Grantville
October, 1631
Sisters Gude and Demuth Bohm had been living in Grantville for several months, but the grocery store still intimidated them. Up-timer stores had so many things to choose from! They always took their time to avoid mistakes with the precious money they were given to spend each week. They learned a great deal simply by listening everywhere they went, including the grocery store. One woman was very upset that she could no longer find "bleached" flour, although neither Gude nor Demuth could understand why anyone would bleach their food. Bleached food sounded dangerous. Another bargained hard for a better price on the last of the fish of the day. A third feared that food in "open containers" like barrels might be contaminated somehow.
After they finished at the market, the sisters went to their favorite spot to sit and people-watch. Sitting on a bench on a warm afternoon, no worries about anyone attacking, was still a rare treat for them, and they enjoyed practicing their English where no one was likely to make fun of them for it.
Gude spoke first. "Sister, had you the hearing of what the Gretchen said yesterday?"
"Why, yes, sister, if you speak of when Gretchen said they needed a place for her grouping to meet. She must fit many people together into a building." Demuth was proud of her improving English skills.
"Yes, she does. We have both seen that she solves many problems and helps many people. I am hoping she finds a place where they may also sit to eat and speak with each other. Solving all these problems is too much for one person. When people are eating and drinking, they may solve some problems themselves without bothering the Gretchen."
Demuth thought for a moment before speaking again. "I do not wish to burden her further with our small concern. We must find a way to copy these papers ourselves. Each family should have their own copy. The information is important. I know others have this problem with needing many copies of papers as well, so we shall try to learn where they make copies." After Gude nodded her agreement, they sat people-watching and practicing their English for a few more minutes before returning to the refugee center with their groceries.
Gude and Demuth hadn't noticed the up-time woman sitting behind them, but Kimberly Yost had overheard every word. Gretchen Richter needs a space for a bunch of people to meet, probably mostly down-timers. There will be a lot of talking. They don't need food and drink, but a restaurant would be a nice bonus. And those kids want a way to copy papers, flyers, bulletins, or whatever. Hmmm. I wonder if there is a way to use this to help get Andy out of the house?
Her husband, Andy Yost, was underfoot. Since the Ring of Fire, his old job was gone. They were getting by, but they weren't exactly prospering. The McDonald's Andy managed would never reopen. Ever. As much as she truly loved Andy, she loved him even more when they had some time apart, and when he wasn't upsetting the kids' schedule all the time.
For the first few weeks after the Ring of Fire, selling the remaining food with almost no staff had kept him busy. Since she had been an assistant manager herself back before they had kids, she worked with him while family took care of the kids for a few hours a day. Once the food ran out, Andy cleaned the place from top to bottom, with her encouragement. She didn't remember (or care) who, but someone took all the fryer oil off their hands. The thought of a fryer accident with no hospital burn unit within a few hundred years was enough to give Kimberly cold sweats. By the time he finished cleaning, he fell into a depression and stopped going out. Now, he just moped around the house. Kimberly encouraged him to find a new renter for the restaurant, or a new job, or a hobby. Something. But no luck. She barely managed to convince him to go on a beer run every now and then.
Kimberly was lost in thought as she made her way home. This might solve all our problems. Mine. Andy's. Gretchen's. Whatever this group is that Gretchen started. Those girls in the park who needed to print flyers. If it works.
The idea stayed with her, unshakeable, as she tried to figure out how to make her idea work, preferably without Andy figuring out her involvement. Step one: Determine what everyone needed. Step two: Find a way to give it to them. Step three: Contact Gretchen and give her a proposal. Step four: Have Gretchen contact Andy. Simple. Right?
