RESURRECTION

Chapter 17

The next morning, Tim slips out of bed being careful not to wake his sleeping partner. He remembered seeing a coffee pot in the motel lobby and figured his two roomies would be wanting coffee first thing.

After taking a quick shower, he gets dressed and quietly leaves the room.

"Good morning." Tim smiles at the old man behind the desk. "Mind if I get some coffee?"

"Not at all, son. That's what it's there for.' The old man chuckles. "There's fresh donuts there too."

Tim fixes himself a cup of coffee. A million questions run through his mind that he wanted to ask the elderly gentleman. Picking up a donut, he walks up to the counter.

"Can I ask you a question, sir?" Tim asks.

"Sure." The man smiles as he folds up the newspaper he had been reading.

"How long have you lived around this area?" Tim asks.

"All my life. Born and raised here." The old man answers. 

"That's awesome. Uh, my friends and I stumbled across an old deserted area just about four or five miles from here. Maybe a town at one time?" Tim asks.

"Oh, you must be talking about Rhyolite." The man says.

"Yeah, I believe that was the name on the old sign we found." Tim nods.

"Believe it or not, it was a booming mining town at one time maybe five thousand people. My father actually worked in the mine there and my mom worked as a school teacher." The old man says with a nod.

"What can you tell me about the place?" Tim asks as he leans on the counter.

"Well, the town actually began in 1905 when ore was found. It quickly escalated. In 1906, a rich man bought the mine and invested a lot of money into Rhyolite. Power lines, running water, even phone lines. But as fast as the town was born, it died. The mines went dry. People left and by 1920 it was a ghost town. Not much standing anymore." The old man shakes his head.

"That's terrible. Is it just left to rot away or is the land for sale?" Tim asks.

"I believe it is for sale. My son, Michael, works at the realtor, I can find out for you. Will you and your friends be staying very long?" The old man asks.

"Well, it all depends on if the place is for sale." Tim chuckles. He tears off a sheet of paper from a notepad that was on the desk and jots down his phone number. "That's my name and number. If you find out anything can you give me a call?"

"Sure thing, son." The man takes the number and slips it into his shirt pocket. "My name is Kirk."

"Pleased to meet you." Tim says as he shakes the old man's hand. "Thank you for your time."

Tim walks back over to the coffee pot and refills his cup and fills two more, putting lids on them. Grabbing a hand full of sugar and creamer packets, he sets the cups into a carry-out tray along with a few donuts and heads toward the door.

Kirk hurries over and opens the door for him.

"I'll call my son later once he gets into his office and see what I can find out for you." The old man smiles.

"Thank you so much." Tim smiles.

Tim walks up to the door and stops. He realizes the door card was in his back pocket and his hands were full. He balances the tray on one hand as he tries to fish the card from his pocket.

The door suddenly opens and he's grabbed into a hug by Avi. Adam laughs as he grabs the tray that Tim was about to drop.

"It's so good to see you. Man, I've missed you." Avi says as he hugs Tim tightly.