Gertie's Choice (10 page)

She then picked up the
smaller of the two cats in her arms and walked out the front door
with both of them. She went to their vehicle which was parked in
front of the house and locked the doors after settling the cats and
herself into it. Gertie then looked around to make sure no one was
watching before she spoke.

“I have missed you so much!
What are you doing here? How is everyone back in
Enchanted?”

“Everything is fine.” Said
the larger of the two cats. “You look the same, Gertie, just as
young and beautiful as always. You never age, unlike
us.”

The smaller cat with the
big behind then spoke. “We miss you too, Gertie. Things are just
not the same without you. We heard your tears last night, as well
as Ophelia’s and Thelma and I are here to help you come back home.”
Luna said.

“It is true that things
are vastly different than I ever could have imagined they would be.
I know too that Ophelia is uneasy with us being here. It is very
hard work to live as a mortal and it is only just recently that the
children are in school all day and I have some time to
myself.”

“Yes, I imagine housework
gets done much quicker when you are in the house alone.” Thelma
said, winking. Are you still in love with your fellow?”

“More than ever. John is a
very good man and I love him with all of my heart. I do not like
all the work and things I have to do in order to keep this life and
Ophelia has been a real handful. But none of that matters as long
as I have John.”

Thelma and Luna exchanged
looks. “A handful of what?” Luna asked.

“I meant to say, Ophelia
has been difficult. I don’t know if I have done her a disservice by
telling her about Enchanted or not. It is all she speaks of these
days.” Gertie explained further.

“How much have you told
her?” Luna asked.

“Not much. A few years ago
she produced the blue mist in anger and it scared her, but lately I
have suspected that she is aware of her powers and has used them on
Donald. Oh nothing to really hurt him, but they do not get along.
Luckily, the lady who cared for him before we came here, Mrs.
Davis, she adores Donald and spends the extra time with him that he
seems to need. But tell me more about Enchanted!”

Luna spoke first. “On one
trip into the town, Thelma and I ran across a man who seemed pretty
down on his luck. He was drunk and had on a green suit which had
seen better days. Thelma and I helped him up and bought him a meal.
His name is Luke, Luke Lucky of all things. He had been a teacher
before his love of the ale took over his life.”

Here Thelma picked up the
story. “Luna and I offered him a home in Enchanted and now he is
one of the best teachers in the school we have built. He still
spend a lot of time in the town courting the ladies there, but he
has his drinking under control now. Janet has The Spa operating at
full capacity and that and the other businesses we have started
have increased our wealth greatly!”

“How is Janet, Hugo, Cindy
and Ashton?”

“Everyone is fine,
although Janet has taken a house in the Village of Enchanted to be
closer to The Spa since the hill and beyond is not visible from the
Village. That might change some day, but for now, with so many
mortals coming and going, it’s for the best to stay hidden. Luna
has moved to the house in the forest with Hugo, Cindy and Ashton.”
Thelma said.

“How do I say this – is
Hugo..?”

“Still in ungulate
form?”

“Yep, he is still working
the hoofs.” Thelma said.

“Don’t say it like that,
Thelma, it is not his fault that Gertie nor Janet turned him back
into a little boy before their great escape from the old country.
It is not like we can ask a medical man what changes have happened
to any of us. It’s just wait and see. I pray that Ophelia is doing
well in that respect?” Luna said.

“Ophelia is fine, a
beautiful child, but one with a disrespectful mouth. People here
have told me that is not unusual for the youth to rebel against
their authority figures, but I find it annoying.” Gertie said,
feeling a bit disloyal to her daughter. But tell me, you said you
are here to help us come back home, what do you mean by
that?”

“We are aware of your great
sorrow last evening and also of Ophelia’s. We just want to make
sure that you know Enchanted will always be there waiting for you
and Ophelia should you want to come back home.” Luna
said.

“We will be fine. Listen,
we should go back inside now. I see John and the kids looking out
the window, probably thinking I have gone insane sitting in the car
talking to cats. We will go back inside and you two can spend the
night and then must be on your way in the morning.”

“Fine, but if that little
boy holds me up by my tail again, I can’t be held accountable for
what happens!” Thelma said.

“Understood.”

“Speaking of tails,” Luna
said to Gertie, “Why is your hair pulled back into one?”

“It is called a pony tail
and it is just easier to deal with my hair this way.” Gertie said.
She looked in the rear view mirror while speaking.
I have let myself go, that is for sure. What is
wrong with me?

Chapter 15

Gertie took the cats back
into the house and announced to her family that they could spend
the night, but that she would have to find them a new home in the
morning. Ophelia and Donald were happy that they could stay at
least for now.

“I have a surprise for
you.” John told Gertie.

“Oh good, I love surprises!
What is it?”

“I’ll be right back.” John
said as he picked up the car keys and walked out the front
door.

They were all surprised
when John walked back in the door carrying a large box. In it was a
record player and John was also carrying a large bag that appeared
to be full.

“What is that?” Gertie
asked excitedly.

“Music. I remembered how
much you enjoyed the music in Joe’s bar where we met. I don’t know
why I did not think of this before.” He said, plugging the machine
cord in an outlet in the living room.

John opened the big bag
and started reading off the labels that were on the round black
vinyl disks as he took them one at a time out of the
bag.

