| Fast Friends |
| Summary: | Alice and Lois meet each other coming and going, and learn all they have in common. |
| Date: | December 16, 1941 |
| Related: | None |
| Players: |
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It takes a brave soul to head up to Frank's cabin without knowing the place backwards and forwards, but Alice, at least, had decent directions and a nice clear day, if a cold one. It's a matter of counting dirt roads from a plethora of dirt roads and looking for landmarks like "that tree that got struck by lightning three years back," but it can be done.
Coming down that very road is a scowling young woman with her blonde hair in a tight braid. She rides a roan mare, wears overalls, and has a gun strapped to her back and a hat on top of her braided head. She is alert and watching her way.
It's been a long week for Lois. She had discovered that wagon wheels were just too damned expensive anymore. Nobody made them. So she sold the wagon for scrap wood, retrieved the contents of her lock box, and paid out some of the money from the sale of her farm to purchase a horse that was faster and more sure than the old nag that used to pull her wagon. Then she'd gone chasing after a haint in the backwoods, something that soothed her. She was getting nowhere on this Barefoot Thing's trail down in town, and being in town always made her feel a little inadequate.
The thing is, the haint weren't acting like a haint, not precisely, and she needed a little guidance. She knew where to try to get it. Try being the operative word. Nothing like being cursed off a man's doorstep and gruffly being told to go back to playing with her dolls to darken a body's mood.
High heels are not the best footwear for dirt roads but Alice is rather a stubben person. The bright red pumps now have a dirty dullness to them thanks to the dust and gripping mud of a winter trail. The blonde is dressed in a pencil skirt, a white blouse and a fur coat against the chill in the air; she's from California, it'll be chilly here in summer. In one hand is a suitcase, under her right arm is a hat box and covering her eyes are a pair of sunglasses. They're all the rage out west.
Alice checks the directions she scrawled on a piece of paper before weary legs push their way up the trail. So many slopes! And then there is a person on horseback coming the other way. Why didn't she think of that? A horse, of course. The blonde stops and puts down her luggage to offer a wave to the scowling woman. "Hello" she smiles. "I wonder if you can help me?"
Lois can't help it. She /stares/ at this vision before her. At first it's just the get up. High heels and a fur coat on these back roads? But then her eyes roam to the face and she gasps. It's a /fan's/ gasp, and words gush out in her thick Appalachian accent. "Oh my word. You're the spitting image of Alice Godley, has anyone ever told you that? In a different get-up, you would look just like the Pirate Princess herse…" Then Lois coughs. "I'm sorry, forgive me. What can I help you with?"
Alice can't help but smile at being recognised. It barely ever happens in Hollywood but here in the middle of nowhere there's a fan? "Yes, I have been told that before" she replies mischievously. "But never on a dirt road in the Appalachians." Alice removes her sunglasses, perhaps to further the identification - a girl likes her ego being stroked after all - before waving her paper at Lois. "I'm looking for someone called Frank. I'm told that he lives up this way." A glance around at the mud, dirt and the thick forest before she adds, "For some reason."
"…You /are/ Alice Godfrey," Lois says, dumbstruck. "Seriously? Here?"
But then she shakes that off and snorts. "Frank lives up that way, yeah. But he's a cantankerous old bird who won't help nobody with nuttin'…wait, why are you looking for Frank? From all the way out, you're coming all the way up here just to see him?" She gets off her horse for the moment, so she can stand across from Alice instead of looking down on her. The star struck nature of her interaction has already changed quickly. Now she's trying to put together the puzzle that Alice represents.
"Guilty as charged" Alice nods about her identity. "Though if you could keep it to yourself I'd appreciate it. I don't suppose you have any boots on you?" A sigh as she slips off one shoe to rub the heel for a moment before sliding the foot back in. She looks off in the direction offered for Frank's location and nods once.
"I was given Frank's name back in L.A." Alice offers with a coy smile. "I was told he could help me…prepare…for my next role." A little widening of her eyes, for those who notice such things, suggests she is quite pleased with this impromptu cover story. "I like to research my parts" she adds before offering her hand to Lois. "You know who I am but I am still in the dark about you. And I would hate not to know the name of a fan."
