Runaways (Orphans 5)

"After all, we can't very well run a little old man off

the road."

I started the engine and drove slowly ahead. He

got into his car and followed right on my bumper.

There was nothing else we could do.

5 A Glimpse of Heaven

The two-story house that appeared before us looked lost in time. There was a small patch of lawn, the grass in desperate need of cutting and weeding. Trees near the house, and especially three very large weeping willows, had been permitted to grow wild. Their untrimmed branches actually touched the roof in places. I imagined that in the daytime, the leaves blocked a great deal of the sunlight, and when the wind blew, the inhabitants probably imagined giant fingers scratching overhead.

The house had a fieldstone foundation and a rough, grainy stucco exterior. There was an arch on the right that opened to a small patio and garden. When the car headlights illuminated it, I saw what looked like a broken fountain shaped like a large saucer with a cherub rising out of the middle.

The windows had black shutters, and some of the windows on the bottom floor had lights in them. To the right of the house was a field filled with tall weeds. It ran on for some distance until it reached a dark wooded area. The separate garage was on the left. The old man pulled around us, jabbing his finger at a spot where he wanted me to park and then pulled his car into the driveway, which was pitted and cracked. He got out of his car as I turned off the engine.

"Maybe we should just back up and get away while we've got the chance," Raven suggested.

"He could call the police and have them after us in minutes," Crystal said. "He's seen us and the car and the police surely have Gordon's description by now."

"Let's see what he wants," I said.

"Don't just sit in there. Get out, get out," he cried as he drew closer, rubbing his hands together. "Nana's in there listening to music, knitting something for Gerry's kids."

"Who's Gerry?" I asked. No one moved.

"My boy. He's the only one left living around here. Helen got married and moved to Akron. Burt's down in Atlanta. I don't expect Burt will ever get married. Come on," he urged. "We'll all have some hot chocolate."

I glanced back at Crystal. She nodded and the four of us stepped out of the wagon.

"Well, lookie here," he said fixing his eyes on Butterfly. "Aren't you a pretty little thing? Gerry's got a daughter with Goldilocks hair just like yours. What's your name?"

"Janet," Butterfly said shyly.

"Janet, Janet," he repeated, scratching his scalp as if he was trying to find her in his memory. He had small clumps of thin white hair around his bald crown and very bushy, Santa Claus eyebrows. His face was round and jolly, too. It was too dark to make out much more about him except that he was just an inch or so taller than Raven, who was the tallest of the four of us. He had long arms with thick forearms and big hands. He was stooped over, his shoulders rising close to the back of his wide neck. Despite his apparent age, there was still something powerful about him, something that reminded me of an old tree stump, aged, pale, but stubborn and strong.

"Come on," he urged and headed down a slate walkway, some of the stones cracked and some rising up from years of freezing and thawing.

The front door had a small multicolored window at the center. He just turned the knob. It wasn't locked.

"Nana, we got guests," he called and stepped back to let us enter as he held the door open for us.

As soon as we stepped into the house, I smelled the aromas left from the evening's dinner. It smelled like pot roast and home-baked bread. The house had the warmth of an old blanket, comfortable, broken in, cozy. Family photographs filled the walls on both sides of the small entryway. There was a wooden hatand-coat stand on our right and an old cast iron radiator on the left. A knitted light pink cover had been placed over it and some unopened mail lay on top of that.

We could hear music coming from one of the rooms off the entryway.

"Debussy," Crystal whispered. She said it so fast I thought about that game, Name that Tune. Crystal can name that tune in two notes.

Raven closed the door quietly behind us as a thin, elderly lady, her white hair loosely pinned over her ears and around the back of her head, appeared. She wore a light blue cotton dress with a large cameo pin at the neck. The hem of the dress went down to her ankles. It had three-quarter length sleeves and we could see the glitter of her gold, jeweled bracelet on her right wrist and her expensive looking watch on the left.

She had large, hazel eyes and nearly perfect lips that formed a gentle, friendly smile. Her skin looked remarkably soft with just deep crow's feet at her temples and some age spots on her forehead and cheeks. She wore no lipstick or makeup. I didn't think she needed it. She must have been a very pretty woman when she was younger, I thought.

"Who's this, Norman?" she asked in a soft, friendly voice.

"Four lost chicks, Nana. I found them sleeping in their car in our driveway."

"Oh dear," she said.