Martha and Renee take the boys home to the cottage to pack their things. They unload as much as they can to the farm before Pa gets back without getting in Mr. Stringham's way. "Let's see," Ma said, putting her fingers to her lips. "This can go over to the farm." She pointed to the couch, the rug, and the coffee table.
Then, there was a knock at the door. Martha opened the door and saw two men and the wagons full of inventory she had ordered and another right behind it, with Aunty M. pulling another wagon beside all the fabric. Martha gasped and yelled for Renee inside the house to come quickly as the drivers pulled up.
Aunty M. swings down from the wagon, laughing at the two women. "Well, don't just stand there gawking, ladies; we have work to do," Aunty M. said.
Martha gave her a big hug. "Aren't we glad to see you," Martha said, looking at all the fabric with a worried look, then laughed at Renee, shaking her head. "Talk about bad timing," Martha said as Aunty M. and Martha watched the boys reload the wagon for the farm. "We were just getting ready to move to the farm, Aunty M," Martha said, looking at all the fabric in the wagons, "and the shop isn't ready yet," looking at the ground downcast. "Where on earth am I going to put all of this? Wayne's just going to―"
"What, dear?" Aunty M. said, turning around in time to watch her start to faint, watching her husband come back from town with Kollie looking at all the wagons in front of the house. Renee grabs a chair for Martha as she starts to swoon a little. Wayne rushed over to her to catch her from falling to the ground.
Julie ran inside and got Ma a glass of water while she caught her breath. "Looks like I got here just in time, Wayne," Aunty M. said as she patted Martha on the shoulder and sighed. "Now you rest here a minute," she said, shaking her head at her and then looking at Wayne and the boys. "She's alright, aren't ya, dear? Just a little stressed looking at all the things going on around her," she replied.
Martha nods slowly as the baby kicks at her side and gives her a start. "Oh my!" She smiled at Wayne. "Sorry, dear. I just got too much in a hurry, that's all." She stands up, but Aunty M. makes her sit in the chair slightly longer.
"Now then," Aunty M. said, looking at the wagons. Wayne looks like we have a problem," she laughed, looking at Martha sitting in the chair. "A shop that's not ready, a farmhouse that's not quite ready, everything is working on four wheels without its master." She shook her finger at Martha, and laughed at her stubbornness.
"Yes, ma'am, that's how it looks, alright," he said.
"Well then, let's go inside and find a solution, and I'll change into something more fitting and freshen up a little," Aunty M. replies. "So ya say the house is finished, except for the painting?" She said, sipping her joe and Martha her milk. "And the outside brickwork? Well then let's get crackin.' We'll set the inventory in here for now and move into the house—next problem," looking at the list.
"Cattle drive to raise funds for appliances for the house. Well, I'll be―that will be fun for the boys and a simple task; I think fifty heads should be enough, Wayne. Now, then, Martha and Renee's shop, let's see those plans, Wayne. Very nice but not good enough. We need a larger counter or something like this." She took her pencil and said. "And one of these in the middle to cut on and sewing machines, two of them in the corner and shelves that hang like this." Folding the paper up. "Tell you what, we'll go into one when you visit Salt Lake City. I'll show you what I mean.
"Now, then, as for the shelves, go see Stringham. He knows what I mean and the counter so that he can start with your plans. So let's get moving," she said as she patted him on the back, downed her cup of Joe with another swallow, wiped her chin with the back of her hand, shouted, "Let's go have some fun," and shouted for the boys to clear the room. "We're headed to the farm," she replied.
Aunty M. took charge of half of the list, handing Martha a small portion. Renee and Kollie were by her side; they were in charge of the move. Wayne, Robert, Richard, and EJ loaded and unloaded things from the houses to the farm, while Aunty M. took Will and the Whitmore boys with her for the cattle drive.
