Alex Bishop and The Elusive Dorian Brown

                                                                                         Chapter 30 

                                                                        Conversation at Bub's Place                                                                                            

     Some forward thinking neighbor up the street, probably from Indiana, Ohio, or Michigan originally, owned a truck with a plow and had plowed the streets in the small town of Mont Eagle; for which Alex and his friends were very grateful.  The temperature outside had warmed up since the snow had stopped falling early in the morning.  It was a not so cold forty three degrees as Alex and the others made their way out of the main entrance of the college.

     "Where do we want to go?"  Kelleigh asked no one in particular, as she, Justin and the others stood on the sidewalk, a bright sun shinning down upon them.   "Well," Christian started, "We could go to Bub's Ice cream Parlor," he finished, waggling his eyebrows.   Annie looked at her cell to see what time it was and said, "Well, it's been three hours since lunch.  I guess we should be proud of Christian for waiting that long to eat again."

     Christian made a face at his sister while everyone else laughed.  Then Amanda said, "I could go for a chocolate cone."  The others agreed they could all go for ice cream too, so the group headed up the street; Bub's Ice Cream Parlor sat at the end of it.  It was a popular place among the college students.  The old man who ran the ice cream parlor had opened his store in 1950 and had been doing a landside business ever since. 

     Bub was in his seventies now and only came in twice a month to see how things were going.  His son Otto had taken over the business .  Otto worked everyday along with two waitresses, who took orders from patrons, sitting at twenty tables covered in blue and white checked cloths, while he took care of the customers at the bar. 

     Bub's Place was decorated in a 1950's style, which included a jute box that stood in a far corner, where a customer could hear 1950's and 60's tunes with perfect clarity by inserting a coin and then pushing a button.  The gang was about to go in when Annie happened to look into one of the side windows and spied Perry and Paul Stubben sitting at a table a few feet from the bar.

     "Christian!  Don't open the door!" Annie  ordered anxiously, while gesturing to her friends to move to the back of the parking lot away from the windows that faced the sides and front of the building.  "What is it?" Christian asked her grumpily, his arms folded across his chest.  The others were asking her the same thing using different words.  "The Stubben brothers are sitting at a table close to the bar" Annie told them, "and they are looking at a map."

     Anthony and the others gave each other nervous looks.  "Should we just leave?"  Haley asked Alex.  "Before I answer that," Alex started, "We should probably go behind the building in case the twins come out the door."  Everyone thought that was a good idea and so they all hurried around the nearest back corner of the parlor.

     "I thought the F.B.I. was supposed to be keeping an eye on their movements," Justin said in the way of a question.  "The agents are probably staying in Manchester," John pointed out, "And no one can get up the mountain right now."  Amanda looked up at the now cloudy sky and the new flakes that were starting to fall.

     "Has anyone checked the forecast for the next few days?" she asked.  Nearly everyone said that they hadn't, except Annie, who without a word took out her cell to check the weather app.  "Snow is expected to fall for the next two days, accumulation- another eight inches."  "Oh boy." Josh breathed.  "So what now?" Grace asked.