Taggin' and Threadin'

It wasn't as often as it used to be that he heard about new gemstone deposit discoveries, though when he heard of a new vein up in the mountains of North Carolina, he just had to check it out. They were opals, but he knew emeralds could also be found in that area too, and imagine him knocking out two stones with one trip? That was far and away worth the travel cost.

However, when he ran into Goldie O'Gilt of all people, he started to doubt coming out here at all. Particularly when, in the little scrap of a town with its equally small hotel, they were told there was exactly one room left. Wondering if that was out of four total or five, Scrooge graciously (through his teeth, so to speak) agreed to share it with Goldie.

So here they were, marching toward the waiting room, though he could hardly wait until they were away from the lobby before accosting her with, "What are you doing here??"