Winchester Family Vacations

Chapter 10

Present Day

The idea of digging up the bones of a little girl was unsettling to both Sam and Dean, but they understood the need for it. The ghost, Rue, deserved to be able to be at rest. She deserved peace. And if digging up a child's bones was what it took to give her that peace, well….. that's what they had to do.

But, first they had to find the unmarked grave. Knowing that it was somewhere on the property wasn't really helpful since the property was rather large. Sam thought it would be a good idea to talk to someone who worked at the Bed and Breakfast, so they headed downstairs as soon as they were done showering.

The young lady at the reception desk hadn't worked there for very long and didn't know anything about the ghost, but she was able to point them in the direction of the groundskeeper. Sam figured that was the best place to start. And once they found Jefferson, the tall, skinny, grumpy man that had been tending the grounds for years, he knew he'd been right.

"Excuse me," Sam said as he walked up behind the man who was bending down and pulling weeds out of a flower bed. The man jerked upwards, surprised to find someone behind him. Sam reached out and steadied him when he stumbled forward a few steps. "Whoa, there. I didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't scare me," the man growled. "Just surprised me, is all."

"Oh, well… sorry about that."

"What do you need, big fella?" the man asked as he looked Sam over from head to toe before turning his attention onto Dean.

Sam reached his hand out towards the man as he introduced himself. "I'm Sam and this is my brother Dean. The lady at the front desk said you've worked here for over thirty years."

"Yeah, that's right. Thirty-three, to be exact. And my name's Otis."

"You must know a lot about the history of this place, Otis."

"I know my fair share," he admitted. "What's it to you?"

Dean stepped forward, stopping next to his brother. "We're researching a screenplay we're writing and we need some information. Figured you were the guy to go to for that information."

"A screenplay?"

"Yeah, we're hoping to make a movie. And I know just the guy to play your part, actually."

"Really? And who would that be?" the man didn't look too impressed by what he was hearing and Sam wondered just what his brother was up to.

"I was thinking Tom Hanks, for sure. You have the same build, don't you think?" Both Sam and Dean noticed how the man's eyes lit up at the thought of Tom Hanks playing him in a movie.

"Tom Hanks, huh? Believe it or not, he's one of my favorite actors.

Dean winked at his brother and Sam suddenly wondered how Dean could know that.

"What kind of movie are you making? And how can I help?" The man suddenly seemed way more eager to help them out, much to Sam's surprise.

"Well, the screenplay we're writing is based on legends and folklore. But it's going to be different from your regular psychological thriller. Ours is going to be more personal and heart-warming. Think Forrest Gump meets The Shining."

"That sounds…. Interesting."

"It will be," Dean continued. "We already have lots of investors interested in the idea. We just need to flesh out the script a little more. And that's where you come in. We're currently researching the possibility of the Heceta Head ghost and thought that maybe you could shed some light on the story. Is there any truth to it?"

"Of course, there's truth to it. That ghost has been a part of this place for over a century."

Sam cleared his throat and took over. "We know the story. We were just wondering if you knew anything about where the grave of that little girl might be."

"I don't know for sure, but I've had my suspicions for years. I've thought about digging in a few places to see if I could find her, but then I thought to myself 'what kind of person does that?' Right?"

Sam and Dean shared a quick look, but then turned their attention back to Otis. "We don't want to dig the grave up, Otis. We just thought it might bring us some inspiration if we saw it."

Otis looked them over closely before giving in. "Okay. Well, there are three possibilities that I know of. One is right over there at the base of the lighthouse. The shrubs have taken over, but there's a spot that never seems to turn green, no matter how much rain we get. There's another spot along the pathway to get up here. Some people believe that the weird rock structure at the base of the largest tree is a place mark to show where she was buried."

"And the last one?"

"It's behind the Inn. There's a natural pathway that takes you several hundred feet into the hillside. Just beyond the first line of trees, up the hill a little, there is a shrubbery that flowers even in the winter sometimes. Some think this is where that poor little soul was laid to rest."

"What do you think?" Dean asked the man.

"If I had to pick which one of those three was the right one, I'd pick the last one."

The brothers shared another look before thanking Otis for his help. Otis asked a few more questions about their potential movie, still excited to think that Tom Hanks might be playing him. Sam wondered how the man really thought that his part in a story would actually be important enough for an actor like Hanks to play him, but he kept his mouth shut.

As they made their way back to the Inn, Sam stopped and looked at Dean. "What was all that about? We're writing a screenplay? Really?"

"What?!" Dean defended himself. "I thought that worked pretty well."

"But what if it hadn't? What if he wasn't the kind of guy to care about movies and stuff?"

"C'mon, Sammy. What's one of the most important lessons Dad ever taught us?"

"Obey his orders or else?" Sam offered.

Dean rolled his eyes. "No. One of the first rules of hunting…. Observe the situation carefully."

"Okay? How did that help you here?" Sam still looked confused.

"Sam, did you even look at the man when we first walked up to him?"

"Of course, I did."

"So, then you noticed the Bubba Gump hat on his head and the Shining reference on his t-shirt?"

"What reference?"

"Sam, his t-shirt literally said 'All work and no play makes Otis a dull boy.' That's almost a direct quote from the movie."

"So, that made you think that he was into movies, then…."

"Yeah, Sammy. It did. At least, it made me think that the idea of us making a movie might interest him enough to cooperate. And it worked, didn't it?"

"Yeah. It did," Sam admitted. "I'm impressed, Dean. That was some fast thinking on your part. And great observational skills. Dad would be proud." He didn't miss the flash of something in his brother's eyes.

Dean started walking again. "So, what's the plan now?"

"I guess we go out after dark and start digging." Sam was suddenly aware of the tenseness in Dean's shoulders and back. "Are you okay?" he asked, not really expecting an answer other than 'I'm fine.'

