Ortega Family Adventures: Part 7

Ortega Family Adventures
Collecting Clothes

M

rs. Ortega stopped in the living room and said, "OK. I found a backpack that you can use to take your clothes in, and I have a couple of old tennis shoes that we can modify to work with your feet."
         The children looked up from their card game.
         "Almost finished with this hand, mama," Selena said.
         "Take your time. I will be at the dinning table," Mrs. Ortega said then left the room.
         "OK, mommy," Selena said as her mother left the room.
         A few minutes later Sheena announced, "Fruit Salad!"
         She laid her cards down and they matched the fruit salad card. They put the deck away and Selena and Sheena joined Mrs. Ortega in the dinning room.
         "I'm hungry," Max said.
         "Me too, let's go to the kitchen and get some snacks," Banu said.
         The boys passed the girls and Mrs. Ortega as they went to the kitchen. Mrs. Ortega had cut the heel out of a pair of sneakers and Sheena was trying them on.
         "I'm getting jerky, want some?" Banu asked his brother.
         "Yeah," Max said.
         Banu pulled a bag of jerky out of his shelf in a low cupboard, handed a few pieces to Max, put a few in his pocket, and put the bag back. They sat on the floor and ate the jerky.

         "How does that feel?" Mrs. Ortega asked Sheena.
         Sheen had laced up the heel-less sneaker and walked around in them for a bit, then said, "That feels good. They don't slip."
         "Let's do the blue ones and you can try them. While we do that, Selena put the clothes you've picked out in this backpack, please," Mrs. Ortega said.
         "OK, be right back," Selena said as she rose, took the backpack and went in the children's room.

         "I don't know if I like that pixie-boy," Banu said after he chewed and swallowed his first piece.
         Max nodded while chewing.
         "I lost my family and I didn't throw rocks at people," Banu said after a while.
         "No rocks. Rocks hurt," Max said, paused the added. "Living room?"
         "Yeah, let's go back there," Banu said rising to his feet.
         The boys passed Sheena and Mrs. Ortega on their way back to the living room.
         "Max?" Mrs. Ortega said as the boys were passing.
         Max stopped and looked at her.
         "Could you get that bag of bricks for building things that you were going to give to charity and bring it here?"
         Max nodded and headed into the same room that Selena went into. Banu waited for Max to return.
         "Here," Max came back and dropped the small bag next to his mother.
         "Thank you, Max."
         "Thank you a lot, Max. My sisters will be thrilled to have them to play with," Sheena said.
         Max blushed, nodded his head, and joined Banu as they continued into the living room.
         "What do you want to play now?" Banu asked Max.
         "Trains."
         "OK, lets go out on the balcony and play there," Banu said.
         The boys went out on the patio through a sliding door. The sun was up, and there was a light breeze. They both stopped and sniffed loudly.
         Banu said, "I smell flowers. The ones that grow by the creek. What do you smell?"
Max sniffed again, shook his head, and said, "Nothing."
         "Probably when you get older you'll smell better," Banu said as they busied themselves getting the trains and tracks out of the toy bin.

