A/N: I got bored and I want to finished this story as soon as possible, so, eh, here you go!! Have fun. It's short, but at least it's another chapter, no? I cut out MORE of the chapters and I think I've got it down to a managable thirty-four -- one less than T1!! :)
::Karen does jig::
Part .16
I was down to three siblings. It seemed surprising, only three left for me to help and fix. I suppose I was thinking back when I was commanding officer of forty children, not five. Times change. I didn't like the changes.
I decided that I'd follow my usual plan and go with the one who was closet to Seattle. I opened up my book and reviewed the notes in it. There was Ally in Arkansas; Miki was somewhere in New Hampshire, which I hadn't remembered as a state merely because I thought there wasn't a 'p' somewhere in there; and there was Lezli living in Texas.
Perhaps I'd go after Alan first. After all, Arkansas wasn't that much further than Texas, and I liked the idea of seeing my handsome older brother again. I could just picture it then, Alan with all those girls fawning over him. It would be like Pierre back in France. God, Pierre had been beautiful.
I sighed. I couldn't, in good conscience, go off and get Ally before I went after Lezli. I hated myself for being fair, but I knew that I'd be guilty every time I thought of it if I didn't go after Lezli first.
I logged onto my computer and checked for Lezli in . . . I tried to recall what the name of the town where she was last recorded was called. Ah -- Snape, Texas. I typed in the information the program required and sat back and waited.
Ping. It had a match. I almost gasped. Bringing up the file, I glanced through it. There she was, in a black and white photo. She didn't look quite like I remembered. There was still fire in her eyes, and she was smiling broadly, which was more than I could ever remember, but she didn't look as menacing as when I was a young child. The strong resemblance between her and Cleopatra was actually surprising and satisfactory. Cleopatra hadn't been known for her beauty. Not that Lezli was exactly homely or anything, but she had the same strong features of Cleopatra.
Okay, so she was a good deal more attractive than Cleopatra. I would bet that her red hair and bright green eyes would attract a lot of attention, also. It was kept basically short, from what I could tell in the picture, but long enough to be easily pulled back.
Closing my eyes, I pressed the print button, then swiveled on my chair to the phone and grabbed it. Pressing speed dial, I spoke into the phone when I heard the click of it being picked up.
"Look, it's Ty. I've got --" I began, speaking quickly because I didn't feel like wasting time at the moment, my eyes on Lezli's face.
"Hewwo?" a high-pitched voice said in a decided lisp. I cringed. Wasn't it the Qeleigh one who had the lisp? I paused, trying to figure out what to say. "Hewwo?" Uh, let's see, Ty, I thought, just ask for --
Click.
The little bugger had hung up on me. Furious, I pressed the button again. I heard the phone being picked up, and then the unmistakable click of it being hung up again. Redial. Click.
I hung up the phone and county to thirty. It would take at least that long for whoever it was to leave the phone and go to the bathroom or to crawl under a desk or something.
Redial. La de da de -- "Hello?" It was Mom. Thank goodness. If I had gotten that little brat one more time I would have screamed. I was not in a good mood at the moment -- I didn't need somebody goofing off and ruining my evening even more.
"Mom, it's Ty," I said. I guess the relief sounded in my voice because Mom laughed. What in the world was she laughing for? I didn't find anything amusing at the moment. I glared at the cat, who was licking himself on the bottom. Remind me to never let him drink out of my cup again, I said to myself.
"Didja just call like four times?" she asked. "I'm sorry, Qelby was supposed to be down for her nap. I thought somebody was prank calling. Then I caught her standing by the phone with a determined look on her face. She's done it before, I swear, I should lock her in the room, but I'm afraid something will happen, and, well, you know."
"Uh," I said. This wasn't what I was calling for. I didn't care about some stupid kid and the fact that she went crazy near a phone. I was calling about . . . what in the world was I calling about? Oh yeah, I was going to tell her that I was going to be out of town for a bit while I went down to Texas and rearranged Lezli. I also needed a foster family. "I, uh . . ."
"Ty . . . Earth to Ty," Mom said, laughing. "What is up with you lately? Your conversational skills have been zip! Not that they were anything special to begin with. You were one track army girl who wanted to blow up aliens."
"Can I talk to Dad?" I asked, swatting at the cat. Mom really shouldn't have brought up Zack again. Couldn't she stop thinking about him? She was almost obsessive.
Wait. She wasn't talking. What happened? Had I insulted her? I wanted to speak with Dad, that's all! It wasn't like I had told her right out that Zack was a topic that was off-subject and she knew very well and she'd better stop it or I'd pound the phone into my keyboard which would delete the information I had on Lezli.
I kept quiet also, waiting for her to speak. I didn't have to wait long. I could have waited longer, but not much longer. I didn't have the best patience in the world. Then again, neither did Mom.
She cleared her throat. "Uh, yeah. I'll go get him. Just a sec." Mom put down the phone and I could hear her very distinctly getting up and walking away. When the footsteps paused, I inferred that Dad had been in the kitchen. Good thing, because I'm sure if Mom had been in the kitchen the kids would have lost more weight.