"Yeah. Just thinking about something Otis said. What kind of person spends their life digging up the bones of some poor little girl? That's a good question, isn't it?"

"Dean, we don't do it because we enjoy it. We do it because we have to. Because we want to help people."

"I guess."

Dean had a faraway look on his face and Sam suddenly knew what his brother was thinking about. "Dean, that was a long time ago. And none of it was your fault."

"Some of it was, Sammy. Maybe not all of it, but some of it definitely was my fault. I shouldn't have ever taken Shannon there that night."

August 1995

Dean knew he was being an idjit, but he really didn't want to pass up a chance to hang out with Shannon. The summer was almost over and he knew that his dad would be back almost any day. That meant that they would be packing up soon and moving on to wherever the next hunt took them. And that meant that he'd have to say goodbye to Shannon again.

He really liked Shannon. There was a part of him that thought it would be pretty cool to stay at Pastor Jim's and go to the local high school. There was a part of him that thought the idea of having an actual girlfriend was nice. They could ride to school together and do homework together. He could ask her to Homecoming and to Prom like every other red-blooded American teenager did. They could go to movies and to football games. He'd never really wanted something like that before. Instead, he'd always been okay with seeing a girl once or twice and then moving on before things got complicated. It definitely made things easier on him.

But Shannon was different. She was special. And he knew he was really going to miss her when they left. Shannon usually left to go back home at the end of summer, but she thought there might be a possibility that she would be staying in Blue Earth for the school year. Dean suddenly found himself wanting to do the same. He'd do anything to be able to spend more time with her.

So, once Bobby and Sam left to go to the hospital, Dean immediately jumped up to get ready. Shannon told him about an end of summer bash that someone was throwing in an abandoned house and although he would much rather just be alone with her, he knew that she really wanted to go to the party. He wasn't sure if he was really going to be able to sneak out, so he'd told her he probably wouldn't be able to go. Now he was hoping to surprise her.

After a quick shower and a change of clothes, Dean made to leave. He was almost out the door when he realized that he was going out without a single piece of anything to fight with if things went sideways. Turning back to the kitchen, he pulled out a salt shaker and stuffed it into his jacket pocket. He also ran back upstairs and grabbed his hunting knife, stuffing it into one of his socks. Salt and iron. He knew he should probably take something silver, too, but he figured the odds of there being a werewolf this close to Pastor Jim were pretty low. The man policed his community pretty well.

Without another thought, he opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. Shannon only lived about half a mile away, so he quickly hoofed it to her house. He knew that Hazel Watkins was probably deep into her REM cycle by then, so he quietly made his way over to Shannon's window. Picking up a few dried cherries that still littered the ground, he threw them gently against the window. It took him only three tries before the window opened and Shannon poked her head out.

"Dean!" she whispered loudly. "What are you doing here? I thought you said you couldn't go to the party."'

"Things changed, so let's go. All the good beer will be gone if we don't hurry."

Shannon laughed before ducking back inside her room. A few minutes later, she threw a leg over the window sill and reached out her hand. Dean quickly moved over to the window and grabbed her hand. The window was just far enough off the ground to make climbing out of it a little challenging. Shannon's foot kicked him against the head when he tried to pull her down, but eventually she was able to sit on his shoulders. Once she was safely perched there, Dean reached up and grabbed her by the waist, and then swung her down to the ground. "Why didn't you just go out the front door? It would've been a lot easier."

"Gran's asleep in her recliner. She sleeps there most nights now, because she can breathe better sitting up. I didn't want to try to sneak past her."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Apparently, I need to teach you the finer art of sneaking around without getting caught."

Shannon rolled her eyes right back at him before planting a big kiss on his lips. "Let's go," she said as she grabbed his hand and started walking.

"How far away is this place?" Dean asked.

"It's almost seven miles away," Shannon answered.

"Seven miles! I don't want to walk seven miles!"

"Who said anything about walking, Dean?"

"Well, unless you can fly or you have a car I don't know about, I think walking is the only way we can do this."

Shannon suddenly let go of his head and took off running towards a small shed on the edge of the property. Dean hadn't really ever noticed the shed before and he was surprised when Shannon pulled open the door to reveal a dusty looking motorcycle.

"Ta da!" Shannon threw her arms up in the air and laughed at the look on Dean's face. "Well, come on! Let's go."

"Shannon, whose bike is this?" Dean asked as he stepped over to it and looked it over.

"It was my uncle's. He moved away almost a year ago and left it here. Gran didn't want to sell it."

"And it works?"

"I think so. It better work, right? Otherwise we are going to have to walk to the party." Shannon looked at him, obviously trying to figure out what he was thinking. "You can ride, can't you?" she finally asked.

"Hell yeah, I can," Dean answered. Of course, there was no way he was going to tell her that the only motorcycle he'd ever ridden on was one of the miniature ones at the carnival Uncle Bobby had taken them to once. No, he'd keep that secret to himself for now and hope that he could quickly figure out how to ride an actual motorcycle.

Author's note: Dang! I know it's been a while since I've updated this story. Thanks for being patient with me, though. I thought maybe I'd wrap this story up with this chapter, but that obviously didn't happen, lol. I'm thinking 1-2 more chapters ought to do it, so bear with me a little longer.

I just got back from the Supernatural Vegas convention and it was great. It was a little weird due to all this coronavirus stuff, but everyone was very respectful of the new rules put into place to keep everyone safe. Jared and Jensen were in top form, even though the plane Jensen was flying in to get there had to make an emergency landing. Scary story that, fortunately, had a good ending.

Anyway, thank you all so much for reading and reviewing. Thanks to all of you who have stuck it out with me since the beginning. I truly appreciate you all.