Saturday morning, Bobbie had her guitar tuned and was ready to go when Johnny arrived at her door. They talked a little about what they’d sing and loaded the amps and guitars into his truck.

They got to the market grounds and Bobbie drove behind the stage to began unloading, while Johnny touched base with Chuck in the office to get any announcements. Before they started singing she went over to the motel chili stand.

Mark was puttering around. “I managed to scare up some takeaway containers for the food and some bags for the bread so we’ll see how popular this is and plan from there.”

“Good thinking Mark. I’ll get Johnny to announce that we have takeout chili now.”

They sang a few songs and Johnny announced the new “Frequent Floater” card being offered by Rocky River Tubing and also announced that you could finally get a family sized chili and garlic loaf to take home for dinner from Water Wheel Chili.

They finished their act and carried the gear back to the truck. “I want to take a quick shop around Johnny”

“Sure, I might get some chili to go.”

Bobbie stopped at the 4Ewes yarn shop. “Hi Quinn, no babies or alpacas today?”

“The twins are helping Ray do a load of laundry in your fabulous laundry room and Dad’s stopping in to feed the animals at the farm. Thanks again, for letting us stay in the motel.”

“I imagine the twins are a lot of help doing laundry and your Aunt Trixie knows you’re thankful.”

“I keep sending her a lots of pictures. We’re getting pretty good at unravelling those sweaters. We only have one big box of them left. We do want to thank you for those. It helped stock our shop when we had very little product. We dyed some for variety and can now afford to buy back our own spun alpaca and start to stock some other producers in the shop. I made a pretty good website too.” She showed Bobbie her display, they had more products and the recycled skeins had a ball band that showed the website.

Bobbie looked around and saw a pretty blue skein of the reclaimed she could use for a hat. “I’ll buy 2 of your blue ones Quinn, they are pretty.”

“Bobbie, you gave us the yarn to begin with. She tucked 2 skeins in a bag. Your money is no good here.”

Bobbie smiled. “Well, maybe I’ll make baby hats for your girls anyway.” She hugged her and walked over to Mark a the chili stand.

“The take out idea was a raging success. We have no chili left and no containers either. Next week, I’m going to make an extra batch of chili and have the take out orders ready to go.” Brit was helping him.

“I’ll have to start paying you Brit.”

“Maybe I can have a few veggies from the garden instead.”

“Brit and I will finish up here and we’ll go up and see how the preparations for the Gala are going.”

“I’m going to be a waitress for the Gala along with the two Jess’ and you can pay me for that.”

“Great, I’ll see you up there guys.” Bobbie walked away feeling disappointed there was no chili left.

She and Johnny decided to go out for brunch since they had no chili. Johnny said there was a brunch place he wanted to try and they drove a few minutes to Oceanbright’s small waterfront business district. An old store front had about a dozen people milling around. “Johnny, I’m not sure I want to wait in line.”

“Let’s just go see what’s going on.”

They got to the building and one guy looked up. “The line is inside.” Johnny thanked him and they went inside where there was a small lineup for the cash. They quickly figured out that people stood in line, placed their order and then got their coffee at a big coffee bar and sat at a table. The people outside were waiting for take out or finished.

Their food was delivered by a waitress, quite promptly. Johnny had a gluten free Eggs Benedict and said it was good. Bobbie thought about how efficient it was, sort of a semi-take out and how she could do something like this at the lunch patio. They were finishing when Bobbie’s phone pinged. “We’ll this was good Johnny but I have to get back to the motel and help smooth out preparations for the gala. Joe says there is a problem.”

They drove back to the motel and when they arrived they saw policeman and yellow tape around the reception area, Johnny let her out and went to park his truck in the back.

Joe jogged over. “We got some unusual comments on the motel website and then Lacey saw this.” He showed her a picture of a backpack in the middle the floor in reception.

Harry joined them. You’ve had threat’s made and that bag allegedly has Anthrax poison in it so I’m afraid there is no way you can be in that building, until we can properly investigate.”

Bobbie looked around.“How long before we can properly dispose of it?”

