I write this entry as the children are having a final bicker before we enter the Enchanted Realm. The problem they are discussing is who gets to go.
Bennett is pulling the boy card and saying he should go alone. “Besides,” he just said, “if this time peg thing really works, you’ll barely know I’ve been gone. I’ll be out and back in an instant.”
Which is true enough. However, Alex and Destiny are both insisting they must come as well.
Ailsa McGonagall is snoozing in the portable wheelchair we brought in the boot of Ms. Kincaid’s car.
While the children fight, I want to get down what has happened so far this evening. Here it is:
Shortly after Mr. and Mrs. Carhart left for their night out, Lorna Kincaid showed up and we all piled into her car. There was no question about Alex and Destiny coming then, since Bennett was supposed to be “babysitting” (what an odd term to use for children who are nae babes at all) and pretty much forbidden to leave them alone.
When we got to Happy Oaks, Ms. Kincaid parked the car about halfway along the lot, choosing a spot between a couple of bigger cars to help shield us.
“Wait here,” she said. “I’ll need about twenty minutes.”
After she left, Bennett got out of the passenger side, went around the car, and climbed into the driver’s seat.
“Are you sure you can do this, Ben?” Alex asked.
He snorted. “If everything you crazies have told me is true, this will be the easiest part of the trip.”
To pass the time, I told them more about the Enchanted Realm.
We all knew what was happening inside. Ms. Kincaid was going to sign a permission form that would allow her to take her gran out of the building for some fresh air. The nurse in charge would be warning her that Ailsa was what they call a wanderer, and so she would have to keep a close eye on her.
She would take her gran out, and they would chat for a while. Then, assuming the coast was clear, Lorna would wheel Ailsa over to the car and help her into the front passenger seat.
That accomplished, Bennett would drive us to the nearest church. This was what had Alex so nervous, as I take it the lad is too young to drive in this country. Fortunately, the kirk is no more than a mile away, and it is a quiet country road that leads us there.
Once we were safely away from Happy Oaks, Ms. Kincaid would head back into the nursing home with the empty wheelchair, weeping and wailing about how she had only turned aside to talk to someone for a few minutes and when she turned back, her gran was gone…probably wandered into the woods that surrounded the home.
Happily, that all worked out exactly as we had planned, and Bennett made it to the church with no incident, though I have to say his driving was a bit wombly. At least two times I thought we were headed for the ditch, and for such a short trip, there was a lot of “Oh, God, watch out, Bennett!” from Alex and a lot of “Shut up and let me drive!” back from the lad.
I need to stop now. The fight about who is going into the Realm has been resolved, and it appears we are all going! The nub of it seems to be that Alex was not to be left behind, and if she went, Destiny had to go as well.
Bennett kept insisting that because of the time peg they would not even know he had been gone, but I think none of them are entirely sure the peg will work.
For that matter, neither am I.
Well, there’s nothing for it. Bennett is pounding the time peg into the ground. (I give the lad credit for remembering to bring a hammer with him.)
As soon as I put my diary away, I’ll be climbing onto Alex’s shoulder. Then it’s three times widdershins about the kirk for us.
I do not know when I will have the chance to write again.