Ready or Not (Aggie's Inheritance) (33 page)

Seeing the frustration that the boys felt in their inability to get to know each other, Aggie obtained permission to take Jonathan with them as they drove over to the new house. She still hadn
’
t shown the children the home she had found for them to live in but had high hopes that they
’
d love it. The adventure, the room
--
what child wouldn
’
t be thrilled? There was even a ramshackle old summerhouse-type building. With a little repair and a thorough cleaning, the children could use it for a playhouse!

After one last look over their old house, Aggie drove away from the historic Stuart home, onto the Rockland loop, and took the Fairbury/Highway 32 exit. Mark and Iris followed behind them caravan style; Iris in their vehicle, Mark driving the moving van. The younger children bounced in their seats and sang silly songs from a CD that Aggie now promised herself she
’
d destroy the moment she found it. Meanwhile, Vannie questioned Aggie about schools and neighbors. Laird and Jonathan played
“
Slug Bug,
”
laughing uproariously at their improvised
“
Clunker Junker
”
version.

The drive around Lake Danube resulted in begs to have a picnic, but Aggie made no promises. She had much she wanted to accomplish in the two and a half months until school started again, and didn
’
t know how much leisure time there
’
d be. Thirty minutes later, they drove past the road to Brunswick and down the road that led into the little town of Brant
’
s Corners. There was a small pizza parlor, a lovely park, three churches, and a small combination grocery and hardware store along the main street. Aggie pointed them out, as well as the road to the school complex down a side street from the park. At the edge of town, she drove down the last street and turned into the first driveway. They were home.

“
Ok, guys. This is the place.
”
A collective garden of necks stretched and swayed in the motion of the van as the children all tried to see the house behind the massive oak trees. She watched anxiously for their reactions in the rearview mirror. The little ones were excited and bounced up and down with glee before the house was completely in view. Vannie and Laird, however, were more apprehensive and reserved.

When the three story house was in full view, Vannie gasped,
“
Aunt Aggie! This place is
falling apart
! We can
’
t live here!
”
The distraught girl burst into wails and sobs about danger, filth, and what their grandmother would say about such a ramshackle place.

Stunned by Vannie
’
s reaction, Aggie looked quickly at Laird. While she had expected Vannie to find it ugly, she
’
d assumed the girl would see the house
’
s potential. The idea of the children seeing it as unsafe had never entered her mind. On the other hand, she had definitely expected that Laird wouldn
’
t like the inconvenience of so much work, but she saw a completely different light in Laird
’
s eyes. The laid-back boy usually showed little interest in anything but the computer, a good movie, or goofing off outdoors, but Aggie saw wheels turning in his ten-year-old mind.

“
Hey, Vannie, look at that old fashioned swing there on that oak. I bet we could put new ropes on that board, and it would be just like that swing that they had in that old
Pride and Prejudice
movie. You know
--
the one with Greer Garson that Momma loved so much?
”
Vannie didn
’
t look impressed.
“
Oh, and
look
, there is a turret-looking thing over there! That is sooo cool!
”

Interest
momentarily
sparked in Vannie
’
s eyes and then fizzled.
“
Aunt Aggie? You said this house needed work. Just how much work were you talking about? Can we
afford
the work this place will take? How long
--
”

“
Vannie, cool it! Aunt Aggie is doing her best. Don
’
t attack her until you have seen
everything
you want to complain about!
”

Vannie started to retort, but Aggie called out her trademarked
“
stop
.
”
Aggie
’
s child training lessons had definitely paid off. The children respected her position as ad-hock mom, but the thing that had made the most difference in the house, Aggie had come up with on her own. The
“
stop
”
training sessions were almost hysterical to the onlooker, but they
’
d worked. Safety wasn
’
t an issue anymore. She could simply say
“
Stop,
”
and the children froze in place.

Parking in the circular gravel driveway, she turned off the engine and spoke to the children in the rearview mirror.
“
Listen, guys. This is how it is going to be. First, you will look
all over
the house. Then, you can check out the back yard. After that, report to the living room. Does everyone understand me?
”
Nods of agreement came from all the children, even little Ian. The goofy baby had no idea what he was agreeing to, but being the amiable boy that he was, he nodded anyway. The children, now much more accustomed to Aggie
“
laying down the law
”
from time to time, responded positively to simple directions.