“This is Crow Harbour. People have to come from Cit City and maybe Cap City. It may take hours or maybe not until tomorrow.”

Bobbie chewed her lip. “What about using SAR helicopters to bring the poison people here, they’re fast?”

“Search and Rescue is a different level of government. I’m afraid my hands are tied.”

Bobbie was frustrated that she just couldn’t get this done and move on. “Well thanks for nothing Harry.” And she stormed away.

By this time Johnny had joined her and the news vans had arrived. Bobbie swore under her breath and gestured to Johnny to follow her. They ducked into SPOKES. All her staff were there looking at her with concerned faces. She had to think of something. Bobbie looked out the big window. Her eyes landed on the rather large roof structure that Rick and Rocco said she needed to heat her pool greenly. She turned. “You know, if we can get power over to that thing, we could hang a bunch of lights and have the Gala out there, by the pool and on the spokes terrace.”

Mark was nodding and Johnny said. “There’s already power out there and the new fountains in the pool are installed. They will look nice too.”

Bobbie texted Lorne. “Hi Lorne don’t tell Mom but I’m panicking and you have to help me design a perfect pool side venue for my Gala.”

Her phone started ringing; it was Lorne. “Oh I think you better talk to your Mom she’s already seen on the news that the motel is locked down due to a terrorist threat.”

“Put her on.”

“Hi Mom, it’s not as bad as the news says. There is a bag with an unknown substance in the reception area so our Gallery is off limits. I have lovely plan for a pool side Gala, It’s going to be a beautiful evening and it will be safe.” Bobbie was trying to sound positive and her mother sensed that so she played along.

“Very well darling I’ll tell my board members not to be alarmed and the show will go on.”

Johnny and Mark were already outside. They pushed some tables aside and were moving the living wall to create a barrier between them and the parking lot and open up the view to the pool.

This is perfect. We’ll rearrange the chairs out here and put on some white tablecloths and it can be a seating area. Do we have guests in the downstairs rooms? I guess they will just have to come to the gala or sit on their balcony and watch.”

Johnny looked up. “There’s a joke in here about rearranging chairs on the Titanic.”

Lorne Arrived.“What if there are sketchy guests that are here to protest or something?”

“I’ll ask Harry to send a couple of men to stand around and look protective.” Bobbie straightened her back and walked out to the front parking area. Two reporters approached her and she waved them away, promising to talk to them soon. She found Harry. “I’m so sorry I was short with you Harry. I know this is a stressful situation for you too and I shouldn’t loose my mind over a party.”

“That’s OK, I know this is a shock for you too. I think poison control will be here by 10PM and things should be clear by midnight.”

“Thank you Harry, I will certainly sleep better when this is all over. What if this is just a hoax to stop the Gala? It is an annual event for Planned Parenthood and they just got a nice influx of funding. Some people think all they do is abortions and are really angry. They do way more than that. They provide health services for underprivileged women, have breast cancer clinics and support groups and help fund a business that supplies feminine products to developing countries. I can’t let them stop the Gala. I’m holding it on the North side of the pool, under the big roof. People will park in the back and enter on the north end of the motel”

“That’s a good plan Bobbie, what can I do?”

“Can I get a couple patrol officers to come to stand over by the pool and ensure there’s no trouble?”

“Leave it with me what time do you start?”

“Guests will start to arrive at 7PM.” Then Bobbie started smiling and went back to the reporters.

“Good afternoon, It’s quite a fuss we have here. I am hosting an event tonight and I think someone has made an empty threat to try and stop it. Of course we are taking it seriously but the show must go on! I’d like to thank our local police force who are doing everything they can to expedite a resolution to the situation.”

“What event is it?”

“It’s a Planned Parenthood event.”

The lights were hung, the fountains turned on, the guests parked in the back and used the back entrance to the pool. The motel rooms were quiet, the food was good and the wine was plentiful. Bobbie’s mother was pleased and Bobbie breathed a sigh of relief. Just before midnight she was told the situation had been resolved and she never knew if it was real or just an empty threat.