Little Girl Lost- Chapter Three
A/N- Although some websites have given Gammy Hart the name of Angela, I think it would be more fitting to give her the name of Charlotte Lubotsky Hart in tribute to that wonderful performer Charlotte Rae who made the most of what would prove to be her last role.
Saturday afternoon after 'Gammy' Hart's main celebration of life, Katy, Shawn, Maya and all their friends went back to her old house.
"I thought I'd one day bring her back home," Katy sniffed as they walked through the front door.
"Most illogical to do that now, especially with Mrs. Hart cremated," Farkle Minkus noted.
"At least no one broke in and everything's intact after all these months, " Shawn added while he closed the door behind after the last of them entered.
" I can't believe I'm back here and she's gone," Katy sobbed.
"Look at it positively, with a single family dwelling in a renewed urban district, you could easily use it finance Maya's college and maybe your retirement plan. That is if the hospitalization, convalescent and funeral costs don't take out too much, " Farkle added.
"Farkle, "Maya sighed as Shawn walked Katy to the large living room and guided her to sit down.
"Take him OUT of here!" Shawn boiled while Katy broke into sobs again.
"Come on, Farkle. We're supposed to help find what Grammy Hart left behind then help decide what she'd have wanted us to have the most before making the best use of the rest," Maya insisted as she and Riley led the other teens away.
"As odd as it sounds for me to defend a Minkus, he meant well," Topanga sighed.
"I know," Shawn nodded while he clutched Katy's hand who nodded despite crying.
.
"We can't go in there! That's Gammy's bedroom!" Maya pleaded as Riley and Zay started to go in there.
"She's not going to use it . . .now," Farkle sighed.
" There may be stuff in there she may have wanted for your future baby brother. ." Lucas started to say.
"Sister!" Riley interjected.
"But Mrs. Hart wasn't informed of her newest family member before her demise," Farkle protested.
"Just go with it," Lucas groaned.
"OK, we'll go in, " Maya sighed as they opened the door.
"What a cool handstitched, quilted bedspread! " Riley exclaimed as they entered the bedroom.
"It must be at least from Antebellum times!" Farkle added.
"Anti what?" Zay asked.
" Before the Civil War," Lucas explained.
"She won it at the county fair during the time she and Mom lived in Arkansas before returning here," Maya recalled.
" I never understood why she moved Aunt Katy to Arkansas for a few years then brought her back here," Riley pondered.
"Gammy said there was a boy Mom crushed on when she was twelve that Gammy wanted to keep her away from, " Maya explained.
"All this stuff from when she was a WAAC in World War II and when she was a starving actress in the 1940's and 50's on live television," Riley gasped as she saw many pictures of 'Gammy' in uniform and costume from those eras on top of the bedside table and on top of the sets dresser drawers.
"Such a cool quilt- an excellent example of mid 19th century rural American cottage craftsmanship," Farkle beamed as he started to pull it off the other blankets on top of the bed.
"Farkle, NO!" Maya exclaimed.
" I think she may liked you to have had it, Maya," Riley pleaded.
"Yeah, but he got it all wrinkled and I'm going to have to pull it out to smooth it out," Maya fumed while trying to restraighten the quilt
"Look, there's a box under the bed!" Zay exclaimed while the others also saw beneath the bed for the first time with the quilt removed.
"A jewelry box! It's beautiful!" Riley cooed as she took the 2 foot by 1 foot box from beneath and handed it to Maya.
" Made of inlaid mahogany wood and ivory. Most ecologically unsound at the current time but considered quite fashionable in the day," Farkle explained.
"Thank you, Farkle," Riley sighed.
"Aren't you going to open it?" Lucas asked.
"I guess, " Maya answered.
"It's locked tight and there' s no key for it anywhere in this room," Riley groaned as looked for one while she tried to help Maya open the box.
" As if that would stop a Hunter!" Maya smirked as she jiggled the lock a few seconds which caused it to spring open.
"Maya?!" Zay gasped.
" Daddy made me promise to use this skill only for good when he taught me and I can only pass it on to Hunter progeny," Maya laughed.
" I thought there'd be rings, necklaces and jewels galore in there but there's just a bunch of pictures and stuff. Nothing of monetary value to speak of, " Farkle scoffed at the contents.
