up the tour of the kitchen and headed out to the ballroom. Kevin showed them what he called the ‘pride of the room’. Will was walking towards the hidden electric wall panels when he heard it.
“Ah, no Will, up there.”
As Kevin pointed up, all eyes fell on the amazingly large magnifying system set up on one of the beams. He had Barb and Will stand directly under it, and through it they could see the gold nuggets. Only, unless you knew they were gold, it just looked like something gold colored. Kevin explained how Judy found them when she was cleaning the beams. Barb and Will began to look around at other beams.
“Nope, you won’t find any more, these are the only ones.”
“Well isn’t that strange,” said Barb.
“Yeah, strange,” said Kevin, quietly.
Everyone except the Coeburn's chuckled a bit. Will figured it must be an inside joke. Kevin approached the panels and asked Alex to hit the switch. He ran over to the desk and did just that. As the panels slowly came out of hiding and unfolded, Will was amazed, but Barb was hardly watching. She had seen a very large picture over the desk
“Kevin, what’s that picture over the desk?”
“Well, we can save that for later.”
The wall panels were half way closed when Kevin told Alex to shut it off and join them. He did so and ran back over. Kevin ushered them over to the newly located door leading to the new laundry area in what was once the side hall. Naturally Barb was in tears again and needed attending.
Kevin walked them through the stair area and stopped at the basement. “Will, these stairs are wider and safer than the ones you knew, so don’t be going down the way you used to or you’re going to kill yourself.” They entire gang led the way with Barb and Will behind them. When Kevin hit the bottom he just raised his arm up, “I think this is mostly self-explanatory.”
Both of them were speechless once again, as they came face to face with all types of exercise equipment. There were dozens of them, spaced at the proper distances from each other and all set in lines and rows. At the far end, Barb and Will saw the sign over the natural health food and drink bar, with the tables in front of it. Along all of the walls were framed posters of U.S. Olympic teams and individuals. Each one was about six feet tall and half as wide.
“Judy had all the artwork done and even insisted on hanging it all herself. Pretty nice, huh?”
“Oh my little fireball,” Will let out, before both of them began hugging and kissing her. Kevin simply stepped out of the way while also adding that the entire basement was Judy’s design.
Eventually they all made their way to the health bar and over to the side door. Kevin let Will and Barb into that area but kept everyone else out.
“This is our special little gift to both of you,” said Kevin, pulling a towel from a spot on the corner of the floor. Barb and Will both walked to it and Kneeled. Barb reached out and touched the concrete with the names on it.
“We owe you everything that we are for the rest of our lives,” she said. Then she could say no more.
Kevin closed the door behind them; this moment was for them and them alone. They could hear them crying; they were all crying themselves too. It took Will and Barb a full fifteen minutes before they came out. Everyone was hugging everyone.
Kevin got to Will and said, “We aren’t done yet.” He showed them the air-tight storage room and explained how the table and everything was stored for protection.
He brought them to the new public bathrooms next, as well as the new wood storage area. Will told Kevin that he had never even noticed a door on the side of the house before. Kevin led them all up the old servants’ stairs, which were new and safer now, and into the second floor hallway. He explained that most everything was the same until they reached the new elevator. A room had to be sacrificed because of the elevator, but that put the remaining space to perfect use. Then he brought everyone to the secret room.
“This is the room I found thanks, in part, to Judy. She found the gold nuggets and I couldn’t figure out why they were only in that one spot, so I came up and looked around. That’s when I noticed the library walls didn’t line up with the next room down the hall. After that it was just a matter of finding the opening to it, which I did, in the library.”
Will looked in the empty room. “So this is where you found the stuff I let you sell on my behalf?”
“This is the place.”
“I hope you got a good price for it?”
Judy let out an almost ear-splitting shriek because of that. She slapped her mouth closed with her hand and held it there.
“Will, I got the best price I could get for it, don’t worry,” Kevin assured.
Will turned, saw a shit-eating grin on everyone’s faces and knew something was up, but he just couldn’t figure it out.
“Well, shall we head to the third floor? Barb, you look a bit flushed, would you like to use the elevator with Cindy and the babies?”
“Don’t you smart mouth me Kevin Chase, but yes, only for the babies though.” She was grinning from ear to ear. Everyone laughed and headed for the stairs.
As they all met on the third floor, Will and Barb were once again amazed. It may even have looked more beautiful than when it was new. Kevin made it a quick tour as not a lot had changed other than the basic renovation.
“Cindy, Barb, elevator. Oh, wait…” Kevin reached into his pocket and took out two keys, “You’ll need to both start wearing a necklace or something because you can’t get to the attic without a key. Cindy can show Barb, then Barb, you can show Will.” He handed them both a key. “There is a touchpad coming for it but it won’t be here for about a month. Once it’s installed, you’ll only need to put in your code and the keys will go away.”
