That's Okay
by: E Walk
(© 2011 by the Author)
 

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...
 

Chapter 29
Disaster Strikes

As I was driving to the office, I was remembering what Dad Witmer had said about surgery.  'What surgery?  Why hadn't he mentioned it when he was at the house.  What's happening.'

Another thought crossed my mind, 'Why is Mrs. Witmer blaming me and the boys for what happened to Lisa?'

I had one last thought, 'Why do we need two houses?  We sure can't be in two places at the same time.'

Fortunately the morning was busy, so I didn't have time to think anything more about what was happening until Linda came in and informed me that George Degan wanted me to meet him at the courthouse at noon, to take care of the paperwork for the cabin.

I looked at my watch and it was 11:40.  I looked at Linda, "I'll be back as soon as I can.  I think the world has gone bonkers.  We'll probably be starving by next week."

Linda giggled, "Les, we'll be fine.  Your afternoon is full and your first appointment is at one thirty.  I'll call Father Bill and inform him you have a date for lunch."

When I arrived at the courthouse, George Degan was talking to a gentleman I didn't know.  As I approached the two of the them, I heard George say, "Mr. Farnsworth, we'll take care of that, over lunch.  Doctor Witmer requested that we get the deed to the cabin into Mr. Phillips name, first."

George saw me and motioned for me to join them, "Les, this is Doctor Witmer's lawyer, Mr. Leonard Farnsworth.  He has some paperwork that he needs you to sign.  First, we need to go get the title to cabin registered in your name."

George led us to where we needed to take care of title and pay the appropriate fees.  The young woman who was helping us looked at the bill of sale which said I had paid five dollars for the property, "Excuse me sir, it says here that you paid five dollars for the property.  That's a misprint isn't it?"

I shook my head no, "No, ma'am.  That all I paid Mr. Witmer for the property."

Mr. Farnsworth spoke before the young lady could, "I'm Mr. Witmer's lawyer, and he informed me that he had sold the property to Mr. Phillips for $5.00."

The woman took a deep breath, "I need to go talk to my supervisor about this.  I'm not sure what I need to do?"

The young woman went to an older gentleman and they were working at a computer.  The young woman and the older gentleman approached us.  The gentleman looked at Mr. Farnsworth, "Mr. Farnsworth, is this some sort of joke?"

"No Rick, Doctor Witmer sold the property to Mr. Phillips for five dollars."

The Rick person shook his head, "This makes no sense at all; why would someone sell a piece of property that has been assessed at over two hundred thousand dollars for five dollars?"

George was so smooth, "Sir, that's the amount that my client paid.  Now, could you have the title to the property transferred immediately, and could you tell us when any taxes might be due?"

Rick Carlson, as were to find out, returned with some papers for me to sign and announced.  "The taxes have been paid until next year this time."

When we were leaving the courthouse, George suggested, "Why don't we go to The Panera Bread Company and grab some lunch?  We can take care of the paperwork that Mr. Farnsworth has for you to sign, Les."

I was totally confused, "George, what paperwork?  I thought we took care of the title."

Mr. Farnsworth looked at me, "Les, that's just the beginning.  I know where Panera is.  I'll meet you there in ten minutes."

As I was driving to the Panera restaurant, I hadn't a clue what was happening.  I was the first to arrive and was contemplating what to have for lunch when George and Mr. Farnsworth appeared.  I looked at them and chuckled, "I guess, the least I can do is pay for lunch, since I bought a cabin for $5.00."

Mr. Farnsworth laughed, "Les, I've been to the cabin.  I'd give my eyeteeth to own a cabin like that."

As we were eating, Mr. Farnsworth pulled some papers out of his briefcase and handed them to me. "Mr. Phillips, I need you to sign these documents so you can be the executor of Doctor Witmer's estate in the event he should die."

I was totally baffled, "Mr. Farnsworth, why me and not his son or daughter?"

Mr. Farnsworth shrugged his shoulders, "Les, his previous will had named his wife as the executor, in case he preceded her in death.  He came to me last week and asked me to rewrite his will.  I know Mrs. Witmer and I'm sure that she will raise a big ruckus when she finds out what he has done."

Mr. Farnsworth continued, "Quite frankly, I was surprised when he designated you to be his executor, since your four sons are to receive one third of his estate."

I was totally mystified now, "You mean in addition to the money that he has already provided for their college educations and the cabin."

Mr. Farnsworth nodded, "Yes, he has also given his other two grandchildren the same amount of money.  I'm not sure why you were selected to receive the cabin, but there must have been a reason."

I handed the papers to George Degan, "George, is their any reason why I shouldn't sign this document?"

