CHAPTER FOURTEEN – JINGLE BELLS
The puppies scurried here and there and Edna and Aggie laughed seeing them slip and slide on the polished wooden floor. They were balls of fluff and with their antics, yapps and constant running around, and, coupled with the laughs and giggles from their owners; it made for a warm and happy home-coming evening. Aggie’s room had not yet been cleaned or arranged. It was Edna’s junk room and she had had no time to prepare it – she didn’t know beforehand what was in store with the upheaval of the family. There was a bed under the cartons of Avon products and Edna piled these up in a corner. She did have spare sheets, blankets and pillow and made up a cosy bed for Aggie who was playing with the pups in the lounge room. Aggie would occasionally flick through the book of Vincent’s letters, then toss a piece of rope across the room and watch the pups capture and wrestle with it.
Edna came in and sat on the settee arm next to Aggie. “Bed’s made, sweetie. I suppose you’re missing all your belongings from Miami – Uncle Dan is trying his best to get it all up here – there is a lot of paperwork to be done. We still don’t know when the funeral people will have your dad up here. Are you worried about what’s happening with things at the moment?”
“No, not really, most of my clothes will probably be too small for me now anyway. There’s some things that mommy left for me like her jewellery and stuff, I would like to keep that. Not much else, besides the photos I had in my drawer. I hope Uncle Dan sends up Dad’s private stuff, you know his medals and things – can you help me go through it?”
“Of course sweetheart, but that doesn’t look like happening for some time yet – anyway I think we have everything we need till then, if not, we can go on a few shopping sprees, yeehaa!” Aggie seemed happy enough. “Ok missy, I have to ask – how is Dwarg going?”
“Still much the same – he is so preoccupied with the paintings. I’ve found that he does have a problem with things that transmit and receive electronically – he can’t seem to relate to TV, radio or telephone and digital things – not even the clocks back in those motel rooms. He knows what they are, but can’t interact with them. By himself, he can only understand writings, symbols, drawings, photos and speech.”
“Then what about the Keno games back in Hartford? – they were on a television screen.”
“Yes I know, he couldn’t see the numbers and I had to really concentrate for him to understand – I had to visualize all the numbers on the screen before he could calculate anything.”
“So he can’t watch TV?”
“Well only through me, I guess he can somehow plug into my brain to see what I see, but on his own – no. I think his problem is that he has to interpret my reactions and emotions when I’m hearing and seeing, and it’s so funny Aunt Edna, when I hear a song and start to move to the music- he’s got no idea of what’s going on.”
“Does he get angry with you when this happens Aggie?”
“No, no, no – I can sense his confusion and I tell him “don’t worry Dwarg, it’s only a Human thing.”
“Oh Aggie, I’m so worried that something will go wrong with all this – what will happen to you when Dwarg is finished with whatever he is after?”
“Well he’s working on that too and sometime in the future he knows he must leave me. He says while he is with me, I’ll never get sick or be injured, and one good thing Aunt, I’ll never ever get leukaemia again.”
Edna suppressed a slight sigh of relief to hear that, plus knowing that there was to be an end to Aggie’s Dwarg – albeit in the future – o yes – Human years.
“Ok Dwarg, let’s get going with this quest of yours, what do you want to know and how can this Human, me I mean, get your ass into gear and get you moving back to your planet or world, oh that’s right – your Aura?”
“Well for starters, Edna, stop your machines leaving the planet.” Aggie realized that these words had come out of her far too quickly - she had missed filtering that retort from Dwarg.
Edna stared blankly into Aggie’s eyes and thought, Up yours E.T. – hoping that Aggie could not hear the thought.
“Here, hold my hands Aunt - just close your eyes, don’t say anything, just think of what you want to ask Dwarg – that may be less confusing for you – I will talk for him.”
“You mean like a séance?”
“Not really, you don’t have to say anything, just think the question, and besides, we’re not communicating with spirits or ghosts.” Edna clasped Aggie’s hands in hers and closed her eyes and concentrated.
“What do you look like Dwarg?”
“I am now physical but invisible to Human eyes because of my size. When I first became physical, I was seen by Humans. I heard their description of my appearance as something looking much like a piece of cotton wool or white tissue. As I entered Robert Kellor, I had to reduce my size to enable me to attach myself to some of his cells.”
“Did you kill my brother?”
Aggie pulled her hands away. Edna apologized immediately. “Oh, I’m so sorry Aggie, I forgot myself. I keep forgetting that you and Dwarg are not separate – maybe time for me to shut-up before we all get upset.”
