All In The Family (13 page)

“Oh for heaven sake, Bea, haven’t you had enough excitement for one day?”

Aunt Beatrice Lulu stopped dead in her track. “Edgar Leroy Eberhardt, if you think for one minute I’m going to stop having fun just because I’m…” She looked around at everyone. “Just because you think I’m old, you’re crazier than a loon.” With that, she stomped off toward the playground.

Uncle Ed looked at everyone. “Guess she told me again.” He headed toward the playground. By time
everyone else got there, Aunt Beatrice Lulu was on the platform for the sliding board.

Dear Lord, Callie hoped she wasn’t going to slide down the one with the tunnel. Especially since it was a corkscrew. Surely her aunt would get stuck. All of a sudden all the sisters raced toward the slides. Her mother went down a normal slide first, followed by Aunt Lottie and then Aunt Ethel.

“That was bumpy, but fun. Been years since I went down a slide.” Aunt Ethel stood and brushed herself off.

“Was a lot faster than I thought it would be. Good and slippery.” Aunt Lottie headed back up before Aunt Beatrice Lulu came down and landed at the bottom with a thud.

Good thing there was safety cork on the ground, Callie thought. Although even with that the way her aunt landed, she could have hurt herself. But, she pushed herself up and followed her sisters. Oh no, Aunt Lottie came through the corkscrew.  Callie’s mom followed and Aunt Ethel yelled as she slid down. Callie held her breath. Aunt Beatrice Lulu positioned herself, let go, and started to slide. She disappeared into the tunnel. Everyone waited. No Aunt Beatrice Lulu. Suddenly, strange noises came from the tunnel. Uncle Ed hurried over.

“Bea, are you okay?”

“What? I can’t hear you.”

“Stuck? Did you say you were stuck?”

A loud crash came from inside the tunnel. Apparently my aunt kicked the slide.

Uncle Ed crawled up the slide. “I’m going to pull your feet, okay?”

Nothing happened. No Uncle Ed, no Aunt Beatrice Lulu.

Finally, Uncle Ed reappeared. “Jake you go up top and see if you can pull her up or push her down.”

Jake jumped onto the platform and disappeared into the top end of the tunnel. Uncle Ed crawled back up at the bottom. Everyone waited. Even the little kids stood transfixed.

“How did Aunt Beatrice Lulu get stuck?” Charlie, Aunt Lottie’s five year old grandson, asked.

“I’m afraid she’s a little too big for this slide,” Aunt Lottie answered.

Jake appeared at the top of slide. “She’s wedged in there pretty good.”

“Maybe we can take the slide apart.” William went toward the slide and looked at the sides. “Just a few bolts holding the tunnel on. I have some wrenches in my car.”

Uncle Ed appeared from the bottom of the slide. “That’s probably the only way we’ll get her out. Go get your wrenches, I’ll tell her.”

“Hey kids, why don’t you go play on the swings?” William said.

“Great idea, come on, last one there is a rotten egg.” Callie took off toward the swings. No reason for the kids to stand there and watch. There were enough spectators with her aunts and cousins. Fortunately, her older cousins came along to the swings, so there
were enough adults to keep the kids amused. If the situation wasn’t so serious, she’d laugh. Picturing Aunt Beatrice Lulu stuck in that corkscrew caused a chuckle anyway. Thank goodness William had tools. Otherwise, they’d probably have to call for park maintenance. And God only knew how long that would take.

William came back a few minutes later. Callie joined him. Uncle Ed came down from the platform.

“How’s she doing?” Callie asked.

“Hanging in there. Not sure how. You know she’s claustrophobic, don’t you?”

Callie shook her head. “No, I didn’t know that.” Her aunt must be going crazy by now. Callie couldn’t imagine being trapped like that, especially being claustrophobic. Poor Aunt Beatrice Lulu. It was the first time Callie felt any compassion for the woman.

Uncle Ed went back to the platform and disappeared into the top of the tunnel. Callie could hear him talking to her aunt in soothing tones. Aunt Beatrice Lulu definitely had a keeper there.