Two days later, Kimberly was confident that she had determined what everyone needed, and reasonably confident her proposal fit the bill. I need Andy out of the house. Andy needs a job, a real job not make-work. Gretchen and her group need a place to meet. The park girls need a way to copy flyers, or whatever. There is also the problem of our family income. Kimberly and Andy were paying for the restaurant's utilities, taxes, a tiny salary (less than four hours a week) for Andy, and other sundry expenses by selling up-time "souvenirs," like McDonald's French fry packages and burger wrappers. Since they had turned off everything they didn't need, including water, the cost wasn't much, but with no other income and no way to replace what they were selling, every little bit mattered. With Andy currently unemployed and Kimberly a stay-at-home mom, they were going to have to start selling their personal possessions to pay their living expenses.
If we do this deal right, and Gretchen and her group rent the McDonald's, I think that should take care of all our problems. As long as they agree that Andy will manage the place. I don't think he'll ever rent it to anyone unless he can manage the restaurant. Her mind wandered for a few minutes. I wonder if they can interest him in whatever their group is? He really needs a hobby now that the NFL is gone, and his four-wheeler was left up-time. She barely cared what they were doing, as long as it was legal. Since Gretchen's new husband, the Higgins boy, was a good sort, she felt comfortable fervently praying that her husband would decide to join this new group. Whatever it turned out to be.
Before she lost her nerve, Kimberly left a sealed envelope addressed to Gretchen at the refugee center. Someone would certainly get it to her. The letter inside simply said, "I hear you need a meeting space. Meet me at the Golden Arches (McDonald's) near the Amideutsch Lunch Counter on Friday at 3 pm. Use the back door." Hopefully Gretchen would show.
Friday
Kimberly unlocked the back door and let herself in using Andy's spare set of keys. The way he moped around, he was unlikely to notice them missing for a few years, much less a few hours. As she waited nervously, she dusted the counters and generally fidgeted. At 3:00 on the dot, the back door opened. Taking a deep breath, she turned and saw Gretchen, alone, in the flesh. Still afraid of losing her nerve, she rushed ahead to say what she needed to, never giving Gretchen a chance to say a word.
"I am so glad you came. I overheard that you have some kind of new club and need a place to meet. The girls I heard talking mentioned you might want to serve food and drinks. This place could be perfect for you. No one has used it since we sold the last of the food that came through the Ring of Fire a few months ago. My husband and I seem to own it now, since he managed the place and the owners were left up-time. As you can see, it's a restaurant with plenty of seating out front. You can look around while I wait for you right here."
Gretchen simply looked at her, absorbing and analyzing the information, before nodding and looking around. After satisfying herself, she started asking questions.
"Why isn't this restaurant rented? What do you get from making an offer to me? Do you truly have the right to make an offer to rent this place?"
"My husband refused to rent it out at first, saying the restaurant wasn't really ours, we were only 'custodians' until everything went back to normal. He figured out that wasn't happening months ago but he can't bring himself to take that final step and rent it. It may not seem like that way to you, but we weren't exactly rich, before. Owning a McDonald's ourselves was too much to even dream of. It will be a long time before either of us feels like we own the place for real. Andy worked hard to become manager and had a lot of pride in that. If someone else opens a restaurant here, he loses that, so when people ask about opening a restaurant here, he won't talk to them. But you aren't looking to open a restaurant. You need a meeting place and having food there would be nice, if someone else took care of the restaurant side. You could keep him on as the manager, almost like he was before, and he would have a built-in customer base. Maybe even a few of your club members would be new employees for the place?
"As for what I get out of it, I need you to agree to hire my husband to run the restaurant. I would love it if you could also find him some kind of position in your club, because I desperately need to get him out of the house. As much as I love Andy, he's home, underfoot, all the time. Plus, we do need the income from him working. I don't want to sell off our stuff to pay the bills. As to whether I can make an offer, no, I can't, but I know what my husband would accept, so I'm telling you what you should take to him as an offer—an offer that no one else knows enough to make. So, what do you think?"
Gretchen looked thoughtful. "All you want is for your husband to have a job managing the restaurant? He will do all the work to start and run it? And in return, the Committees of Correspondence, which are not a club like the children have in school, can meet here? You want nothing else?"
