Perilous Assurance

  ******

  They'd parked the trailer not too far from the campsite's small, public bathroom, and Mattie shivered and looked around her in the silvery, damp morning chill as she walked the short distance to the light green building and opened the creaky, white wood door. She turned on the lights as she entered the cinderblock enclosure, noticing the three stalls, and the curtained shower area to her left. She rested her cane against the wall, and used the facilities, then stood at one of the three sinks and washed up and brushed her teeth quickly. She grabbed her hairbrush out of the zippered toiletries bag, and gave her hair a good brushing, and after peering at herself in the mirror above the sink, decided to leave it long. A six hour drive today, a couple of hours touring Fallingwater, then, six hours back to the campsite. She wished she could help with the driving, but didn't feel comfortable using a clutch with her prosthetic...having always preferred an automatic transmission. They'd found that they'd both enjoyed the hours of traveling together thus far, either so engrossed in their conversations that they sometimes missed a turn, or perfectly content to ride in silence together. She changed into her black jeans, rust-colored turtleneck, and black jacket and stuffed her discarded clothes in the same bag. She inserted gold hoop earrings in her lobes and surveyed herself in the wavy mirror.

  Mattie walked back to see Clay sitting on the top step of the camper finishing his cup of coffee, and she smiled to herself as she saw him stand and smile when he saw her approach.

  "I'm ready." She kept her voice low, since no one else was about at this early hour, and she climbed back up into the camper to get her things organized. While she tidied up her suitcase and clothes, he cleaned up the kitchen after their quick breakfast of hard-boiled eggs, and toast. They looked at each other and smiled, and she grabbed her shoulder bag and notebook.

  "Let's head out." Clay went out first, then held her elbow as she descended the steps. "I'm really anxious for you to see Fallingwater."

  "I can't wait, Clay." She hopped up into the Jeep, laid her bag, cane, and notebook down and reached over as he handed her the mugs of hot coffee. He got himself settled and started the engine. After he'd backed out and they were heading out of the campsite, Mattie handed him his mug, and they sipped their coffee as Clay turned onto the main road, and she turned her head back to view the Ariel Lake Campsite. She was looking forward to seeing Wright's design, that was true, but she was also looking forward to getting back to the trailer, amazed that she enjoyed everything about camping. She turned her eyes back to the road before her and could see the layers of haze lifting as the pink-orange glow of sunrise began to fill up more of the dark sky. They made their way southwest, toward the Pennsylvania highlands and the small town of Mill Run.