My Daughter, Audrey [ON HOLD]

The Grandfather Finds Out

The next for Audrey was terribly boring.   Helen was out on another photo shoot that would take all day and Audrey was forbidden to only one walk outside and, if she behaved, another trip to a place of her choice.  The house was silent and cold, for Helen did not care for animals and she refused to pay more for the heating bill when, in her words, “California is naturally sunny and warm!”   Audrey’s grandfather spent most of his time in his rocker reading the LIFE magazine or channeling the radio stations.  He wasn’t much fun, though he entertained Audrey when he felt like it.  But even when he told her strategic tricks in Chess or explained to her how airplanes worked, Audrey dreaded the indoors and wished she had a playmate her age.    

               “Now, listen again, Audrey,” the grandfather began patiently.  He picked up a smooth black figurine from the Chess board and placed it beside Audrey’s white one.  “This is a valid move, see?”

               Audrey, with her eyes half-mast and her cheeks shoved high up her face by her hands, nodded dutifully.   She yawned, but covered it behind her hand, she knew it was rude and didn’t want to be corrected on how “unladylike” it was. 

               “And look here!”  The elderly man sung, his hands moving faster over the board than they do at mealtime.   “You can place your--,”

               Audrey raised her hand slowly, hoping she wouldn’t be chided before she could speak her request.  In a quiet and timid voice, she said, “Grandpa, can we go outside?”

               “Now, pumpkin, your mother wants you inside today.”

               “I know, but I have a letter to mail and it’s urgent!”   Audrey stood up from the cushion she had been sitting on for the past hour and jumped up in down in begging excitement.  She clapped her hands and pleaded for her grandfather to at least let her post the letter she had written the night before.

               “Well, seeing that you’ve been a good girl, I see no reason why we can’t take a little stroll to the post office.  Who is the letter going to?”

               Audrey froze and she felt a wave of fear cast over her little mind.   She so badly wanted to fib, but she knew it wasn’t a good thing to do.  “Well, if you promise not to tell Mommy.”

               The grandfather raised an amused eyebrow and leaned back in his chair.  If had his pipe, he would have stuck it the corner of his mouth.  “Go on, Drew.”

               “I’m mailing a letter to Daddy and he must get it.”

               The grandfather’s mouth swiveled from side to side.  The mass of wrinkles in his forehead bent in thought and his gray eyes were coved by his lids as he contemplated on Audrey’s wish.  He opened his eyes and his face brightened.  “Well, I see no reason why you shouldn’t.  Helen has always gotten her way in things, I don’t see the harm why I shouldn’t take you out on a small errand like yours.  She will never know if I bring you back in time for her arrival!”   the grandfather, in taking part of this mischievous act, seemed younger and lighter on his feet.   He was, indeed, tired of his daughter running the show.  Even though she had a secretive relationship back in England with Peter, the Mr. Trapp saw no need to punish the child for her own foolish errors.  

               “Come along, honey.  Go fetch your coat and I’ll be waiting by the door.”

               Audrey burst into a smile, leaped in the air like a frolicking deer, and raced up the stairs with her smile still beaming on her face.  She threw open the door to her room and went over to her beside drawer.   She opened it up so quickly, she almost spilled all of its contents.  She caught the escaping toys and trinkets just in time before they struck the floor.   Audrey, upon finding the letter, whipped it out triumphantly and fled down the stairs with such speed, her grandfather hollered at her in great concern.

               “Now, Audrey, small steps down the stairs!  You might tumble!”  Mr. Trapp said, his arms outstretched to catch her, even though he was not even near the stairs, nor was he fast enough to catch her if she was to take a spill.

               Audrey hopped over the last two steps and ran into her grandfather’s arms.  “Here it is, Grandfather!  I don’t know where to mail it though.”

               The grandfather took the letter and turned the envelope over.  Seeing a blank front, he chuckled.  “Well, well, well, this is no proper way to send off a letter, mhmm?  But don’t worry, darling, Helen keeps her address book over on her desk.  I believe she has your father’s address in there—she said she had paid him a visit.”

               “Yes, she did,” Audrey said mournfully. Her hands went straight to the folds in her dress and she began twisting the cloth between her hands.   “That’s where she took me away.”

               The grandfather’s eyes opened wider than ever and he stared at the little girl in complete astonishment.  “What do you mean, little lady?”

               “That’s where she took me away from Daddy and Mommy.  And Mommy and Daddy had to get more jobs to get me back.”

               “That wretched woman! I knew known of her scheme.  Oh, how my fatherly love for her has blinded me towards her schemes.  I must talk to her straightaway when she returns.  You poor child.  But first off, we’ll mail the letter.”

               Audrey broke into another smile and went directly to the desk where she found her mother’s leather bound address book.  She walked it back over to her grandfather and watched in interest as he balanced her letter and the address book in one hand, and wrote with the other.   “There!  Signed and sealed.  Now, run over to the table and put the book back.  Make sure to close it so the dear old girl won’t suspect!”  The grandfather placed finger by his nose and gave Audrey a wink.

               Audrey tried to wink back, but only managed to blink both eyes.   “I can’t wink.”

               “That’s alright, it’s not becoming on women anyway.”

               “Mommy blinks at Daddy a lot!”  Audrey added, taking her grandfather’s hand and following him out the door.

               “Well, that’s because she’s being frisky with the boy.  You’ll learn about that later on.”

               “Oh, I see.”  Audrey’s thoughts wandered on the overly amiable actions between Jennie and Peter.   It didn’t occupy her mind for long when she saw a great Dalmatian prance by.  “Oh!  Look at the doggie!  I have a doggie back home, his name is Taffy.”

               “Taffy!  What a delightful name!  Well, tell me all about Taffy while we stroll to the post office.”

               “Well, he’s big and yellow.  He likes Mommy best because she owns him.  But now that she’s with Daddy, Taffy is my dog also.   His breath smells like ham, and he can shake the paw.   I miss him a lot, but I’ll write him a letter so he won’t feel left out.”

               “What a marvelous idea, honey!  I think that would be perfect.  I’ve never heard of a dog getting a letter.”

               “Then I will write one to Taffy.  And one to Mommy.”

               “Sounds like both excellent ideas.”  The grandfather gave Audrey a warm smile and squeezed her little hand.   Deep inside, though he would never say it to his daughter’s face, he was pleased to see that her child was more like her father, Peter.