"There is one thing."
Gretchen's eyes narrowed at Kimberly's words, expecting a trick.
"The two girls I heard talking in the park mentioned needing to make copies of some papers. I think you need a way for people to make copies of things for the community here. We can remove the soda machines to make room for a copier in the middle of the dining room. Wait. I take it back. Two things. The other is that you need to keep my part in this secret. I don't want Andy to know I got him a job, which is also the reason I don't want anyone to know we are meeting and why I stayed hidden back here. That would hurt his male pride and he might get depressed all over again and never leave the house. Or worse, go to a bar and never leave there. When you talk to him and suggest all this, act like it's your own idea. Tell him you got the idea when you went to the Dollar Store. He may be suspicious, but I don't think he'll look a gift horse in the mouth."
Gretchen laughed. "I was suspicious when you wouldn't come out front where people might see you, but now I understand. Men! I, too, would not want my husband at home all the time, underfoot as you say." Gretchen stopped speaking, clearly thinking through the possibilities and their ramifications. After a minute, she extended her hand. "I had not thought about having a 'restaurant' or a small printing press, what you call copying, where we meet, but those are good ideas. I like this suggestion. We have a deal. I will speak to your husband and leave you out of it. My request will be to rent this building for the Committees of Correspondence to meet but ask him to start and run a restaurant for us. We will meet here to look at the layout and make plans, and then I will ask if he can remove those machines so we can use the space." Gretchen looked around one more time. "It is a good plan."
Less than a week later, Kimberly came home to find her husband had showered, dressed (in real clothing, not in his sweatpants and an ancient concert t-shirt), and, miracle of miracles, shaved! She tried to hide her surprise, but Andy was so excited he didn't notice.
"Honey, you'll never guess who came to our house today! Gretchen Richter! She wants to rent the McDonald's for something she's calling the Committees of Correspondence. Apparently, they only need the dining area for meetings, but she asked me to run a restaurant to go with it. I wasn't too sure about her club or whatever, so she invited me to be on the Steering Committee. That way I know they are on the up-and-up. Oh! Right. She is adamant that they are not a club, so don't make the mistake of calling her thing a club where she can hear you. I have no idea what gave her the idea—she claims it just 'came to her'—but I don't care, either. It's the answer to our prayers! She even found us a cook! I'm going to go meet her at the restaurant this afternoon, and we'll start working on a firm plan. Do you want to come along?"
"Sure. Let me run next door and drop off the kids before we go."
Lost in his own thoughts, Andy waved his agreement.
Four hours later, the details had been hammered out. Andy Yost would remodel the McDonald's by removing some of the up-time equipment, like the soda machines, shake machine, and electronic cash registers, to make space for a small printing press, beer, and down-time cashboxes. Selling just one electronic cash register gave Andy enough money to buy all the food and beer he needed to restart the restaurant. Gretchen and the CoCs got a meeting place that exceeded their wildest dreams. Indoor plumbing was a dream come true for the survivors of the Battle of the Crapper, but separate rooms for men and women with multiple toilets and sinks in each? Truly, a gift from heaven.
Gretchen came up with the new name, which was a twist on the restaurant's old nickname. A few short weeks after Kimberly had the idea, the all-new Freedom Arches was remodeled, staffed, trained, and open for business.
***
"Kimberly, I'm your best friend. You can tell me the secret. How did Gretchen get Andy to agree to let her use the old McDonald's? It's been years. Surely you can spill the beans now."
It had been years, but Kimberly's answer never varied, even with her closest friends and family. "It's just like I always say: I got home right after Gretchen talked to Andy the first time, and I was with them when they walked through the restaurant to work out the details. I promise you, Andy was surprised by her suggestion. I know people like to think he was 'in on it,' but he's not that good an actor. He had no idea it was coming. Whoever the idea came from, it wasn't Andy."
She was relieved (mostly) that in all those years, not even her closest friends ever thought to ask if she had any part in what happened.
***