At seven thirty, the ringing of Harry Crater’s cell phone woke Gwendolyn and Fredericka. Ten-year-old Fredericka sat up in bed, fumbled through her drawstring purse, and grabbed the phone.
“Good morning! Fredericka speaking!” she chirped as she’d been taught in her etiquette class. “A warm greeting and then identify yourself.”
“I must have dialed the wrong number,” a gruff voice muttered.
A distinct click in Fredericka’s ear signaled that he had hung up.
“How rude,” Fredericka said to her sister. “When one dials a wrong number, a sincere apology is in order for disturbing the recipient of that call. Well, no matter, it’s time for us to go down to the infirmary and cheer up Uncle Harry.”
The phone rang again.
“My turn!” eight-year-old Gwendolyn cried, reaching for it. “Good morning. Gwendolyn speaking!”
Gwendolyn heard a forbidden word in her ear. “What number is this?” the caller then asked.
“I don’t know. This is Uncle Harry’s phone.”
“Uncle Harry! Where the hell is he?”
“He’s in the infirmary. We’re just going to visit him now.”
“What happened to him?”
“He fell and couldn’t get up, so they had to carry him out of the dining room on a stretcher!”
Gwendolyn heard the same forbidden word then a sharp command: “Tell him to call his personal physician immediately!”
“Thank you, Doctor. I will relay your message. Have a nice day.” She clicked off. “That doctor sounded grumpy,” she told her sister.
“Most old people are grumpy,” Fredericka answered. “Everyone we visit in the morning is grumpy. It’s our job to make them happy, but it gets harder and harder. Let’s get dressed and go.”
Three minutes later, clad in matching shorts and Santa Cruise T-shirts, the girls grabbed the pictures they’d been permitted to draw for Uncle Harry last night before bedtime. Fredericka’s creation depicted the sun rising over a mountain. The subject of Gwendolyn’s masterpiece was a helicopter landing on a ship.
As quietly as she could, Fredericka opened the connecting door to their parents’ bedroom. Through the crack, she heard the two of them snoring. “Situation normal,” she reported to her sister. “Let’s go. We’ll be back before they wake up.”
In the infirmary, they were told by the day nurse, Allison Keane, that Mr. Crater had already returned to his room. “I don’t think he wants visitors,” she said.
The girls held up their pictures. “But we drew these for him!”
“How adorable,” Nurse Keane said insincerely. “If you leave them here, we’ll get them to him.”
“But we want to see him. We love Uncle Harry!”
“I’m sorry. I can’t give you his room number,” Keane said firmly.
“But—” Gwendolyn started to protest.
Fredericka nudged her. “That’s all right,” she said. “Maybe he’ll come to dinner later. Thank you, Nurse Keane.” Fredericka curtseyed and they ran out the door.
“But I wanted to see Uncle Harry,” Gwendolyn whined.
“Follow me.” Fredericka found a house phone on a table in the passageway. She picked it up and asked for Harry Crater’s room. When he answered, he sounded mad. “How are you feeling?” Fredericka asked, after properly identifying herself.
“We drew pictures for you and want you to have them. We think they’ll make you feel ever so much better.”
“I’m resting. Leave me alone.”
“We also have your cell phone.”
It was now Fredericka’s turn to hear the forbidden word. “Where are you?” Crater demanded.
“Where are you, Uncle Harry? We’ll bring it to you.”
Crater gave them his room number. A few minutes later, the girls were knocking on his door. When he opened it, it was clear he wasn’t going to invite them in.
“Your doctor called!” Fredericka reported. “He wants you to call him.”
“I’ll bet he does,” Crater mumbled as he grabbed the phone.
“Here are our drawings!” Gwendolyn said proudly. “If you have any Scotch Tape, we’ll put them on the wall for you.”
Crater was staring at the picture of the helicopter landing on a ship. “Who drew this?” he demanded.
“I did!” Gwendolyn said proudly. “Can I have a ride in your helicopter some day?”
“How did you know I had a helicopter?”
“After you went to the infirmary last night, someone told Mommy and Daddy that if you got even sicker and felt like you might die or something, then your helicopter would come and pick you up. How cool!”
“Yeah, yeah. Listen, girls, I have to rest.”
“We’ll come back later and make sure you didn’t fall again. We like to take care of sick old people.”
Crater slammed the door in their faces.
The girls shrugged as they heard him turning the locks. “As Daddy would say, ‘No good deed goes unpunished,’ “Gwendolyn commented. “But God is watching us and smiling.”
“Let’s go get some coffee for Mommy and Daddy and bring it to the room,” Fredericka suggested. “You know how Mommy needs her coffee in the morning.”
Like a herd of elephants, the two girls thundered down the hallway, intent on performing their second good deed of the day.