TRIVIA: if you can give me the definition of Snollygoster (yes, it's a real word. I found it looking for obsolete words and laughed really hard), I will give you a chapter!
?-?
"Hi!" Sue happily said when Jack answered the FaceTime call that morning.
"Hi. What's up?" he said and signed, worried.
Sue frowned. "Does something have to be wrong for me to call you?"
"Uh, no." Jack said, distractedly.
"Is there something wrong?" Sue concernedly asked.
Jack shook his head.
Sue shrugged. "Well," she smiled. "I was calling to let you know I had a really good night. What you said to me really helped." She said, rubbing the mystery key Jack gave her that she kept around her neck, maybe hoping that he would notice, and maybe, possibly give her a clue.
"That's good." He smiled at her.
"I was thinking," she said, looking away for a second. "Since I have the morning off, and you do too, maybe we could do something fun?"
Jack laughed. "Like what?"
Sue's eyes brightened up. "How about sledding? I haven't done it in so long, and I found an old sled in the attic that I think the original owners left."
Jack laughed. "I haven't done that in a long time either."
"Perfect!" Sue exclaimed. "I'll pick you up in a half hour."
Jack smiled, but got serious, waving his hand so she would look at her phone again. "No!"
Sue frowned.
"I mean, what I hear the best sled hill is by you, not me. I'll pick you up."
Sue was still confused by his reaction, but nodded. "OK. See you in a bit."
Jack waved and smiled, and hung up his phone. "Whew, that was close. I don't want her to see her surprise before it's ready." he said, picking up a stray screwdriver and putting it away in the toolbox nearby.
?-?
Before Mya could let Maddy leave for school, she had to know one thing. She sat down next to her sister as she was eating her breakfast, and Maddy looked at her. "Can you now tell me why you acted so strangely at the beginning of the week? It's normally not like you to act weird on first days. Normally, you act excited."
Maddy left the spoon that held oatmeal in her mouth longer than normal, thinking. Finally, she pulled it out and swallowed. "I was afraid." She whispered.
Mya nodded. "I could see that. Why?"
"Because I'd never gone to a Deaf school. Everyone I know is hearing. I felt like an outsider." She looked away so that her sister couldn't answer.
Mya touched her shoulder. "You do know everyone feels that way, not just you. I felt that way coming here. I was scared. I had that big argument with Mom and Dad, and I was mad. So I hid everything inside, becoming hostile to everyone. It was only when you came that I realized what had really happened. You never have to feel that way alone. There are several of us who do. You're not alone." She slightly smiled at her sister. "Promise me the next time you feel that way, you'll tell me?"
Maddy nodded. "Promise." She said and signed.
?-?
"Hey." Jack said as Sue popped her head into his car after he pulled up into her driveway.
"Hi!" She smiled at him "Can you help me with the sled? It's bigger than I thought. My Mom helped me down the stairs with it, but I don't want her to get all bundled up to just go right back in again." She asked sheepishly.
"Sure." He got out of the car and followed her into the house. He found the sled right by the door, and they carried it out to the car, Sue closing the front door on her way out. They slid it into the trunk and backseat, where the seats were down, and they were off.
"Wow, this hill is bigger than I expected." Jack said, looking at the large hill before them about 20 minutes later.
Sue smiled. "This isn't that bad. We had one in Ohio that was twice this size."
Jack looked at her, shocked. "Twice?"
Sue nodded, smiling at his shock. "My brothers and I would go down the hill 1,000 times in a day. The only thing I hated was running back up the hill, but if I didn't, they would call me a sissy. So I'd run up there in half the time that they would."
Jack laughed. "You are definitely not a sissy."
"Do they not have hills in Wisconsin?" Sue asked.
"Oh they do, big ones. But they usually were filled with trees, so they are unsafe to sled down. When I was young, we had a hill a bit smaller than this one on the farm that my Dad had. Hailey and I used to go down that hill at least a hundred times a day during the winter, after school." Jack said, remembering.
"So, are you ready?" Sue asked after a few seconds of Jack staring off into space, thinking about his childhood winters.
He looked at her and nodded. "Oh yeah."
?-?
Mya happily hummed as she did some research for another case that was assigned to Bobby and Myles, who weren't really working on Jack, Sue, and Tara's case, at least until that night.
"What are you humming about?" Myles asked, annoyed at the noise.
Mya smiled. "That I get to see one of my most favorite singers next weekend."
Myles glared at her. "Just keep it down, it disrupts my concentration."
"Ooohhh," Mya frustratedly replied.
"Did you find anything?" Bobby asked, distracting her.
Mya shook her head. "No. I can't find anything."
Bobby chuckled. "Keep on digging. If anyone can find even a drop about him, it's you."
Mya smiled. "Thanks, but it doesn't help figuring the case out."
"You'll find something." Myles replied.
Mya laughed hard, jerking her head back. "Amazing coming from you."
Myles just glared at her.
"What makes you think it's a domestic terrorism plot anyways?" Mya asked. "It could be just a guy who's gone loony."
Everyone in the room laughed.
"Loony? Really? Who uses that word anyways?" Sarah asked, putting her say in the matter.
"What?" Mya asked, laughing. "Can't I have my own set of grammar?"
"Yes, but loony? Please no." Sarah replied, still laughing. "It's about as bad as britches, or icebox, or, or, snollygoster!"
Bobby snorted. "What does that mean?" he mumbled.
"Oooh, just get back to work, quietly." Mya teased, throwing a paper airplane that Josh had made earlier when he was bored and gave it to her at Sarah.
"Hey!" Sarah laugh-yelled, dodging the plane that didn't even reach her desk.
"Ladies! Let's get back to work!" Myles yelled, hoping to get everyone in line again.
Both women glared at him. He broke their fun.