Click.
Oh, bloody hell. Not again. I cursed very creatively, then hit redial. The kid was going to get hurt, and soon.
::Karen does jig::
Part .16
I was down to three siblings. It seemed surprising, only three left for me to help and fix. I suppose I was thinking back when I was commanding officer of forty children, not five. Times change. I didn't like the changes.
I decided that I'd follow my usual plan and go with the one who was closet to Seattle. I opened up my book and reviewed the notes in it. There was Ally in Arkansas; Miki was somewhere in New Hampshire, which I hadn't remembered as a state merely because I thought there wasn't a 'p' somewhere in there; and there was Lezli living in Texas.
Perhaps I'd go after Alan first. After all, Arkansas wasn't that much further than Texas, and I liked the idea of seeing my handsome older brother again. I could just picture it then, Alan with all those girls fawning over him. It would be like Pierre back in France. God, Pierre had been beautiful.
I sighed. I couldn't, in good conscience, go off and get Ally before I went after Lezli. I hated myself for being fair, but I knew that I'd be guilty every time I thought of it if I didn't go after Lezli first.
I logged onto my computer and checked for Lezli in . . . I tried to recall what the name of the town where she was last recorded was called. Ah -- Snape, Texas. I typed in the information the program required and sat back and waited.
Ping. It had a match. I almost gasped. Bringing up the file, I glanced through it. There she was, in a black and white photo. She didn't look quite like I remembered. There was still fire in her eyes, and she was smiling broadly, which was more than I could ever remember, but she didn't look as menacing as when I was a young child. The strong resemblance between her and Cleopatra was actually surprising and satisfactory. Cleopatra hadn't been known for her beauty. Not that Lezli was exactly homely or anything, but she had the same strong features of Cleopatra.
Okay, so she was a good deal more attractive than Cleopatra. I would bet that her red hair and bright green eyes would attract a lot of attention, also. It was kept basically short, from what I could tell in the picture, but long enough to be easily pulled back.
Closing my eyes, I pressed the print button, then swiveled on my chair to the phone and grabbed it. Pressing speed dial, I spoke into the phone when I heard the click of it being picked up.
"Look, it's Ty. I've got --" I began, speaking quickly because I didn't feel like wasting time at the moment, my eyes on Lezli's face.
"Hewwo?" a high-pitched voice said in a decided lisp. I cringed. Wasn't it the Qeleigh one who had the lisp? I paused, trying to figure out what to say. "Hewwo?" Uh, let's see, Ty, I thought, just ask for --
Click.
The little bugger had hung up on me. Furious, I pressed the button again. I heard the phone being picked up, and then the unmistakable click of it being hung up again. Redial. Click.
I hung up the phone and county to thirty. It would take at least that long for whoever it was to leave the phone and go to the bathroom or to crawl under a desk or something.
Redial. La de da de -- "Hello?" It was Mom. Thank goodness. If I had gotten that little brat one more time I would have screamed. I was not in a good mood at the moment -- I didn't need somebody goofing off and ruining my evening even more.
"Mom, it's Ty," I said. I guess the relief sounded in my voice because Mom laughed. What in the world was she laughing for? I didn't find anything amusing at the moment. I glared at the cat, who was licking himself on the bottom. Remind me to never let him drink out of my cup again, I said to myself.
"Didja just call like four times?" she asked. "I'm sorry, Qelby was supposed to be down for her nap. I thought somebody was prank calling. Then I caught her standing by the phone with a determined look on her face. She's done it before, I swear, I should lock her in the room, but I'm afraid something will happen, and, well, you know."
"Uh," I said. This wasn't what I was calling for. I didn't care about some stupid kid and the fact that she went crazy near a phone. I was calling about . . . what in the world was I calling about? Oh yeah, I was going to tell her that I was going to be out of town for a bit while I went down to Texas and rearranged Lezli. I also needed a foster family. "I, uh . . ."
"Ty . . . Earth to Ty," Mom said, laughing. "What is up with you lately? Your conversational skills have been zip! Not that they were anything special to begin with. You were one track army girl who wanted to blow up aliens."
"Can I talk to Dad?" I asked, swatting at the cat. Mom really shouldn't have brought up Zack again. Couldn't she stop thinking about him? She was almost obsessive.
Wait. She wasn't talking. What happened? Had I insulted her? I wanted to speak with Dad, that's all! It wasn't like I had told her right out that Zack was a topic that was off-subject and she knew very well and she'd better stop it or I'd pound the phone into my keyboard which would delete the information I had on Lezli.
I kept quiet also, waiting for her to speak. I didn't have to wait long. I could have waited longer, but not much longer. I didn't have the best patience in the world. Then again, neither did Mom.
She cleared her throat. "Uh, yeah. I'll go get him. Just a sec." Mom put down the phone and I could hear her very distinctly getting up and walking away. When the footsteps paused, I inferred that Dad had been in the kitchen. Good thing, because I'm sure if Mom had been in the kitchen the kids would have lost more weight.
Click.
Oh, bloody hell. Not again. I cursed very creatively, then hit redial. The kid was going to get hurt, and soon.