The Town Laughed at the Old Couple’s $5 Motel — Until the Highway Department Filed for the Land
Chapter 12
Twenty years after the highway dispute, the Five-Dollar Motel was still standing.
It had been renovated.
The rooms were cleaner.
The roof was new.
The pool had been restored.
But the rates stayed the same.
Five dollars.
The Bennetts had become local legends.
Children learned about the old land battle in school.
The covenant was now part of local history.
The aquifer was protected.
Bennett Village housed hundreds.
One summer morning, a young reporter arrived.
She was about twenty-five.
“I want to know why you never sold.”
Harold smiled.
“Because it wasn’t ours to sell.”
She frowned.
“Legally, it was.”
“Not morally.”
She looked at Margaret.
“What does that mean?”
Margaret answered.
“We were given something that protected other people.”
“That’s what you believed?”
“That’s what we learned.”
The reporter looked around.
“What would you say to someone who thinks you’re foolish?”
Harold laughed.
“I’d say they can stay for five dollars.”
The reporter smiled.
“You’re serious?”
“Always.”
