Ready or Not (Aggie's Inheritance)

by Havig, Chautona

  “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.”

  Talking her through the aisles to find milk, cereal, bread, peanut butter, jelly, and some juice, the cashier rang up the purchases of a deputy who watched the proceedings curiously. His small basket of food that would make any health-conscious person proud, was scanned, bagged, and paid for before Aggie arrived back at the counter, her last minute purchases almost spilling from her arms.

  “Thank you,” she gasped as the checker began to scan her items. To the officer, she hardly gave a glance but did give an effusive, “I am so sorry about that.” As she apologized, she dug through her purse looking for her debit card, and in frustration, dragged out the credit card Mr. Moss had insisted she carry.

  * * *

  Deputy Sheriff William Markensen watched, a frown forming, as the young woman dug through her purse for her money. Seeing her dismay at the sight of her credit card sent his mind into mental calisthenics of the conclusion variety. “Great--another dussie. The girl’s living on credit,” he thought to himself as she finall
y slid it across the counter. Something about her was familiar though, and not knowing what it was, he observed without attempting to disguise it.

  Tessa Braun kept a running dialogue of questions and observations as she checked ID, accepted the signed slip, and wished the woman a good day. He was tempted to offer to help, but something in her demeanor held him back. This woman didn’t want anyone’s help if she could avoid it. As she pushed her way through the doors, Tessa glanced at him. “What’s someone so young doing driving that monster?”

  “I don’t know, but I intend to find out.”

  “Oh, William, she seems nice enough. You see a criminal behind every tree. Maybe she’s going to run a day care.”

  “She’d better have her licenses in order, or I’ll haul her in so fast she’ll wish she’d never tried it.”

  “You,” Tessa said as she reached for the next item at her counter, “are the most suspicious person I’ve ever met. I’ll bet you one of my pies against one of your steaks that she’s just a nice girl who needs a friend. No criminal record and doesn’t do anything to get one in the first month she’s here.”

  “You’re on. Make that pie your caramel apple pie.”

  “I want my steak medium rare with that seasoned salt you always use. Mushrooms on top.”

  “Better not forget the nuts!” William called, laughing as he exited the store and hurried to his car. Shift was over. It was time to clock out mentally as well as physically.

  * * *

  The officer’s scrutiny wasn’t lost on Aggie. The more he watched, the more flustered she got until she’d felt ready to scream. Tossing the bags a little roughly behind the passenger seat in the van, she backed out as slowly and carefully as she could bring herself to move and drove toward home. “Lord, I don’t know what that man thinks of me, and on the one hand, I really don’t care. However, I didn’t like the look on his face, so if you could just take care of it for me, I’d be obliged. I have a house to renovate.”

  As she retraced her route home, Aggie’s voice wavered as she tried to sing something to bolster her spirits. “I’ve seen the lightning flashing…” By the time she turned on Last Street, her voice was stronger and more confident. “He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone!”

  Children raced to the porch at the sight of the van in the driveway shouting, “Dinner, dinner, dinner!”

  “Well, if you want it, you’d better come and help me carry it in!”

  Despite the incredulity of the store clerks, Aggie, the Stuart children, and the Landrys managed to consume every scrap of chicken, three bags of the salad, two of the quarts of potato salad, and all the ice cream. As Aggie rinsed plates and cleaned up two puddles of milk, she glanced at the flowers she’d stuck unceremoniously in a juice pitcher, and smiled. Extravagant or not, it had been a good purchase. They took a dingy and very dirty room and made it feel like a home. Iris tried to help scrub down the kitchen, but Aggie, against her own wishes and better judgment, shooed them out the door with a generous check and heartfelt thanks for all their work.

  Beds and bunk beds cluttered the dining and living rooms, making a quick pick-up impossible. As much as she’d tried to keep the beds along the perimeter of the walls, she’d failed. She shooed the children upstairs to choose their rooms while she finished dragging wads of packing paper from beneath every surface. Six rooms and two bathrooms were on the second floor with a seventh room and bath on the top floor. She’d claimed that top floor room for herself at Tina’s suggestion. Tina had convinced Aggie that she would need the privacy at the end of a long day. There was a little sitting room directly off of the master bedroom, so Aggie reserved that for Ian until he was old enough to sleep through the night.

  All the children agreed unanimously that Vannie should take the “turret” room. Aggie insisted that Laird have his own room as well, while Tavish and Ian (once that sleeping through the night thing finally occurred) shared a room, and Kenzie and Elspeth paired up. They all begged for Cari and Lorna to have their own shared room as well, instead of putting two sets of bunk beds in Kenzie and Ellie’s room. It seemed so sweet and thoughtful until she saw the relief and glee on the children’s faces when Aggie agreed.