"Look! This looks like Aunt Katy but what a dorky prom dress! She must have stolen it out of a Sixteen Candles party " Riley laughed-as she held up the 5 by 7 inch framed picture that had been on top, directly beneath the jewelry box lid.
" And that giant hair helmet looks like she's a Charlie's Angel!" Zay while cracking up.
"It's NOT Mom but maybe it's her cousin or something from the 80's!" Maya pondered.
"Beneath this one is another one of her in that dress standing next to your Gammy Hart when her hair was still red," Riley pondered.
"And there's bunches of pictures of her in this box-all the way back to when she was a baby," Lucas exclaimed- as he thumbed his way through the box.
"Who could she be and who's her cool Latino date with the mullet and sideburns next to her in the sky blue tux?" Riley asked.
"She's quite attractive but illogically with rather sad eyes despite the festive occasion, "Farkle noted.
" Are you sure it's not Aunt Katy?" Riley asked.
"It can't be! Read the caption beneath the picture," Farkle gulped.
" ' Martin Peter Alveira and Katharine Christine Daly- Junior Prom King and Queen.' Who are they?" Riley asked.
"And why would Mrs. Hart have their pictures in a box under her bed?" Zay asked.
" I have no idea," Maya gulped.
"What are you all doing here?" Shawn asked as he walked from the hall into Gammy's bedroom.
" Daddy, we just found this box with these pictures here," Maya explained.
"Whoa! I've seen that picture before!" Shawn gasped as the junior prom pic caught his eye.
"Impossible odds for you to have seen it before, Mr. Hunter," Farkle scoffed.
"Look at the bottom line of the caption, 'John Adams High, Philadelphia, Pa, 1982,' The school lined the walls with them all the way back to the 1920's, Brainiac Junior!" Shawn snorted as he picked up the picture.
"We need to take it to Mom and see if she has any idea who this girl could be," Maya insisted as,she handed Shawn the jewelry box while they all exited 'Gammy' Hart's bedroom and went back to the living room where Maya was sitting with Cory and Topanga.
"Babe, the kids found this box with all these pictures inside under Gammy's bed," Shawn explained as he brought it to her.
"You OPENED that box? Shawn, how could you!" Katy sniffed.
"He didn't! It was me, " Maya explained.
"Oh, great! You taught my daughter a Hunter trick!" Katy snapped.
"Our daughter and I told her to use it only for good!" Shawn protested.
"Mom, you can ream Daddy and me later. Right now, we're wondering if you could tell us who this 80's Valley Girl could be in all these pictures with so many of them of her with Gammy," Maya pleaded.
" I have no idea. I've never seen the inside of this box before and. ." Katy sputtered as she hurriedly looked through those pictures before she came to a cardboard object among the pictures and gasped.
"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Topanga gulped.
"It's. .. a funeral service program," Katy shuddered as she picked it up.
"Oh, no! That beautiful girl's dead!" Riley sniffed as she saw Katharine Daly's prom picture reprinted on it.
"Oh,NO! NO! NO! Mommy! How COULD you?! It CAN'T be! It CAN'T be!" Katy sobbed as she ran out of the room and shut herself in the nearby bathroom having thrown the funeral service card on the floor.
"Uncle Shawn, why is Aunt Katy so upset?" Auggie asked.
" I don't know, Aug Man, " Shawn replied patting Auggie's right shoulder while Cory picked the funeral service card up.
"Should I read it out loud?" Cory asked as the other adults looked at the caption in stunned silence.
"You might as well, Corrence. We're all going to need to help Katy deal with this one and we need to know what she's dealing with," Shawn sighed while Topanga nodded in stunned silence as they all looked at the program with the prom picture reprinted.
" 'DALY, Katharine Christine (May 8,1964- November 3,1982). Suddenly taken. Only daughter of Charlotte Lubotsy Daly Hart and the late Rupert Daly. Also, survived by stepfather Jordan Hart, fiance Martin Alveira and. .. ' I just can't," Cory shuddered as he looked away from it.
" ' . . and infant daughter . . .Katy Grace'! Oh, poor Mom!" Maya gasped as she glanced over Cory's right shoulder.