Gertie's Choice (12 page)

“NOooooo!” Ophelia said
and started running towards Adela’s car. The window was open and if
Mrs. Davis would have looked out her window right at that moment
she would have seen a little white cat jump through the car window
and into the back seat.

Ophelia did not even
consciously think about what form she was in. She set about tearing
the cloth in the back seat with her claws and her teeth. She was so
angry that she could barely see what she was doing, so thick was
the blue fog. She growled and hissed and wore herself out tearing
and clawing and scratching the vehicle. All she could think of was
that Adela Johnson was her only chance of getting rid of Donald so
that she and her mother could use the red ring and get back to
Enchanted.

After a few minutes of
frantic destruction, Ophelia was exhausted. She laid there on the
backseat trying to gain her second wind when she heard a woman’s
voice saying “Son of a bitch!” before everything went black in
Ophelia’s world.

Adela Johnson had thrown
her purse and sweater into the backseat in a huff. Her heavy purse
hit Ophelia right on her little kitten furry head and her sweater
covering her up so that Adela did not notice that she had a kitten
in her backseat. Adela then squealed her tires as she left
Kentucky, and Donald, for good.

Chapter 18

Gertie sat the roast beef
and mashed potatoes onto the table and turned to pick up the salad.
“Donald!” She called out, “You and your sister come in now, dinner
is ready.”

Donald walked into the
kitchen and sat down at the table. “Did you wash your hands?” She
asked him, annoyed that she would still have to remind a man of his
age to wash his hands before sitting down to a meal. Donald got up
and left to wash his hands and then came back and started piling
food on his plate.

“Is Ophelia coming soon?
Where is she?”

“I don’t know.” Donald said
in-between bites.

Gertie took a quick walk
around the house and looked out the windows to check the porch and
backyard for her wayward daughter. “I don’t see her anywhere. When
was the last time you saw her today?” She asked Donald.

“This morning.”

”You haven’t seen her since
this morning?”

“Nope.”

“Did she say she was going
anywhere or when she would be back home?” Gertie asked, her anger
rising with each question.

“She said she was going to
Enchanted.” Donald said.

Gertie almost dropped her
cup of coffee. “Could you repeat that, Donald, what were her exact
words?”

“Those were her words, she
said I am going to Enchanted.”

Gertie ran to Ophelia’s
bedroom and checked her closet and dresser drawers. None of
Ophelia’s clothes were missing. Donald had to have heard wrong.
Ophelia would have never mentioned the name Enchanted to
Donald.

Gertie went back to the
kitchen and finished her dinner and stood by the sink washing the
dishes. With John gone and Ophelia not there to eat dinner, there
were not many plates and Gertie wanted that time to spend in idle
busy work so that she could think things out.

“Did Ophelia ask you to
give me any sort of a message, Donald? Was she angry when she left?
Had you two been fighting again?” Gertie asked him, anxious to gain
any insight at all about where her daughter might have taken off
to.

“No, she wasn’t mad at me,
for a change. I was angry with Adela Johnson and that was the last
time I saw either one of them.”

“You mean she has been gone
since Adela was here this morning?”

“Yep.”

Chapter 19

The years went by and
there was no word from or about Ophelia. Ted Davis who had lived
next door married and his mother, Mrs. Davis had sold her house to
move to Iowa with her son and his new wife. The new owners were a
family that had been transferred from the husband’s job in
Michigan.

Jim and Sarah Gaunter had
been good neighbors. They were polite and their two little girls,
Suzanne and Riley were well behaved. Jim and Sarah put in a
swimming pool in the backyard and had done many other repairs to
the old house.

Donald was still hanging
around the house even though a few years back Gertie had purchased
a new home for him on the other side of town. She had finally come
to the realization that John was not coming back and that
apparently, neither was Ophelia.

On rare occasions Sarah
Gaunter would ask Gertie if she could look after the little girls
for a few hours while she and her husband attended some social or
business event. Gertie did not mind and in fact she enjoyed telling
stories to Suzanne.

When little Suzanne
pointed out how a picture of Gertie that had been in the newspaper
from forty years ago looked just as Gertie looked today, that was a
wakeup call for her. Gertie went back into all of the newspaper
clippings of her in the papers and magazines over the years that
were from various charity events or political meetings. She found a
few mentions of the age which she had given at the time. Counting
the years she was shocked to realize that her neighbors would
realize that she should be around one hundred and two or three in
mortal years. Still, she was beautiful and looked not over thirty
years old. She wondered if people had begun to talk and then
wondered how they could not.

Gertie started walking
with a slight hunch to her back and a slight limp. She bought some
silver gray hair color from the drugstore and colored her beautiful
still bright red hair with it. She then set about ordering herself
a new set of clothes which were appropriate for an elderly lady.
She started cutting down on the number of meetings and events she
attended, telling people on the phone that she was just not up to
it these days. Although she tried to incorporate these changes
gradually, she was quite anxious to proceed with her plans. She
made sure that she was seen in town several times a week and she
always acted weak and frail when she knew someone was watching or
someone stopped to talk with her.

