Between HeVan and Hell by Lucy Kelly Page B

to get weepy as they hugged each other. Rune picked up
Gilda and put her in the van. After that, Carol was happy not to
wander off because she had her sister back again.
    Suzanna looked over at Marta, who
seemed just as surprised as she was. “I don’t remember an Aunt
Gilda. And I don’t remember you, either. I guess my mom’s had
Alzheimer’s a lot longer than we thought. It must have gone
undiagnosed for years. Well, hello, I’m your cousin Suzanna,” she
said, holding out her hand.
    Marta took the proffered hand and
shook it. “I’m actually Gilda’s granddaughter. She had my mom when
she was twenty and mom got married right out of high school.
Gilda’s seventy-four; she’s usually a dynamo, but she’s been having
hip problems for a little over a year. After my parents died, she
took me in. Instead of going to college, I decided I could learn a
whole lot more from her; she’s been teaching me how to make
jewelry. Did I hear you calling about movers?”
    “Yeah, she’s an acquaintance of mine.
Actually, I only met the woman last night. She has friends that
have a small family-owned moving and storage company. They don’t
like women being victimized, so they helped out this other lady
whose ex was after her. Miranda told us the story last night. They
packed up her stuff and put it in their warehouse under an assumed
name. I figured they could do the same thing here,” she
explained.
    “There’s no way you can completely
strip your identity from a place when you leave in a hurry. So if
they come and strip it down to the floorboards, we’ll have one less
thing to worry about. Do you have any boxes? We can start with your
desks, any personal papers, etc. You can pack your clothes in any
suitcases you already have,” said Suzanna.
    “Okay, I get what you’re saying,”
answered Marta.
    The two of them got to work. A few
minutes later, Rune came up and asked Suzanna to sit with the
women; he didn’t want them left alone in the alley. He would shift
furniture for Marta as needed. When Suzanna got downstairs, she saw
that Rune had loaded all the things that the women had managed to
pile up near the back door. As she stepped outside, she saw a
mid-sized truck coming down the alley. She immediately hopped into
the van and pulled it forward so they would have access to the back
door.
    “You two going to be alright here for
a few minutes more?” she asked her mother and newly-found
aunt.
    They both just smiled and waved her
off, content to continue exchanging stories about their childhood.
Gilda had given her a knowing look. She had realized her sister’s
condition.
    Suzanna then walked back to greet the
movers. Rune and Marta had heard the truck also and had come to the
back door. Two large barrel-chested men with curly red hair and
beards climbed down from the cab, along with an average-sized
woman. Two more men came around from the back; they’d obviously
been riding inside the truck. The men were all close enough in size
and looks that she knew they were brothers. They’d all worn jeans
and plain white T-shirts and she was glad none of them wore a
uniform or T-shirt advertising their business; Miranda had passed
the word.
    The driver, who was about six foot
six, stepped forward with his hand outstretched to Rune. “Hi, I’m
Mike Mackey of Mackey Moving and Storage. I hear you might need a
little help.”
    Suzanna gestured to the doorway.
“Let’s take this conversation inside. I don’t want the merchants
next door to overhear anything,” she said in a low
voice.
    The merchants had snooped a little,
but gone away when they weren’t given any information. One older
lady had gone straight to Gilda and Carol, exclaiming how wonderful
it was that the two sisters had found each other. She and Gilda
exchanged a look; she would tell the neighbors that Gilda was
closing shop after the robbery scare and going to live with her
baby sister for a while. She finally went away, when her husband
called her back