Ram and Arms Inn¶
The Ram and Arms Inn is a decrepit old hotel, in practice a bed-and-breakfast, on Gregory Street in Marblehead, Massachusetts, where the task force lodges throughout The Summer Service.
| Type | Location |
| Aliases | the hotel; the motel; B&B |
| Region | Marblehead, Massachusetts |
| Inhabitants | Jester (front desk); an ancient innkeeper |
| First appearance | Radford Horror 08 |
Description¶
The inn is a plain but clean old hotel with a view of the old military fort, a ram's-head coat of arms over the door and a narrow wooden staircase. The rooms are small, little more than a twin bed and a chair, with a nice window view (Radford Horror 08). They have no phones or televisions, only a phone at the end of the hall. The inn stands on Gregory Street, close to the beach, and guests are served a fish breakfast at 6 a.m. (Summer Service 01). The building has two stories, good water pressure, a hallway bathroom whose window opens onto an alley, and a small washing machine downstairs (Summer Service 04, Summer Service 05). Every guest is offered a Bible, including the Sons of Adam Bible (Radford Horror 08).
History of events there¶
- Check-in. At the end of Radford Horror 08 the team arrives and an ancient innkeeper offers four single rooms and the 6 a.m. hot fish breakfast. He says business has been quiet "except for those fellas from the government" about a week earlier, and he is keeping their belongings in a box in the back. This is the EPA/USGS survey team. The innkeeper carries the box up to the team's rooms (Radford Horror 08). See Ram and Arms innkeeper.
- Summer Service 01. The team goes through the previous team's belongings and Andrew speed-reads the Bible. Kurt makes calls from the hallway phone once a teenage girl has finished with it. At the desk the Biz finds Jester's bag of crystal marbles. When Huell asks for a toothbrush, Jester tells him the inn is "a bed-and-breakfast. Not a bed-and-toothbrush." The day ends with Jester frantically rooting around his desk (Summer Service 01).
- Summer Service 03. After the dive, Kurt sleeps badly in feverish chills. Jester looks haunted and gives Huell an appraising nod. When McManley says he hears the hotel serves a fish breakfast, Andrew warns, "Don't eat the fish here. The water is tainted" (Summer Service 03).
- Summer Service 04. Jester, who is also a selectman, tells the team, "You better not be planning to leave whatever that is in the room." The roughly 60 lb W54 warhead of the Davy Crockett is wrapped in Kurt's poncho and stored in his room (Summer Service 04).
- Summer Service 05, the siege. During the tropical storm, McManley takes a room because his RV has run out of hot water. Jester is not at the desk; McManley says he took a call in the back and practically ran out the door. In the middle of the night Andrew feels a voice at his ear telling him to get his gun. Church members gather outside in the rain and a police car pulls up. Andrew kicks in a guest's door to scout the back, then drops a toilet tank lid onto a watcher below the bathroom window and lands on him. The team passes the Davy Crockett down through that window and sneaks past the remaining watchers to the RV (Summer Service 05).
Inhabitants¶
Jester works the front desk and is a member of the Sons of Adam.
Trivia¶
- Radford Horror 08 is the only episode in which the inn is named. In The Summer Service it is "the hotel", "the motel" or a bed-and-breakfast.
- The innkeeper of Radford Horror 08 is a very old man with a "Crypt Keeper" haircut, and Summer Service 01 introduces Jester as the man with the Crypt Keeper haircut who "now" wears a name tag. The episodes strongly imply that they are the same man, but never state it outright.