It was never said you couldn't be at three places at once when Aunty M. was in town as Robert and Richard flicked the rains on the wagons as they went towards the farm. In the distance, you could hear. "Yah! Yah!" from the boys and a slight moo from the cattle, driving them to Goshen on the trail with rope and a whistle from Aunty M. "Move along, little doggies," as she patted her saddle with her rope at the side and swings her hat in the air with a shrill whistle. Will, Frank, Mark, and Peter yelled. "Yah! Yah!" for all their worth, riding their horses on the trail as cattle moved along their sides, swinging their hats in the air.
Robert and Richard are racing each other with their wagons along the road from the farmhouse to the cottage, being careful when it's loaded. Because Ma would skin them alive if anything got broken along the way, but on the way back, yelling, standing up. "One, two, three, go." With a flick of the wrist, the horses would leap into the air, start down the road neck and neck at the turn, down the gulley, splash, up the other side. Robert wins as he reaches the cottage and starts the next load.
As the cottage emptied, it was filled with stacks of cloth in the corners where furniture once stood. Wayne was at the cottage, Ma was at the farm, and Kollie and Renee were setting up as things were slowly brought into the house while the men outside watched and inside painted the rooms. It seemed to Martha that they couldn't paint them fast enough. As the day grew shorter and later, the cottage was empty, except for the shop's inventory.
They all meet back at the farm for a late supper with smiles on their faces at work completed as Pa and the boys set up the beds in the rooms. They still needed a stove to cook on or a fridge or freezer for some of the food. They had a picnic with a campfire as Ma and the girls set the table with plates out of the boxes.
They lived like hobos in a house, but nobody minded as they sat around the table in their new home with friends and family. With unpainted walls, no curtains, and missing furniture here and there, Pa lit a fire in the fireplace to keep the chill off the house and set the evening mood. Even Mr. Rooster was happy to be home with the chickens, the cows, Clementine, and Rose. The horses in the field and not to forget EJ's pony as he leans his head over the fence watching the house, chewing on the grass in his field, agree there is no place like home.
* * * *
"Are you sure about this, Mary?" Lizzy asked as Mary packed her suitcase.
"I am, Lizzy. She needs my help with those two girls," she replied.
Lizzy wiped a tear from her eye. "I know, sister. Just remember that you can't do everything yourself," she said as she put her arm around her.
"Lizzy, Lizzy, thank you for being my sister and my best friend," she said, giving her another hug.
"Hey now, help me pack and see me off," Mary said.
Lizzy helped her pack and waved to her as she descended the road. Mary arrived at her sister Betty's house, pulled into the driveway, and all the lights were still on. She could hear the girls fighting inside the house over their toys again while their grandmother was trying to get them ready for bed. Mary slowly shakes her head at the house, walks up the steps, and knocks on the door. Betty answers the door with a hesitant look at the girls fighting over the doll. Betty opens the door, sees her sister Mary on the steps with her suitcase frowning, and invites her in with tears in her eyes, watching the two girls fighting until Mary steps in.
"Girls, that's enough!" Mary said, taking the doll away calmly but sternly, "Now get ready for bed!" Pointing to their rooms. Mary and Betty watched with a stern face, setting her suitcase down as the girls went to their rooms. "Now that's settled," Mary said, turning to Betty as she sighed. "How about a nice cup of tea, dear sister," putting her arm around her.
Mary explained that she was Richard's replacement until the girls went home and that he still needed to be back at the farm for now. Betty understood and was glad for the help as they tucked the girls in for the night. They updated her on the news of New Downing before turning themselves in for the night.
* * * *
The Downing's and the Whitmore's are in their new family room, having a light conversation about planning tomorrow's events for their trip to Salt Lake City. The children are excited about what they might see of the big city, the stores, and all its glamour. "Alright, children," Ma Downing looking at the clock. "Time for bed so we can get an early start," she said.
"Yes, Ma," they replied. It was strange but nice to be sleeping in the new home as Pa and Ma walked down the hallways, tucking the children in. Three boys in a room, Sam, Ted, and Danny, were first on the right of the hallway. They were all sleeping in the same bed until Pa could make new ones for them all. Ma sighs, watching her angels sleep in a bed. She gently lifts the covers over their shoulders and kisses each of their heads, wishing them goodnight. She turned off the lights, closing the door softly before going down the hall. Next across the way is the girl's room on the left and right. Brushing their soft hair, she tells each one goodnight, dear, and a thank you and goodnight then turns out the light.