Cindy and Barb went to the elevator, the rest headed back to the servants’ stairs. As they rounded the stairs at the half way landing, they could already hear Barb.
“Oh my, oh my. Oh my!”
Everyone made the rest of the stairs with a huge smile except Will, who mumbled, “Now what is that woman carrying on about?”
As Will entered the top of the hallway he could see a wall in the main area that wasn’t there before. He walked forward and stopped at the end of the entryway. Just off to his left was a door; the door had a plaque on it that seemed to be made of gold. It read:
This is the private residence of
William and Barbara Colburn,
Owners of the Colburn Inn and resort hotel.
Barb caught up with Will just as he read the plaque; they hugged and cried as there was just nothing else to do.
Kevin invited them into their new home within a home and they saw that everything was taken up from the old rooms and relocated here. Well, sort of – the living room was new, as was the bedroom with the exception of the mattress; Kevin figured it would be best to leave that up to them.
Will was weeping on and off, but Barb had just turned into a crying machine that needed someone at her side at all times. They exited the apartment and Kevin handed them their key. He showed them Beth and Alex’s room, Cindy, Roland and the twins’ room and then his and Judy’s room.
“Does this mean you’ll be staying on here Kevin?” Will asked as he looked inside.
“Well, I’ll let Judy explain that one to you later. Shall we all go down to the desk?”
The girls all took the elevator, the guys took the stairs so as not to overload it. By the time they caught up with the women at the reception desk, Cindy had explained what the long term plan was for her and Roland, Billy and Michel
le and Bill and Katie. Barb could hardly contain herself as she saw Will coming down the last set of stairs.
“Will, they’re all staying, everyone, they’re all going to run the Inn for us!” Barb was hopping like a bunny. Kevin told the plan to Will and Will couldn’t contain himself anymore either. He excused himself and went out to the coat check area. Kevin looked at Judy; she understood and went to Will.
Ten minutes later they returned holding hands, Judy smiled and passed him off to Barb.
Barb, on the other hand, had plenty of time to examine the large picture closely. Not too closely though, as Kevin wouldn’t let her behind the desk. He knew she would be able read the boxes from there.
“Beth, if you would take your place?”
“On it boss.”
Beth went behind the desk area and bent out of sight. When she returned into view she had several items, the largest of which seemed to be a photo album. The others looked to be assorted papers and a check book.
Judy and Alex brought up the new sitting chairs that adorned the new grand entry hall and had them sit. Kevin spun the tale of the secret room, from the point of Judy’s discovery of the gold nuggets, to the point where the guards took way the gold, then every detail afterwards. He only left out one thing. He told Will and Barb it was a special Government bank and that it was part of the Federal Reserve Bank. He just held back the amount because he knew that nothing he’d shown them this fine afternoon was ever going to top this. Beth handed Kevin both the check book and the photo album.
“William and Barbara, we your humble friends and loved ones present this to you; enjoy the rest of your lives.”
Barb took the album and Will took the book. He opened it and they both read the amount entered into the check registry:
“One billion, six hundred and seven million, five hundred thousand dollars.”
Will had to count the total numbers twice because he thought he had got it wrong. He hadn’t.
Alex and Roland had placed themselves next to Barb just in case. It was a good thing – she fainted dead away. Only, they forgot about Will’s reaction and he followed right behind Barb. Luckily Kevin caught his arm on the way to the floor.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Benny looked around; the new guys had been showing up two and three at a time for the past few days. He had the guys setting up bunks in the barn; bunks that Mick got from a connection in who-knows-what foreign country. He had twenty-one men there now, with more on the way. His big deal were those drugs. The waiting was bugging the crap out of him. When Benny got irritated, any smart person knew to stay away from him.
Leroy wanted a beer from the fridge. When he walked into the kitchen, Benny was sitting at the table just staring out at nothing, thinking and making plans. Leroy started giving Benny some shit about sleeping in the barn. Benny picked up the .45 cal. that was next to him and blew Leroy’s brains all over the kitchen floor.
“I guess we’ll need one more man,” was all that Benny said.
Vince and Stan were in charge of the recruits and had a target range set up in a field. All day long there were barrages of gunshots. It was a good thing the farm was away from anything else. If having your nearest neighbor ten miles away can be called a neighbor still, then the neighbors never complained.
Benny walked over to the back door and yelled out to Vince, “HEY, get a few guys in here and clean up this mess.” He then slammed the door and stepped over the goo that now lay about the kitchen floor and took a beer from the fridge. As Benny headed back to the table he could see Stan and Vince double-timing it across the barnyard to the house. He had just about sat down as the door opened with Stan entering first.
“Oh shit.” He spun back around and whistled, a few men looked over at him, and that made them the clean-up crew. He waved them over.
“Christ Benny, you gotta stop killing our own men like this.” Stan sat at the table.
“Keep talking and you’ll be next pal.”
“Hey, let’s be clear on something Benny, you may be in charge, but I’m pretty sure you won’t be for long if you kill me.”
