The McEllis Boys

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

"So let me make sure I have this straight in my head," Nicole said as she waved her hands around, hoping for mystic but fearing she just looked a little crazy. Clearly the men thought the same as they looked at one another with frowns, raised brows and shrugs. "You are brothers from Kentucky from 1875 and you were all gathered together to pay your last respects to your mother and some crazy woman, healer, witch lady sent you here to the future to learn lessons or find something you needed?"

"Pretty much." Cavanaugh replied as he looked down at the bright orange noodles in his bowl. He hadn't yet had the bravery to eat any of them but Andrew had and the boy had damn near went through the ceiling as he'd jumped up and down and carried on about how good they were. Ian and Jamison had agreed, though in a more subdued way as they had sampled the food. Nicole had rolled her eyes and called 'Kraft' a miracle worker though Cavanaugh had no idea who Kraft was.

"And I'm supposed to believe that you're not crazy?" Nicole asked skeptically.

"That would be awfully nice, ma'am," Jamison admitted before stuffing another bite of macaroni in his mouth.

Ian nodded in agreement, "Yeah we don't exactly understand any of this ourselves and it sure would be nice if the one person we've met so far believed us and could maybe help us."

"I believe you," Madeline said happily as she sat at a small picnic table in the yard and swung her feet.

"Well the kid believes us. Now if we can only convince her mama," Andrew said with a wink.

Nicole shook her head, "I'm not her mama. I just watch her while her mama works. I run a daycare."

"Daycare?" Cavanaugh asked as he put some macaroni on his fork and took a sniff. He'd always been a picky eater. It had always driven Leah crazy but she'd been such a good cook there hadn't been much she had made that he wouldn't eat.

"Forgot, we have a slight communication barrier don't we?" Nicole asked with a mixture of amusement and annoyance. "A daycare is a place that people with kids can drop their kids off and someone watches them all day while the parents work."

"I thought that's what a mother was for?" Jamison asked with a frown and Cavanaugh nodded in agreement.

"In this day and time a lot of mothers work jobs outside the home just like their husbands and need someone to watch their children," Nicole informed them.

"That ain't right." Ian stated with distaste.

"What use is a man if he's not supporting his family? And what good is a mother if she's not taking care of their children? Now our mama would sew for people from time to time and sold her baked good when she went to town but she was always home with us. She didn't leave everyday to a job the way our pa did," Andrew stated.

"It's a man's job to support his family. That's what makes him a man. If he can't even do that much then he's better of dead," Cavanaugh added. He stuck a bite of the macaroni in his mouth and began to chew. He curled his nose, fought back a gag and handed his bowl to Andrew who was currently scooping the remaining cheese in his own bowl out with his finger.

Nicole just shrugged. Truly she agreed quite a bit with that statement. It was an old fashioned way to believe, she knew that, but it was the best kind of life she could imagine. To have a hardworking father and a mother that took care of the house and the children. However she knew that it wasn't the kind of life that was possible for everyone.

"So how long are you going to be here?" Nicole asked, throwing Cavanaugh a look that told him she didn't appreciate his dislike of her lunch.

"Your guess is as good as ours," Jamison replied with a shrug.