Despite all these gracious trimmings, plus a beautiful site, it seemed that The Dreamy Pines was in a bad way, and, when I had come upon it two weeks before, there were only two overnighters in the whole place and not a single reservation for the last fortnight of the season.
Mrs. Phancey, an iron-gray woman with bitter, mistrustful eyes and a grim slit5 of a mouth, was at the desk when I came in that evening. She had looked sharply at me, a lone4 girl, and at my meager6 saddlebags, and, when I pushed the Vespa over to Number 9, she followed me with my card in her hand to check that I had not entered a false vehicle license7. Her husband, Jed, was more genial8, but I soon understood why when the back of his hand brushed against my breast as, later in the cafeteria, he put the coffee in front of me. Apparently9 he doubled as handyman and short-order cook and, while his pale brown eyes moved over me like slugs, he complained whiningly10 about how much there was to do around the place getting it ready for closing date and constantly being called away from some job to fry eggs for parties of transients. It seemed they were the managers for the owner. He lived in Troy. A Mr. Sanguinetti. "Big shot. Owns plenty property down on Cohoes Road. Riverfront property. And the Trojan Horse-roadhouse on Route 9, outside Albany. Maybe you know the joint11?" When I said I didn't, Mr. Phancey looked sly. "You ever want some fun, you go along to The Horse. Better not go alone, though. Pretty gal12 like you could get herself roughed up. After the fifteenth, when I get away from here, you could give me a call. Phancey's the name. In the phone book. Be glad to escort you, show you a good time." I thanked him, but said I was just passing through the district on my way south. Could I have a couple of fried eggs, sunny-side up, and bacon?
But Mr. Phancey wouldn't leave me alone. While I ate, he came and sat at my little table and told me some of his dull life-story and, in between episodes, slipped in questions about me and my plans-what parents I had, didn't I mind being so far from home, did I have any friends in the States? and so on-innocuous questions, put, it seemed to me, with normal curiosity. He was after all around forty-five, old enough to be my father, and though he was obviously a duty old man, they were a common enough breed, and anyway Mrs. Phancey was keeping an eye on us from the desk at the other end of the room.
Mr. Phancey finally left me and went over to his wife and, while I smoked a cigarette and finished my second cup of coffee ("No charge, miss. Compliments of The Dreamy Pines"), I heard them talking in a low voice over something that, because of an occasional chuckle13, seemed to give them satisfaction. Finally Mrs. Phancey came over, clucking in a motherly fashion about my adventurous14 plans ("My, oh, my! What will you modern girls be doing next?"), and then she sat down and, looking as winsome15 as she knew how, said why didn't I stop over for a few days and have a rest and earn myself a handful of dollars into the bargain? It seemed their receptionist had walked out twenty-four hours before and, what with the housekeeping and tidying up before they closed the place for the season, they would have no time to man the desk. Would I care to take on the job of receptionist for the final two weeks-full board and thirty dollars a week?
Now it happened that I could do very well with those sixty dollars and some free food and lodging16. I had overspent at least fifty dollars on my tourist spree, and this would just about square my books. I didn't much care for the Phanceys, but I told myself that they were no worse than the sort of people I had expected to meet on my travels. Besides, this was the first job I had been offered and I was rather curious to see how I would make out. Perhaps, too, they would give me a reference at the end of my time, and this might help with other motel jobs on my way south. So, after a bit of polite probing, I said the idea would be fine. The Phanceys seemed very pleased, and Millicent, as she had now become, showed me the registration17 system, told me to watch out for people with little luggage and big station wagons18, and took me on a quick tour of the establishment.
The business about the station wagons opened my eyes to the seamy side of the motel business. It seemed that there were people, particularly young couples just married and in process of setting up house, who would check in at some lonely motel, carrying at least the minimum "passport" of a single suitcase. This suitcase would in fact contain nothing but a full set of precision tools, together with false license plates for their roomy station wagon19 that would be parked in the carport alongside their cabin door. After locking themselves in and waiting for the lights to go out in the office, the couple would set to work on inconspicuous things like loosening the screws of the bathroom fixtures20, testing the anchoring of the TV set, and so on. Once the management had gone to bed, they would really get down to it, making neat piles of bedding, towels, and shower curtains, dismantling21 light-fixtures, bed-frames, toilet seats, and even the Johns themselves if they had plumbing22 knowledge. They worked in darkness of course, with pencil flashlights, and, when everything was ready, say around two in the morning, they would quietly carry everything through the door into the carport and pile it into the station wagon. The last job would be to roll up the carpets and use them, the reverse side up, as tarpaulins23 to cover the contents of the station wagon. Then change the plates and softly away with their new bedroom suite24 all ready to lay out in their unfurnished flat many miles away in another state!
Two or three hauls like that would also look after the living room and spare bedroom, and they would be set up for life. If they had a garden, or a front porch, a few midnight forays around the rich out-of-town "swimming-pool" residences would take care of the outdoor furniture, children's heavy playthings, perhaps even the lawnmower and sprinklers.
