Oh for Pete's Sake!

[223shootersc]

thanks for the new chapter, hope Claude gets his next

[sssarawolf]

A big thank you from me also, great work and good for Will.

[ejagno]

Thank you. I am thoroughly enjoying your writing.

[PacNorWest]

#55
"First thing, we need to know what kind of food we have. I haven't had a chance to look at it. We need to start rice cooking for lunch, put beans on to soak and ....oh I don't know, so much needs to be done. Working as she was talking, Evie parceled out the chores to the children.

Opening the cupboard door, she looked so gratefully at the food on the shelf. All the staples; flour, sugar, cornmeal, oatmeal, shortening, dried milk. Boxes and cans of riches, plus the good old standbys; rice and beans. In a box from the food bank, way in the back corner was a short square box of tea.

Tea. A wonderous item that someone shared. A stranger's generosity was almost Evie's undoing. Hugging Jane, she had to sit down and gather her composure. Evie had longed for a cup of tea for so long and now that it was here, she was afraid to use it. Evie gave thanks for the compassion of the unkown person.

Sandra silently moved into Evie's awareness. Touching the older woman's grey braided hair she asked in a plaintive tone, "Mizz Evie, will my hair ever grow?.

With her free hand Evie gathered Sandra to her, brushing the short, wacked hair. Sandra's hair looked like her mother had chopped it off in a fit of rage; gathering handsful and cutting it in gobs. The child and her older sister looked frightful, and Evie smiled at her and asked Sandra get the hairbrush from the bathroom.

"Here, let me show you something," Evie took the brush and slowly, gently brushed Sandra"s hair. "If you brush daily, be gentle and work all the way around your head with soft strokes. Brushing will stimulate your hair to grow. We can use clips to keep it out of your eyes, until it is long enough to braid or put in a ponytail." Sandra sat so still, soaking up the personal touch. Her thin frame perched on the edge of the chair between Evie's knees. It was difficult for Evie to reach around Jane, but there was no way she was going to miss this opportunity to interact with these standoffish, frightened children.

Clora inched closer; her eyes pleading for kindness and touching, a yearning as loud as words. Evie drew her in as she had Sandra. Brushing Clora's hair in soft swipes of the brush, she explained the same thing. Slowly she changed the talk to general hygiene. How young ladies needed to wash their face, brush their teeth every day. How it was so important to be pleasant, smile and sing when the urge hit a person. Evie explained how important hugs were. Hugs made the person being hugged feel good, but the also made the person sharing the hug feel wonderful.

Evie told the girls how pretty they were. How they were growing up to be beautiful young ladies. How manners were important, and how important they were to her and Papa Hap. She needed and appreciated their help to keep the household going forward. Clora and Sandra glowed, basking in the quiet praise Evie gave them.

All the time Evie had been paying attention to the girls; Zander had been playing with Evie's grey braid of hair, After her quick shower, she had stopped long enough to braid her wet hair.

Zander twirled, looped, pretended the end of the braid was his mustache, wound it around Evie's head, tickled her neck, dusted the parts of the table he could reach, put the braid on the back of his head like a pony tail and counted the number of twists in the hair rope.

Zander inched his way around to the front of Evie's chair. She patted the seat when Clora got up. Happy, smiling, he sat so still while she brushed his hair. Again she stressed what handsome young gentlemen needed to do to keep themselves clean and presentable. How they need to use manners, care for their sisters, whistle, and be strong and fair.

Zander had to ask what whistling was. Evie showed him, and he spent the rest of the morning puckering furiously, trying his hardest to make a noise.

Brett and Benny were late for lunch, but Evie held back bowls of rice with reconstituted milk for them. They tromped in the freshly swept kitchen with four small sunfish, excited as all get out, showing off that they had provided for Inky. They wolfed down the lunch and were back out the door with the fish and the oatmeal that could be spared. Inky ate his lunch with gusto. The boys had big eyes at the rapidness the fish and oatmeal dissapeared. Inky looked at them and burped. Both boys howled with glee.

Evie called them in and gave them detailed instructions on where to find Pete's gun. Benny and Brett's eyes lit up at the idea of such an important job. Both liked guns, but did not have one minute of experience. Evie debated long and hard about the wisdom of sending two ten year olds to pick up a loaded gun, but in the end talked to them seriously about the important job.

Evie stressed being careful, to avoid people, how to hold the gun, and how not to walk in front of the person holding the gun. Sending them off with a picture she had drawn of the back gate into Wilson's pasture, she told them in no uncertain terms to be home by dark, and to not shoot at anything. Sighing heavily, she sent the two out to do the job.

With Zander down for a nap, and Jane sleeping in the sling, Evie sat down for a quick rest. She had taught Clora and Sandra the Ban ana Bo Bana singsong and they were playing quietly on the couch.

Evie had just relaxed when there was a series of three quick toots at the end of the driveway. They had mail! She looked up and Clora said quietly, "We'll go out and get it." Evie nodded her agreement, and closed her weary eyes. It seemed no more than three seconds later, there was a long drawn out scream.

[Rabbit]

Cliff arrived in the mail. Argh!

[wab54]

AAAACCCKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




WAB

[sssarawolf]

Yep cliff alll right.