Wordzzle #19

The words for this week's ten word challenge were: fabulous, aristocrat, tricycle, soft summer breeze, cat litter, silver-tongued devil, curtain rod, lilacs, Abraham Lincoln, garbage can

Mini Challenge: strangle-hold, revelation, dormancy, tripod, space cadet

Go by the Raven's Nest for the rest of this weeks stories.

Sgt Johnson and Zan exited the Atlanta airport and immediately spotted the outrageously painted van of Thomas McCool. Inside the van, McCool and his wife Jean waited for the Sgt and his fabulous looking girlfriend in air conditioned comfort. "She looks like some exotic aristocrat" Jean commented to Thomas. "Yes she does" he agreed as he lowered the window to catch the soft summer breeze and wave to his friends.

Jean and Zan had become fast friends and were accustomed to these impromptu meetings held in towns throughout the southeast. McCool wouldn't fly except to get on a cruise ship or go to a foreign country and Johnson often flew several times a week. So over the years the two had worked out a way to get together, spend some time with their mates and consult on interesting cases and catch up.

The two couples would be staying at a B & B in the country outside Atlanta for the weekend. "Hi Tom you silver-tongued devil" Zan laughed as they walked up to the van. McCool stepped from the vehicle, opened the back door to stow their luggage; first moving an antique tricycle he and Jean had purchased at a yard sale on the drive to Atlanta. Simultaneously he grabbed a canister of cat litter he carried and sprinkled it on a spot of diesel fuel spillage he noticed next to the van.

"Man you never quit do you?" Johnson joked as they shook hands and embraced. "Hey, every chance I get, I take it" McCool answered. "How were the freaky skies?" McCool continued. "Did they beat any passengers with curtain rods this trip?" he quipped. "No, but they did march up and down the aisles banging on garbage can lids" Zan shot back. "Flying is not as bad as you make it out Tom" Sgt Johnson said. "You're probably right Paul, but the few remaining airlines seem to have a strangle-hold on the market and I don't think it makes for very good customer service," McCool answered seriously. "Well, I'll give you that" Johnson agreed.

"Where are we heading this weekend?" he asked to change the subject. McCool and Jean took turns describing the B & B where they would be spending the next two days as McCool guided the van out of the airport and towards the beltway. Jean told them how Abraham Lincoln was rumored to have stayed in the old house and how the antebellum mansion was famous for its lilacs.

The real revelation was how the owners had done a "green renovation" and managed to make the old place look original but energy efficient as well. McCool stated that though the energy conservation movement was currently in its dormancy, that businesses large and small were starting to catch on. He went on to tell Johnson and Zan that though the husband in the couple that ran the B & B was something of a space cadet, the establishment checked out as well above average.

"I even brought a camera and tripod for taking some nature stills if we have time" McCool added. "I wonder if you will, between cigars and whiskey and the alley cat murders." Zan commented.

An old tradition between the two men was long talks into the wee hours over Johnson's cases and McCool's ideas on saving the planet. Neither man commented after this statement. They both knew that their weekend would be filled with Johnson's current case and the odd tie-in to the environmental movement. Though Johnson and McCool had these get-togethers often, this one was scheduled on an urgent basis and would for the two men be a primarily working weekend. McCool had consulted with Johnson before, but never when the evidence pointed so close to home.

"Well, I know Zan and I are going to have a fabulous weekend by the pool" Jean broke in to break the mood. The two couples left it at that and enjoyed the ride in the country in silence, each person with their own thoughts.

RT