“Boogle Woogie Bugle Boy by
the Andrew sisters

I’ll Be Seeing You by Bing
Crosby

Tuxedo Junction by Glenn
Miller

Green Eyes by Jimmy
Dorsey

Don’t Fence me In by Bing
Crosby and the Andrew sisters

Sentimental Journey by
Doris Day and Les Brown

Paper Doll by the Mills
brothers

You Are My Sunshine by
Jimmie Davis

Maria Elena by Jimmy
Dorsey

Star Dust - by Artie
Shaw 

“So many of them! What are
they for?” Ophelia asked seeing how many more were still in the
bag. “How many of these things did you buy?”

“I’ll show you what they
are for.” John said, placing the one called You Are My Sunshine on
the record player. When the music came on both children jumped up
and down and John took Gertie by the waist and said ‘May I have
this dance, my love?”

Gertie blushed and said
“Of course, my love.” The music and laughter filled the house and
they all started singing along with the records after a while of
listening to the words. If anyone had been watching, they would
have noticed that the two cats were also moving their lips and
waging their tails in tune to the music. It was a good day and one
that filled Gertie with a new resolve to make it work here and
which convinced Thelma and Luna that Gertie and Ophelia would be
just fine here with John.

“I have one more surprise.”
John said and he pulled out a camera from the bag that the records
were in. “What is that?” Gertie asked. John answered her by
pointing the camera at her and taking a picture.

When the light bulb flashed
Gertie screamed and both of the cats jumped on Ophelia as if to
shield her from the powerful lightening.

Gertie was crying and
shaking. Ophelia had shielded herself as well when the flash went
off and still stood there with Thelma and Luna on her. John looked
shell shocked and Donald had a smirk on his face. But what was
truly the worst case scenario, the room was filled with a heavy
blue fog.

Thelma recovered quickly
and jumped off of Ophelia and ran to the kitchen and turned into
her woman form. She grabbed a pot, filled it with water, and placed
it on the stove and made quick work of pulling a powder out of her
pocket and putting it into the water. It seemed to be taking
forever so she helped the process along with a little bit of magic
and poured two large cups full of the liquid before returning to
feline form and using her teeth to pull Gertie into the kitchen by
her sock to get her attention. Gertie saw and smelled the special
blend of coffee and rushed to take the liquid into the living
room.

“John, drink this,
please.”

John just stared at
Gertie. “Gertie, what just happened? Did the record player just
blow up? Donald, are you alright, son? Is this blue smoke from the
electrical outlet?”

Gertie pressed the coffee
cup to John’s lips. “Please, John, taste this. Donald was already
drinking from the coffee cup that he could have sworn was given to
him by the larger of the two cats.

John sat down on the couch
to finish his coffee and Thelma and Luna ran out the front door
just as the words “I’ll be seeing you in all the familiar places,”
came on the machine. Thelma had the camera in her teeth and Luna
called “Do not forget, the red ring will bring you
home!”

Gertie waved goodbye to
them and waited until the blue smoke had cleared from the room
before she shut the front door and looked at John and Donald. They
looked happy and sleepy. John stood up and said “I think I will
take a nap, anyone want to join me?”

“I do, dad,” Donald said
and they both walked into their bedrooms as Gertie turned off the
record player. It was only then that Gertie noticed Ophelia staring
at her.

“You and those two cats
did something to John and Donald didn’t you?” She accused her
mother. Gertie’s first instinct was to deny it, but then looking at
her daughter she knew it was time for another mother/daughter
talk.

“Let’s go into the
kitchen, Ophelia.” Gertie said, wanting to be further out of ear
shot from the bedrooms.

“Why? So you can pour some
of that coffee down my throat? What is it? Poison?”

Gertie‘s heart stopped and
then started beating fast and she spoke much louder than she meant
to. “OF COURSE NOT! How could you say such a thing to me?” Gertie
demanded, terrified that her daughter somehow knew why those words
would hold a special horror for her.

“Two white cats show up
out of nowhere and the first thing you do is to take them out to
the car to talk to them alone? Then the room fills with blue smoke
when John was only trying to take a picture of you. Blue smoke that
was not from me, I might add. Don’t think I didn’t see that one cat
run into the kitchen and when did you have time to make the coffee?
What was in it and why did it make John and Donald sleep?” Ophelia
spat out her questions and accusations in rapid pace. “Oh my God!
Those cats were from Enchanted, weren’t they? Do not lie to me,
mother!”

Gertie sat down. She could
not believe how drained she felt, how unbelievably tired she was.
“Yes, Ophelia, those were your cousins Thelma and Luna. They came
to check up on us because they felt that we had a need for them to
help us.”

“Because of my prayers last
night?” Ophelia said, her eyes wide.

“Because both of us have
been complaining and fighting with each other and that is just not
the way things should be. There is no fighting in
Enchanted.”

“What was in the
coffee?”

“Nothing to be afraid of.
It’s a blend of special coffee beans and chocolate that helps you
relax and as a side effect it, well, it makes you forget what you
have seen and heard over the last several hours. Donald and John
will be just fine when they wake up, but they will not remember the
cats or the blue smoke, so don’t you dare tell them. We have never
given the coffee to a child before, but it should not hurt Donald,
only make him sleep longer and maybe forget more. He only drank a
little bit of it.” Gertie explained.

“You know how much I have
been wanting to go to Enchanted, mother. Why didn’t you allow them
to take me with them when they left?” Ophelia whined, becoming her
bratty self again.

“What? Think of your words
before you speak, girl! Everything happened so quickly. I did not
know they were coming, had no knowledge of that box that made
lightening either! Do not blame me for any of this. I have had just
about enough of your mouth, Ophelia. I have been very patient with
you, but we both know that you are not the child your body claims
to be, so grow the hell up already!” Gertie said in anger. Blue
starting to fill the air again.