Penny bounced on the back seat while she called out to Zack. “We go? We take horsy?”
Steve laughed. “We go.” He slapped Zack on the back and chuckled at the uncomfortable look on the kid’s face. “Remember, slow and easy taking off, and it will take longer to stop with the extra weight.”
Zack shifted in the seat with a bit of discomfort. “Got it.”
The drive down the access road was a bit hairy, but once they pulled on the blacktop the morning wore on pretty uneventful as they drove down State Road 505 toward US 90 West. The rough hill country terrain had disappeared shortly after they left the cabin and trees grew more stunted, and patches of bare earth turned into even more arid land. The straight arrow road disappeared into the distance. Mountains gradually appeared through the haze in the distance.
Zack pressed his foot on the gas, but Steve interrupted. “Keep it around forty. Remember about stopping.”
“Valentine Texas? I saw a special on television about that town. It’s famous. The post office receives thousands of cards every year so they can be sent from Valentines all over the country.” Darlene announced.
Della laughed. There was a movie called “Dancer, Texas” filmed there in the nineties.”
“And that’s important why?” Steve turned and asked.
Della poked him with the tip of a slender finger. “It was a cute movie. I wonder if the eighty or ninety people who lived here are alive.”
Steve sighed. “I guess we’ll know soon enough. It’s not much more than five miles ahead. Then we pass Lobo. Then hopefully, a clear shot to the mountains.”
“There’s a Prada store there.” Della laughed. “I saw it on a Sunday morning program, Prada Marfa was erected as a work of art. It has shoes and stuff from a Prada collection.”
“For sale?” Darlene asked. “Can we stop?”
Della shrugged. “No. It never opened. Supposedly, it’s an earth-friendly building that will decay and fall into ruin along with the shoes and purses. I doubt anything there will be worth our time.”
Steve chuckled. “Not many places to wear high heels now.”
Darlene sighed. I could have tried on a pair of Prada shoes.”
Zack interrupted the conversation when he stepped on the breaks. “There’s your Prada store, but where’s the rest of the town?”
Charlotte Hoaks. . . .(C. A. Hoaks) 