Multiple Muse Disorder: 1970

Chapter 9: Up on the Farm

The farmhouse was not far off a two-lane paved road a few miles northwest of Ann Arbor. We turned into the long gravel driveway a little after noon, then parked near a pickup truck between the house and the barn. We all climbed out of the station wagon to stretch and look around. Off the highway it was quiet enough to hear the squeaking of a windmill left over from when the house had been part of a working farm.

We heard a door open and two people stepped out onto the covered porch that wrapped around the front of the large old farmhouse. These must be Kevin and Brigid Davies. I had been expecting stereotypical college professors, but they each looked like they had grown up on the farm. Short, stout, weathered and dressed for the role, they were smiling and waving. Brigid's right arm was in a cast, supported in a sling.

"Hello, hello!" said Uncle Kevin. "Come on in. Lunch is ready. We can bring your gear in later. I'm hungry."

Sean and Nan looked at each other, nodding. "Same old Uncle Kevin," said Sean. "But what's happened to Aunt Brigid?" whispered Nan.

I now was quite certain I had never been here, and never seen these people. When Anna and Maggie looked at me, I shook my head slightly to let them know. It also appeared that Kevin and Brigid did not recognize us, which was a relief.

We walked up the steps to the porch. Uncle Kevin slapped Sean on the back and took him into the house. Aunt Brigid put her good arm around Nan, stating that she must have grown two inches in the last year. "Lisa, how are you doing?"

"I'm okay," I said, my standard response to that query.

"Sarah told me a little about your situation. We'll have a talk after lunch. And these are your friends?"

"This is Anna," said Nan, taking her hand. "She's my friend now, too."

I put an arm around Maggie's shoulder, giving her a quick squeeze to remind her to let me do the talking. "And this is Maggie. She and Anna are friends from my theater group who also need some time away from Tulsa."

"Well, you all certainly can relax here for the week. In fact I could use some help, as I broke my arm a couple days ago, missing a step on the back stairs and landing wrong on the arm. At least it's a clean break, so it will heal quickly if I'm careful with it. Come on in and wash up. I'll begin putting food on the table. Kevin, give me a hand with that, please."

We followed Aunt Brigid inside. I tapped Nan on the shoulder. "Where is the bathroom?" I asked, using an unvoiced whisper.

"Oh, right, you don't know your way around yet," she replied in kind. "Let's go upstairs so I can explain the floor plan." She headed for the stairs near the front door, calling out, "Wash your hands, Sean! We'll be back down in a few."

At the top of the stairs, Nan pointed to the bathroom on one side of the hallway. "That's pretty much over the downstairs bathroom. There are three bedrooms on this floor. The master bedroom is downstairs, along with the dining room and living room. The kitchen is kind of added on to the back of the house, as originally I guess it was in a separate building. Uncle Kevin said that the house is so old it didn't have indoor plumbing, so rooms that were originally parlors or sitting rooms were made into bathrooms. The bedrooms upstairs just have wardrobes or tiny closets.

"There's also a third floor, with dormer windows. It has a planked floor, and it's all open space; no rooms. I always thought it'd be a neat writer's hideaway. It's a bit toasty in summer, but not bad at night. Enough heat makes its way up there in winter that it doesn't freeze, most of the time. Writers have to suffer. Not that there's much heat or air conditioning on the second floor, as the air ducts are of course also later additions. But the first floor is cozy year around.

"The rooms up here each have two beds, with minimal furniture. They really are only intended for sleeping. I'm guessing that Anna and I will share a room, you and Maggie a room, and Sean will be on his own in the third room. At least for this week."

Surprisingly Maggie didn't object, though she frowned at Nan.

"I just remembered something," said Nan, opening one of the bedroom doors and looking inside. "Yes! The two rooms on this side have a connecting door. So we girls can take those two rooms. Okay, Maggie?"

"Thank you," said Maggie. "It will make me feel better to be able to reach you two quickly if anything should happen."

"We'll lock both doors at night," said Nan.

"These doors won't stop me," said Maggie, looking at the old fashioned skeleton key locks, "and they won't stop anyone else, either."

"On that cheerful note," I said, "let's get washed up and go have lunch."

— ∴ —

"I'm afraid this is mostly store-bought," said Aunt Brigid. "I was going to bake a couple of pies, but I can't do that with the one hand."

"I'll be happy to lend a hand," said Nan.

"And I'll be glad to help, too," I said. "I'm not a very original cook, but I can do the basics and follow recipes."

"I can chop things up, and do any slaughtering needed," said Maggie, earning a sharp glance from Anna.

"Oh, we don't have animals for that," said Brigid. "Just chickens for laying, and a goat for milking. Though I may have to return her to the neighbor's farm. They have half-a-dozen goats, and lend one to us in exchange for access to our apple trees. I can't quite milk with one hand, either, and Kevin is squeamish about doing it."