Mrs. Phancey said that motels had no defense25 against this sort of attack. Everything was screwed down that could be screwed down, and marked with the name of the motel. The only hope was to smell the marauders when they registered and then either turn them away or sit up all night with a shotgun. In cities, motels had other problems-prostitutes who set up shop, murderers who left corpses26 in the shower, and occasional holdups for the money in the cash register. But I was not to worry. Just call for Jed if I smelled trouble. He could act real tough and he had a gun. And, with this cold comfort, I was left to ponder on the darker side of the motel industry.
Of course it all turned out perfectly27 all right and the job was no problem. In fact there was so little to do that I did rather wonder why the Phanceys had bothered to take me on. But they were lazy, and it wasn't their money they were paying me, and I guessed that part of the reason was that Jed thought he had found himself an easy lay. But that also was no problem. I just had to dodge28 his hands and snub him icily on an average of once a day and hook a chair under the door-handle when I went to bed to defeat the pass-key he tried on my second night.
We had a few overnighters in the first week, and I found that I was expected to lend a hand with the housekeeping, but that too was all right with me, and anyway the customers slacked off, until, after October tenth there wasn't a single one.
Apparently October fifteenth is a kind of magical date in this particular holiday world. Everything closes down on that day, except along the major highways. It is supposed to be the beginning of winter. There is the hunting season coming up, but the rich hunters have their own hunting clubs and camps in the mountains, and the poor ones take their cars to one or another of the picnic areas and climb up into the forests before dawn to get their deer. Anyway, around October fifteenth the tourists disappear from the scene and there is no more easy money to be made in the Adirondacks.
As closing day came nearer, there was a good deal of talk on the telephone between the Phanceys and Mr. Sanguinetti in Troy, and on the eleventh Mrs. Phancey told me casually29 that she and Jed would be leaving for Troy on the thirteenth and would I mind staying in charge that night and handing over the keys to Mr. Sanguinetti, who would be coming up finally to close the place around noon on the fourteenth?
It seemed a vague sort of arrangement to leave an unknown girl in charge of such a valuable property, but it was explained that the Phanceys would be taking the cash and the register and the stock of food and drinks with them, and all I had to do was switch off the lights and lock up before I went to bed. Mr. Sanguinetti would be coming up with trucks for the rest of the movables the next morning. Then I could be on my way. So I said yes, that would be all right, and Mrs. Phancey beamed and said I was a very good girl, but when I asked if she would give me a reference, she got cagey and said she would have to leave that to Mr. Sanguinetti, but she would make a point of telling him how helpful I had been.
So the last day was spent packing things into their station wagon until the stores and cafeteria were empty of everything except plenty of bacon and eggs and coffee and bread for me and for the truckers to eat when they came up.
That last day I had expected the Phanceys to be rather nice to me. After all, we had got on all right together and I had gone out of my way to be helpful about everything. But, oddly enough, they were just the reverse. Mrs. Phancey ordered me about as if I was a maid, and Jed became tough and nasty in his leching, using filthy30 words even when his wife was in earshot, and quite openly, reaching for my body whenever he got within range. I couldn't understand the change. It was as if they had had what they wanted out of me and could now discard me with contempt-and even, it seemed to me, almost with loathing31. I got so furious that I finally went to Mrs. Phancey and said I was going and could I have my money? But she just laughed and said, Oh, no. Mr. Sanguinetti would be giving me that. They couldn't take a chance of the cutlery being short when he came to count it. After this, and rather than face them at supper, I made myself some jam sandwiches and went and locked myself in my cabin and prayed for the morning, when they would be gone. And, as I have said, six o'clock did at last come and I saw the last of the monsters.
And now this was my last night at The Dreamy Pines and tomorrow I would be off again. It had been a slice of life, not totally unpleasant in spite of the Phanceys, and I had learned the fringes of a job that might stand me in good stead. I looked at my watch. It was nine o'clock, and here was the doomful WOKO from Albany with its storm bulletin. The Adirondacks would be clear by midnight. So, with any luck, I would have dry roads in the morning. I went behind the cafeteria bar, turned on the electric cooker, and put out three eggs and six slices of hickory-smoked bacon. I was hungry.
And then came a loud hammering on the door.
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1
torrents
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| n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断 | |
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2
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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3
refinements
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| n.（生活）风雅；精炼( refinement的名词复数 )；改良品；细微的改良；优雅或高贵的动作 | |
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4
lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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5
slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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6
meager
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| adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的 | |
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7
license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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8
genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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9
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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10
whiningly
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11
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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12
gal
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| n.姑娘，少女 | |
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13
chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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14
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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15
winsome
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| n.迷人的，漂亮的 | |
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16
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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17
registration
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| n.登记，注册，挂号 | |
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18
wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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19
wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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20
fixtures
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| （房屋等的）固定装置( fixture的名词复数 )； 如（浴盆、抽水马桶）； 固定在某位置的人或物； （定期定点举行的）体育活动 | |
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21
dismantling
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| （枪支）分解 | |
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22
plumbing
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| n.水管装置；水暖工的工作；管道工程v.用铅锤测量（plumb的现在分词）；探究 | |
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23
tarpaulins
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| n.防水帆布，防水帆布罩( tarpaulin的名词复数 ) | |
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24
suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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25
defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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26
corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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27
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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28
dodge
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| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
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29
casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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31
loathing
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| n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢 | |
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