"Lois McNabb, and that's interesting, cause I don't think Frank's name would have traveled out of these parts. Most people 'round here barely remember it to begin with. What part is it you're going to do next? And can't rightly lend you boots, but…come up on the horse, at least, and sit a spell. It'll get you out the mud for a moment."
"Pleased to meet you, Lois. Ever thought of being a movie star? You certainly have the looks for it" Alice replies with a smile before a shake of her head to the offer of a horse. "No, that's very nice of you but I should have dressed better for the trip. I just didn't realise his place was going to be so far from town." She slips her sunglasses back on. "How far away is it?" A pause. "Oh…did you just come from there? You're a friend of Frank's?" There can't be anything else up that trail…can there? "I'm sorry, you asked about my next part. It's…umm…oh, a brand new take on Dracula where I get to be the heroine. Full of shocks and thrills and cliffhangers." She really should be writing this down. "Sound good? My agent told me that Frank could help. I mean…" A little laugh. "Obviously he doesn't know about vampires personally since they aren't real but he is supposed to be an expert on the subject."
The mountain woman just studies her, expressionless. It's unclear whether she buys the story or not. At last, she says, "Frank will not talk to you about vampires. He's not much into helping anybody with anything like that, and is likely to meet you at the door with a gun. He ain't never been to a movie that I know of, so even being a star won't help you there, Miss Godley. But I might talk to you about them. I might talk to you about 'em, indeed. You did say your role was heroine? The idea, then, is to get rid of Dracula and his allies, not to help 'em out."
"Why on God's green earth would the heroine of a movie help vampires?" Alice grins. "Trust me, Lois, there will never be a movie where a vampire is the hero. Even Dracula was the bad guy in his own film." Though that smile quickly becomes a frown at that talk of Frank being an armed curmudgeon. "Is that a fact. Hmm…not what I wanted to hear. Maybe my agent's name will help more than mine though…" Alice beams a Hollywood level smile. "…I can be quite persuasive."
"Wait…/you/ can talk to me about them? I do declare, Lois McNabb, you are getting more interesting by the minute." Alice studies the other woman - though her sunglasses hide the intensity of her gaze. "I suppose I could listen. One should always listen to an armed person after all" she teases. "Though I do hope you have somewhere more homely in mind to converse than a dirt trail."
Lois is silent for a long moment. "I might. I don't normally let outsiders near my cabin. So I'm going to have to swear your to secrecy on that count," she says at last. And here's where she decides to see if this woman is serious, or if she's about to get dismissed as a crazy. "Round about four months ago I had cause to take myself out round about Altamont where some fang was harming people, and I took him out. I'd sure hate for that fang's buddiesor anything else 'round hereto come knockin'."
"Your holding a secret for me, Lois, only fair I hold one of yours" Alice replies solemnly. "You live out here? In a cabin?" A faint smile reappears. "You sound like my kind of girl." And then there's a story that Alice /wishes/ would make her doubt Lois's sanity. Unfortunately it sounds too familiar for that. "I see" is her first reaction - the words slow to give Alice time to think. "Then it sounds like we have much in common, Lois McNabb." Her voice low and soft now. Alice removes her sunglasses again, all the better to look at the other woman in the eye. "I think we should get some privacy in that cabin of yours. Don't you think?"
She nods and says, "You really are gonna wanna get on the horse. It's a long way up and you'll die in those heels. I'll grab your bags." She leads the horse closer and says, "I can help you mount if you need help with it. She's real gentle, just good and fit and in nice shape. I wish I had spare boots for you at the cabin even but I don't. I got a meal though, and coffee, and words. It's up that road there." She points to one of the other dirt roads.
"I'm tougher than I look" Alice promises…but she will take the horse on offer. Leaving her bags on the ground she looks at the stirrups and then her pencil skirt and has to laugh. "I really did not dress for today" she smirks before nodding to Lois. "Yes, I think I will need help to mount. At least the Studio taught me to ride. They weren't happy about it but…I'm not the kind of girl who sits in the background while everyone else gets to do the fun stuff. Just like you I think, Lois. Meal and coffee sounds wonderful."
