Ashes to Asher

Even though he had been told many times over the two days before they left town, Danny still asked three more times on the way down the mountain to the city if Emil really wanted him to come along on the trip to retrieve Emil's stored belongings. Every time, he had been assured by Emil, his mother, Uncle Asher, and even Papa Jimmy of all the true reasons Emil had included him. Emil had even joked at one point that the boy was Ashley's revenge on him for a joke at her expense. When the boy asked yet again, however, Emil tried a different joke answer that he hadn't used before.

"Yes, I'm sure I want you with me. Jimmy and Asher both have jobs that they can't leave, so who else is left to do the heavy lifting for me?"

Danny suddenly sat up much straighter in his seat, puffing his chest out proudly. "Oh, I am stronger than I look. You definitely made the right choice," the boy announced as he began flexing his arms like a body builder. He didn't ask why he was included again, but he did brag about being the hired muscle to the baggage clerk at the airport, the ticket clerk, and the flight attendant on the plane.

That particular conversation got him an invitation to the flight deck to visit the captain and the copilot. Danny returned to his seat practically glowing with pride and excitement. "Auntie… I mean Uncle Em, I got to steer the plane. I actually got to fly this big, humongous, ginormous jet all by myself."

Behind him, the flight attendant, Thomas, mouthed the word, 'Autopilot'.

"And I got to sit in the copilot's chair so he could go pee and I talked on the radio to a nice lady in an air traffic control tower somewhere down on the ground," Danny continued oblivious to the secret revealed behind his back. Emil had to choke down a laugh as the boy then turned to Thomas and offered, "If the captain has to go pee, too, I can come back and help again now that I have experience." Thomas, a true credit to his profession, just smiled and said he would let the captain know. Neither Thomas nor Emil corrected the boy on the size of the plane actually being rather small for a cross-country flight. It wasn't as if they were flying from Los Angeles to New York. The burst of energy combined with the boredom of the rest of the flight managed to overpower Danny and he slept until just before they reached the end of their flight.

Once they finally landed, Danny was back into Muscle Man Mode, grabbing both of their suitcases off the baggage conveyor. He grunted and almost lost his balance both times, but he assured Emil he could 'do his job'. Emil claimed that he was tired and needed to lean on the trolley for support as they walked through the airport, secretly helping to push the cart so the boy didn't overexert himself. When they got to the vehicle rental area, much to Danny's disappointment, they walked past the agency advertising a special rate for what the boy described as 'the ultimate Mustang convertible'.

"Danny, we're going to be getting nearly a full room of furniture, as well as quite a few boxes of clothing and books and things. Where would we put all that in a convertible?" Emil asked him pointedly.

"Well, I just thought for the first day, maybe…. It's okay, though. I get it," the boy said quietly, as he suddenly found the floor very interesting. "I guess a topless car would be a pretty dumb idea."

"I honestly wish we could, my man, but we're supposed to be on a time schedule here. I want to get back and see what your uncle has done to my kitchen," Emil told Danny, but it didn't seem to cheer him up much. "I promise you, getting a convertible was not a dumb idea."

"I have to agree." Emil and Danny both turned to see the agent at the rental counter for the trucks speaking to them. "You see, there has been a small problem come up. We are very sorry, Mr. Corneau, but the truck you had rented is not available at the current time. By corporate rules I am totally not supposed to tell you why it's not ready, just that it isn't." As he spoke those words, he turned his computer screen to show a news feed of a truck from his company being stopped by law enforcement. Once it had looped through twice, he closed that window, which 'accidentally' let Emil see the email from the local sheriff's department that the truck would be impounded for at least a week.

"What did they do?" Danny whispered curiously.

"That I really am not supposed to say as it is part of an ongoing investigation," the man frowned. "I can only tell you that we are very willing to work with you to resolve this in your choice from a couple of possibilities."

"I need a truck," Emil whispered, still in shock from what he was learning.

"I have been instructed to offer you a discounted rate on a smaller truck and give you more time with it," the man said with a nervous smile.

"What am I supposed to do? Take half my things and then drive back for the rest?" Emil countered as politely as he could manage.

"I didn't think that would be a possibility given that you were doing a one-way rental across the country," the agent admitted. "The second option is that we give you a larger truck for the same price you were going to pay."

"How much bigger is this other truck, because I'm nervous about driving the fifteen-foot model," Emil asked and admitted at the same time.