“You wanna test that theory Stan?” Benny picked up the gun.
“You know what Benny, yes, yes I do, go on and shoot me.”
Benny pointed the gun at Stan’s head, The two clean-up guys were now in the room along with Vince and everything froze for a few seconds, then Benny put the gun down and slapped Stan’s face in what should have been a friendly gesture.
“Na, I need you around, you amuse me.” Benny looked down at some paperwork, papers of the Colburn Inn to be exact.
Stan knew it, he knew Benny would have been in seriously deep shit if he had done it. He knew because he’d been told.
Stan leaned over and pointed at the picture, “You think this could be a weak point?” Stan pointed to a location on the image.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Will did something the very next day that amazed them all. He came just short of demanding a deposit slip from each of them. Well, all except Kevin; he somehow knew that Kevin would just come up with a way to give it back, so he figured it was going to be a losing battle. Will, with Barb at his side, transferred funds from his new federal Reserve account into Cindy’s, Roland’s, Alex’s, Beth’s and Judy’s bank accounts. Not some small token amount either. Barb and Will had agreed on the sum before ever talking to the gentleman on the phone. On that day, they all became millionaires with a new bank total of fifty million each. After they had finished with that chore, they both left the Inn and went to the local town to set plan B into action. At Barb’s request, Will began the paperwork to build and fund a new orphanage.
By the first day of May the lodge was shelled in and the rooms all divided. Insulation was taking place; the electrical works were mostly in place and the plumbers were waiting for the rooms to be finished before going in and setting up bathrooms with the finished fixtures. The driveway was just about finished, with the new parking area connected to the existing older drive. Will had to relinquish a part of the Inn’s front yard because there just wasn’t going to be enough parking for all of the rooms. And so the area to the left of the drop-off area was pushed towards the front of the house enough to accommodate straight in parking. It didn’t thrill anyone there because it took away from some of the look of the Inn, but there wasn’t any choice. As it was, the temp trailer had to be moved between the mansion and the lodge in order to make way for parking in the area where it had been sitting. All told, if the Inn and lodge were ever full up, they were still going to be about ten parking spots short. Kevin solved the problem. The road leading to the fuel delivery area was stone like the rest of the driveway – so why not take some trees out? At about the same time the parking areas were being completed, the new fifteen car spots were being cleared too.
Kevin was standing at the edge of the downhill slopes with a man who had a transit. He was looking through it and scanning the various cliffs and slopes of the mountains. The snow was gone now and Kevin could see the slope areas. It was going to take a lot of work, but the guy standing next to him, Charlie, said it could be done.
“So Charlie, do you see what I mean about mountain four?”
“Oh yeah, I see it, you’re right, it’s not going to do you much good as it is. I think we can make the gondola idea happen though. There’s a flat rock outcropping about three quarters of the way up the side. It should be enough to set the return system up. It isn’t gonna be fun though, as that’s all chopper drop work.”
“Yeah, I kind of figured that. So when can your men get started?”
“Hand over the keys to that Mustang of yours and I’ll tell you today. Short of that, Monday.”
Kevin laughed, “Monday will do just fine.”
***
By Monday, heavy equipment was all over the place – four or five throughout the slope area as well as three over where the golf course was going to be. Things were moving fast. Steve caught up with Kevin at the front of the Inn.
“There you are. Hey listen, I have a crew of about six guys who have nothing to do, you think you might like to give that pool house a start?”
“I think that might just be perfect,” smiled Kevin. “You send them in, I’ll get them going!”
“Good deal Kevin, catch up later.”
Kevin headed to the pool house. When he got there he saw Judy looking at the pool. “Hey sexy, going for a swim?”
“Hi baby!”
“I hope you’re not planning on wearing that to swim this summer?”
Judy looked down at her sweater then giggled, “Maybe I will!”
“Aha.” He reached her and gave her a big kiss, “What are you looking at in there anyway?”
“Oh, just wondering if it can still hold water.”
“The pool man was here yesterday, gave it a clean bill of health.”
“Oh good, one less thing to worry about!”
The crew came into the back area so Kevin brought them in and started telling them what they needed to do.
“BUT, and pay very close attention to this, do NOT touch this window area over there,” Kevin pointed to the one with the switch hidden in the woodwork, “I’ll do this area myself. It holds sentimental value to me, got it?”
The guys agreed and then headed out to start the work. Within the hour, a large pile of lumber and steel beams were right outside the door of the pool house.
Within two weeks, the pool house was ready, save the tools for the second floor workshop. The crew had to remove and entire second floor window and had a crane drop in the heavy woodworking equipment. Kevin sent Will on some silly errands that day.
***
Two things happened on the first of June. The first was that all of the loaders, bulldozers and graders drove out of the road leading to the golf course; one behind the other like it was a parade. Kevin came out of the front of the Inn and stopped the grader who seemed to be leading the pack.