Lois helps her onto the horse and takes up the bags, then says, "Good, cause I can't carry and hold the reins at the same time." But she's smiling in agreement.
But she will wait to say much more, as she said, until they're at the cabin. She carries the bags with a relative degree of ease, but it's a long walk up the mountain and she saves her breath. Besides, one never knows what's waiting out in the shadows.
The cabin is not a particularly great cabin. It looks like it could use some weatherizing. There's some winter vegetables growing in a small patch, and a woodpile stacked neatly by the door. There's a pasture with a small barn, which the horse will presumably go into. It looks to be a one room affair. She puts the bags gently inside the door, then says, "I gotta see to the horse before we sit; you're welcome to come in with me. He just needs a rub down, top off on the water, food."
From what Alice saw of the town, that cabin doesn't look much worse than the hotel. Slipping off the horse she takes the time to remove her heels and leave them in the cabin before nodding to the offer to help with the horse. She didn't say much on the way up either - she has way too much to think on. "Nice place you have here." The fur coat is removed as well before she opens up her suitcase. "Give me a minute to get some pants on and I'll be right out."
And Alice will be; barefoot and in pants now. "So much better" she sighs before glancing around the barn. "How long have you been living out here?"
"Bout six months," Lois replies. She'd already started currying the horse. An old nag chews hay slowly in the other stall. "So what happened? How did you go from Hollywood star to here, looking for the kind of things you're looking for?" She pauses, then upends a bucket for Alice to sit on, well away from anything yucky that might get on her bare feet.
A nod of thanks to the offer of the bucket before Alice plonks herself down on it to watch, and talk with, Lois. "I can help if you need it" she notes. "I don't mind getting my hands dirty." A deep sigh at the question(s). "What happened…hmm…not really sure myself and I was hoping that Frank could help with that. Short version…a vampire tried to make the moves on me and I objected. Strongly. Unfortunately he happened to be a movie star and everything got crazy so I needed to leave. And here I am. In a barn, trying to find someone who could help me figure out what happened and what the heck I can do about it now." A little blush. "Sorry for the cuss word. As far as I know I killed it with a stake through the heart." Little does she know that only works in the movies and her attacker is still dead and well. "You hid away up here for the same reason?"
Lois winces at the stake to the heart. "You only slowed it down. You gotta behead 'em. 'S the only way. For that and a lotta things, actually. If you're lucky, it didn't follow you all the way here. And no. It wasn't vampires that got me on this road. It was a shifter. Took my face, murdered my family. Now it's just me. I can't unsee what I seen, so I deal with it as I can. Turns out a whole lot of everything bad we ever heard of is pretty much real."
Alice nods sadly to hear of the death of Lois's family. "I'm sorry to hear that. A shapeshifter that stole your face? That sounds horrific. Who knew there were all these different kinds of mons…wait…what do you mean it's not dead?" The movie star goes a little more pale. "But…he was just lying there. He didn't move…though I guess I didn't stay around for long." She bites on her lower lip. "Christ on a stick…shoot…sorry. It's just…well…that is kinda alarming news, Lois." Her eyes go wide. "I need to find a phone. I have to warn Morty."
"You'll have to go clear back down to town for that, I'm afraid," Lois says ruefully. "I ain't even got electricity up here. I hope Morty's okay." She says it with the air of someone who suspects Morty is /not/ okay, but who sincerely hopes so anyway for Alice's sake. "I'm sorry to have to be the bearer of bad news on that count." She moves to the other side of the horse, brushing away.
Alice chews on her lower lip a little longer as she processes. "Morty is an agent. If anyone can deal with the evil in the dark it's a Hollywood agent." A shake of her head to Lois. "It sure is bad news but it sounds like news I needed to hear. How do you know all this? Sure, there was this whole shapeshifter thing but I don't think that's all you've had to deal with. You admitted a vampire earlier but…" She narrows her eyes to study the other woman. "It sounds like you've seen a whole new world in those six months. I guess talking to you was a good idea. And it might be a long talk. Maybe I can brew us up some coffee?" A pause. "And check my pistol."
