Those 70ish Girls

I woke up Monday morning and my first thought was…What have we done? I half hoped I’d been dreaming. We got to this gorgeous/garish country estate on Friday and by Monday, we were the proud owners of this fixer upper. Was it buyer’s remorse? No, we hadn’t paid for anything…at least not in dollars. Who knows what the final price would be.

It was early and Aaron was still sleeping, but regardless of what time it was, I needed coffee. Never before had it taken me fifteen minutes to get to where the coffee was. On the other hand, it would be made, and I would have many different creamer flavors to choose from. How would I manage a house/mansion like this? My only answer was…if Aunt Bea could do it, so could I.

I took my second cup of coffee and started the fifteen minute walk back to the room, or should I say rooms? There was a dressing room and sitting room, in addition to the bedroom and lavish bathroom. My first order of business would be to put a coffee maker in one of the… rooms.

I stopped by Mandy’s room to have a look. She was sleeping peacefully, but her bed was becoming more and more crowded. She had three dolls now. Abby Ann, Andy, and a new little girl. I had to think about that a minute. Mandy’s room was what most little girls only dream about. All the toys were dolls, and of course the unbelievable doll house. When had a little girl ever lived here? I needed to investigate for sure.

 

My second order of business for the day, was to meet Uncle Charles. With that thought in mind, I took a brisk shower, and got ready for the day.

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I wrote a note to Aunt Bea, asking her to introduce me to Uncle Charles as soon as it could be arranged. Since I had no idea where my Aunt’s quarters were, I gave it to the housekeeper to deliver. I had an idea that Aunt Bea was not a morning person, and early afternoon was the best I could hope for.

In the meantime, I had to get Mandy ready to meet the tutor. When I got to her room, she was just waking up. “Where are the dolls?” I asked her, “There were three sleeping with you.”

“They had to go to the dollmaker Mommy. Remember when I told you they make dolls here?”

“Who makes dolls here?” I asked, “You keep saying things I don’t quite understand.”

“The dollmaker lives in the tower and, made Abby Ann, Andy, and Alice. Alice is the new doll. She was afraid at first, but we made her feel better.”

“Have you seen the dollmaker Mandy?”

“No,” she said, “because I’m not ready to be a doll.”

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Aunt Bea didn’t join us for lunch, but she agreed to meet me in the foyer at 2:00. She was right on time. She parked her machine before she got too close. “I haven’t seen Charles in awhile,” She admitted.

“Why is that? I asked, “I thought you were taking care of him until you became too ill.” The woman standing before me looked strange, but not ill.

“I can’t climb the stairs anymore,” she said, “And that’s the only way to get up to the tower.”

The tower, I thought…is he the doll maker?