Past Forward- A Serial Novel: Episode 11 (22 page)

“
Why is that?
”

She grinned as she wiped her tears away and blew the sniffles from her nose.
“
I didn
’
t have to move away to go get them
.”

Stepping outside the door, Willow glanced at the sky.
Noon was still a way off.
Eagerly, she skipped back inside the barn, giggled at the sight of her confused animals, grabbed another dish, and threw it to the bottom of the barrel with every ounce of strength she had.
Oh, she
’
d missed the glorious sound of breaking glass and ringing metal.
Nothing made her feel more alive and normal than those rare times she
’
d spent destroying perfectly good dishes to rid herself of the angst that came with her loss.

Once finished, Willow replaced the unbroken dishes, rolled the barrel out of the center of the floor, and hurried inside the house.
She hoped that
Chad would return quickly
,
and if he did, he
’
d be hungry.
She pounded beefsteak to a thin flat layer and returned it to the icebox.
They
’
d have pizza.
Chad liked pizza.

Upstairs, she covered the old green table with a small tablecloth and set the dollhouse on it.
Their spare down comforter, quilted duvet, and several wool afghans were piled in the corner of the room waiting for Chad to return with Ellie
’
s bed.
Remembering her dollhouse people, she hurried to find them and bring them
“
home.
”

While in the attic, Willow dug through her
“
outside toys
”
and found her old sled.
She
’
d wondered what she might h
ave that Tavish might enjoy; s
urely, boys liked sleds.
The sight of the pulley from her old zip line was all she needed to feel more confident.
N
o child could resist a zip line;
she was sure of it.

When Chad pulled into her driveway just after twelve o
’
clock, Willow
seemed to have disappeared.
Chad looked everywhere but didn
’
t find her.
The water was still on to the
“
rink
,”
and since it looked sufficiently flooded to him, he shut it off.
Footprints led away from the chicken coop, through the pasture, and finally
,
as he reached the stream, he
saw
Willow flying through the air.

“
Move!
”

Chad jumped out of the way just in time for Willow to whiz past and drop into the snow several feet from the tree.
“
What are you doing?
”

“
Zipping!
I found it when I was looking for my sled.
I thought Tavish might enjoy it
—”

The words were hardly out of her mouth before Chad grabbed the zip pull
ey, raced across the stream, up
hill to the tall pine, and climbed up the rungs she
’
d nailed into the trunk of the tree.
“
Geronimo!
”

“
Squanto!
”
Willow hollered back as he whizzed past
,
almost forgetting to let go before he slammed into the tree.
“
I
’
ll have to remind the children not to forget to let go
.”

“
That was fun!
”
Chad started to grab the pulley again
,
but the sound of a horn stopped him.
“
I think Aunt Libby
’
s here!
”

They gathered Willow
’
s tools and
,
hand in hand,
tro
mped through the snow
to meet Chad
’
s aunt and the children.
They rounded the corner of the house as the kids climbed from Aggie’s van.
“
Libby!
I
’
m glad you made it in time for lunch!
”

“
We ate already, but thanks.
Ian is getting grumpy
,
so I won
’
t get to stay as long as I
’
d like
.”

Chad helped Laird, Elspeth, and Tavish to unload their suitcases and schoolbooks and carried them inside.
Vannie tried to interest the baby in the snow
,
but Ian just wailed louder.
“
Let
’
s go inside,
”
Willow urged.
He is probably cold
.”

Ellie dashed down the stairs excitedly.
“
Uncle Chad bought me a new bed for while I
’
m here!
”

Chad
’
s voice called after her,
“
No, I just picked it up.
Willow bought it
.”

“
Oh thank you Wi
—
w
hat
do
I call you?
”

“
Willow
.”

Wide-eyed, Ellie looked to Libby for guidance.
“
I can
’
t just call her Willow.
Mommy
—”

“
Why don
’
t you just call her Aunt Willow honey,
”
Libby suggested.
“
She
’
ll be your
cousin
soon enough
, but she’s more like an Aunt in age.”

“
Oh that
’
s right!
”
the child exclaimed excitedly.
“
I forgot about that.
This is so exciting
.”
To Chad, she turned and begged to go see the bed in the back of his pickup.

Willow
’
s mind spun wildly with all of the information Libby fired at her.
She had a list of phone numbers longer than her cell phone address book, a list of school assignments, and suggestions for if Tavish
“
disappeared
.”

“
Of course, Aggie understands if it
’
s too much trouble to keep them on target with their schoolwork
,
but she thought it also might help keep them occupied
.”

“
How do I know if they
’
re doing it right?
”

“
It
’
s all in the folder.
It
’
s pretty self-explanatory,
”
Libby assured her.
A fresh wail went up from Ian
,
sending Libby digging for her keys.
“
I
’
ve got to get him home.
We
’
ll stop by sometime this weekend
,
if that
’
s ok.
I thought Vannie would enjoy visiting
someone
every few days
.”

“
Sure.
Anytime
.”
Willow suddenly felt a little panicked at the idea of being alone with the children
,
but the sound of Chad
’
s voice coming up the steps with Ellie relieved her.
The children would be in bed before he left for work.
It
’
d be ok.
They were just children.
How much trouble could children be?

Just as she calmed herself, Libby quipped,
“
Oh, and if you have any trouble with them, just call and I
’
ll walk you through tanning their hides or an equally horrifying consequence for their hideous behavior
.”

After they waved Libby, Vannie, and Ian down the driveway, Willow brought the three children into the living room and sat them on the couch.
“
Now, I want you to know that I
’
m really glad you
’
re here.
I think we
’
ll have a lot of fun together
in
the next two weeks
,
but there
’
s something you should know
.”
Chad made throat-slitting motions from the doorway as he tried to stop her from confessing her vulnerability.
“
I don
’
t know anything about children.
I
’
ve never been around children
,
and from what Chad
—”
The crew on the couch looked at him strangely as he swiftly scratched his neck and cleared his throat.
“
… says, I probably wasn
’
t a very normal child
.”