Miss Kitty, my beautiful orange Persian cat, woke me the next day by tapping my face with her soft paw. “Time for breakfast?” I mumbled. “Surely it’s too early.”
My bedroom was dark with the half-light of early morning. The sound of thunder told me why. Rain still fell! At this rate, all the creeks in town would be over-flowing and the river would be on the rise. I scooted Miss Kitty over and slid out of bed. Coffee was in order to begin this stormy day.
Aunt Kezzie’s purse was just where I’d left it…on the dining table. I had put that small, mysterious key in my bedside table last night. Perhaps today I’d find a locksmith in town who could tell me more about it. I shook my head, remembering the surprise I’d felt when Aunt Kezzie’s lawyer intoned, “And, to my grand-niece Val, I leave my favorite purse.”
“You’re a mystery,” I told that inanimate object. “Why did Aunt Kezzie leave you to me and what will I do with you? “
The day turned out to be fit for neither man nor beast. Sharing Miss Kitty’s opinion of the rainy morning, I slid a book from the shelf and sat down in the recliner while she snoozed on her favorite cushion. Lost in the exploits of my favorite heroine, I almost didn’t hear the knock at my door and at first mistook it for thunder.
Who could be out on a day like this? Hurrying to the door, I opened it to see three strangers. I blinked. No, not strangers, kinfolk!
“Surprise, cousin,” said the shortest visitor. “Hurry and let us in. We’re soaking.”
Staring at this trio, I moved aside and motioned for them to enter. Aunt Kezzie’s children? Never, in all my years, had they come visiting.
Isabel, Frank, and Marian trooped inside my living room. “Where shall I put this?” Frank asked, looking around for a place to set the huge bouquet of flowers he carried.
“Well, I…I guess on the dining table,” I said.
They followed me and put the flowers down. “We just wanted to say thank you for being so kind to our mother,” Marian said, shrugging out of her wet raincoat.
Isabel smiled as she wiped raindrops from her round spectacles. “We didn’t have time to talk yesterday, but we didn’t want to appear unfriendly at the reading of the will. We realized we hardly know you and want to apologize for that too. Maybe, from now on, we can get to be friends, as well as family.”
Since they were taking off raincoats, they appeared to be planning to stay a while, and these flowers were really lovely, so, maybe I had misjudged them?
“Thank you,” I said. “Would you all like a cup of coffee and dry off a bit?”
They smiled and nodded, sitting in chairs at the table while I got out cups, poured the hot liquid, and joined them. Then, I didn’t know what else to say.
Finally, Frank broke the silence. “You know, cousin, we’ve never even been inside your lovely home before. Would you mind showing us around?”
“My house? Well, certainly I don’t mind.” In fact, I was always happy to show off my nineteenth century home. I had put a lot of time and effort into revitalizing it.
Thirty minutes later, my surprise guests had gotten back into raincoats, smiling and thanking me again for my visits with Aunt Kezzie. Then, they went out into the stormy morning.
I looked down at Miss Kitty. “Well, what do you think of that?” I asked. “Surprising but rather nice, I guess, and the flowers were a sweet gesture.” I glanced at the dining table where sat the bright bouquet. But, they were the only thing on the table. My aunt’s purse was gone.
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