"I'm going to need to go," I said to Molly, "some of the stuff will require me to go down to Kalispell."
Molly gripped me in a firm hug and then released me. As I looked up into her yellow-green eyes I could see the pain she felt. I wanted nothing more then to hold her as best I could, but given the split we had just had with Molly's only remaining family and that mine was across the country, someone would have to buy the food needed for the both of us. We would need soap and laundry detergent. We would need a lot of things. Some could wait for awhile, but a lot would need to be bought now.
"I'll be fine, George," Molly said weakly, "I just can't believe everything. I thought he would treat me like his niece... not like I'm some animal to be used."
"I know," I nodded, "I know."
Molly released me from her hug and we looked around the bedroom. It wasn't much, and a good portion of it, Molly couldn't fit into standing erect because of the angle of the roof above us. There was a small office area with a desk looking out a window to the mountains and trees around the cabin. There were dressers along the wall opposite the office area, and there was a closet next to doorway and running to the wall. Molly, however was focused on the bed.
"Maybe I'll do some rearranging while you're out," Molly commented.
I looked at the bed. It was a nice bed, made of wood and probably made by Michael York for his daughter, but I doubted it would hold Molly's 300+ pounds of muscle for long. The mattress size was also too small for two people to sleep on it.
"I think we can add a queen sized bed and mattress to the list of things to buy," Molly commented, "Until we can afford it though, would you be too opposed to camping?"
"Camping?" I asked.
"We'll take the two bed frames apart and lay the mattresses on the floor," Molly explained, "and then we can camp on them."
"What about bugs?" I asked.
"This place looks pretty clean, and while we're waiting for a new bed, I think we'll be alright," Molly explained.
I nodded in acceptance.
"Okay," I nodded, "you're sure you'll be alright?"
Molly slowly nodded. I then sighed and left Molly to her work. If it kept her mind focused on something other then what Beauregard and her uncle had done to her, I wasn't going to fight her over it. Particularly while there were things that needed to be done. My first mission would be a Wal-Mart in Kalispell.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
"You didn't go the market here?" Dave asked.
"I needed to get the fireproof box as well and I figured that if I could combine my missions, that would be better," I said with a shrug, "and if they didn't have a fireproof box, my next thing would be to search for an office supply store, and I know there isn't anything like that in Columbia Falls."
"Ah," Dave nodded, "what about the bed issue?"
"We're still waiting on that issue at the moment," I sighed.
"You're still camping on the floor?" Dave asked, "Oh this I got to see!"
"Not right now," I told him.
"Come on," Dave protested with a couple of giggles, "it'd add to the story."
"The problem is that it adds COSTS to the story," I told him, "a queen sized bed would cost a lot of money. And since I spent a lot of money on the fireproof box and the food and other things we would need, I decided not to make a huge financial investment on a bed as well as all the other things we had purchased. And even if financial matters weren't a concern, there were other concerns on that day."
"Other concerns?"
"Yeah," I nodded, "remember that Molly got BIGGER when she transformed. She is taller, heavier, and stronger then before... and stronger then I am now. I would need her present to test any potential bed that we would own... not to mention that I'm no good with a lot of these sort of decorating things. I'd surely pick the wrong bed if I did it without Molly."
"I'm right with you on that part," Dave chuckled.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
The drive to Kalispell wasn't a long one. Once I had gotten onto the main roads, I made good time and was soon driving to the Flathead County capitol. My thoughts dwelt on Molly as as I drove and I prayed we would get some peace and quiet once everything had settled down. As I saw the exit for Kalispell, I took it and began to make my way through the town.
It was a fairly decent mid-sized town, though it would have been considered a small town back where Molly and I had originally called home... but to some extent that was what I found attractive about places like Columbia Falls and Kalispell, any rural small town, really. The pressures of a bigger city weren't out here. A part of me wondered about simply living because we had run into different problems, but I wasn't about to let Beauregard win. Molly's parents didn't care about her. Their treatment was more "negligence" then anything else. Beauregard had some active plan, and I wasn't going to let him win.
As drove through Kalispell's "Main Street" I noticed a small office supply store on one of the corners as I began to look for the local Wal-Mart. I made a note of the location in case the Wal-Mart didn't have a fireproof safe. It took a little to find the big superstore, but once there, I parked and went in.
The first good news I had that day was the finding of a small fireproof safe in a small office section of the store. It took up a good portion of the cart that I had, but it would store the deed to the cabin that Molly and I now owned, and Beauregard's machinations would never get it. After that I went through the cleaning isles, as well as the personal health and "beauty" and stocked up on soaps, detergents, shampoos, conditioners, and other goods.
Once that was done, I looked at the packed cart that I had. Even with what I had done to organize everything, it was still full, or very nearly so because of the fireproof safe. There was some room left, but not much. Once I was certain I had all the other amenities I made my way to the other side of the super-center. There I picked up some packaged meats and lunch meats, mostly things like bacon, bologna, salami. It wouldn't amount to much more then a snack for Molly, but it would be a start, and they were the only goods there that would fit in the space left on the cart.
"This is an odd collection," the cashier said when I made it there, she then caught herself, "I'm sorry... I'm not supposed to comment on what people buy..."
"Believe me," I told her, "if the only grief a person hears is wonderment at his selection of items, then he's lucky. I don't mind it."
"Oh," she nodded, "thank you. Can I ask what has prompted the purchasing of these items... and some in rather large amounts?"
"My girlfriend and I have recently moved out to this region," I told her, "Up in Columbia Falls. The safe is protect the deed, and we've moved from quite a long way away... so we're essentially starting from scratch."
She shrugged, "So, you'll be doing a lot of this sort of shopping?"
"Up until I've gotten everything I need," I shrugged.
"Okay then, if you will slide your card there," she pointed to payment slot on my end of the counter, and after everything was paid for and I began to make my way out, "have a nice day."
"You too," I told her and left with my purchases.
Kalispell had multiple grocery stores besides the one connected to the Wal-Mart Super-center. I spent the rest of my time in Kalispell going to each of them and buying what was needed. Most of it was meat, since the freak show had made Molly become a carnivore exclusively, but I did also buy some potatoes, rice, cereal, soda, some alcohol (I'm over 21 and so is Molly), and I'll also admit that I bought some snack foods as well. Basically everything that would be needed for us to have a fully stocked home. It earned me some odd looks, but for the most part the people went about their work and I had no problem. Once that was done, the back of truck was full of grocery bags, protected by the topper that I normally kept rolled up.
+++++++++++++++++
"Bet your credit card bill was huge after all of that," Dave commented.
"It was, and thankfully we had the cabin before it came in, and the bank that all my old accounts were in is out here, so we were able to have the that stuff out here, and I would file the paperwork to have them send the bill here rather then to my parents," I told him.