Grandma Robot (9 page)

Henie appeared on the back step and
opened the screen door just as Karen opened her mouth to protest.
“The kittens are really growing. They are so much fun to play with
now.” She stopped talking as she eyed Helen. “Gracious sakes, why
didn't you let me know we have company. How about serving your
guest a cup of coffee?” She shuffled over to the coffee maker. “Oh,
I see you started it already, dear. All right, I'll get the cups
and serve.”

Helen was wide eyed, watching
Henie's every movement. She whispered, “Who is she?”

“Henie, this is my mother, Helen
Warwick. Henie works for me, Mom. She cooks and cleans,” Karen
introduced and added, “That's why the living room was well
dusted.”

Helen's eyes narrowed as Henie
carried two steaming cups of coffee to the table. “Didn't I tell
you, dear, you would have company one of these days so I needed to
keep the parlor clean?”

“You did tell me that,” Karen
said, smiling at Henie. She glanced at her mother for a reaction.
The woman's face paled as she studied Henie's blue cotton dress
with the pink wild roses on it.

Helen asked, “Do you carry a
flowered hanky in that pink apron's pocket by any
chance?”

“Of course, I do. I wouldn't go
anywhere without one of my hankies,” Henie said, clasping her hands
together in front of her apron. “Will you be staying for supper,
Mrs. Warwick?”

“No, my husband is expecting me
home by then,” Helen answered.

“Sid wouldn't want his supper to
be late if I'm any guess. I bet he eats at six o'clock every night.
Right?” Henie asked.

“Th – that's right,” stuttered
Helen. She narrowed her eyes at Karen.

“If there isn't anything else I
can do for you I think I'll go to my room,” Henie said to
Karen.

“That will be fine. I can check
with you later on if you aren't downstairs before then,” Karen told
her.

After Henie left, Helen took a sip
of her hot coffee as she pondered.

“Mom, everything okay?”

“You know it's not. How did that
woman know when we eat dinner?”

“It probably came up some time or
other when we were talking about what time she should fix my
evening meal,” Karen said.

“Where did that woman come from?
You didn't tell me you had a woman staying here with you.” Helen's
hands trembled on the coffee cup.

“Sorry about that. I guess it
slipped my mind. She hasn't been here very long. Actually, my
friend, Amy Brown, loaned Henie to me. She thought it might be a
good help for someone to cook and clean while I wrote my book,”
Karen explained. “Why? You look upset.”

“Something doesn't feel right
about that woman. I think you should get out of the house with me
right away and call Amy. Tell her to come get that woman out of
here,” Helen said urgently.

“Calm down, Mom. Give me a reason
why I should. Henie is doing a good job, and I like her,” Karen
defended.

“You will think I'm crazy if I
tell you what went through my head when I saw that woman,” Helen
hissed.

“Maybe not. Just tell me,” Karen
insisted.

“All right. Does this Henie have
anything to do with why you were asking questions about my
grandparents?”

Karen shrugged. “Sort of. Henie
made a remark that everyone should find out about their family tree
before it's too late. That made me curious about mine.”

Helen got up and went for her
purse. “I hunted up some old family pictures to bring you. I
thought you might appreciate seeing what my parents and
grandparents looked like.” Helen rifled through a stack of black
and white photos. “You better take a look at this picture of your
great grandmother and great grandfather, Henrietta and Clell
Crane.”

Helen laid the picture in front of
Karen. She set her cup down and picked the picture up for a closer
look.

“What do you see?” Helen
demanded.

“I don't know for sure. I never
met my great grandparents as you know,” Karen said. She laid the
picture back on the table.

“Let me introduce you. This is
Henrietta. Most of the time she was known as Henie. I was a child
when the picture was taken on their sixty second wedding
anniversary. Grandpa died shortly after that. Grandma Henie wore a
blue dress with pink wild roses on it. Just before the picture was
taken she took off her pink apron. Does that dress look familiar?”
Helen tapped the dress with her finger.

“Is that all? Mom, that is the
dress Henie has on, and I can see the resemblance in this picture
to the picture of the young couple I found in the attic.

Mom, I can explain about the dress.
Henie didn't come here with enough clothes. We went through the
trunks in the attic and found that dress and several others she
liked so I gave them to her. They must have belonged to your
grandmother.” Karen hoped that was close enough to the truth to
seem believable. “Is that all?”

“No, not quite. Explain to me how
that woman looks so much like my dead grandma in this picture.”
Helen tapped the picture with her finger again.

“Coincidence?” Karen
guessed.

Helen raised an eyebrow. She wasn't
buying it. “What is her last name?”

Karen's eyes shifted one way then
the other before she confessed, “I don't know.”

“You're letting a stranger stay
here with you, and you don't know her last name. I thought I taught
you better about stranger danger,” Helen complained.

“Mom, that was back in grade
school when I was a child. I'm grown up. I think I'm a good judge
of character, and I happen to like Henie. Besides, she helps out a
lot around here, and she's good company. What I meant to say was I
couldn't remember her last name right off,” Karen
declared.

“So has your memory improved
suddenly?” Helen pushed.

“Yes, I remember now. Henie's last
name is Robot,” Karen said quickly.

“Robot. I don't remember any
families in this area by that name, but we've had newcomers moving
here all the time. How much do you pay this woman?”

“Nothing,” Karen said
feebly.

“And the woman is all right with
that?” Shot back Helen suspiciously.

“You saw her. She's elderly, and
she needs a home. She works for her room and board,” Karen
excused.

“I still think you would be safer
living all the way out here if you'd get rid of that woman,” Helen
stated adamantly.

