Ready or Not (Aggie's Inheritance) (22 page)

Vannie packed boxes of books as Aggie packed family pictures, the children
’
s keepsakes, and boxed up Doug
’
s coin collection to be added to their safe deposit box. The little children created huge toy messes in every room, which sent Aggie
’
s clutter tolerance into the danger zone. Instead of making the children clean up their messes, Aggie had Ellie and Kenzie pack them and set them in the rapidly filling garage. The children didn
’
t need so many toys all the time anyway.
“
Children all over the world live without very many toys,
”
she muttered to herself.
“
The Stuart children can live with limited toys for a few weeks.
”

Aggie was about to wind down for dinner when Laird called to her from the entryway. Walking around the corner, she saw the boy standing next to the apothecary
’
s chest beaming with pride, but Aggie had no clue why. She felt like a very small child had handed her a page of scribbles, and she was supposed to know what they represented. Cautiously, Aggie asked,
“
Well, are you going to show me how it works?
”

Laird glowed.
“
See, we took all of the drawers out and took the fronts off of them. Then we took the fronts and screwed these hinges to them.
”
Laird demonstrated by lifting one of the drawer fronts upward. Inside was a pair of shoes. The boy was almost dancing with excitement.
“
Now, the doors lift up so no one hangs on them or leaves them down so they get bent off. And the little kids can put two pairs in one spot!
”

Aggie was excited. She complimented the boys on their work and called Vannie in to see.
“
This is so well-done boys! Everything is lined up perfectly. I am very impressed.
”

Aggie was truly amazed at how beautifully the boys had lined up the drawer fronts. No one would ever imagine that the drawers didn
’
t slide outward. Aggie
’
s enthusiasm diminished when, as she carried boxes to the garage, she tripped over the leftover drawers scattered about the floor. Aggie
’
s foot caught inside one of the drawers, and she went down at an extremely awkward angle.

Aggie
’
s cry brought all of the children running. Laird took one look at the mess of boxes, drawers, Aggie, and then turned and ran out the side door. Just as Vannie stooped to help Aggie stand, the baby cried. Aggie sent Vannie to get him and begged the rest of the children to clear a path to the couch.

She felt nauseated. It took every ounce of self-control to prevent herself from crying and vomiting simultaneously, and when her head began to swim, she wondered if she
’
d make it to the couch. Each movement was torture. The horrible pains in her ankle felt like repeated stab wounds, and by the time she reached the couch, Aggie was exhausted. Moments later, she was sleeping soundly.

When Aggie awoke, the house was quiet; too quiet. She sat quickly upright with both legs still extended on the couch. One glance at her ankle sent a wash of relief over her; it wasn
’
t swollen. Turning it sideways, she gasped. All of the swelling was concentrated on the side of her ankle. It looked like a tennis ball had grown out of the bone. Where were the children, and how was she going to get to a doctor for x-rays?

Aggie called and called, but silence was the only answer. Frantic for the children
’
s safety, she crawled across the floor until she found the phone, tears of pain streaming down her face. Quickly, she dialed Tina
’
s phone number.
“
Tina,
help
!
”

Tina
’
s voice was soothing, and her normal, unruffled, matter-of-fact, words calmed Aggie immediately.
“
Sit down, Aggie, and tell me what is wrong.
”

“
I either badly sprained or broke my ankle this afternoon. It hurt so much that I got sick. The next thing I knew, I woke up on the couch
--
I barely remember crawling there
--
and Tina,
the kids are gone
! I keep calling, but no one answers. Cemeteries are louder than this house!
”

“
Are they outside? If you are really quiet can you hear
any
noise outside?
”

“
None
! What if Vannie got scared and called Mrs. Stuart? I have no idea how long I slept. How irresponsible can I
be
!
”

“
Aggie, hush! Mrs. Dragon Lady does not have your children. They are safe. We just don
’
t know where yet. You are going to get off the phone, call anyone you can think of who can come look, and then call me right back.
”

Aggie agreed and hung up. Grabbing the phone book, she called Mrs. Gansky, the minister
’
s family, and every woman who had watched the children in the last three months. No one was home. Aggie nearly screamed in frustration. Out of desperation, she flipped through the yellow pages until she found the used car section. Feeling foolish, she dialed Zeke
’
s work number and caught the man on his way out the door.