"No problem," said Maggie. "I know what to do with a teat in my hands, and I'm not at all squeamish about it. Do you have firewood to chop? I can do that, also."

Anna turned beet red and became very interested in her potato salad. "Maybe I can help with the garden?" she managed to say. "Climb fruit trees?"

"That would be perfect, you two!"

Uncle Kevin cleaned his glasses. "So Sean, are you still interested in Computer and Communication Science as your major?"

"Yes, sir," he replied, with a glance at me. "I believe computers and connections between computers are about to be the cause of many changes in our world. I'd like to be part of that. Perhaps even shape how things go."

"Well said! Lisa, are you also interested in this area? Any experience with computers?"

And here begins the minefield, I thought. "Some. The private school I've been attending has a computer club. One of the parents works in a small firm that has an IBM 1620 computer. It's just about at end of life for that model, so they were able to let the club have time on it during the weekend. I know a bit of FORTRAN and have used a keypunch."

"You don't say! Oh, this is fantastic! Oh, my. We'll have to try and talk you all into staying for a while, won't we dear?"

"Well, I am going to need help around the house until this cast comes off. And seeing as how your research assistant decided to run off with my research assistant last week to spend a summer of love in Europe, we both need help preparing for the conference."

"I can touch type," offered Nan, "and I've spent a lot of time in libraries, looking things up and taking notes."

"All, right," said Uncle Kevin, rubbing his hands together and chuckling. "I think we can do this! Are you willing to stay though the conference in August? I think we can even pay you."

"What conference is that, sir?" I asked.

"The annual NICOPP North American Conference. The University of Michigan is hosting this year."

Anna, Maggie, Sean and Nan each looked at me. "The National Investigation Committee on Out of Place Phenomena," I said, slowly.

"Yes, I'm sure you'll find it quite fascinating! Learn things that most people never even imagined. Might change the way you think about the world. What do you say?"

"You're right, "I said. "It could be interesting to find out about NICOPP and what it does and knows. I'm sure I can stay on for a while, if it's okay with Nan and Sean's parents."

"Excellent!" said Kevin. "You all get your things squared away, and I'll check with Patrick and Sarah about you staying longer to help out. When you come back down, we'll sit down and talk. I'll outline what we need to get done and we can assign tasks. Hi ho, hi ho!"

I noticed that Kevin and Brigid seemed to ignore Anna and Maggie except when they were in a conversation. Must be their glamour.

— ∴ —

After we helped clean up from lunch we brought our things in from the car. The camping gear we took up to the third floor. We put our rather minimal clothing and personal items in our rooms.

"If we're staying here all summer, Anna, Maggie and I are going to need to do a little shopping," I said. "Otherwise we'll be doing laundry every few days."

"We can ask Mom to send us more of our clothing," said Sean. "Can you make a list of what you want, Nan?"

"Anna? If you're okay sharing with me, I'll just ask Mom to send all my sensible stuff. I don't have all that much, but it should do."

"Sounds good," said Anna. "I'm kind of a minimalist when it comes to clothes."

Maggie rolled her eyes at that comment. "Okay, Lisa. You and I can go shopping at some point. I intend to get some exercise every day, so I'll need a few more changes of some things."

"Okay, we'll do that. Bur right now we need to talk about something before we go down for the meeting. Anna, Maggie, your glamour must still be working. Kevin and Brigid seem to forget you're in the room unless they're talking with you. Aren't they going to realize this eventually?"

"Why?" said Anna. "We don't know enough to help with the conference thingie. If we have chores to do, especially outside, we can just be invisible most of the time. Like servants. Or children."

"Only rich people have servants these days, or nannies to watch their children. But you're right, people do have a knack for forgetting what's not in front of them. Let's just see how it goes, I suppose."

— ∴ —

"The most extraordinary thing!"said Kevin, when we all went back downstairs. "I just talked with your parents, Sean, and they said they are quitting their teaching jobs and moving to Ann Arbor so you all can stay here!"

Sean and Nan looked at each other. "That was fast," said Nan. "I wasn't sure they meant it."

"They asked if they could stay with us for a while while they sort things out. Of course I said that would be fine. They'll drive up mid-week. So we need to rearrange you all a bit, I'm afraid. My, but this is exciting!"

"No problem," said Nan. "Anna and I want to live in the attic, anyway. Come on! Let's move our stuff!" Nan grabbed Anna's hand and they ran back upstairs.

"I'm in the largest bedroom," said Sean, "so I'll swap with them, I guess."

"I will secure the connecting door," said Maggie, heading upstairs herself, followed by Sean.

Kevin and Brigid were talking to each other about how much fun it would be to have everyone together. I thought about pinching myself to make sure I was awake. But if this is all a dream, I didn't want to wake up and find myself back in 2025. Whatever. This is hardly the first time I've felt this way sine Risa and Resu entered my life more than a decade ago.

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A work of autobiographical fiction; story and art copyright © by Lisa Lees.