William and Jake worked on different sides of the slide. “Hopefully, we’ll only have to remove this top section,” Jake said.  “Maybe then we can pull her out.

A few minutes later, the top section came off. Aunt Beatrice Lulu was stuck in the twists of the cork screw. Her head and arms were stuck in the first section.
The rest of her was in another twist.  Talk about an uncomfortable position. Aunt Beatrice Lulu took several deep breaths, brought her arms forward and tried to pull herself free. “At least I can breathe again.”

Uncle Ed leaned down and hugged her. “I swear, woman, when are you going to start listening to me?”

Aunt Beatrice Lulu patted his head. “Someday, my love, someday.”

“Looks like we have to remove the next section,” Jake said. Are you sure you can’t pull yourself up?”

Uncle Ed tried pulling to no avail.

“Can you bend your knees?” William asked.

“A little.” Aunt Beatrice Lulu said.

“Okay, Jake, crawl up the slide from the bottom.
Bend your knees, Jake will hold your feet so they don’t slide, and you and Ed can try to pull. Okay, ready Jake?”

“Ready.”

“On three okay? One, two, three, bend your knees, push and pull.”

“She moved a little,” Jake yelled. “Let’s try it again.”

“Okay,” William said. “On three. One, two, three, push.”

Aunt Beatrice Lulu moved a little more. “Are you okay? Anything hurt?”

She shook her head. “Uncomfortable, not in pain. Let’s take a breath and try it again.”

This time it worked. Aunt Beatrice Lulu was free. Uncle Ed helped her onto the platform and kissed her. “Of all the crazy things to do. You’re not getting out of my sight for the rest of the day.”

Aunt Beatrice Lulu snuggled against him. “Deal,” she said.

William and Jake put the top portion of the tunnel back on the slide while the kids followed the adults for dessert.

“Thanks, you were great.” Callie kissed William’s cheek.

“That’s all I get for great?”

“For now. Let’s go get some dessert.”

William put his arm around Callie and they joined the others. A couple of the kids were playing in the sandbox with dinosaurs. Dinosaurs
. Why did that trigger a memory? And of what?

“Hey Callie, bring that handsome hero over here for a big piece of cake,” Aunt Ethel yelled.

“Well you’ve certainly ingrained yourself with my family. They liked you to begin with, but now you’ve sealed the deal.”

“Hey, I only helped. Anyone would have done the same thing. I’m just glad we got her out. Poor thing, Ed said she’s claustrophobia. I’m surprised she even wanted to go down that slide.”

“She’s a follower. Her sisters did it, so she did it. I’m sure she thought she’d zip through like they did.”

“Yeah, but anyone with claustrophobia wouldn’t have even zipped through a tunnel like that. Even a couple seconds enclosed causes extreme stress.”

“Do you have claustrophobia?” Callie stopped walking.

“No, Linda had it. Even riding in a car sometimes set it off. No way would she
’d have gone down that slide.”

“So you’re thinking maybe Aunt Beatrice Lulu doesn’t have claustrophobia?”

“Not saying that. But she remained awfully calm after that initial kicking the sliding board.”

“Aunt Beatrice Lulu has a tendency to exaggerate things. Anyway, you’ve still scored points with my family.”

“Thanks, you’ll have to come and meet mine. You’ve already met Berry. I don’t believe you’ve met my father.”

“I’d like that.” A date to meet the family. Was she ready for
that? What the heck, she’d never know if she didn’t try.

“Good, how about Wednesday? Dad makes a family dinner on Wednesday.”

“Sure. Wednesday it is.”

Things had quieted down now that the aunts calmed down. These memories would stay with Callie forever. If anyone would have said her mother would climb a tree, she’d never have believed it. Her uncles and father were back from their golf outing and the kids couldn’t wait to tell them the afternoon’s adventures. Hearing it from them was almost as much fun as witnessing it.

