Page 14 of Ayden

When she got up the next day, the first day of her new life she was calling it, Donna went to her job with a new attitude on not just life but everything in her life now.

~*~

Summer was at the auction when she heard from Guy about the woman that they were helping. She’d made it to her home and had started her new job just this morning. Summer decided that she was going to pick up clothing from garage sales this summer and keep a supply of wigs and purses for women and children.

The idea had come from Mac’s brothers. They had been moving people around for years and had never once been caught at it. They didn’t use wigs and such. They just picked the person up that their grandmother wanted them to kill, took them someplace else, and handed them money to get them a new start. They, however, were in a network of people that helped them, and it was working out better, she thought, with getting them as far away as they could.

“Mom, there is a ghost in the room with you.” Stopping what she was doing in favor of seeing to her daughter, she asked her who it was. “I don’t know. They want me to talk to you about something.”

“Okay. But just so you know, I don’t know all that many people that are dead.” She told her that she knew that, too. As soon as Selma sat down with Harley, she had a feeling that the two of them were ganging up on her about something. “What’s going on?”

“This person has been gone for a very long time. You need to know that right up front.” She nodded, unsure where this was going. “He used to live here in this house, at least a part of it, a long time ago and wants you to understand that the things he left behind are for you. For helping the people that need to get away.”

“Is he related to the person that we just helped?” It was Harley who answered yes. “I see. I don’t really, but I’m beginning to understand. This man, whoever he is, wants us to use his, for lack of a better term, treasures to help fund the helping of people get out of bad situations. Is that about right?” Harley nodded.

“His name isn’t important.” She said that it might be. But Harley again said that he didn’t want his name associated so that no one tried to name things for him. “Okay now?”

“Yes. Okay, you’ve given me the pre-information. Tell me what he has to say.” Selma told her about the man and his treasures and where they were. Before she could change her mind, the three of them went looking for one of them in the basement. She found it before Ayden got home and was looking for the second one after dinner. They were making it a family project.

The first one was nothing more than a leather bag full of silverware. It was beautifully decorated, and he had asked that they sell it for something for the charity. By the time they were able to find a few more items, Ayden had said that they’d have to make sure that no one claimed the money from it. That is just what the man didn’t want to happen.

“He’s related to Donnie.” Oh well, that made things different. She could understand now why he didn’t want anyone to know. After doing a little digging, the man who had lived here when the first part of the house was built had been the great too many to count grandfather of Donnie, and he was almost as bad as hisgrandson back when he’d been alive. That was why he wanted to make amends. Because he’d been a bastard all his life as well.

“I don’t know that we can do this without causing trouble.” She didn’t want things to come back and bite them in the ass, so they contacted an attorney to help them out. As it was now, they had thousands of dollars worth of silver, gold, and gems that looked to be diamonds. After consulting the man, it was discovered that he’d stolen the stuff in the house before he’d died.

“This is more and more complicated. It’s stolen goods, and until we find the rightful owner, then we can’t use them. You have to see where this would get us into trouble.” Selma told them that he seemed like a nice man. “Of course, he does now. He’s making amends, like he said. I would imagine that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree when it comes to Donnie and his distant relatives.”

“I’m so sorry. He was so nice to me.” Ayden asked her if any of the ghosts were mean to her, and it took Harley to get her to tell the truth. “What do you do to them when they get nasty with you?”

Her daughter had two bruises on her shoulder and one on her back from one of the ghosts. It was frightening for her to think of her child as being hurt by the dead, but Selma said she was handling it by sending them away. She told them that Harley was there to protect her, and that was when she found out that while she couldn’t see the ghosts, she was intimidating enough that she could send them away when they didn’t realize she wasn’t supposed to be able to do that. It was in their mind that she could, and they believed her.

Putting all the things in a box in the garage, they decided that they weren’t going to look for any more of them until they heard from an attorney. The things weren’t bothering anyone where they were, and the man was just going to have to get over the factthat he couldn’t help, for now, at least. They were doing the best they could right now in figuring things out. Even Selma seemed to be a little upset that the things were to be used to help the people being displaced.

“I wanted to help. I guess I’m not as useful as I thought we’d be.” Summer asked her what she meant. “I want to be able to help the people like we were when Gilbert was around. I mean, wouldn’t it have been nice to be able to start over in a new place? I know we might not have met Dad in the process, but you guys are doing so much, and me and Harley want to be a part of it.”