"Yep. Let's head inside and we'll get a spot of dinner on too. It's pretty much all I been doing," Lois admits. She finishes up with the horse and leads her in.
The cabin is small—wood stove, a small food prep area, table and chairs, bed. She opens the stove and starts a fire, then closes the little drawer and goes after the coffee, despite Alice's offer to brew it. She's the host, she's got an obligation to take care of her guest, no matter how rude the accommodations. "Mostly within a certain radius of here. I can only travel so far. But there's plenty to deal with. Haints. Vampires. Stuff I ain't even discovered yet, but I try to take care of it while I can. Don't fancy my neighbors getting eaten or worse. Sometimes I go weeks just livin' normal, but then something happens, and gone again. It's the only thing that seems to make any sense anymore."
Alice rummages through her suitcase again to bring out an auto-pistol that she checks over in an experienced way. Then she tucks it in the back of her pants before finding a wall to lean against as she chats with her busy hostess. "What's a Haint? Yeah, I guess keeping your neighbors safe is the Christian thing to do. So this place has a lot of…things…happen? I'm starting to wonder if Morty sent me here thinking I'll never come back. And you do all this alone? Must be tough…to say the least."
"Ghost," Lois clarifies, shooting a smile over her shoulder, remembering Alice isn't necessarily going to remember her lingo. The smell of coffee starts to flow through the room, then she takes out a few other things. In short order she's cooking up ham, grits, and eggs. To that last, she merely looks rueful. "I get by," she says. "But I maybe took a risk with you faster than I should have on the idea there was someone else out there who would understand, who I could be real with. As to the frequency, I don't rightly know about other places. You had a fang on your set, after all. I reckon there's plenty everywhere."
"It wasn't on set. He invited me back to his place to discuss a 'part'. Now, most men have only one part on their mind when they suggest that but since he was a big star I thought it would be different. Well…it was…just not the way I was expecting" Alice explains before offering Lois a warm smile. "I appreciate you taking a risk on me. It's certainly opened my eyes and I like the company. Sounds like you're a hell of a lot sweeter than Frank too. And it sounds like I've got myself into a whole lot more than I expected." A little laugh to herself. "But, hey, better than being dead, right? So where is it safe to stay around here if there's all this craziness around? And how many people know about it?"
An answering smile of agreement, equally warm. "I can give you the names of a few rentals I'd trust. As far as I know most people don't know about it. The Sherrif is willing to believe I didn't murder my family, and is willing to take on faith that it wasn't human. No help for that—he found me while I was babbling." She grimaces, then sets to cooking with a will, uncomfortable with that line of thought. "But…it ain't exactly the thing you strike up a conversation about. For all I know /everyone/ knows all about it, but it's seemed safer to assume nobody does. And there are plenty of local superstitions a lot of folk follow even if they don't rightly believe."
"Rentals you can trust /and/ are cheap" Alice giggles. "Not sure how long I'll be here and funds are short. You may think movie stars are rich but…not the ones like me. It's a miracle I'm not /paying/ to be in my movies." A nod about Sherrif. "Sounds like a good guy…though I guess he'll be going off to war soon. Just like everyone else. Soon it will be just us gals left." A pause. "At least we'll get things done right. You sure I can't help? It smells good…damn good. But I guess you're right…not something we can talk about with anyone. Though, as you say, maybe everyone else thinks that and it's the only reason people don't talk." A pause. "Let me at least get the fire started?"
Lois chuckles. "That'll be fine. I guess I can't easily set while someone else is workin either. And I don't know, he's a bit on the older side. Fought in the first war to begin with, don't reckon they'll draft him for the second. But I reckon plenty of the other young men in the town will be off in that direction. But don't talk to him about my case, if you don't mind. He'll be mighty suspicious. Normally I keep most details to myself, especially around folks from off."
"My lips are sealed" Alice promises, even pressing them together to prove it. For a moment at least. Then she is trying to organise the fire because they're so common in southern California and Alice is an expert. "The War To End All Wars…didn't really live up to its billing. The Sheriff is normally a suspicious person? I stopped by when trying to get directions to Frank but there was no one there." She pulls a lighter from her pants' picket to help with the fire. "Sounds like you've really opened yourself up to me, Lois. Which is good because I think we can help each other out a lot. Even be friends…at the very least."
