Ready or Not (Aggie's Inheritance) (26 page)

“
Hello, Mrs. Landry, I
’
m Aggie. As you can see…
”
she gave the rooms an embarrassed glance.

“
Now, never mind, Aggie, I
’
ll get this place ship-shape in no time.
”
Mrs. Landry smiled at the younger woman.
“
Where are the other children? I thought Zeke said I would be looking after three?
”
She smiled at Ian.
“
Is this Ian? Zeke is taken with him.
”

“
The twins, Cari and Lorna, are hiding upstairs. They
’
re being the epitome of
“
terrible three
”
right now. I can
’
t get them to obey me at
all
since I
’
ve been laid up. They just do their own thing, knowing I can
’
t stop them.
”
Aggie sounded even more defeated than she looked.
“
Only three months, and I
’
m already a failure as a mother. Oh, and don
’
t ask which is which. I can only tell when one of them does something especially naughty. Then I know it
’
s probably Cari.
”

Mrs. Landry laughed and suggested that she bring the twins downstairs for the morning.
“
I
’
ll have enough to do down here without worrying about what they are into upstairs.
”

Aggie tried to stand and hobble over to the stairs when she heard the woman laughing above her.
“
Aggie,
”
Mrs. Landry called downstairs.
“
Aggie, I have to show you this. You won
’
t believe me unless you see it.
”

Iris held Bonaparte up for Aggie to see as she carried the rat to where the
“
invalid
”
stood, staring at the sight in disbelief. She sat on the stairs, collapsed in helpless laughter, and her guffaws brought the twins running to the top of the stairs. Aggie held Bonaparte and tried not to drop him between bursts of giggles. The poor rat had a pink, butterfly, snap-style barrette pinned to the bottom of his tail.
“
This is one of those times I wish I had a camcorder on. This would be perfect for that ridiculous show on TV where they show you blooper clips from home movies.
”

Mrs. Landry picked up the rat, and as she carried him back to his cage, she removed the little clip. The poor critter seemed relieved, and it was obvious to the woman that he had been in some pain from the experience. Looking at the rest of the upstairs, Iris tried not to chuckle. The girls were watching her warily. They weren
’
t exactly sure how to react to an adult being upstairs again.

“
Ok, girls. We
’
re going to go downstairs now, so let
’
s gather a few books and some toys for you to play with down there.
”
Mrs. Landry
’
s tone was confident and matter-of-fact. Aggie cringed as she heard the little girls arguing and becoming a little petulant. Mrs. Landry didn
’
t seem to hear them. She simply gathered what she decided to let them play with and herded the girls toward the stairs.

Aggie hobbled back to the recliner next to the couch and put her feet up. She considered offering to read to the girls but realized that this was a chance to watch someone else interact with the children. Maybe she could learn something from Iris. Aggie hoped that the woman wouldn
’
t mind being under close scrutiny.

“
All right, girls. This is how things are going to be. You will stay downstairs. Do you understand? I can
’
t be running upstairs to check on you while I
’
m trying to clean up, so you have to be down here. Do you understand?
”

Iris Landry sounded more confident than she felt. She wasn
’
t sure how the children would react to a stranger telling them what to do. She wasn
’
t left wondering for long. Cari piped up with an,
“
I don
’
t want to,
”
the minute Iris was finished speaking. However, Lorna was hesitant. She looked at Aggie, then at Mrs. Landry, over to Cari, and then back at Aggie again.

Trusting Aggie
’
s instincts on which child would defy, Iris replied calmly,
“
Well now, Cari, I don
’
t think I asked what you wanted to do. This is what we
are
going to do. Now you can be pleasant about it
--
you can have fun with your sister and baby brother
--
or you can sit in his playpen all by yourself, but you
will
stay downstairs.
”

Cari seemed ready to do battle but surprisingly picked a book out of the laundry basket of toys and books. Settling as far away from everyone as she could, Cari acted like she was reading intently. Lorna seemed at a loss. Finally, Lorna sat next to the baby playing on the floor and began trying to engage him in a game of peek-a-boo.

