Jimmy’s instincts spiked with an urgent need to flee. Catherine gave the sleeve of his coat an insistent jerk, but he stood firm. Then she yanked him into motion, guiding him to where Ginger sat, and spun him around. She sat him down with a (not so little-girl) shove. Hands on her hips, she glared at Jimmy. He scooted away from Ginger and patted the seat between them. With a mighty, exasperated sigh, Catherine sat on the other side of Jimmy, forcing him to scoot back toward Ginger to make room. Then she scooted more, forcing Jimmy to scoot more. This process was repeated twice again before Catherine sat back, obviously satisfied.
Jimmy tensed with anxiety as the side of his arm brushed against Ginger. Half the sofa remained unoccupied on the other side of Catherine.
“Can you hear it?” she asked Samuel. “It’s the sound of a crashing hailstorm. Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump. It’s deafening. Are you sure you can’t hear it?”
Samuel offered her a weak grin. Jimmy narrowed his eyes at his best friend, who ducked his head and stared at the floor like a naughty dog.
Then Jimmy realized Ginger’s simple fragrance. Wildflowers growing on a hillside never smelled so sweet. He closed his eyes, wishing he could simply fall back into her.
Catherine giggled and his thoughts scattered like a murder of crows out of a grain field, swirling, trying to find the leader without bumping into each other.
Jimmy pushed his hat back. “Am I missing something?”
“Yes, Jimmy, as a matter of fact, you are,” Catherine said. “You’ve been missing a lot for a very long time. Now, since Samuel is my assigned babysitter, we are going to my room to play with my dolls.” Catherine stood up.
Samuel jumped from the opposite sofa and tore out of the room as if he’d heard the playful tunes of an ice cream truck coming down the street. When he hit the rug in the hallway, it slid under his feet, sending him caroming off the wall with a loud wham. He grabbed his nose, turned, and kept running.
As Catherine trailed more gracefully, Jimmy wondered why this little girl always seemed more grown-up than the rest of them. She paused at the corner. “Do the two of you know what the single greatest concept is in this human existence?”
Catherine giggled and disappeared with the slap of happy feet.
Jimmy swiveled his attention to Ginger to see if she knew what was going on and found himself lost in her brown eyes. His mouth went dry and his palms unfortunately turned slimy. Speech became impossible from a sudden difficulty in breathing, as he struggled to control his knee’s irritating jitter.
Deep within his chest, a loud rhythmic noise sounded from the beating of his heart. Thump, thump, thump.
Ginger laughed softly.
“What’s funny?”
“I finally hear what she’s been going on about. Can you hear it?”
Jimmy listened as hard as he could, but his stupid heartbeat kept disturbing his concentration with its thump, thump, thumping.
He gazed at Ginger. Her smile widened, making dimples in the corners of her cheeks below the rich, earthy-color of her full, round eyes. Her tawny hair framed her beauty, draped in wavy strands. Thump, thump, thump.
She took his calloused hands in her soft ones, leaned over and kissed him. Jimmy closed his eyes. Her moist lips pressed against his and he felt the birth of a universe, galaxies expanding, stars aligning.
After a while they separated an inch or two, and he reopened his eyes. Ginger was still there, still holding his hands, still smiling.
“You know?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said, nodding. “And now you know, too.” She reached up to caress Jimmy’s neck and pulled him to her.
“Stepmother, why won’t you let me go to the ball?”
“Because you’re lazy and stupid and I hate you. Now clean that fireplace until it sparkles.”
Holding Ginger’s hand, Jimmy paused in stunned silence at the doorway to Catherine’s room. His best friend sat on the floor with a doll in each hand. Catherine was perched on her knees, enthralled by the performance. Samuel continued speaking in multiple, feminine voices.
“This just isn’t fair. Now I will never go to the ball and dance with the prince because of all these stupid chores my wicked stepmother gave me.”
Enter new doll. “Who are you?”
“I’m your fairy godmother. I’ve come to prepare you for the ball so all your dreams can come true.”
“You have? How wonderful! But, I haven’t anything decent to wear.”
“Leave everything to me, dear. All I need is my magic wand and a few of your furry little friends. Now what are the words to that spell?”
Jimmy cleared his throat. “If this is a bad time we can come back later?”
“No!” Samuel said. Two dolls vanished behind his back.
“Yes!” Catherine said, shooting Jimmy a disturbing look of pure malice for someone her age and size. Then she noticed him holding hands with Ginger and started bouncing up and down with excitement. “Hurray! Are you two finally in love?”
Jimmy nodded, his face burning, his heart thumping as he saw Ginger nod, too.
Samuel clambered up with his hands still behind him. “Hey, Jimmy, I want you to know I didn’t say a word.” He motioned his head in Catherine’s direction.
“Yes, yes, you’re perfectly innocent, aren’t you, Samuel?” Catherine leveled her gaze at him and the dolls he was hiding dropped to the floor. She squealed and scooped up her Barbies. One was missing a leg and another, an arm. Affectionately, she placed them on a shelf above her bed. “That mean, old boy didn’t hurt you, did he?”
Samuel appeared overjoyed to be relieved of his dollhouse theater duties. Jimmy intended to mention his performance as often as he could, in front of as many people as possible.
“How much do Ginger and Catherine know about what’s going on?” Jimmy asked Samuel.
“Just that there are some visitors and you wanted to talk to Catherine before she met them.”
Catherine positioned herself in front of Jimmy. “I like visitors.”
“I’m sure you do, Catherine, but I have concerns about our visitors that I wanted to discuss with you.”
“Come on in and have a seat,” Catherine said, tying on a little, yellow apron with frills that appeared out of nowhere. “I’ll pour us some tea.”
Samuel, Ginger and Jimmy looked at one another like they’d just been asked to strip down naked.
“Sit!” Catherine commanded. They plopped on the floor immediately, cross-legged, in a circle.
“One lump or two, Ginger?”
“One, please.”
“Jimmy?”
“I’ll take two.”
“Samuel?”
“None for me thanks. I’m trying to watch my figure.”
Once everyone acquired a teacup, Catherine sat on the bed and looked down at her party guests. “Drink, please, before it gets cold,” she said, urging them on with a wave of her hands.
They lifted their teacups and drank. Samuel made yummy sounds.
“Now, tell me what concerns you about these visitors.”
Jimmy ran a hand under his hat to collect his thoughts before answering. “Everybody’s motivated by something. I don’t know their motivation yet. Maybe they just want to make contact, maybe they want to exchange goods, or maybe they have a large group hidden somewhere outside of Independents waiting for the attack signal.”
He looked for some support from Samuel who daintily lifted his teacup, pinky extended, and indulged in another imaginary sip. Jimmy shook his head.
“I’ll be straight with you, Catherine. You’re special.”
