"I'm glad we made that Florida show up to the fans. It was worth it," Taylor said, as he and his brothers settled into their seats on the plane.
"I agree. It was definitely a long time in coming," Ike replied.
"One more show to go!" Zac put in. His older brothers just shook their heads and laughed.
"Ladies and gentleman, please fasten your seatbelts. We will begin our descent into Johnstown, Pennsylvania," came over the speaker hours later.
All three looked at each other in dawning horror.
"Um, I think we got on the wrong plane," Zac stated the obvious.
When the plane landed, they went to the desk and asked about a flight to New York. Only to find out, that because it was a smaller town, flights weren't that often and the next one to New York was in a week.
"But we have a concert in two days!" Tay was becoming worried.
"Well, we could rent a car and drive to New York," Ike ventured.
The lady at the desk heard this suggestion and said,"I'm sorry sirs, but there is no car rental place around here. There are car dealerships though, if you'd like to buy a car. The nearest one is in town."
"How far away is that?" Tay asked.
"Well, about a forty-five minute drive," she answered.
"That would be one long walk," Zac stated.
"We better call Ashley and tell him what's going on," Ike said after a moment in thought,"Tay give me your cell phone."
"I don't have it."
"What?!"
"Well I figured I wouldn't need it, so I just stuck it with the stuff that got shipped to New York three days ago."
"You always have your phone. You can't live without it. Oh nevermind, Zac give me yours."
"Um, well, I kind of thought the same way Tay did. I figured it was just a plane ride, so I wouldn't need it."
"Oh this is not good. I didn't think to keep mine either. I figured one of you would have yours if we needed to call someone."
"So I guess we start walking?" Zac asked.
"It looks that way," Tay replied.
They collected their backpacks that had a few of their things in them, and started walking towards town.
They had ventured about a mile and were freezing their butts off in the stinging wind. Just then a car came along and halted by them. The driver's side window rolled down to reveal a petite girl with shockingly bright red hair and green eyes.
"Aren't you guys Hanson?"
The brothers exchanged glances and Ike answered,"Yeah we are."
"I thought so. Where ya heading?"
"Into town. It's a long story, but we're kind of stranded here."
"I could give you a ride, town is still a pretty good distance from here and it's freezing."
She seemed pretty sane, so they agreed and hopped in the car.
After about ten minutes, she pulled over at a gas station to get gas. They stayed in the car until Zac decided he wanted something to drink. As he walked in the door, he heard Carly, as she had told them her name when she had picked them up, talking to the girl who was working there.
"Yeah, I'm gonna drop them off somewhere in the woods. You know the spot where no one can ever find their way back out on foot. I hate those Hansons."
"Oh I wish I could be there," replied the employee.
They continued talking as Zac bolted back to the car. He opned the door and said,"Guys we gotta get out of here!"
He told them what he had heard. Zac had never seen his older brothers move so fast in his life. They jumped out of the car and ran around the back of the store.
Carly came out a minute later and not finding them in her car, looked around. Without her knowing it, she was playing "ring around the store." As she'd start walking around, Ike, Tay, and Zac would be backing up to keep out of her sight.
Finally, she gave up, swearing at her bad luck, and left.
Hanson went back in the store, pondering over their situation.
After slowly walking around the store and trying to think of a way to get into town, not knowing at all where they were now. A girl that had a few extra pounds packed onto her tall frame with brown hair and eyes and wearing a grey jacket, came in about twenty minutes later.
As she walked to the back to the sodas, they saw she was wearing the jacket from their previous tour.
They looked at one another, whether as to trust her or not.
"Well, I'd rather take my chances with a fan than with a hater. We already did the one, so..." Tay said aloud.
Zac and Ike nodded. They approached her as she was walking back to towards the counter. Her eyes widened as she recognized them,"Uh, hi."
"Hey," Tay smiled,"What's your name?"
"Lynn."
"Nice to meet you Lynn. We were wondering if we could ask a favor of you, since you're a fan."
"S..sure."
They explained their situation and she broke out in a grin,"I can do you better than to take you into town. I'm going to you guys' New York concert. I was just leaving. You're welcome to come with me. I'd be happy for the company."
"Thank God!" Zac shouted to the ceiling.
Lynn laughed. They went to her car and drove the six hours to New York.
As they walked in their hotel, they saw Ashley pacing back and forth. As he saw them, he said,"Where have you been?!"
Ike replied,"Dude, you wouldn't believe us if we told you."
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Written 2003