         "If you don't mind me asking, where did Banu come from? I've never seen any quite like him," Sheena asked once the boys were out of sight.
         "He is unique. I think that's why we love him so much," Mrs. Ortega answered with a small smile, then continued. "We were looking to foster a child and he was the only one in foster care at the time. That's how he came to be part of our family. He is a sweet, generous, kind soul, and a joy to have in our family. We adopted him last year."
         "As to where his people come from, there is a story from the war years about bears coming down from Oregon. They settled down on the central coast," Mrs. Ortega said, paused, looked long at Sheena, the continued. "The story is that they brought into our world by a sorceress up in Oregon. She also brought in Wolf-people, Fox-people, and some Hare-people. In fact one of the Hare-people was a great friend to the bear that lead the revolt against the sorceress. Oregon is the state just above ours. The wizard war ended about thirty-five years ago and was terrible. A lot of people died and it has caused a lot of environmental damage. Having said that, I can't imagine my life without Banu in it.
         "One of the things that caused California to welcome the bears was they brought a special magical crystal called the Eye of Issis. As I understand it the bear people came to California from Oregon towards the end of war. They were welcomed by the government as they brought the Heart of Ithus to us. That when placed near a healing ley line allows healing crystals to be recharged."
         "Oh," Sheena said, paused and asked. "What is a healing crystal? I've heard of crystals before."
         "Hmm. I am not an expert but crystals in this world act as, sort of, storage for ley line power. So you can 'charge' them up when you are over the right ley line then use them anywhere," Mrs. Ortega answered.
         "OK, the clothes are in the backpack," Selena said as she stepped out of her room and up to the table.
         "Good. I asked Mrs. Dumitru if her daughters had clothing that Sheena's sister could wear and she said they did, so you two should stop by their apartment and pick up the clothes on your way to the Hartnu's apartment," Mrs. Ortega said as she stood up.
         "OK, mom," Selena said, then turned to Sheena and asked, "Are you ready to go?"
         "Yes. Thank you, Mrs. Ortega for the food, the clothes, and about Banu and crystals," Sheena said.
         "Oh, you are very welcome, and that reminds me," Mrs. Ortega stepped into the kitchen for a moment, and when she returned she handed Sheena a heavy bag, and said. "Here are some vegetables and fruit to share with the Hartnu's."
         "OH! That is wonderful. Thank you so much," Sheena took the bag and slung it over her shoulder.
The girls left the apartment and headed over the lift. Selena pressed the button to call the elevator, and asked Sheena, "What did you live in before?"
         "You mean what kind of building?"
         "Yeah."
         "It was a burrow in the side of the mountains."
         "Really?" Selena blurted, then asked. "Like right in the ground? Wasn't kinda of dirty?"
         "Huh?" Sheena said and looked at Selena with a puzzled expression, then laughed and said. "Oh. I know what you are thinking. That's it's all dirt and roots and bugs. No, no, it looked like your apartment only it was in the hillside. We had a nice little garden out front."
         "Oh. Wow. That actually sounds kind of neat. Was it cold?"
         "Certain parts were keep cold to store our food but we had heating. Keep in mind I have a fur coat so I can stand it a lot colder than you can," Sheena said, then added. "Probably."
         "Did you dig it yourself?"
         "It was there before I was born. I think my parents had it dug out but they didn't do it. There are people that do that for a living."
         "Oh, yeah. That makes sense. Like the guys that build these buildings."
         The elevator car arrived and the girls got in and Selena pressed the button for floor 2. Selena asked more questions about the Classnu's burrow. Sheena had a room of her own, her sisters shared a larger room and her parents had their own room. Her brothers also had a room they shared. They continued discussing until they reached the door to the Dumitru's apartment. Selena rang the door bell.
         "Who is it?"
         "Selena and Sheena," Selena answered.
"Who?"
         "It's Selena, Ioana. Open up!"
         The door opened and Dwarf-girl in a white blouse with a pink butterfly on it, stood there grinning. She stood a little over 2 feet tall. She called over her shoulder, "Mom, Selena is here."
         A voice from inside the apartment said, "Well let her in!"
         "OK, Selena you can come in. Who are you?" Ioana asked as she looked at Sheena suspiciously.
         "I am Sheena. I believe you and your sisters are donating clothes to my sisters. I am here to carry them there," Sheena said.
         "Oh, you are the new Hares that Arlo said came over from the other world. OK, you can come in too," Ioana said as she stepped out of the way so Selena and Sheena could pass her.
         "You know Arlo?" Sheena asked.
         "Yeah. They've been here almost as long as we have. I saw him down at the mailboxes a little while ago."
         Selena led the way deeper into the apartment. It was similar to her own apartment with a kitchen on right, near the entrance followed by a small dining room. What was different was on the left next to the front entrance was a small room with clothes washing and drying machines in it. Next to that was a small bedroom, then another small bedroom, then the living room. As in her apartment the bathrooms and master bedroom were on the right down a short hallway just past the dining room. Selena and Sheena walked into the living room where Mrs. Dumitru sat on a short couch with a pile of clothes next to her. Mrs. Dumitru looked like she'd been crying while sorting the clothes.
         She looked up and said, "Hello Selena. How are you?"
         "I am good. We had a fun time down at the orchards this morning. I met Sheena there," Selena said, then added. "Sorry! This is Sheena."
         Sheena stepped forward, gave a small curtsy, and said, "Hello. I am Sheena of clan Classnu. I am so happy that you have clothes for my sisters. They will be just as happy. We didn't have much time to get our stuff together before we left."
         "I am pleased to meet you and you are very welcome. We like to see things go to good uses," Mrs. Dumitru said, then turned to her daughters and said. "Iulia go see if we have a bag big enough to carry all these clothes."
         "Yes, mom," a dwarf girl with a dark red blouse on that had a blue flower embroidered on the back.
         "Yes, do as mom says," Ioana said to her sister.
         "You are not my boss, so shut up!" Iulia said, glaring at her sister.
         "I am the oldest!"
         "Who told you that?" the other girl asked. She wore a pink sweater over a red T-shirt.
         "Irina, daddy told me in a dream," Ioana said.
         "In a dream? Well daddy said you were a poopyhead in my dream!" Iulia said as she stepped past Ioana.
         "Well daddy came to me in a dream and said you were both poopyheads!" a third girl said.
         "Irena!" Mrs. Dumitru said, then added. "Iulia get that bag. You two settle down!"
         "Yes, momma," the three girls said in unison.
         Mrs. Dumitru sighed, then said to Selena and Sheena, "They are good girls. I just don't take them out enough since Bertam disappeared. I am just finding it hard to think of anything else."
         "Oh," Selena said.
         "Where did he disappear?" Sheena asked, the quickly added. "If you don't mind me asking."
         "No, no problem. He was part of a team on an expedition into the Western part of the Nevada Territory. There had been reports of odd beasts in the Sierra mountains late last year so the California government sent a team to investigate. They lost contact with the team about 4 months ago."
         "That's terrible. I am so sorry. There is still hope," Sheena said as she stepped forward and patted Mrs. Dumitru's hand.
         "Yes, thank you," Mrs. Dumitru whispered.
         "My mother is an expert in Sha-mal-ta. It's a way of dealing with grief. I can ask her to come and talk to you. She is really very nice and good at it," Sheena said.
         "Thank you. It would be good to talk to someone."
         "Mrs. Dumitru, when we go out for our daily exercises in the orchard, can we stop by and take Ioana, Irena, and Iulia with us?" Selena asked.
         "Hmm. That is a good idea. Call me before and I will make sure they are ready."
Selena nodded.
         Iulia returned to the living room with a large bag. Mrs. Dumitru put all the clothes into the back and set it on the floor. Between the bag of food that Selena was already carrying and the bag of clothes that Sheena was carrying they couldn't figure out how to carry the third bag.
         "How about I go with you and carry the bag?" Iulia asked.
         She attempted to lift the bag and could drag it but couldn't get it off the floor by herself.
         "Looks like all three of you are going to be taking that to the Hartnu's apartment," Mrs. Dumitru said.
         "Yes, momma," they triplets said in unison.
         After some experimentation they manged to get the big bag out the front door and the five girls headed over to the Hartnu's apartment. It was on the same floor just in a different part of the building.