Satisfied that things were working smoothly, Iris went to her car to get her caddy of cleaning supplies. Walking back into the house, she saw Cari scrambling up the stairs. Aggie sat in the recliner with eyes shut, apparently napping. Mrs. Landry didn
’
t want to wake the young woman but knew that the line had been drawn, and Cari fully intended to determine who controlled the territory. She set her caddy of supplies down and walked swiftly to the stairs. When Cari saw that she
’
d been discovered, she tried to climb more quickly.

Aggie woke from her short nap as Cari
’
s screams pierced the air. Opening her eyes just in time, she saw Iris scoop the girl up and carry her back down the stairs. Sighing, Aggie telegraphed her apology to Mrs. Landry, but the woman shook her head. Aggie expected to see a stern disapproving look on Iris
’
face as she spoke to the disobedient girl but was surprised to see her smiling.

Without a trace of sarcasm, and with that same smile on her face, Mrs. Landry deposited Cari in the playpen saying,
“
Well, it seems like you prefer to stay in here. That
’
s fine with me.
”
The woman didn
’
t miss a beat. Picking up trash around the room, the sharp woman kept a close eye on Cari
’
s movements. The second the girl rose to escape, Mrs. Landry would quickly sit her back down in the pen.

After the fourth or fifth return to sitting position, Mrs. Landry sweetly remarked,
“
When you think you can sit here like you
’
re told, I
’
ll be happy to let you sit on the couch for a while.
”

Cari
’
s face clouded over.
“
I don
’
t want to sit on the couch. I want to go
play
.
”

“
Oh, you do? Now, that is funny. I thought you wanted to sit in the playpen. You act like you want to sit in the playpen.
”
Mrs. Landry had the room cleared of all trash and dirty plates and was working on watering and dusting the plants.

“
I want
out
!
”
Cari was angry. Aggie was certain that the child would lose it completely.
“
I want out, now, now,
now
!
”

“
Well, Cari, it
’
s pretty simple. If you want out, you have to
act
like you want out. That
’
s all it takes. Right now, you are acting like you want to be
in
.
”

Aggie was extremely impressed. By that point, she would have sent the girl off to play, with admonitions to behave now and enough p-mail requests in that department to overload the Lord
’
s inbox. This woman wasn
’
t angry and didn
’
t act stern or foreboding; she simply smiled and waited for the child to be obedient. This was different anyway. She wondered how it would work.

In no time, the room looked presentable again. The furniture shone, and the room smelled clean and seemed bright as the morning sunlight shone through the south and east windows. Iris opened the windows and fresh air blew through the sheers, causing them to billow gently around the sills. Ian started crying when the vacuum started up, but Aggie was able to comfort him before he became too distraught. She watched Cari as Iris helped Lorna move the vacuum back and forth across the floor. Lorna was having the time of her life making the carpet fluff up in neat little rows. Cari quite obviously wanted in on this new
“
game.
”

Aggie was certain that Cari would demand a chance to try but was surprised when the child sat down with her legs crossed and folded her hands in her lap. The scene was almost comical. Cari clearly wanted to be noticed, but Iris was just as clearly
not
noticing her. It was readily apparent that Iris knew exactly what Cari was doing but was not jumping to free her captive. When the room was finished, Mrs. Landry turned the vacuum off and stowed it in the next room.

“
Cari! You look like you want out of the pen! I think you
’
re ready to sit on the couch now.
”
Without another word, Mrs. Landry sat Cari on the couch and placed a stack of books beside her.
“
I
’
ll check on you in a minute, but Lorna and I are going to work in the living room now. Come along, Lorna, and I
’
ll show you how to polish a table. It
’
s really fun to do. If you do your very best job, you should be able to see yourself in the table.
”