Page 20 of No Good Deed

Piper pulled her laptop out of her duffel and powered it up. She grabbed her miniature replica of the Cloud Gate sculpture and showed it to Oreo. Not surprisingly, the elliptical shape fascinated the dog. “This is one of my favorite sculptures in Chicago. See how your reflection changes depending on the angle. It’s even better from the inside. Well, inside the real one, not this little one.”

Oreo licked the tin, making Piper laugh as she flipped it open to pull out her USBs. As always, the misprint on the identical USBs made her smile. Cloud Goat. She’d lucked into them one day and used them ever since.

She’d written a P on one to designate it for her Phail project. Once she grabbed it, she put the rest back and set the Cloud Gate on the bed. Oreo sniffed it and licked it again, then moved to another angle and repeated the process.

“While you’re occupied with seeing how pretty you are, I’m going to forget about Rusty’s troubles and check out Bloo Moose. What is it with Vermont and strange town names?”

Soon, she was smiling and showing Oreo all the moose statues in the little town. “These are great. And I love the boardwalk. Too bad Phail isn’t on a lake like this. That’s a fabulous way to draw people together.”

Piper pulled up her Phail spreadsheet and added some new columns.

The moose figures in Bloo Moose weren’t exactly mascots, but they identified the town. Could Phail have something like that?

What animals started with an F sound? Fox. Falcon. Pheasant. Filly. Firefly. An internet search added more, but nothing seemed right. Flamingos would be fun, but they weren’t native to Vermont.

What about animals that rhymed with Phail? Whale and snail came to mind immediately. Then quail. A Phail Quail?

She added another spreadsheet column for words that rhymed with Phail. Something in there might work for a marketing slogan.

Wail. Flail. Veil and unveil. Curtail. Regale. Frail. Pale. Pail. Stale. Tale. Tail. Rail. Mail. Nail.

The more she added, the more she grinned. Then giggled. Troy was right. This name didn’t have to be a disaster. They could use it to have some fun. It appeared the town enjoyed poking fun at the name, so that made it easier to keep even the sillier words on the list.

Phail Kale.

Pale Ale from Phail.

Phail Sale.

Epic Phail.

Without Phail. That had potential.

The water tower had a name that echoed a famous landmark. I-Phail Tower. She’d have to research famous places and landmarks to see if they could twist them to make them Phail appropriate.

The town needed a gathering place or two. There was the diner but no restaurant or bar. Those were good features to add to bring people in.

Oreo snored beside her souvenir Cloud Gate tin, and that brought her back around to a park. It was difficult to see the town layout with all the snow, so she searched online for an aerial view. A park would have to be somewhere that would appeal to locals and tourists alike.

People liked parks for various reasons. Walking or jogging paths. Benches. Things to look at. Kids’ areas. A splash pad, as those were popular with everyone. Even the nursing home residents had been thrilled with theirs. Not everyone, but enough that it had made adding the small play area a success.

Many tourist areas had plaques and markers highlighting the local sites of interest and the native flora and fauna species to look for. Could she incorporate a scavenger hunt idea for families?

When Piper studied the map, she realized there was a river that flowed around the town. A small one, but water was always a draw for people. Maybe a walking path along the area that ended at a park. Or various small park areas along the pathway.

Her mind kept spewing out ideas and Piper noted them all down. She knew full well that it was worth writing the ridiculous right along with the sensible. The best ideas were sometimes sparked from the strangest places.

When she started writing things like roller coasters and water slides, she shoved away the laptop and spoke to the snoozing dog. “I’m thinking way too big again. Small town. Small budget. Troy wants things that can help his town without costing a lot.”

She saved her work to the cloud and the USB, then shut down the laptop. With all the disasters at work, she’d learned to back up everything in multiple places.

Oreo leaped to his feet and yipped. “You’ve got an idea for small budget success. I’m all ears.”

The dog yipped again, wiggled his butt, and trotted to the edge of the bed. He looked from Piper to the door and back again. She grinned at him. “I take it you need to go out? Okay. Let me grab a sweater and your stuff.”

She remembered it was winter at the last second, so she pulled on a pair of sweats over her sleep shorts and then scooped up the dog. “I don’t know how good your bladder control is, and I’m not taking chances at this beautiful B&B. Just hang on for a minute.”

The front door was closer, so Piper clipped his leash on there and slipped on her boots to step out onto the porch. A quick look around showed no one nearby but her nerves jangled. Snow was still falling, and she wished she’d also grabbed her jacket. “I hope you’re not a lollygagger at this time of night. Let’s hurry.” She wanted to be behind the locked door again.

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