George looked at it and shook his no, "Les, it's a straight forward document.  I would have thought that Mr. Witmer would have designated Mr. Farnsworth to be the executor, but everything looks fine to me.  Go ahead and sign it."

Mr. Farnsworth grinned, "The reason I wasn't named the executor of the estate is that I am also Mrs. Witmer's lawyer, much to my chagrin.

I signed the three copies and George notarized the copies.  Mr. Farnsworth handed me one of the copies and a copy of the latest will of Mr. Witmer that he had signed four days ago.

As I was walking to my car, I had this sinking feeling in my stomach that what I had done was going to cause me grief.

The afternoon was busy, but I was able to leave at 4:30.  When I was pulling into the driveway I saw the boys mowing the next door neighbor's yard.  I waved to them and David yelled, "We're almost done.  We'll be home in ten minutes." 

I said hello to Mrs. Archer and went to change my clothes.  When I returned to the kitchen, Mrs. Archer was laughing.  She looked at me, "Les, we need to get the boys enrolled in some summer activities.  They shouldn't be mowing lawns all the time.  What are you going to do about the not so little cabin?"

The boys appeared, disappeared and reappeared after they had washed their hands.  They hugged me and asked Mrs. Archer what they could do to help her.  "Everything is ready as soon as Bill, Dr. Anderson and the Dillons get here, Doctor Jacobs won't be here tonight.  He's having dinner with his son's family and I didn't want to go."

Darrin asked, "Why not?"

"They were going to a Sushi restaurant and I don't like raw fish."

Denny looked at her, "But I thought we were having the fish that we caught for dinner, tonight.?"

Mrs. Archer hugged Denny, "We are, but it's not going to be raw.  It's going to be baked.  Why don't you set the table.  Everything should be ready in thirty minute.  Darrin and David, why don't you take the dinner I fixed for Mrs. Daniels to her."

I watched as the two boys left with the food and Denny and Danny were setting the table.  Darrin was back almost immediately, "Daddy, Grandma Hattie is laying on the floor David says she's not breathing." 

Mrs. Archer turned off the stove, and she and I went to check.  Mrs. Archer looked at the boys, "Darrin and David, go home and take care of Denny and Danny.  We'll be there shortly."

As soon as the boys had gone, Mrs. Archer touched Mrs. Daniels, "Mrs. Daniels has been dead for some time.  Her body is already cold.  Call the police and tell them what is happening.  I'll go home and take care of the boys.  I'll send Bill over as soon as he gets home, and I'll send Dr. Anderson over as well."

I called 911 and told them what was happening.  The dispatcher informed me that the police should be arriving in approximately five minutes.  I looked at the phone book and called Grandma Hattie's son's residence and informed her son's wife what had happened and she said, "Oh no!  Paul is on his way there.  He was going to pick her up and bring her here for dinner tonight."

It was as if the heavens opened and everyone arrived at the same time.  Bill, and Roy Anderson arrived with the police, and they were followed shortly by Mr. Paul Davidson.  The police questioned me as to why I was there.

I explained, "We have been providing Grandma Hattie with a hot evening meal for the last several months.  When my two oldest sons brought the food tonight, they found Mrs. Davidson lying on the floor.  Mrs. Archer and I came to check and this is how we found her."

The older of the two police officers looked at me.  "How would your sons get in if she was already dead?"

Mr. Davidson had answered, "My mother trusted Mr. Phillips' sons so much, that she had given them a key to enter her house even when she wasn't here."

I took a deep breath, "When we brought the food in the evening, Mrs. Davidson had instructed us to ring the doorbell and to come in.  She had trouble moving very fast.  We always checked to see if there was anything that we could do to help her before we left.  The boys have even been watering her house plants for her."

The officer looked at Bill and Roy, "Who are you and why are you here?"

Bill answered first, "Officer, as you can see I am a member of the clergy.  I'm Bill Archer, and I'm on the staff where Mrs. Davidson attended church.  I'm here because I happen to live across the street."

Roy answered, "I'm Doctor Roy Anderson and I'm here because I was invited to dinner at the Phillips' house tonight.  I had the pleasure of getting to know Grandma Hattie when she was at the hospital when Mr. Phillips' son was in a coma."

Mr. Davidson spoke up, "Officers, my Mother has had a bad heart condition for some time.  She has lived much longer than the doctors had predicted.  She was 94. I'll take care of the arrangements.  Father Bill, she wanted you to be the person to do her service and she wanted Les' four boys to be her pall bearers.  Why don't you go home and eat?  This is going to be hard on your sons because I know that they had grown very fond of her."