“Fine, I've heard your opinion. I
just don't happen to agree with you. I'm staying right here and so
is Henie. Isn't it about time you headed home to fix Dad's
supper?”

“Yes, but I will call you in a few
days to see if you're all right. You just better be able to answer
the phone is all I can say,” Helen warned.

“I will be, Mom. I promise,” Karen
answered, trying not to laugh.

Chapter 10

The next morning after breakfast,
Henie came to the office door. Karen looked up from the pile of her
mother's black and white pictures.

Henie said, “Sorry to interrupt.
I'm going for a walk. I figured I best tell you so you wouldn't
think I disappeared and start searching for me.”

“I don't think a walk is a good
idea this morning. Have you looked outside? The fog is so dense you
can barely see your hand in front of your face,” Karen
admonished.

“So?”

“So you might rust if you stay
outside in all that dampness long enough to go for a walk,” Karen
insisted.

“Nonsense, I'm made of a rust
proof material. Won't ever happen,” Henie countered.

“Well, where were you going
anyway? To the barn to see the cat?” Karen asked.

“Already been there and fed Sock.
The kittens are growing and so playful. You really should go see
them, dear.

I'm going to walk across the
pasture to that cemetery in the trees. I won't be gone long,” Henie
said.

Karen gasped. “Oh no! That far?
That's too far for you to walk. It must be a quarter of a mile
away.”

“Don't exaggerate. It's more like
an eighth of a mile. I bet I can make it there and back better than
you can. No more exercise than you get you would play out fast,”
Henie criticized.

Karen shot her a despairing look.
“I don't think so, but if you insist on going, I'll take you in the
car.”

“I want to walk. In the old days,
on foot is the way people always went to that cemetery,” Henie said
stubbornly.

“Suppose your battery stopped
working? What would you do?” Karen worried.

“My battery is on full charge so
that is not a problem. See you later,” Henie said with
finality.

“Oh,” groaned Karen. “Wait for me
to shut down my computer. I better go with you.” Henie gave her a
bothered look. “Well if for no other reason than to prove I can
keep up with you walking that far and back.”

Before she followed Henie, Karen
slipped the picture of the elderly couple in her blouse pocket.
This might be as good a time as any to ask Henie if she knew more
than she was telling about the couple. How she possibly could know
them was beyond Karen's imagination.

Henie opened the front door. “Good.
You really can use the exercise. Maybe a walk will make your
appetite improve, and you will be able to clean up your
plate.”

Karen groaned followed Henie
outside. “If I ate everything on my plate, you wouldn't have
anything to feed the cat. I'd have to buy cat food.”

Henie stepped onto the top step and
looked around.

“What's the matter? You lost
already?” Karen teased.

“No, not at all, silly. I just
like watching the fog roll. It's pretty amazing to walk in a
cloud,” Henie said.

“I guess I have never thought of a
fog that way,” Karen said dryly, feeling the uncomfortable, misty
haze plaster to her hair and clothes.

When Karen came to the yard gate in
the pasture fence, she opened it to let Henie through
first.

Henie gazed along the fence line
and clucked dolefully. “Will you look at all those peonies? This
fog flattened those pretty flowers.”

“When the sun dries them off, they
will stand back up again, pretty as ever,” Karen said, closing the
gate behind Henie.

“Don't forget to fasten the gate
tight, dear. We don't want to let the cattle get out,” Henie
ordered. “I'll bet chasing cattle is no fun. They have minds of
their own and usually blind when it comes to seeing an open gate
hole.”

Once they walked up the slight
hill, Karen looked back. She couldn't see the black silhouette that
was her house. “I have no way of knowing which way we're going
without a landmark. I think this hike is a bad idea.”

“What's the matter? You giving out
already and making excuses?” Henie gloated.

“Never mind my stamina. I was just
worried about us getting lost. Just keep walking and get this over
with. If we can't find our way home, we'll wander around for hours
in this fog. We'll both get all wet, and I catch pneumonia. It will
be all your fault. You will have to face my mother and explain to
her how come you let me get sick.”

“I'd be glad to do that, but
you're healthy as a horse so I don't expect facing your mother will
be necessary. Frankly, dear, as little time as possible with your
mother is all I can stand. Just don't expect me to carry you home
when you give out,” Henie said. “I'm only programmed for fifty
pound lifts.”

“You don't hold back much. I take
it you weren't impressed with my mother.” Karen's face scrunched up
as she tried to see ahead of them. “How much farther do you suppose
it is to that cemetery?”

“Just a half a cloud away. Keep
walking,” Henie said, grinning.

Off to their right, the grass made
whispering rustles. Karen's eyes widen as she stared at the fog.
“Henie, what's that noise?”

Before Henie could make a guess,
out of the haze emerged a black cow. She perked her head up at the
sight of Karen and Henie and cocked her tail.

Karen hissed. “A – a cow! A big
cow. What do we do?”

Henie eyed the cow. “Keep walking.
She's not …. .”

Karen grabbed Henie's arm and
jerked her sideways, causing the robot to stumble. “Watch out. You
almost ran into a cow. We're in the middle of the whole herd. This
is all Amy Brown's fault.”

“I'm more than willing to let you
pass the blame on now that you're ranting and raving, but how could
this be Amy's fault?”

“She shouldn't have programmed the
bad idea app into you that got us in this mess. Wh – what do we do
now?” Karen stuttered.

“Sing,” whispered
Henie.

“Really? Sing?” squeaked
Karen.

“Cowboys used to do it all the
time while they circled the cattle,” Henie said in a low
voice.

“I'm not real fond of western
movies, but I'd swear those cowboys sat high above the cattle on
horses where it was safe,” countered Karen.