They go hand in hand up the stairs to the boys' room down the hall. Will's room is across from EJ's, with Robert next to him. They enter the rooms one by one, tucking their sons into bed and wishing them goodnight and sweet dreams.
The guest rooms are where Richard and the Whitmore boys slept, and Kollie and Renee, as Wayne checks on Richard and the boys to see if they are okay for the night, nods and wishes them goodnight, too. And at the end of the hall was Aunty M's room. Then, walking back to their bedroom and at the end of the stairs, they pause where the nursery is, still empty for now as Pa touches Ma's stomach, feels a little kick inside, and smiles at Pa. They proceed to their bedroom hand in hand for the night, wishing each other goodnight in each other's arms.
* * * *
The wind is bitterly cold on the road, only a few miles from Stuart's home. The shadows around the house seem to groan wickedly. As the darkness grows, the shadow appears to leap among the corners of the house, causing Jim and Linda to toss and turn in their sleep. The shadow grows in their minds and whispers in their ears. Suddenly, one of them screams out. "Don't you dare!" and falls back to sleep in a cold sweat, while the other falls on the floor.
The shadow leaps across the room again, giving Linda a little nudge with her icy-cold fingers and cold bated breath. "You say you are the queen of the spiders, dear, yet where are your children? You have none?" The shadow screams and laughs.
Linda is having a nightmare where she screams. "They have stolen them from me!" A shadow hovers over her, spilling its ice-cold breath. She tosses and turns in her sleep, pulling the covers over her head and shaking until dawn breaks.
Later, a man going by the name Dr. Morgan with a crooked smile and a disguise heads down the street for his appointment with the Stuarts. He laughs at what is happening at Stuart's home, rubs his bony fingers, and waits for the outcome. After changing back into his disguise, he tips his hat and fades back into the shadows, thanking his friend for his well-done deeds.
Linda visits Doctor Morgan, who takes her hand and grins at her discomfort and misfortune. She pleads for his help and ignores the warning in his hiss.
Doctor Morgan pretends to look at the file and peers at the woman groveling before him. He laughs with a crooked smile, rubs his bony fingers on the pages of his old, faded notebook of tormented souls, and agrees to help her. However, he warns her that it will cost her something, which she has plenty to spare. He pulls out his document of signed deeds of horror or contract of taking a life or a soul.
On her knees, Linda pleads for her children back and offers Doctor Morgan more money. He tells her that he wants something she never really wanted, and she hurriedly signs his document without reading it, smirking. Knowing first that these idiots never read the fine print where it clearly states what they are giving up for his help.
Doctor Morgan is pleased that he finally has what he wants. Getting the last person to sign the contract will be easy, and he will soon have their miserable soul for the taking, just like Linda's husband so many years ago.
Linda places the pin-down and signs what she thinks is a bill for the services. She asks Doctor Morgan what she should do next. Morgan rolls up the deed and signs the contract of her son's life before putting it away. Linda watches him for a moment and wonders if she did something wrong. Linda feels a part of her life drain away as if something has been taken. She asks the doctor for advice, willing to do anything to make things right.
Doctor Morgan patted Linda on the shoulder and said not all is lost. He suggests that she show the people who took her children that she wants them back, and they will return. However, Morgan knows that they must be returned to her in full before he can take the boy EJ unprotected. He thinks about the people guarding the young boy and realizes it is another problem that needs to be solved soon.
Linda asks how to do this and points to the file on the desk. Morgan hesitates and swallows hard before answering. He suggests she uses a mother's love and understanding to make it happen, even though it disgusts him. Linda is grateful for the advice and thanks him.
Morgan signs the order to release Linda so her children can return to her. He places her in the care of two friends, Mr. Wells and Mr. Barns, who will help her. He then opens his notebook and finds a name that will suit his next plan. He smiles and disappears into the shadows, laughing as he goes back into the shadows to find those misguided souls and collect .