“You can.” She asked her how. “You’ll need to help me with the children. I know what you guys are thinking and doing, but I don’t know other kids. They might trust you more if you were to find out they needed help. You do understand that we’re going to be working with children, too, to get them in a better place. We might not be able to send them away like we can the parents, but we can get them help if they’re not having a good home life. And sometimes, that might even mean that they need food or some help with bills. You guys are going to be our ears and eyes on that.”

“You think so?” Ayden told their daughters that he knew so. “I’ve been keeping an eye on this little boy at school. I mean, his parents are wolves and all, but they don’t treat him right.” Ayden asked what she had seen. “He’s supposed to be getting hurt when he plays in the schoolyard. But he’s so sore all the time. All he does is sit on the bench and wait for us to go back inside. Then he has no food for his meals either. Harley and I have been packing him things that he could put in his cubie hole, but it’s not enough on account of him having a little brother at home, too.”

“What’s his last name?” Summer hadn’t realized that Lica and Brandy would need to know this because they were in charge of the pack, and if a child was being abused, he would see to it that he was in a better position to be cared for. As soonas he had the last name, Ayden changed the subject, and she knew he was talking to his older brother. “You guys have any ideas on how we can make it so that less kids go hungry? We’re trying to get more jobs for people, but it’s been difficult to get things moving. Brandy had three offers of people coming to put in places to work. But with the mayor having his own crises, it’s been stalled.”

The four of them talked throughout dinner and clean up. They did have a cook, but tonight was his night off, and they were having dinner on the grill. It was very cold out, with it only being a few days until Christmas, but it was nice to have a nice hotdog with potato salad for dinner.

“Hello, the house.” Lica showed up about the time they were having graham cracker applesauce cake for dessert. “I’ve just been out and about in the pack, and I was thinking that I need you girls to help me with a few projects. Not just with what you told your dad but more things like that. Are kids getting enough food at school and home? Do they have the supplies that they need to get their work done or even started? Things that would make it easier for the kids to be able to study and do better in school.”

“No one has any supplies but us, and we share.” Lica told them that there was money to supply supplies for the kids in the classroom. “They’re not getting them then.” Harley looked at her sister, and when she nodded, she looked at Lica. “The teacher we have has a new car. I heard her telling someone that she got it with the supply money because no one ever checks to see if they use it for. And she said that she has her kids in her classroom not saying anything, or she’ll give them failing grades. I don’t care if I get failing grades. I want them to have what Selma and I have all the time.”

“What about the lunch program? Is it working?” Harley said that as far as she knew, everyone had to bring their lunchesbecause there was nothing to cook. “Are you saying that there aren’t any hot meals at the pack house?”

“There isn’t even any cold food. And the milk that they give us when it’s break time is warm and yucky. Selma and me, we bring in what we can, but it’s not enough.” He asked them why they didn’t say anything earlier. “I’m not a wolf, and I didn’t know that stuff was around.”

“Okay, that’s my problem. Thank you. I’ll look into this tomorrow.” Selma asked him why he wasn’t looking into it tonight. “The school isn’t open.”

“So? That would be the best time if you asked me. There isn’t going to be anyone asking you what you’re doing there if they—if they know you’re coming, we’ll suddenly have hot food and stuff. You need to have a look around—don’t you know how to be sneaky? Sheesh, Uncle Lica, even as a kid, I know that people will only let you see what they want you to see if they know that you’re coming.” He asked her when she’d gotten so smart. All she did was roll her eyes at him, and it made her laugh hard. “The teacher who has the new car doesn’t even come in until lunchtime. Then she sits around, making us read a book until it’s time to go home. There are other teachers too. Mrs. Solo teaches math, and she’s only teaching us stuff like one plus one. It’s so easy, but she said it’s because she doesn’t want to waste her time grading papers and hearing how her students are failing. Also, there is a Mr. Breman. He’s…you know what? All the teachers need a good swift kick in the butt. We’re only doing well in class because we were taught before coming here. It’s just too boring for us, and we’re not even the smartest kids in the class.”

“Why didn’t someone say something before?” She asked him if some kid came to him that wasn’t related to him would he believe him if he said that the classes are too easy? “You might be right on that, too. Maybe I should have come to you guys earlier. I just heard that the classes were doing really well, and I neverthought to have a look around.”

“On account of you just hearing what they wanted you to hear.” Lica looked at his brother and then at her. “You don’t have to believe us or not, Uncle Lica, but I want you to know that I’m not going to get into college knowing every day that one plus one is two.”

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