"That probably would not be a good option, either, then," the agent mused aloud. "The truck we have is the largest we have, a 26-foot model."

"Oh, no, no, no," Emil shook his head vehemently. "That is not an option. Me driving a truck that big? That's an accident waiting to happen. Plus, there is the fact that I do not have a professional truck license."

"I'm too young to die horribly in a multi-car pileup on the highway," Danny blurted.

"You wouldn't need a corporate license, but I agree, if you are that concerned about driving it, you should not try it, and yes, little man, you are far too young to die under any circumstances," the agent agreed quickly. "That leaves the final, and in my opinion, best option. We can have another truck the size you requested here late tomorrow and have it ready for you first thing the following morning, and we will edit the dates of the rental so that you don't get penalized for not returning it when originally expected, as well as giving you a discounted rate. I'm throwing that discount in there myself because you are being so nice about this."

"Losing my temper would change nothing of this situation and only make your day and mine go even worse than they already are," Emil said honestly.

"Well then, perhaps you are back to that not so bad idea of the convertible just for two days until we can get you the correctly sized truck for your needs," the agent smiled.

"YIPPEE!" Danny squealed. "I can already imagine the hotties checking me out as the wind blows through my hair while we cruise down the street," he added as he puffed out his chest and swept his hand through his hair.

"I really need to speak to your mother about what you watch and what you read," Emil said with a snort. The unhelpful at that moment agent just gave the boy a thumbs up and a bright smile. "All right, Ferris Bueller, let's go see about getting the car of your dreams."

"Who?" Danny asked, blinking in confusion. Both Emil and the agent groaned as if in pain.

An hour later, Emil and Danny were indeed cruising the streets in a late model Mustang convertible. "Does this meet with your approval, Mr. Danvers?"

"This is awesome," Danny cheered as he stuck both arms up into the late afternoon air, letting out a whoop of excitement. Emil just smiled and kept driving.

"Welcome, Mr. Corneau," the hotel clerk smiled once he displayed his driver's license to check in. "Your room with two double beds for one night is all ready for you."

"Yes, about that one night," Emil began sheepishly. "Could we extend our stay two more nights?"

"Let me check the computer," the clerk said with a small frown.

As she clicked away at the keyboard, Danny proceeded to explain the situation with the truck with all the embellishments of youth thrown in for good measure, such as the "definitely gang related shoot out with the cops" and the probable "dead bodies everywhere". He then moved on to the rejected truck rental options, pointing out that the clerk looked like a mom who wouldn't want an innocent and adorable kid like him to die with his "brains and guts smeared all over the highway". In true kid form, Danny seemed to miss all of Emil's signals to shut up, but fortunately, the woman didn't seem too disturbed by his grisly exaggeration of the situation.

"I'm afraid we don't have any double rooms available tomorrow night, sir," she finally responded to Emil. "We do, however, have a suite that would be available for the entire time. It has a private bed room with a queen-sized bed, but also has a separate sitting area that has a sofa with a pull-out bed in it."

"How about that, Danno?" Emil smiled. "You not only get a convertible car for two days, but a convertible bed for three nights to go with it."

"I get a race car bed?" the boy questioned. "I know I'm a kid, but I'm a little old for that."

"It's not a race car, it just hides in the day time," the clerk explained with a smile. "It's a sleeper sofa."

"That should be okay, I guess," the boy shrugged.

"I'm glad you approve," Emil said, rolling his eyes. He turned back to the clerk and asked, "So, any recommendations for how to entertain this monkey for a day and a half?"

"Well, your monkey as you call him was right, I am a mom, but my children are both girls, one a little older than him and one a bit younger as well, so I'm not sure I would be a lot of help. I take my girls to the mall and we all shop till we drop. There is the movie theater just across our back parking lot that might work for tonight. I'm sure they have something playing that has the requisite number of car chases and explosions." She didn't seem to notice the look of horror on both male faces at that bit of blatant sexism.

"Do you guys have a pool?" Danny questioned.

"We do indeed have an indoor pool and hot tub at the end of that hall right over there," she answered as she gestured across the lobby. "You'll also find the breakfast room along that way, first two sets of doors on the right, and the workout room is the next door on the same side."

"Well, now that he's indicated interest in something we did not pack for, is there a store nearby that might sell swimwear?" Emil asked with a laugh.

"I was just asking, you don't gotta…." Danny started.

"I think it's a good idea, too," Emil cut him off. He got the address of a nearby large chain retail store, and then they followed the directions to their suite.