Chapter 51
Flange Orphanage, City: Three Prongs Fork, Republic of Shantu, Continent: Barat, the Year 2022, Planet: Grimoire
So far all he'd managed to was typical baby stuff which was eat, sleep, make a mess of his clothing, and get cleaned up. That was most unsatisfactory to Grifton's way of thinking. Therefore, he had to figure out some way of making his body stronger.
However, Grifton was thrown off guard when he heard eerie moaning and then the sound of grievous wailing begin. There were other babies in the nursery. {What happened?} He happened to see the nanny, Anne Greaves staring through a window. There was horror in her visage.
Anne glanced at him. {The butler fell down. He's not moving.}
Hmm, from the images that he caught with her thoughts, Grifton had a pretty good idea of what happened. The old man must've had a heart attack and hadn't survived this time.
She continued to watch the activity below and shook her head sorrowfully. "Oh my, the missus Shamus isn't going to take this well at all," Anne murmured. "She was just so joyful over having gained yet another grandchild."
Oh my, that was going to be so difficult to overcome. Grifton didn't know how to express his sorrow.
Anne glanced at him. "Just feeling your sympathy is enough to help me also get through this difficult time." She murmured. "Now, I must maintain my composure." Her voice broke. "He was a good godfather to my family." She shook her head in wordless sorrow.
That's when more crying and wailing began erupting. This time though it wasn't from the infants in the nursery. No this came from the other staff when they received the word from an official source.
The director had given the bad news through a communications device.
All work would be halted. New temporary hires would come in so that everyone could commence grieving for the loss of loved ones.
Somehow, Grifton suspected that more than the butler had passed away. Could the ones having sheltered him been related to some of the people here? That notion hadn't occurred to him.
Right about then, Calico and his sisters stirred. Now they were irritable and grumpy because none of them were aware of what happened, other than the adults becoming very chaotic and frighteningly so in such a crowded area.
"So, what's going on?" Calico wanted to know.
Was he the only one who paid attention to what was going on around here? Grifton was speechless. "The butler literally just dropped dead. Now over half the staff members are unable to function."
At Grifton's somewhat annoyed snarl, Calico winced. "Oh, so that is why some of the babies and slightly older kids are howling their heads off." A sigh escaped him. "If I were able to relate more to this situation, I would feel sorrow, but I cannot." Calico sounded uncomfortable.
Oh right, he hadn't known when his own parents had died. "Yeah, sorry, I didn't even think about that." Grifton understood where Calico was coming from since he hadn't even registered the loss of the warmth from a body growing cold in death as Grifton had.
"Who else is affected by this?" Marlayne wanted to know.
"All the regular staff." Grifton was fine with answering their questions.
"Well, that makes sense," Amberlyn observed. "From what I can tell, everyone here is related to everyone else, whether direct sons and daughters or in-laws and cousins." She sounded dubious. "Though now I wonder how many of the elderly will be able to hang onto their sanity and health."
Grifton winced at her almost callous detachment, but it made sense really. Sadly, Amberlyn had a good point, not even Grifton dared to speculate about what might happen in the next several hours.
When his cousins waited patiently to hear what Grifton thought would happen next, he decided to see if any of the adults were still around. Much to his surprise, Anne remained at her post.
Anne was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "Hmm, you all are wondering what is going on?"
"Yes?" Grifton nodded.
"Well, I can answer your questions to the best of my ability." Anne walked over to where they were now actively pushing up on their forearms to see above the railings of their cribs.
Anne looked at all of them with an assessing gaze. "Soon the majority of us will be replaced with temporary hires so that we can go through a grieving process." She shrugged with a sigh. "Even I am going to take some time to deal with the chaos that no doubt broke out at my family's home with the news."
Grifton nodded thoughtfully. "So that means we won't see you for a while?" He would miss her.
Anne nodded soberly. "For two weeks at minimum, six months maximum." She counted off the various steps of the grieving process. It sounded so cold and formal, making Grifton shiver as he listened to her. Even his cousins were grimacing slightly. However, in their case, it might have to do with them being uncomfortable as each of them dropped down to rest on their stomachs with their heads tilted askew.
Anne continued talking. "When that amount of time passes, we'll alternate shifts before having a final memorial after a full year elapses."
Hmm, what strange customs are held here for that? Grifton wondered how to explain that to his cousins.
Fortunately, it seemed that he wouldn't have too much to Grifton's relief. "We've got a rough idea of what is happening now, thank you." That was Amberlyn.
Grifton was relieved. At last, he sighed. "From what I can tell, the Director must've known what would happen. He already sent out messages of condolence and emergency measures are taken."
Anne had already explained everything else. From what Grifton ascertained, his cousins knew about the traditions that he hadn't come across in his studies.
"Well, it doesn't matter if you're not aware of all the traditions yet," Marlayne stated calmly. "From what I can tell, we'll soon get a crash course in what we haven't learned soon enough." Her patience soothed Grifton's worry when it came to handling delicate matters such as this type of conversation. "Thank you, cousin."
"Bah, just call me sister. We're close enough for that anyway." Marlayne grumbled. "I don't care what those test results are purporting." She knew full well that Grifton was skeptical about the source from which the tests emanated.