Here’s Part 4 of the Yarn Wars! I nearly forgot to post it today. Perhaps it’s time for me to learn how to schedule my posts.
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Kira’s big plan was not much of a plan, and it wasn’t very big either. It was, as she explained to her mother, to go see Harriet. She had known so much about Kira without being told – maybe she could help them now.
Kira didn’t really want to explain about stealing the yarn to her mother. She decided she would wait for later. So Kira simply told Mom that Harriet was Maeve’s grandmother. She would come clean when this was all over.
Mom and Kira made their way through the darkened streets. Kira’s wrist throbbed every step of the way, and she yelped a few times.
Mom gasped, “I need to rest…” Kira nodded assent and helped her sit down on the cold concrete.
Mom laid her head back on the sidewalk, turning to look up the monstrous hill that they would need to climb to meet Harriet. Kira yawned and sat down beside her, cradling her wrist. “Why did they do it, Mom?”
“Oh, Kira,” sighed Mom, sitting up amidst her wheezing. “I’m so sorry this has to happen.”
“Why did they do it?” Kira asked again, impatient. They didn’t have a lot of time. Who knew how long Harriet would stick around!
“Kira,” coughed Mom, reaching out to touch her daughter’s wrist, “be careful.”
Kira was getting creeped out. “Of course I’ll be careful,” she said. “But you have to be too, you know.”
“I know you will find out how it happened,” said Mom. “You need to.”
“How what happened?” asked Kira. “I just want to know why our own neighbors attacked us with shovels and vandalized our house!” She began to cry, and buried her face in her legs.
Mom hugged her, and began to cough. She continued to cough for so long that Kira began to panic. “Mom?!”
Mom lifted her face from her knees. “Kira, Maeve’s grandmother is dead. You obviously aren’t going to meet her on Cherry Street.”
Oh, no, thought Kira. How am I going to cover this lie up?
“I don’t know who you were going to meet. But please be careful. Think of me.”
“You’ll be safe, Mom,” said Kira desparately. “You’ll be okay. She’ll help you. I know she will.”
“You have to find out how to stop it,” pleaded Mom.
“Stop what?”
“The Yarn Wars.”
“Oh, I can’t stop a war, Mom! I just want to save you! You’re more important to me.”
Mom smiled. “But what if I wasn’t around? Would you still obey me even if I wasn’t able to nag you?”
“Of – of course,” faltered Kira.
“Then answer this question.” Mom’s face turned paler even as Kira watched, and her voice was shaky. “Who are you meeting?”
“A…” said Kira, not daring to look at Mom. “A…uh…crocheter. That I met at the yarn store.” Quickly she recounted the day’s events for Mom’s benefit.
Mom smiled weakly. “You must go to her. Tell her what happened. Ask her about the neighbors. Get help for yourself.”
“Mom, don’t talk like that! You’re going to come with me.”
“Kira…” gasped Mom, another asthma attack starting. “I love you!”
“Oh, Mom!” Kira rushed to her mother’s side. She pounded her on the back in hopes that it would clear something up. When nothing happened, she knelt by Mom’s side and asked, “What do I do?! Please! You have to tell me!”
Mom opened her eyes. She looked up at Kira and smiled. “Do what I told you, and everything will be all right.”
“Mom, please. Don’t leave me!” Kira began to cry again, and flung herself into her mother’s arms. “I need you!”
Her mother didn’t answer.
Kira sat up and grabbed her mother’s wrist. She felt for a pulse, but found nothing. Then she listened for a hearbeat and heard only silence.
It couldn’t be true. Her mother, the one who had always been by her, who had comforted her when her father died ten years ago. Mom had always been there for her. And now she wasn’t.
Kira was glad for the numbness. It helped dull the pain. She still wasn’t sure if this was really happening, or if it was a horrible dream. Her mother’s final words kept replaying in her head: Do what I told you, and everything will be all right.
No matter what, Kira had to honor Mom’s dying wish.
She had to go see Harriet.
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After Kira left, a gray truck pulled up alongside the curb where Mom lay. A government worker with a hospital uniform got out and rushed over to her. She lugged her into the truck and hooked her up to several machines.
After several minutes of intense work, a machine let out a loud zapping sound. The lady let out a sigh of relief as Mom began to breathe again. Making her nightly rounds had never been so stressful before.
The lady seat-belted Mom into the bed in the back, and began to drive the truck back to the hospital. In a few days, after Mom was better, they would figure out where she came from.
Meanwhile, Kira walked on alone, convinced that her mother was dead.
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I joined Ravelry! So far I’ve only added one pattern, but if you want to visit me, click here. My username is katnisscrochet ~ just Katniss was taken, not that I’m surprised. (So were Primrose, Rue, and Effie, for my fellow Hunger Games fans.)
Why did WordPress delete all the things in my sidebar? Grrr. I had them all in a nice order, but I was sampling different themes, and when I came back to this one, my widgets had gone bye-bye.
Anyhow, I will talk to you later. Have a lovely day, I would love it if you commented!
I am really curious what this is all about!
[…] Part Four […]