Making one more sweep of the room to look for a phone, 'Gibbs is so going to kill me' she thought when once again she didn't find one. Looking at the sandwich she had placed on a night stand she suddenly lost her appetite. Grabbing her overnight bag she unlocked her door, peeked into the hall to make sure no one was there and quickly slipped into the bathroom. Removing her make-up she decided against a shower instead opting to quickly wash in the sink and hurried back to her room locking the door behind her.
Putting her travel alarm on the night stand she crawled to the middle of the bed, pulled her knees to her chest, locked her arms around them and started rocking. 'this not how I wanted to spend a Friday night and what kind of place doesn't have a phone in the bedroom', she thought. The storm started up again sounding worse than when she was on the road and the lights started to flicker and stopped. Hearing something scraping against the house and front window. She turned off the bedside light and slowly got off the bed. Cautiously approaching the window she peaked between the curtains and saw a tree branch rubbing against the house with the tip hitting the window every so often.
Looking at her clock she saw that it was 9:11 p.m, she decided to watch some t.v. 'At least they have cable', she thought as she settled on watching "Myth Busters". As she watched Adam, Jamie and their team in action she continued to think about the looks she had got finally deciding it had to be because she is a goth. She was used to getting strange looks from people when they first met her. "Yeah, that's it, their not used to seeing goths", she though out loud.
Relaxing as she watched "Myth Busters" her eyes started to close and the next thing she knew her alarm was ringing at 6:00 a.m. Getting up she looked toward the front window at the sun streaming in though a slit in the curtains. She quickly ran to the bathroom to freshen up and hurried back to the room to dress. She decided to wait in the room until a few minutes before eight, so she wouldn't have to face Maggie alone.
Going down the stairs Abby met some of the guests, while the others were already seated at the table. As she took a seat Maggie carried a covered dish over to the warming trays that were placed on the side board saying, "We have sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, toast and several different cold cereals." heading back to the kitchen she stopped to ask if they would like tea or coffee, adding "there's OJ in the pitcher by the food."
After eating Abby went to the kitchen in search of Maggie finding her at the kitchen table pouring batter in to prepared cake pans. "Maggie can you give me the number for Ernie's garage?"
"Sure its' 410-555-5552, you can use the phone in here if you want." Maggie answered as she put the pans in the oven. "It's on the wall by the dinning room door. I'm sorry there's not a phone in your room, but I'm still redoing a few of the rooms"
"Thanks and no problem about the phone I understand," Abby said as she turned around and dialed the garage. 'that explains a lot', she thought.
"Ernie's Garage, Ernie speaking. How may I help you?"
"Hi, my names Abby Sciuto and I broke down last night just outside of town." Abby paused for a second "These two officers John and Derek who brought me to the Dusty Attic said you could probably figure out whats wrong."
"Sure thing Miss Sciuto. Just give me a couple of minutes to let Jack know and I'll head on over to where your car is and have a look."
"Thank you."
"Now do you where did you say you broke down?"
"I pulled into a lane that I think the officers said was was next to Karen and Ralph's, but you'll have to come get the keys as I still locked it"
"No problem, I'll be there shortly."
Abby thanked Maggie again for the use of the phone and the delicious breakfast before dashing upstairs to get her purse and keys. Walking to the gate she turned around and looked at the house which looked positively inviting in the light of day. She looked up and down the block as she didn't know what direction Ernie would be coming from. It looked like a really nice neighborhood with stately looking homes and fenced in yards.
A few minutes later a tow truck pulled to a stop in front of her, the driver giving her an odd look. "Ms. Sciuto?" he asked.
"Yeah, that's me. You can call me Abby."
"Okay, Abby. You said you pulled in near Karen and Ralph's, what kind of car do you drive?"
"I drive a hearse."
At this Ernie gave her an odd look and let out a laugh. Not a little laugh, but a really hard one.
Abby was starting to get worried, "What's the deal with everyone when they learn where I broke down?" she asked.
Ernie looked at her "You'll see in a minute. Just read the sign over the lane."
They drove for few minutes, then Ernie started to slow down before he put his turn signal on. As Abby looked at the sign she couldn't help but laugh. "My friends are not going to believe this." she said as she tried to catch her breath.
************
Sunday evening everyone gathered at Gibbs for dinner. She had decided on the drive back to D.C. to wait until they were done eating to tell them about her adventure "Abs you ever go any place without a charger for your phone again and you won't be able to sit for a week." Gibbs growled at her smacking her bottom once after she was done placing strawberry shortcake in front of everyone.
"I'm with Gibbs about the phone charger." Tim said as he hugged and kissed her. "So what was the problem with your hearse?"
"According to Ernie it was a clogged gas line and a cracked gasket" and she told them what was wrong and how he fixed it.
"Forget that," Tony said as tried to sneak a strawberry off Gibbs cake only to to have Gibbs smack his fingers, then pull him into a kiss. Breaking the kiss Tony continued, "I want to know where you pulled that no one would stop to help you and caused others to look at you strangely?"
Abby looked at them with a serious, but yet embarrassed expression on her face and mumbled "thelocalcemetery."
"What was that?" Ducky, Ziva and Palmer asked almost at the same time.
"I said that I had pulled into the local cemetery and because I wasn't in that far the people saw a hearse. Combine that with the way I dress and that's why no one would stop."
The team looked at her then at each other then back at her before joining her in laughing.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Abby has an unsettling "hinky" experience on the way home from a conference.
Chapter End Notes:
Disclaimer: I am not making any money from this. If you recognize them, they are not mine. I only own the residents of the small town.
Author's Note 1: Thank you to Tabea for her suggestions.
Author's Note 2: A special thank you to a former classmate whose name currently escapes me. This is based on a incident that happened to him our senior year. I just added to it a little for this fic.
Author's Note 3: Please ask before archiving.
Author's Note 1: Thank you to Tabea for her suggestions.
Author's Note 2: A special thank you to a former classmate whose name currently escapes me. This is based on a incident that happened to him our senior year. I just added to it a little for this fic.
Author's Note 3: Please ask before archiving.