December 5th

Elise

I drove up and down the streets, trying to catch a glimpse of the guy with the pine cone. I have virtually nothing to go on except that he had a dark dirty beard and was wearing torn up clothing. I hope he found somewhere to spend the night because of the cold.

I parked the car on the side of the road and got out, leaving the car running so Dex would be warm. Making my way up the shoveled path and up to the large dark brown church I opened the glass doors and walked in and down to the basement.The church  was always open during the winter when the temperatures were cold for people who needed some place to warm up, and every night they offered a meal provided entirely by volunteers.

"Hi Elise" Chelsea said as she looked up from the kitchen area. She needed volunteer hours for her class, so she was here a lot of the time.

"Hey Chelsea, have you seen a guy he was maybe about 5'8 with torn up clothing and a messy beard? Possibly carrying a pine cone." I questioned as I turned away from her and scanned the room.

"A pine cone Elise? Can't say I did. There was a guy here for a few hours though that sounds like it could be your guy. You're description is very lacking though, what do you wanna know where he is for?" Chelsea replied as she leaned across the window to look at me.

"He dropped something and I want to give it back" I answered and turned to look at her after confirming he was not in the room.

"Well, he asked where the bus stop was; told him they only run twice a day but he went anyway. That was around 5:30. If you go and he's not there you better head over to Duluth." Chelsea said glancing at the clock on the wall. I nodded and muttered a thanks before walking back up the steps and outside. It had started to snow in the time that I was inside, and I hurried to the car.

Dex whined and wagged his tail as I got in and pulled away from the curb. I drove the short distance to the only bus stop in town. There was a women sitting there, coat pulled up close to her. Letting out an heavy sigh when he was no where to be seen, which means I'll have to drive to Duluth. We only had two buses, and one went to Bemidji and the other went to Duluth. Duluth was the morning bus and the bus that came around one in the afternoon was the Bemidji bus.

As I pulled the car away from the bus stop I turned onto highway 2 and began the hour drive to Duluth, Dex sitting in the back looking out the window and I turned the radio on to whatever station it could pick up.

 ***

As we reached Duluth, the snow was starting to come down harder and the plows were out in full force to keep up with the falling snow. As I merged onto the mess of a highway they call a road up here I made my way to the bus station, determined to get there right away before anymore buses had the chance to leave.  It was around ten in the morning when I parked at the bus station. This time I grabbed Dex's bright blue leash and took him out with me. He was happy to be out and quickly peed on the snow before walking along beside me happily.

I pulled open the glass doors and we walked into the well heated bus station, so much so that it was actually horribly hot despite it being -3 degrees outside. It was large and white, with benches and a single large TV on the wall with some cooking show playing. I walked up to the ticket counter, Dex's paws making a soft tapping noise as he walked beside me.

"Miss there are no dogs allowed in here" The old lady behind the counter told me as I made my way up. She was short, wearing a large white button up sweater that was completely buttoned up and I'm sure she's the reason it's so hot in here.

 "I know ma'am, I apologize but I really need to find someone who I think was here, took the bus from Grand Rapids. See this is his dog and he lost him, and I've been trying to catch up with him ever since he left the town. He never told me his name." I explained as I gave my best puppy dog eyes and made sure to lace my voice with an innocent tone. She stood for a moment contemplating my request before she pulled out her log book. I wiped the sweat off my forehead as I waited as she flipped to the previous page and scan it with her finger sliding down the cream colored paper.

"Only two people came from Grand Rapids this morning, two men. One went downtown and the other bought a ticket to  Des Moines. Lets see, I think the one who went downtown was a real young man, had a nice suit on the tie wasn't tied just right but he left before I had a chance to say anything. Seemed real nervous...maybe he has an interview?" She rambled lost in her own thoughts.

"And the other?" I questioned leaning just slightly closer.

"Oh yes the other, he was real dirty and had no manners. Mumbling the whole time and gave me the evil eye when I told him to speak up. My ears don't hear like they used to you know" She rambled again as I nodded, hoping she would get to the point. "Bought his ticket to Des Moines, muttered something under his breath and then handed me a pine cone and a 10 dollar bill. He was a strange man, so I just let him take his ticket and go despite being thirteen dollars and twenty five cents short." She finally finished and even grabbed the pine cone out of the trash to show me.

"Thank you so much, when does the bus get to Des Moines?" I asked as I gathered up Dex and turned to leave praying she would just tell me a time.

"Bus is scheduled to get there at 6:15 tonight. That's dinner time, I was thinking of having some scalloped potatoes and...." She continued as Dex and I walked out the door back out into the refreshing cold. I had said thanks and started walking out as soon as she started going on about dinner.

I stopped at a Kwik Trip to fill up the gas tank and also to buy something to eat. I filled the gas and then walked into the store. Grabbing a water bottle for Dex and a soda for myself, I then went and grabbed two of the hamburgers they have in the showcase and checked out. I also grabbed a package of cookies that was by the checkout.

I got back into the car and placed the bag next to me in the passenger seat. Dex wagged his tail happily as he ate the hamburger while I pulled onto I35. "Well we're off to Des Moines bud, can't wait" I sighed as I also took a bite of my own hamburger. I should get there an hour before the bus does, so my spirits are up as I slip one of Carter's CD's in and the music from a local band she liked filled the car.