Chihiro is the last to arrive for breakfast after showering and getting dressed.
After breakfast, Moro begins cleanup. Chihiro helps.
"Everything's done." Moro says to Valentine. "The ladies and I will explore this town."
"Before we do," Jeanette says, "we need to get a few things from gas Camper."
In the Camper Jeanette removes her glasses, puts them in their case, retrieves her prescription safety goggles from its case and puts them on. She puts her red hooded cape on retrieves the radio and holds it out to Danielle since she has large coat pockets. "Danielle, could you carry the radio?"
Danielle holds out her hand. Jeanette places the radio in Danielle's hand. Danielle places the radio in her coat pocket. Jeanette retrieves her Guide I medical kit.
The ladies explore the industrialized town. The town also has things like a hospital, school, music hall, arts center and apartments.
Moro notice crows flying from tree to tree, discretely remaining on alert.
A man and a girl with no family resemblance are in town standing by a 1973 Super Beetle. On the ground among them are a suitcase, two other cases and a book bag. He is a forty-two year old white male with black hair and is wearing a sidearm. The girl appears to be about nine. She's white with short black hair and hazel eyes, wearing a simple but practical dress, socks, practical brown leather shoes that are worn but still hold up well and a coat that is as simple and practical as her dress and shoes.
The man sees Jeanette, Moro, Elsa, Chihiro and Danielle as they walk by. "Would you ladies be interested in a domestic servant?"
Jeanette changes direction and approaches the man and child. "You're selling a child?"
"We can't stay in our home any longer." The man says. "I really don't know where we can go. I can't give Penny a life on the run, not knowing where to go. I'm hoping the person who will accept Penny will give her a better life than what I can. That is why I've been scanning the crowd for someone who can give her that life. I saw and called out to you." The man looks at Jeanette's EMT patch. "Are you really from Charlton?"
"Yes I am." Jeanette answers.
"I hope life in Charlton works out for her. Penny has been well disciplined, taught and raised and she's a very good dressmaker. I'm including her sewing machine and sewing kit." The man removes the cover of an electric, portable Singer sewing machine that's considered an antique even in Jeanette's time. "It still works. This case is her sewing kit. She made everything she's wearing and all of the clothes in her suitcase except for her socks and shoes."
Jeanette examines Penny's coat. "You made this?"
Scared of the change and unknown, Penny is at first hesitant to speak. "Yeah." Even in the midst of her fear, Penny does not shy away.
"Do you want to see the clothes she's made?" The man asks.
Uneasy with the concept of shopping for a child, Jeanette wants to know a lot more than the girl's skills. She figures that the best way is to go along with what the man says. "Sure."
The man opens the suitcase and hands Jeanette one of the dresses Penny made.
Jeanette does not know the first thing about buying a person; she knows what to look for in clothes. She examines the dress. "Practical, well made." Jeanette hands the dress back to the man.
The man hands Jeanette a pair of panties.
Jeanette accepts them. "You made these? They look comfortable."
"They better be comfortable." Penny proudly states. "I custom made them just for me."
"If you want to see a perfectionist at work," the man says, "watch her as she makes panties."
"I made panties for a woman we know so I know how to make panties for a woman too." Penny continues. "She says they are the perfect fit."
In the suitcase is an iron as old as the sewing machine.
The man puts the panties back in the suitcase and looks at what Jeanette's looking at. "The iron works too." The man closes the suitcase. "In the book bag are old school books. I do what I can to educate Penny. All of her important papers are in the book bag."
"Tell me more." Jeanette asks. "What has she learned?"
"I've raised Penny since she was old enough to eat food. Penny is an Immortal. She will always be nine. Penny is as comfortable in her skin as she is dressed. I taught her if she does not love her body the way it is, who will. I taught her what she needs to know about her body. I taught her the difference between sex and love. That is something she needed to know."
"Anything else?"
"I did not have sex with Penny. I did touch Penny but I only touched her when she wanted me to."
"If Penny is comfortable running around in nothing but her skin, that's wonderful. As a woman, I'm not touching another female." Jeanette has never been in this position before so she does not know what questions to ask. She kneels down to Penny's level. "So, you have been taught a lot about sex and love. What do you think about getting married some day?"
Penny knows people can love each other without getting married or have sex but does not know how to answer. "If someone wants to marry me, sure. I'm beautiful."
Penny sounded sure of herself when she said she's beautiful but her voice wavered on getting married. Jeanette is not interested in getting married so she understands.
Penny then volunteers information. "I should not have sex until I find someone I love."
Jeanette stands up straight feeling confident that Penny is well grounded in concepts such as sex and love.
"You seem like the ideal person for Penny." The man gets to the part where he's feeling uneasy . . . the price. "For Penny and everything that's hers, two tenths of gold ($200). I'm sorry, I haven't asked your name."
"It's Miss Jeanette Miller."
"I'm Wilbur Robinson, this is Penelope Robinson. Penny is short for Penelope."
Jeanette hands Wilbur two 1/10 ounce gold coins.
Wilbur accepts the gold, goes to his mode of transportation to retrieve a pen and a hand-written bill of sale. He uses the Volkswagen as a writing surface and signs and dates the bill of sale. "Sign here." He hands Jeanette the pen.
Jeanette accepts the pen and reads the bill of sale. "Is this paper legal?"
Moro approaches, bringing Elsa with her. "It is and you need to keep it for whenever someone needs to know your legal relationship to this girl."
Jeanette holds the pen, looking at the bill of sale she has yet to sign. "This is weird. I'm purchasing another human, a spirit living inside a body." Jeanette signs the paper, making her custody of Penny legal, and hands the pen back to Wilbur.
Wilbur accepts the pen. "Is this your first time out here in the wilderness?"
"Yes." Jeanette answers. "What do you want to do next?"
"Go to Denver. If there's no work there, I'll sell the Volkswagen and buy a train ticket to Texas."
"I don't know when we will get there; our party will eventually be back in Texas."
"I have just enough gas money to get to Denver, not Texas."
"Danielle," Jeanette says, "hand me the radio."
Danielle retrieves the radio from her coat pocket and hands it to Jeanette.
Jeanette accepts the radio and presses the button. "Fernando, are you there?"
Jeanette Isabelle
Pages: 
After Chaos (Read 185898 times)