Gertie took out a piece of
paper and wrote down the following poem:

The warmth of the sun will
show you the way

To open arms where you will
stay

By the shine of the red on
your finger

Hurry now, do not
linger

Be aware of what you will
find

When the stone is allowed
to shine

Follow it quickly, for it
will not last

Soon the rocks will not let
you pass

She found the deed to the
house and she placed the ring, the deed, some other papers about
John and some blankets and clothes and other items into a trunk.
She forged a journal and placed that inside the trunk as well. She
then spun her magic and placed the heavy trunk upstairs in the
attic and made cobwebs appear on it, as if the trunk had been there
for many decades.

When Donald showed up for
dinner that night Gertie looked at him in wonder.
When did you get so old, Donald?
Her grief over losing John had been so profound
that Gertie had lost all sense of time. She had found out where
Ophelia had gone off to and how she got there, but she decided to
just let her be for the moment. That moment passed too quickly,
along with the past many years.

Donald had never married
and Gertie handed him a will after he had finished his meal. “What
is this?” He asked on a rather gruff voice.

“It is my will. I have not
been feeling well lately, Donald.”

Donald then took the time
to really look at Gertie. “Damn, Gertie, when did you get so old?”
He said rather rudely. Gertie knew that she should not react badly
to that statement, given that it had been only over the last few
months that she had altered her appearance to look much older, but
it still bothered her.

“Now you make sure that I
am cremated immediately! I mean that, Donald, no viewing and no
ifs, ands or butts about it, you have to follow my directions! I
want the Gaunter family from next door to have that big trunk that
is upstairs in the attic and also I need for you to give them my
ashes, but not until the appropriate time, the funeral home will
direct you.”

“What? Why would you want
to give strangers your ashes? Well, come to think of it, not like I
want to be looking at your jar of ashes for the rest of my life.”
Donald said.

“Donald, you are what –
seventy six or seventy seven years old? You get this house and
everything else, but only if you abide by my wishes. The trunk and
my ashes are to go to the Gaunter family, no matter what. Even if
they have moved by the time I die.” Gertie said.

“Funny you should mention
that, I heard Jim Gaunter is being called back to his old position
in Michigan and that the family will be moving back there. Why
don’t we get him right now to come in here and help me haul that
trunk down from the attic and let him have it now?”

“NO! Donald, you will do as
I ask and only as I ask and in the time frame I am asking you to do
it, do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, mam,
sorry.”

Gertie continued to make
her plans for her departure. When Luna and Thelma had been here all
those many years ago, Thelma had taken the camera with her when
they left. Over the years Thelma must have figured out what it was,
because on a couple of occasions pictures had arrived in the mail
that she had taken. These were also placed in the trunk in the
attic.

Gertie made one last trip
into town. She stopped in at the funeral home and spoke with the
owner of the establishment. She slid a very thick envelope across
the desk to him, smiled and went on her way.

Now all I have to do is to
wait until next winter.
She
thought.

Jim and Sarah Gaunter
stopped by with their daughters to say goodbye. They were leaving
to return to Michigan. Suzanne did not want to go and asked Gertie
if she and her toy stuffed rabbit with the plastic face could stay
with her. “Can me and Mr. Pickles stay with you instead of moving
to Michigan?” Suzanne asked.

“Oh my dear, you would be
so lonely for your mother and father and your sister Riley.” Gertie
pointed out.

“The way I figure it, they
would have to come back to get me because they would miss me and
Mr. Pickles so much. That is the only way I can think of to make it
so that we get to stay here and live next door to you.”

“You are a sweetheart. You
have a good trip and be a good girl. I know you do not understand
this, but we shall see each other again, Suzanne, I promise
you.”

The Gaunters moved to their
home state of Michigan the following week.

Gertie had left explicit
instructions on how she wanted her send off to the great beyond to
go. She was laid out in a bright red negligee, but only viewed for
a very few minutes and only by Donald. Just long enough for him to
say his goodbyes and to relay the news that indeed, Gertie was
gone. The casket was then taken from the room.

There was a live band and a
catered meal, all arranged and paid for by Gertie the year before.
She wanted people to celebrate her life, and not dwell on her
death. The next day the townspeople again came to the funeral home
to pay their last respects.

Gertie’s neighbors and
friends from the various charities she had been involved with spoke
lovingly of her at her memorial service. One of the ladies from the
church stood up at the podium and looked out over the many people
who had come to give their last respects. She spoke about what had
made Gertie such a well-loved character.

“Living to be one hundred
and three years old was reason alone to celebrate. She had been
something of a local celebrity, and not only because of her
advanced age and great beauty. Her quick wit and strong will had
caused her to butt heads with local politicians and others and the
local newspapers and TV stations were always happy to report on her
triumphs. Miss Gertie was kind and loving, but she took no guff
from anyone.”

The Gaunter family had come
back for the memorial, but were in a hurry to get back on the road.
The weather outside was terrible. Snow storms were not unusual in
Kentucky or in Michigan, but this was November and so the ice and
snow storm that was raging outside was a good month earlier than
was expected.

Mr. Lucky came to town the
prior year to take over the funeral home that people were told his
father had established and recently retired from. Mr. Luke Lucky
brought out a beautiful indigo urn and gave it to Donald. As he
did, he reminded Donald of Gertie’s last wishes. He went over
everything just to make sure that Donald followed Gertie’s
instructions down to the letter. When the beautiful indigo blue urn
that had been delivered to Donald in front of everyone there
disappeared, Donald did not notice. He sat there drinking a nice
cup of hot coffee. Donald went home to deliver the heavy trunk to
Jim and Sarah Gaunter and had no thought of the urn again until
much later when the time was right.