Ten minutes later, dressed in every extra layer they could scrounge up,
Howie and Tommy waded through foot high snow banks, trying to follow the
road. Luckily the snow had stopped by then, but the wind still blew drifts
into their faces. It was hard going, in the dark with only 2 flashlights to
guide them and a road lamp every so often. It had been over a half-hour
before they even saw a road sign by the roadside, covered by snow. Howie
brushed it off and read.
"Copake Lake, next left. that can't be too far, can it?"
"I hope not." Tommy continued trudging through the snow, cursing his
luck. It was another fifteen minutes when they finally found the turn off.
Once they reached the small residential area, not even big enough to be
called a town, they were disheartened to find everyone's lights out. For
some reason it had not occurred to them that people might actually be in bed
at 1 AM.
"What about up there?" Howie asked, pointing to a speck of light almost
out of sight. He and Tommy dragged themselves half-frozen up the hill to see
that the house was indeed ablaze in light.
"Thank god," Tommy choked out. "What do you say we sleep here and let
the others sweat it out on the bus?"
"Well, we have to see if they'll even let us stay here," Howie pointed
out, fumbling for the old fashioned door knocker in his glove covered hand.
"Of course they will," Tommy said, grinning. "Who would turn away the
Backstreet Boys?"
"A Metallica fan," Howie muttered just as the door was pulled open. He
and Tommy had to shield their eyes briefly to get used to the light. Once
their eyes adjusted Howie opened his mouth to speak to whomever this person
was.