  Everyone, including Aggie, had difficulty settling that evening; Vannie seemed distant, and the other children were excitable. After several futile attempts to engage them in anything that calmed them, Aggie sent them to bed. A chorus of groans and wails followed, but she remained firm. Once everyone had clean teeth, hands, feet, and faces, and were laying in their beds, she sat in a chair between the two rooms and led the children in singing choruses and hymns until she noticed their voices growing weaker-- quieter. Then she told them all to be quiet and carried Ian and her chair back to the kitchen. Once Ian slept soundly in his crib at the far corner of the living room, Aggie made a cup of French Crème coffee, sat on the porch steps, and watched the stars put the world to sleep.

  Sunday, June 2nd

  Aggie had not adequately prepared for church assembly the next morning. As the children searched for their clothes and tried, with utterly futile attempts, to get ready, Aggie decided that they weren’t going. Disappointment filled their faces, but they changed clothes again and eventually wandered outside to do some more playing and exploring-- all but Vannie. Before long, squeals of excitement and play were heard all around the house.

  She and Vannie walked all over the house exploring, making plans, and talking. With a few well-chosen words, Aggie broke through the wall Vannie had constructed at Kenzie’s graduation. She appealed to the girl’s reason and asked for help in finding ways to keep Allie and Doug in the hearts of all of their children. After a long talk, the breach that had made Vannie so miserable and kept Aggie awake longer each night was mended and the bridge stronger than ever.

  When they reached the dusty attic, it was as though they’d entered a neglected antique paradise. They discovered boxes of old books under one dormer window, and Tavish was called in to “rescue” them. He disappeared downstairs with one box containing several first editions of The Rover Boys, muttering something like, “They don’t make mindless fictional drivel like they used to.”

  Aggie and Vannie found wonderful pieces of furniture and began making plans for them. It nearly killed Aggie to watch her niece finger this piece or that saying, “Momma would have loved this.” After a while, the girl found a dainty vanity table. One leg was broken, but the mirror was intact, and when Aggie rubbed it with her t-shirt, she saw beautiful birds-eye maple under the layers of dirt and dust.

  “Oh, Vannie, it’s beautiful! We have to remember it’s up here when your room is done. This would look so pretty between those two windows on that funny shaped wall.”

  Vannie looked up startled. “You mean that you don’t want it? Can I really have it in my room?”

  Aggie smiled and assured Vannie that the vanity was hers. “I’ll see if Laird thinks he knows how to fix that leg though. I would hate to break that mirror with a bad “fix-it” job.”

  Later, Aggie unpacked a stack of decorating magazines and catalogs that Tina had mailed them and encouraged the Vannie to see if she could find something that appealed to her. “Maybe it’ll give us a place to start. There are so many things that would look good in there, but I don’t know anything about decorating, and I don’t know what you like.

  After half a dozen magazines that either showed rooms that looked like hotel suites or overly themed rooms that promised everything from a beach hut look to a disco nightmare, Vannie said, “You know what I think I want? I don’t like the themes-- they’d be good for the little girls or the boys, but I want something I’ll like for a long time. I don’t like change.”

  “So, what do you want?” Aggie realized that with the words, “I don’t like change,” she’d been given a priceless look into Vannie’s thoughts.

  “I read a series of books at Grandmother’s last summer that she’d read when she was little. In the first book, there was this girl who
visited her four aunts one year, and one of the aunts created such a beautiful room.” The girl sighed. “It would be silly though. There were a lot of white and light colors. It would get very dirty with all the little hands.”

  “Vannie, this is your room. There won’t be that many little hands in there, unless you invite them in. So, if you like, you can decide who you want in and if they need to wash their hands or even take off their shoes before they come in. It’ll be your decision.”

  “But what about when I am at school? The twins will come in anyway, and they’ll ruin everything. I had better stick to something more Victorian or something. The big flowers will hide the dirt.”

  Aggie’s heart broke for the young girl who wanted something she was convinced she couldn’t have. “Vannie, we have three months to teach them to stay out of the room. If necessary, we’ll put a chain on there so that they can’t get inside.” With a rueful smile, she added, “And I consider it a personal challenge to teach them better respect for my word and my rules.”

  The change in Vannie was tremendous. All the weights and cares that she had put on her shoulders seemed to roll off, much like Christian’s burden in Pilgrim’s Progress. Eagerly, the girl described a room with white trim, robin’s egg blue walls, and apple green accents. “I don’t think it would be expensive. I think we could even use that old white eyelet comforter that Momma gave us when we were sick. We could dye it apple green couldn’t we?”

  Aggie laughed and assured the girl that they could afford to buy her a few pillows and a new bedspread without too much expense. They would go shopping for paint and accessories the next morning. “The only thing is…”

  “What is it, Aunt Aggie?” Vannie put a guarded look on her face. Her face screamed her thoughts-- she knew that this was too good to be true.