"Could use a friend, I like you fine, and we've got this strangeness in common." Just plain talk, baldly stated. "And…he's the Sheriff. Of course he's suspicious. Now don't get me wrong, he's also good folks. Came up here to check on me some time ago, brought extra blankets and food. Folks take care of each other around here, and he done did that. But that doesn't mean he won't pursue unanswered questions relentlessly." Lois is watching the attempts with the fire curiously, and she says, "You know what, I forgot to get the kindlin' for you. How bout you stir these grits?" Getting her off the fire duty in a way that saves face, hopefully, and keeps Lois' cabin in one piece, for bonus points.
"Stirring grits sounds like a good idea" Alice is not ashamed to admit as she changes roles. A deep breath of the food before she gets to it. "People helping each other reminds me of home" she offers in a wistful tone. "I don't come from Hollywood. I don't think anyone does. I came from a small town to the north. Got 'discovered' skipping school and hanging out at a milk bar. That old story" she laughs before looking over at Lois. "Then you have a friend" she smiles sweetly. "Though I can't believe that no handsome young man is courting you. Though I guess with what we know then that would be dangerous…for him."
Lois laughs out loud and says, "Town mostly thinks I'm touched. Plenty of old ladies think husband-huntin' should be my primary concern, but you just learn to tune them out after awhile. More or less. Where are you from?" The notion that Alice didn't spring fully formed from Hollywood's forehead /does/ make her do a quick double take as she gets the fire rearranged, though she grins sheepishly because she recognizes in hindsight how silly it was to think otherwise.
"That's odd. Most of the people in my town think I'm touched too…though maybe in a different way than they do here. After all, 'good' girls don't go to Hollywood. Husband hunting? The very thought makes me ill" smirks Alice. "No husband hunting for this gal. I'm from Santa Paula. If you've never heard of it I wouldn't blame you. Most people who live there haven't heard of it either. Near Ventura…which probably doesn't help much either." She eyes off the rearranging of the fireplace for future reference. "Haven't been back there for a few years though." A sadness washes over her face for a moment before back to stirring. "How long do grits need stirring?"
"They're 'bout done." With the fire for heating taken care of, she says, "Ifin you wanna grab some plates we can get served up and fed. They're just there in the cabinet. Coffee cups, too." She pulls the screen on the little fireplace. With the fire lit the cabin grows fairly comfortable in short order. She contemplates, then says, "I'm on the trail of something now, if you think you might want to go hunting it down with me. I don't rightly know what we're dealing with yet, and it's way out in the backwoods, but if you're thinking about diving in head first…"
Alice nods to the location instructions and gathers up the plates and cups and brings them back over to the small table. She even sets them out correctly. "The best way to dive in is head first. Wouldn't want to belly flop. There was this stuntman in 'Jungle Drums of the Zamebzi' who tried a belly flop dive - just showing off. Didn't end well. Burst his appendix. We're friends now, right? Of course I'll help you out. Wouldn't want to lose the only friend I have here." A wink for Lois before she starts to dish out the food. "I'm not used to woods but I'm used to effort. Don't worry about me spraining an ankle or anything like that."
"I won't, just as soon as you find differen't shoes," Lois says with a grin. "We are." She pours the coffee and gets the silverware. "I'm afraid I can only offer you the coffee black; sugar's kind of dear and cream won't keep." She scares up a couple of napkins as well and says, "You have some time to get settled; gotta get to the library, see if I can't put together another angle on this thing."
"I'll buy some boots in town" Alice nods. "And I like coffee like the souls of Hollywood producers - black and bitter." She eyes off the food and breathes it in once more. "Looks great. I haven't eaten like this in way too long. Do you think I'll have time to get back into town before it gets too dark? If you don't mind I can always sleep in the barn tonight and head down in the morning." A curious expression forms. "Your local library has books on this kind of thing?"