All assembled in the living room inside half an hour. While Mark and Iris unloaded the truck into the yard and onto the porch, Aggie addressed her troops.
“
Ok, guys. Hear me out.
”
All heads nodded, but a look of distrust had entered Vannie
’
s eyes.
“
I bought this house because it was a steal. This house cost us less than half what other houses this size were going for, and none of them had the amount of land this one does. Even if we spend the savings on fixing it up, we will have a better house than we otherwise could have afforded. Does everyone understand what I just said?
”
Heads bobbed once more, but Kenzie seemed confused.
“
Kenzie, this means that this is
going
to be the best house we could have bought, it
’
s just not there yet.
”
Kenzie smiled and nodded more emphatically. Distrust lingered on Vannie
’
s features.

“
I had the house inspected and this is what I learned. First, the foundation is strong; that
’
s a most important point as you all remember from your Bible classes. The electricity is modern, but we need to have some of it rewired; in addition, the plumbing is all copper, which means it
’
s the best you can get. Other than the electricity, all we need is to scrub it up, a lot of paint, a new kitchen, and in some rooms, flooring. We are going to make this place just how we want it. The basement downstairs is wonderful! The contractor I spoke to said that we could hang swings from the ceiling and have a slide and everything.
”

The toddler twins squealed in delight.
“
So, do you want to hear how I plan to do things?
”

As Aggie laid out plans for improvements, the vote was unanimous, even though the younger children didn
’
t understand the benefits and negatives, to attack the upstairs rooms first. With that decision made, Aggie directed the boys to help carry in the beds to the dining room, while the girls grabbed the brooms and scrub buckets and hurried to sweep and mop the dining room floor, making mud soup in the process, thanks to an insufficient job of sweeping by Ellie. Meanwhile, she threw open every window in the house, trying to blow out the staleness of the rooms.

Within minutes, it was clear that they
’
d need to expand their improvised dormitory into the living room. As she swept and scrubbed that room, Aggie prayed that they could get the upstairs finished before Mrs. Stuart had a chance to stop by and see the sleeping arrangements. Somehow, Aggie knew the woman would arrive within the week, insisting on inspecting where Aggie dragged
“
those poor motherless children.
”

Aggie sent the children to play while she and the Landrys assembled the beds. As she dug through boxes for fresh sheets, the children began an intense game of hide and seek in the yard. Aggie heard cries of
“
olly, olly, oxen-free
”
and the impatient counts of the
“
it
”
child. The younger twins almost gave away hiding places faster than the hiders could find new ones. Jonathan proved to be a brilliant diversion for the children, allowing Aggie and the Landrys to accomplish a great deal of unpacking and mess transference.

The afternoon whizzed by after the crowd devoured the pizzas that Aggie had delivered for lunch. One room, filled with wall to wall bookcases that Tavish immediately dubbed
“
the library,
”
was used as a central storage for boxes. As fast as the Landrys carried in the boxes, Aggie sorted them into rooms and put the ones she expected to need soonest into the front of the tall piles. At Iris
’
recommendation, Aggie carried anything for kitchens and bathrooms into their appropriate rooms and unpacked them. It
’
d be a while before those rooms were remodeled, and they
’
d need to live normally until then.

Near six o
’
clock, she jumped in the van, drove back to town, and made her acquaintance with the grocery store. She
’
d expected to buy lunchmeat and rolls, but the sight of several rotisserie chickens sitting hot at a deli counter changed that. To the clerk
’
s astonishment, she ordered four of the five chickens, three quarts of potato salad, four bags of green salad from the produce section, and bought six half-gallons of ice cream. As a last minute thought, though feeling quite extravagant, Aggie added a large bunch of mixed cut flowers to her cart and hurried to pay for their meal.

Just as the woman began ringing up the first item, Aggie groaned.
“
Please let them go ahead of me, I forgot cereal. There
’
s nothing in the house to eat.
”