Triplets - Part 5

Good morning, Readers,

This morning is cloudy and thunder rumbles now and then. It rained just a bit, so we'll see if we have any thunderstorms or just have the edge of something. It makes me feel like reading. But I don't think I'll have much time for reading today. Not since three games in the Little League World Series were postponed from yesterday afternoon/evening, to this morning because they were having storms. So now there are 7 games being played today! No, we're not planning on watching them all! We probably won't watch the International bracket.

Anyway, I've gotten some writing done this week. Not a huge amount, but enough to keep me ahead of my month's writing goal. Would you like to see my goal on the sidebar here? I can put in on and let you keep track of how my writing is going.

I have been doing some reading, working on blog posts, getting the cover for "By Paths Unknown" finished, and designing covers for my three new Christmas Collection stories that should be coming out this year. Are you excited for those?

I've been noticing a strange occurrence here on my blog. It seems that every-other week I get a good number of views and a few comments on my story, but the in-between weeks I get only a handful of views and no comments. This is a many views and some comments week. We'll see if this pattern keeps up. If it does, I could just not post any story on the in-between weeks. ;)

Triplets

Part 5

    “Maybe I can find the door this way,” she thought, starting onward again. Reaching the corner, she was once again confronted with vines, bushes, brush and small trees. “If I knew who owned the building, I would ask if I could clear all this out,” she half-whispered. “But since I don’t . . .” her voice trailed off. “And I can’t even look inside unless the girls–”
    She stopped suddenly, for a strange sound came from the open window. It was a creak and a thump. Then a louder creak.
    Goosebumps rose on Vienna’s arms, and her heart began to race. Her intellect told her there was a logical reason for the noises, but her mind shouted that something awful was going on. All desire to look inside fled as she hurried as quietly as possible to the other end of the building.
    Reaching the farther corner at last, she saw her sisters waiting for her in the street and gave a quick sigh and ventured a glance over her shoulder. Nothing unusual could be seen. Had she really heard those noises? A shiver tingled her spine at the thought. She hadn’t imagined them.
    “Did you find a door?”
    “Or get to look in?”
    Vienna shook her head and stepped from the grass into the street. “The windows are too high and there’s nothing to stand on.” She didn’t add that she was no longer sure if she wanted to look in.
    “What about a door?” Sofia asked again.
    “I think Mrs. Shannon is right and it’s behind all those vines and stuff. But the back was just as covered as this side is. It doesn’t look as though anyone has been in there for years.” She didn’t mention the strange noises, for she knew Geneva at least, would be terrified of ever coming back. And now that she was with her sisters, they didn’t seem quite as frightening.
    “Can we leave this old building and go somewhere else now?” Geneva asked, her eyes pleading from behind her glasses.
    Vienna shrugged. “I don’t care. Sof?”
    “We might as well finish exploring our new neighborhood. Maybe Grandma can take us to the library this weekend, and we can find out who owns the shed.”
    “Can we find that out at the library?” And Geneva looked interested.
    “I don’t know, but maybe.”

    The rest of the morning was spent wandering the neighborhood before returning to the house to eat their lunch. No one really wanted to go out in the afternoon, for the sun was hot and the breeze that had been there in the morning had died. Inside they at least had a fan or two to stir the air and one air conditioner that sort of worked. The afternoon dragged by on slow feet. Vienna and Sofia read. Grandma didn’t have many books, but she had gotten some from the library for them before they came. Geneva read for a while, then played Tick-Tack-Toe with herself.
    “Vivi,” Geneva asked at last, “what are we having for supper?”
    Looking up from her book, Vienna glanced through the doorway into the kitchen to see the clock on the wall. “I thought we’d make french fries and have a salad. Those are both cheap things.”
    “Can we have cheese sauce for the fries?”
    “Do we have any?”
    Geneva nodded. “I saw a can in the cabinet.”
    With a shrug, Vienna returned to her book. “If Grandma doesn’t mind.”

    The oven cooked fries were done, and the meager salad of lettuce and carrots waited in the fridge, while the can of cheese sauce sat waiting on the counter. Grandma hadn’t come home from work yet. At last Vienna grabbed the can opener and moments later had heated up the cheese sauce.
    “If we wait much longer the fries will get over–cooked. Is the phone on, Sofia?”
    Sofia, who had been leaning on the door frame, pulled out the cell phone from her pocket. “Yep.”
    “Let’s eat then. Gen!”
    Geneva hurried into the kitchen. “Aren’t we going to wait for Grandma?”
    “I don’t know how long she’ll be. Besides, we can save her some, but I think she’d want us to eat.” Vienna pulled the fries from the oven and scooped some onto each plate, leaving an equal number on the pan, which she covered in foil and stuck back in the oven.
    By the time supper was over, Grandma had still not come home, and there had been no call from her or anyone.
    “I guess we can heat things up when she comes home.” Vienna stood up slowly, a worried frown on her face. In the short two weeks the girls had lived with their Grandma, she had never been this late from work before. It felt strange not to have her there while the food was put away and the dishes washed.
    No one seemed able to settle that evening. Books held no interest, games were tried but abandoned as no one could concentrate. Night settled down over the neighborhood, and still there was no sign or word from Grandma.
    “Do . . . do you think something happened to her?” Geneva asked in a whisper.
    “Like what?” Sofia fiddled with the friendship bracelet on her arm.
    “Maybe the car broke down, or she had to work late,” volunteered Vienna, trying to push back her own worry and fear. “Grandma doesn’t have a cellphone, you know, so she couldn’t call us.”
    “If she was working late, she could,” Sofia pointed out.
    “And if something happened at work, someone would have called. I’m guessing that old car broke down. Grandma might be so busy that she doesn’t realize the time.” Vienna sat down on the couch. From where she sat she could see the clock on the kitchen wall. It was after eight-thirty.
    Another thirty minutes ticked by and still no Grandma and no phone call.
    “Vivi,” Sofia flopped down on the couch beside Vienna, “don’t you think we should call Grandma’s work?”
    “They’ll be closed.”
    “Not if they had to stay open late.”
    “True. But I don’t know the number.”
    Sofia frowned. “It’s got to be in the phone book. Does Grandma have a phone book?”
    Vienna shrugged. “No idea. Let’s look.”
    Calling Geneva to help them, the girls searched the small house. No phone book anywhere.
    Finally Vienna stopped and pushed her hair back from her hot face. “She probably doesn’t have one since she doesn’t have a regular phone.”
    “What do we do now?” Geneva was almost in tears. “We can’t go to bed without knowing where Grandma is!”
    Silence filled the kitchen where the girls stood looking at one another.

Have you ever wondered where a late parent was?

Do you like cheese sauce with your fries?

Would you like to see my writing progress on the sidebar?