“And then the branch broke. They couldda hurt themselves really bad. Uncle Ed was so mad. But Aunt Beatrice Lulu didn’t care.” Melissa, Aunt Ethel’s six year old granddaughter related the story with hand motions and wide eyes. “Nope, she marched right over to that sliding board and then she got stucked. Daddy and Mr. William had to take it apart.” She shook her little blond head. “I guess some peoples just never learn.”

Callie laughed at the expression on Melissa’s face.

“You shudda seen her get caught on the sliding board.” Charlie, Aunt Lottie’s grandson, jumped up and down. “They had to take it apart.”

Apparently playing by the swings didn’t prevent the kids from seeing what was going on.

“Some kids haven’t learned they’re supposed to be seen and not heard.” Aunt Beatrice Lulu apparently didn’t like being talked about. Especially not in that light. She leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms over her chest, and pouted.

Suddenly the chair bent downwards, farther and farther
back. Aunt Beatrice Lulu grabbed onto Uncle Ed’s chair to prevent herself from falling and pulled his chair down with her. They both ended up with the back of the chairs on the ground, their butts still on the seats, but their legs dangling over the edge of the chairs. 

Everyone jumped up, panicked. Callie thought for sure a trip to the hospital was in order. 

Aunt Beatrice Lulu looked at Uncle Ed. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, are you?”

Aunt Beatrice cracked up laughing. Everyone rushed to help them up, but they were laughing so hard they just laid there.

So much for everything calmed down. Callie looked at her watch. Time to go. “Ready?” she asked William. “Or do you want to hang around here with these crazy people.”

“Much as I’d like to, I think it’s time to call it a day.”

Callie made the rounds, kissing all her aunts and uncles goodbye. “You’re not going to stay for the bon fire?” Her grandmother asked.

“Not tonight, Gram. It’s been a tough week. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Chapter 15

Callie woke before the alarm clock. Something nagged at her mind, but darned if she
figure out what. Something about that dinosaur.  The phone rang interrupting her thoughts.  Lord, she hoped it wasn’t going to start already. What happened to the quiet little town she loved?

“Johnson.”

“Callie, it’s Mom. Have you heard from your grandmother today?”

“Mom, it’s only eight o’clock.”

“I know, but I’ve been calling and she doesn’t answer. She’s not at the courthouse and she’s not home.”

“She’s not home?”

“No, her car’s there, but no sign of her.  I even checked the bakery on the corner. They haven’t seen her.”

“Her car’s still there?”

“Yes.”

Callie didn’t like the sound of this. She snapped her fingers. “Um, Mom, did you check with Jim Landry?”

“Actually, he’s the first one I called. He’s not seen her since last night. Callie, I’m worried. He said they were supposed to go fishing later.”

“Okay, I’ll check it out.”

“Thanks, keep me posted. Oh, Callie, I checked with her neighbor, old Mrs. Tucker.  She hasn’t seen her either. It’s not like your grandmother to go off somewhere without letting anyone know.”

“I know, Mom. I’ll call you later.” Callie hung up and punched in
Jim Landry’s number and hurried to her car.  Maybe she was jumping the gun, but she wasn’t taking any chances.

“Chief, it’s Callie. I’m headed to my grandmother’s could you’d meet me there.”

“Still haven’t heard from her, huh? Okay, I’m on my way.”

Callie hung up, flipped the switch for the lights and siren. She probably didn’t need
them, but she wanted to get through traffic in a hurry.

A couple minutes later, she pulled into Gram’s drive. Jim was already there, looking around outside.

“See anything, Jim”

“So far everything looks normal.” He walked around the side of the house. “Callie, you might want to call the boys, get a fingerprinting team out here. Doubt if they’ll find anything but you never know.”

Callie walked around the side of the house, phone to her ear. “What ya got?”

Jim pointed to the screen.

Looked normal from a distance but up close, it was cut, window pried open. “Crap. Let’s go inside, see if we can find anything.” Callie started for the door.

“Hold on a minute. Look at this.”

Callie looked where Jim pointed. “What the hell?”

Jim pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket and grinned at Callie. “Always come prepared.” He bent down, picked it up and held it up to the light.