“I’m really, really happy with everything Aunt Edna – I don’t mind sharing myself with Dwarg – it’s never dull or boring – come on, let’s try again.”
Edna held Aggie’s hands and concentrated on her next question, but they come out in a flood.
“What about Aggie’s future? What about her schooling and her growing up? – She won’t be a child all her life, she will grow into a teenager then a woman – what about her future relationships? - She may want children of her own – how about that?
“Aggie will live the normal life of a Human. She will be happy and will never suffer from illness or disease.”
“Aggie refers to you as a he, are you male or what?”
“In Human terms and in Whisp terms, I would be a what or an it – but I have adopted some character traits from Robert Kellor, so would come over to Aggie as a he – it’s as simple as that.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier if you just reveal yourself to our leaders, our government or scientists – you seem to have powers – couldn’t you attach yourself to someone who has some clout?, that would get the ball rolling. I can’t understand why Aggie has to be involved in all this.”
“That plan was proposed then rejected. It would lead to disaster for your world and the Aura. Whisps have studied Humans and know that Humans will never tolerate and accept the now –they will always progress – it is in their nature.”
“Don’t know exactly what you mean by that, but you’re probably right – are you putting thoughts into my head Dwarg?” Edna’s question was very valid as at that very instant, she had a flash of her forebears - generations of families, living happily with nature in the mountains, just wanting to exist without interference – the progress of man, however, ruined all that.
“Edna, Humans know about DNA, but have yet to discover that there is a lot more to DNA than just genes, traits and directions for reproduction – there are also memories.”
This was getting a bit freaky. “OK Dwarg, what about that other stuff? – those pictures and things – what’s the deal there? – do we need to find or go and dig up lost aliens or whatever? - I hope he, or it, had nothing to do with van Gogh’s going loony-tunes, if you get my drift.”
“More information is needed, there is something very important and needs to be investigated - more time is required.”
“Damn right it’s important. Maybe I can help. I’m going to buy a computer tomorrow – I know it’s useless to you, but at least Aggie or me can find bits and pieces of information from the internet on just about anything in the world – or so I’ve been told anyway. Bucky down the road, has been trying to talk me into getting set up with a computer, he’s the local whiz kid on these gadgets and what he can’t teach me, there’s always the School for the PC challenged in Putney.”
“Thank you f
or your assistance Edna.”
“Now give Aggie a rest, she should be tired by now.”
“Aunt Edna, I think it’s Dwarg who’s all tuckered out.”
“Just like those pups, just look at them sleeping on my valuable Indian rug, made in Pakistan. Wow quite a day – OK, off to bed now – nighty night darling – and I suppose you too Dwargles”
“Goodnight Aunt.”
Dwargles? - Dwarg was again confused with Human emotions – why would she call him that? – it’s just another thing to add to his list of ever increasing questions about the myriad facets of the Human psych.
Before Edna retired to bed she flicked through a bundle of mail which she really didn’t want to look at and read. However she did sit down and write a letter in response to a very nasty communication from the hospital in Miami. She wrote that she was Aggie’s guardian, nothing she had done was illegal and she would take Aggie to a doctor of her own choosing to confirm her current medical condition. Their questions as to medical insurance would be passed to the executor of Robert Kellor’s estate – she added. “you remember Robert Kellor, you know, the guy who died mysteriously right under your noses.”
Edna would wait at least a week before trying to enrol Aggie at school. Perhaps something would change – perhaps Robert’s body would arrive shortly – neither happened.
During that week, she had bought a computer and had it installed and set up, compliments of Bucky. For a backwoods kid, he was an extremely knowledgeable and patient teacher. Within the first few hours, Edna had learnt to play solitaire and to move and work the mouse pointer all over the monitor without shaking. The language was weird and sounded funny to her, but she was determined to conquer it, so much so, that on the third day, Bucky said she was ready to go on-line and access the internet. Day five, she had an email account and sent her first message to Claire. By day six, she had an on-line bank account, and was overjoyed to be able to simply pay her utilities and other bills by clicking and typing on her marvellous machine. She marvelled at the colour printer and the things it could do – even print photographs and scan and copy things. She kicked herself for not doing all this years ago. Her sacred stones, bones and signs had become things of secondary importance.
Aggie was only mildly interested in Edna’s new found passion. She enjoyed the trips into town and to Brattleboro. She knew that Edna was so happy to take her shopping for clothing – not that Aggie was ungracious, but it seemed that Edna wanted to buy anything and everything that a girl may want. A new cupboard had been delivered, lacy curtains purchased and she even bought a wind-up non-digital clock (with moving hands) for Dwarg.
