Member-only story
Finally, Brolly comes to the rescue.
The Inn
In the early 1800s, the old man Felipe de Segovia opened an inn along the Old Spanish Trail. It was ten miles or so from downtown Pasadena, with a few neighborhoods scattering around the dusty road. His clients were mostly the traders and merchants traveling from northern New Mexico to southern California.
One autumn night, three merchants came in to check the rooms. They were business partners, knowing Felipe for years. The inn was full. It was all dark, they had nowhere to go. They begged Felipe for a one-night lodging.
“I have a place down the road. But I am afraid you won’t like it.” Felipe said, a little bit hesitant.
The three men said they were not up to options at the moment.
It turned out, Felipe’s daughter-in-law died two days ago. His son had left home to buy the coffin and had not returned yet. He found a deserted shed 200 yards or so from the inn to keep the corpse. He remembered there were two rooms in the shed, one of them had a large clay bed.
The three men took the offer right away.
The Shed
Felipe took an oil lamp and a couple of blankets, led them to the shed. They pushed open the creaky door…