Aggie prayed like she had never prayed before. Tears were streaming down her face, and she was audibly crying out petitions for safety and wisdom when Zeke came through the door.
“
Oh, Zeke. What can I do? I don
’
t know how I can find where they
’
ve gone!
”

“
Well, missy, did you look upstairs? Oh, no, you couldn
’
t do that could you? Let me do some searchin
’
and then we can figure out what to do next.
”

Zeke slowly climbed the stairs and wandered around the upstairs. Next, he went through the kitchen and checked the backyard. On his way back through, Zeke noticed a note on the refrigerator door.
“
Well, here
’
s the mystery all solved. They
’
re walking up and down the street to keep things quiet so you can rest.
”

Aggie was so relieved the tears started again.
“
Now, don
’
t cry, honey. It
’
ll be just fine. You call a cab
--
that ankle looks bad
--
might be broken even. I
’
ll go get the kids and bring
‘
em back in so you can see that they
’
re fine. I
’
ll stay until you are ready to come home, and then call me, and I
’
ll come get you in your van.
”

Four hours later, Zeke helped Aggie manipulate her new crutches in order to get inside the house. The children swarmed her and nearly toppled her over. Laughing, Aggie insisted that they back away and give her room to maneuver through the house. Zeke helped situate her on the family room couch, brought her baby supplies, a stack of books, the phone, and a jug of ice water. With promises of an intercom by ten the next morning, Zeke left the Stuart house and drove home.

Aggie groaned. She couldn
’
t get the children up, ready for school, make lunches, drive them anywhere, and the idea of chasing toddlers made her cringe. Those twins were going to drive her up the wall. Aggie just knew it. Meanwhile, with Vannie
’
s help, she fed and changed Ian. Vannie put the baby in his portable playpen, and the children went to bed.

Aggie stared at the ceiling. She looked at the stack of books but didn
’
t pick up any. She drank a glass of water. She regretted it. The water only created a need to use the bathroom. Not a simple thing when you can only put weight on one leg. Aggie almost wished she
had
broken the ankle. A cast would certainly be preferable. There was something pathetic about taking thirty minutes to use the restroom because you couldn
’
t easily dress and undress yourself.

Hobbling back to the couch, Aggie spotted something she hadn
’
t noticed in the two months she had lived there. Doug had a laptop. All Aggie needed to do was figure out how to get the laptop to the couch and she could talk to Tina.

Tina says:
What are you doing online?

Aggie says:
Laptop! Isn
’
t it great!

Tina says:
Only you would find a laptop and get online while hobbling around with an injured ankle. Speaking of which, what
’
s wrong with it?

Aggie says:
Sprained. I
’
m on complete bed rest for 3-5 days and limited motion for two weeks. They all think I
’
m nuts.

Tina says:
Why is that?

Aggie says:
Well, they told me to take it easy and do as little possible.

Tina says:
ROFLOL

Aggie says:
I was under the influence of pain and partially effective Tylenol. What more do you expect?

Tina says:
Aggie. What are you going to do? I can
’
t leave right now. I
’
ve got finals in a week.

Aggie says:
Well, Zeke is coming first thing tomorrow to put in an intercom system.

Tina says:
The car sales guy?

Aggie says:
Yep. I couldn
’
t find anyone else home, so I tried him. He
’
s always been so nice to me.

Tina says:
How old is Zeke again?

Aggie says:
Over sixty for sure. Knock it off Tina; he
’
s just a nice old man.

Tina says:
Making sure. Ok. What about meals? School? That field trip next week? The baby?