Aggie’s best love however, was walking along the tracks and following the creeks further down the Trail. The puppies would follow her, all the while romping and playing together, stopping occasionally to look at some noise or sniff at anything of interest to them. Aggie dearly loved them. She had found her favourite spot. It was in a small valley with spruce, fir and maple overhead, a little stream was cascading over small boulders and on the banks was a small green grassy patch where she would sit and just listen to the sounds of the mountains. The pups would settle down for a nap and Aggie would lie back and look up at the branches and watch birds and butterflies flitter, going about their lives like all creatures of the Earth must do.
She would think about Aunt Edna, sitting behind the computer, cussing and muttering when things didn’t go the way she meant. What a lovely person she really was. She didn’t have to go to all this trouble, yet it proves that she really cared for her – and she was grateful for the love. It must be so hard for someone set in their ways, to accept all that has happened so far and still smile.
Dwarg himself, was rather passive during this time, only passing on some gossip about Edna’s emotional state when she introduced Aggie to Ed. Aggie found Ed to be a pleasant soul, a nice person – more than could be said about the taste of his baked beans, which she found revolting.
She also visited Lisa, who gladly showed her how to make those delicious bread rolls. Aggie confided to Lisa that she was frightened to go to visit Doctor Rixon. Aunt Edna said that it needed to be done to satisfy the assholes in Miami. She told Lisa of her fear that the doctor may find something wrong and she would be sent back to hospital. Lisa admitted that she had some reservations herself about examinations, inoculations and blood tests and would avoid doctors as best she could; in fact she hadn’t seen a doctor in some time. The conversation, ably guided by Aggie, ended up with the proposition that Lisa and Aggie would both see Doctor Rixon at the same time for a complete medical check-up. Aggie skipped and whistled all the way home – knowing full well that Lisa would now be on the phone to Edna, telling of her clever plan to help waylay Aggie’s concerns. Next spring, Aggie thought, Bangles will have a playmate.
Apart from the antics and yapping of puppies, evenings were quiet in the homestead at Putney, Vermont. Aggie had found a quicker way of reading books – with the help of Dwarg. She now had to simply place her hand on the book, concentrate for a minute or so, and all the contents would be absorbed with complete comprehension. Dwarg wished he could have done this with Robert Kellor – it would have saved valuable time in gathering information about the Humans and their history. Aggie, on the other hand, became ever more proficient with all the knowledge. She now knew much more of her cultural heritage, cooking recipes, DIY projects, history, how to maintain and repair machinery, arts and crafts, animal husbandry, identification of herbs, seeds and foliage, and luckily, Edna had kept all her old school text books – the contents of which were gleefully gobbled up.
One quiet afternoon Edna was sitting on the porch watching Aggie play chase with the pups. Aggie ran up to her and said, “Aunt may I ask you something? You can say no if you want, it’s to do with daddy’s funeral.”
“Go right ahead sweetheart, ask me anything.”
“I would like to do the Jingle Dance for you and Uncle Dan at daddy’s funeral – would that be all right with you?”
Edna was stunned. “Oh wow, honey that would be marvellous! – wonderful – Oh how good that makes me feel. How did you know about?....never mind – tell you what, we may not have too much time, let’s go straight to Brattleboro, right now, and get you some material and bells. I’ll dust down the sewing machine and I’ll make you the bestest Jingle Dance dress in Vermont. Our traditional colours are red and white and mauve.”
“Believe me Aggie, you won’t regret this and it’s an experience you will always remember. You probably didn’t know that I did the dance for your grandmother. . Oh this is really great. I’ll go ring Uncle Dan.”
“The thing is Aunt Edna; I already have a Jingle Dance dress and matching moccasins. They should be coming up with all the other stuff from our house in Miami. Daddy got it for my tenth birthday, but I never came to wear it – perhaps things may have been different if I did. I’d completely forgotten about the dress till last night – that’s the second time I’ve dreamt about it.”
“Oh sweetie, I didn’t know you had that dress. Did your dad tell you anything about it?”
“Sort of, but I didn’t quite understand at the time. It’s only now by reading your books that I know more of our background and traditions. I know the dance is all about healing oneself. I would like to attach more bells to the dress - one each for Uncle Dan, Aunt Claire, Jade and you. I don’t think the spirits will be overly upset at me having a total of three hundred and seventy bells. Better still, I noticed those shells you keep in your office drawer, would you mind if I use four of them in place of the bells?”
“What can I say Aggie, of course you can – and what a great compliment. You know those shells come from a sacred place don’t you?”
“Ahem, yes Aunt, but we’d better keep that as our little secret. Aunt Edna, are you blushing?”