"Some. You gotta dig. Not always. Sometimes you just guess and pray. I keep my own little book, just to keep track of what I've learned. Sometimes I look when I'm outta town too. Few times met up with others like us, asked them a thing or three. And I ain't gonna let no guest of mine sleep in the barn. You'll shame me to the grave if you don't take the bed. I'll just stretch out by the fire and that'll be fine." Her voice is absolutely firm, a little freaked out by the idea of putting any guest of hers in a barn in winter, even though it hasn't frosted for a few days.
"Others like us? I wonder if Morty was one of them." Alice frowns at the possibility she has been misled by her agent. Or at least had things hidden from her. Pretty important things it turns out. "Fine" she smiles, "I'll take the bed. But no reason you have to sleep on the floor. I'm sure we could both fit in the bed. Up to you of course." A casual shrug before she gets back to eating. "So what kind of people get involved in this kind of thing? And why doesn't Frank help out? I think it's pretty obvious now that he's neck deep in this stuff."
"Done deal." Lois agrees with a nod. She eats for a moment before she answers, and says, "Maybe he was, and don't wanna be no more," she points out. "Or maybe he is, but don't want nobody else in, because it can be right awful a lot of the time. I think most people wind up in because something happens, and they can't stay out. Or won't stay out. Or both. For me, it's the only thing that makes me feel right. If I'd tried to just go back to being normal folks after seeing what I saw, I think I'd have gone as mad as they all think I am."
"I'm guessing it can be a very dangerous life. Taking on monsters is not something you do as a casual pastime. Maybe he got sick of it? I'm just guessing. Have never met the man" Alice muses. "For me personally, I'm not the kind of gal who sits back and lets the world rush over her. Not sure if it's going to make me feel right but I know that ignoring it sure wouldn't. And if I go a little crazy…hey…I'm from Hollywood. Would anyone notice? This is a delicious meal, Lois. Thanks for the hospitality."
Lois flashes a warm smile. "Thank you kindly," she says. "And that too. Hard to just stick your head in the sand, for a certain type. We should be comfortable enough here tonight. Don't think it's gonna get no colder than 40. You missed the snow we had a bit back, so you can count yourself blessed on that count. But I will be ready to turn in after the dishes are done, rightly enough."
A quick look around the small cabin and its lack of even a radio. "I guess I'll be joining you then" Alice smiles. There doesn't seem to be much else to do. "I am sure we can warm each other up if need be" she adds before scooping up the last of the food. "I've never really seen snow. Not up close. I'd like to though. One day. Though I think I have been blessed by a friend rather more than pleasant weather."
The big farmgirl stands to do the dishes, smiling. "Me, too," she says simply. "Now if you wanna light a lantern and read somethin you brought with you or my journal, well, you can. You ain't gonna bother me none. When I'm tired, I sleep, and pretty much that's that. Often leave the light on anyway, to be honest. Don't worry on my account. If you get peckish, there's figs, more coffee, some bread and jam too."
"I don't have any books myself but if you don't mind a stranger reading your diary then I think that could prove useful" Alice nods, picking up her own dishes to bring them over to the sink. She will help with the wiping. "I won't eat you out of house and home" she winks before quirking an eyebrow. "Do you snore?"
"Not my diary…it's all my notes from what I been up to for the past 6 months," Lois says, digging it from under her mattress and handing it over. "It ain't fun reading, but it may be informative anyway. As for snorin', well…I don't rightly know, to be honest. My brothers used to tease me 'bout it but my ma said they were just pullin' my leg. Guess we're about to find out." She turns to the little sink and gets to work, both quickly and efficiently.
"Does that mean you also have a diary? Would love to read that too" Alice teases as she takes the book and flicks through a few pages. "Nice handwriting. Well, if you start to snore then I will gently nudge you awake." She tosses the journal on the table before drying the dishes as they speedily come at her. "For some reason I thought Frank would put me up at his place, hence all the luggage. Glad I ran into you before I made that mistake."
The handwriting is painstaking and the spelling is reminiscent of anyone who has only had an 8th grade education, but it's readable and betraying evidence of a strong mind, if not a strong speller. She grins and says, "Well, you might have talked him into it, but I'm glad we ran into each other anyway." And with that, she puts the last dried dish away. "This has been a good day."