The officer asked another question, "Has Mrs. Davidson's body been moved."

I looked at the man, "I know that Mrs. Archer and I didn't move the body, and I'm sure my sons didn't move her body, since they are only eleven and nine."

Bill intervened, "Officers, if it would make you feel better, why don't you check with the two boys.  They're across the street.  Can we go home and eat?  I'm sure the boys are starving and wanting to know what's happening."

The older officer looked at the younger, "I'll go talk to the boys.  You stay here and wait for the people from the coroner's office to arrive."

When we walked out of the front door, the five young guy's were sitting on the front steps watching what was happening.  Darrin was the first to speak, "Grandma Hattie is dead, isn't she?  Is the officer coming to arrest us or something?"

Officer Hathaway started to laugh, "No, I'm not going to arrest you.  I just wanted to meet you because I have heard so much about you.  My daughter, Sarah, was in your work crew after the storm.  She has also helped at the Mission, when you served the food this month."

David stood and extended his hand, "Officer Hathaway, I'm David.  That's Darrin on the other end.  We were the persons who found Grandma Hattie.  We didn't touch her.  I put my hand in front of her nose and mouth I couldn't feel any air.  The guy sitting next to Darrin is Kent Dillon; he helps in our lawn mowing business.  The twins, Danny and Denny are our brothers."

All five boys shook the officer's hand and I think he was impressed.  He looked at the boys and grinned, "It's a pleasure to meet you.  I understand that you must be hungry, so why don't you take the old men here and make sure they get fed."

The officer departed and we went into the kitchen. Mrs. Archer commiserated, "Guys, I had to throw the first batch of fish out because it was overcooked.  The second batch will be ready in five minutes.  Everyone wash their hands while Shay and I finish cooking.

When everyone was seated except Mrs. Archer, Shay and David, David started to bring the food which was going to be served family style.  There was a large platter of fried fish filets with a bowl of coleslaw, a bowl with a mixture of French fries and onion rings and basket of hush puppies.

Denny took a bite of a hush puppy and asked, "What are these things?"

Mother Archer laughed, "They're called hush puppies."

Danny asked, "Why are they called hush puppies and not hush kittens?"

That caused everyone to laugh.  Bill answered, "I wondered why they were called hush puppies and looked it up.  It seemed that they started in the south and were sometimes used to feed the dogs to keep from barking."

 Darrin started to giggle, "Oh great, now Grandma Archer is treating us like dogs.  Guys, we need to call the S. P. C. A."

The levity was stopped by the sound of the front doorbell.  I went to answer and Mr. Davidson was standing there, "Les, did you speak to your sons about being pall bearers for Mother's funeral?"

"No sir, I felt that they should hear it from you and your family."

Mr. Davidson nodded his head in agreement, "May I speak with the four boys?  I thought I would take care of this detail so I can cross it off the list of things I needed to do, since I need to make the arrangements.  All of our relatives live out of town."

"Of course, Mr. Davidson."

I led Mr. Davidson to the dining room and the four boys said hi.  Darrin stood, "Mr. Davidson, would you like to sit down?"

He shook his head no, "No thank you, Darrin; I just stopped by to ask if you four boys to be the honorary pall bearers for Mother's funeral?"

Danny looked at him and asked, "What does that mean?"

Mr. Davidson answered, "It means that you would follow the casket into the sanctuary and be seated in the first row and then stand by the casket when it is placed into the ground at the cemetery.  Mother was extremely fond of the four of you.  It would mean so much to us to have you there, even though you may need to miss some school."

Darrin hugged Mr. Davidson, "Sir, we'd be honored to do that, because we loved Grandma Hattie.  You will need to let us know what we are to do, since we've never been pole bearers before."

Mr. Davidson had tears in his eyes, "Guys, thank you.  I'll call you and tell you the details when I get the funeral arranged.  Father Archer, would you be available to meet with us at eleven tomorrow?"

"Yes, Mr. Davidson, I'll make sure that my schedule is free."

Mr. Davidson had departed and the five guys were taking care of the cleanup; we could hear them talking when the phone rang.

I answered, "This is Les Phillips."

"Les, this is Len Farnsworth.  Two things have happened that make it imperative that you get your sons out of the house as soon as you can and take them to the cabin.  I'll call you and tell you what's happening.  Better yet, I'll meet you at the cabin in an hour.  Take everything you need for the night and tomorrow."  Click.

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  I do believe that this could be considered a cliffhanger.  I think it is imperative that someone write another chapter very soon. I think that is the proper procedure for resolving cliffhangers. I am on the edge of my seat.

I certainly hope we find out what is happening very soon.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 07/29/11