"Girls! Girls!" yelled Twanky as she pounded on the door. "Girls come out here this instant!"
Suddenly the door swung open to reveal an obviously frightened Nicole and Shannon standing there in their bathrobes. "Twanky?"
"Oh darlings! You scared your poor Aunt Twanky!" Twanky threw her arms around the girls who were more confused than ever. "You shouldn't do that you know. My heart can't take it. Now tell Twanky what the matter is."
"We're so sorry to have disturbed you. It's…uh, nothing serious." Nicole replied.
"Nothing serious? You don't rouse an old woman out of a sound sleep with a scream like that and say it's nothing. Besides, I wouldn't believe it!" Twanky walked over to the couch and sat down. She patted the empty space next to her on the couch, "Now you two sit down here and tell me what happened."
Nicole reluctantly walked over and sat on the couch next to Twanky. "It's nothing but a case of an overactive imagination. Shannon and I both thought we saw our Uncle Sal. But that's impossible, him being dead and all. It's just the stress of moving in this place, I'm sure."
"The unjustly dead never go peacefully, do they?" Twanky muttered under her breath.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Nicole asked.
"Oh, nothing dear. I just said that you are probably right. But it couldn't hurt to let me take a look." Twanky looked around the loving room. "Now, where exactly did you see your uncle?"
"Um…once in my bedroom last night and tonight we saw him walking down the hall." Shannon began. "But it's just our imagination, right Nicole?" There was definite fear in Shannon's voice as looked to her older sister for comfort.
"Well, we'll soon find out about that." Twanky said matter-of-factly and walked into the hallway. Suddenly she stopped, closed her eyes and put a hand on her chest. "It was right here that you saw him, wasn't it girls?"
"Well yes, but how did you…"
"I have been blessed with a gift from beyond the grave." She responded melodramatically.
"Oh brother!" Shannon muttered under her breath. Nicole elbowed her again, "Ouch! Stop doing that!"
"Then keep your mouth shut." Nicole retorted. She looked over at Twanky who was examining the carpet where the apparition had been seen. "Really Twanky, you don't have to humor us."
"Humor you? Heavens no child!" Twanky looked a little hurt at the suggestion. "It seems we have an unbeliever among us. Humph, I'll fix that. What we need here is a séance!"
"A séance? You've got to be kidding!" Shannon started to laugh.
"No girls, I am not." Her voice suddenly had a serious tone to it. "The spirit of your uncle lies in unrest and it's up to us to find out why." Twanky said. "I am fully qualified to act as your medium."
"Are you suggesting that we hold a séance right now?" Nicole asked disbelieving.
"No, of course not, that would be silly. We'll hold one tomorrow night instead." Twanky replied. "We really should have more people here anyway, just to be sure there will be someone her your uncle wishes to speak with. He was always such a picky man. How soon do you think you can put something together?"
"Us? But you're the one…" Shannon stopped as soon as she saw Nicole's elbow headed her way again.
"What my sister is trying to say is that we've never had a séance before. We wouldn't even know how to begin." Nicole interrupted, "I mean, what kind of wine goes well with spirits?"
Shannon started to snicker and Twanky glared at her. "Don't worry about that, I'll take care of everything. You just need to invite anyone in this town who knew you're uncle well and I take it from there. Tomorrow night then?"
"Uh…okay, I guess." Nicole replied, not sure exactly how she should have answered.
"Good." Twanky smiled and headed for the front door. "There is so much I have to prepare! I'll see you then."
"A séance? What kind of place did you move us to Nicole?" Shannon asked once Twanky was gone.
"I don't know, but I'm beginning to wonder myself."
Scene 2
"Come along Alfalfa!" called the woman with the short, bleach blond hair. "I haven't got all day you know."
"Yes, madam." The tall man walking behind her replied as he rolled his eyes. He was bogged down by at least 10 different packages and was finding it hard to walk, much less keep up with her brisk pace.
Suddenly the woman stopped in front of a window with a display of dresses set up in it. "Stop!" She cried.
Unfortunately Alfalfa was not able to stop in time and he plowed right into her knocking them both to the ground. Alfalfa landed on top of her. "Ooof!"
The woman looked up at the man on top of her and the saw that his lips were drawn up into a huge smile. "Well, get off of me you big clumsy oaf!"
His smile disappeared as he quickly pulled himself up. "I'm so sorry madam. I couldn't see where I was going. I…"
"Oh, never mind. Just pick of my packages. I hope you didn't ruin anything." Alfalfa reached out a hand and helped her to her feet. She looked down at her clothing to dust herself off, but found that there was now a huge tear in the backside of her dress. "Oh great! This is just like you Alfalfa. Now look at my new dress. I'm going to deduct this from your pay you know."
"Of course madam." Alfalfa responded, once again rolling his eyes.
"Excuse me, but is there a problem here?" She heard a voice behind her. She spun around and saw a tall, handsome man with dark hair standing behind her laughing.
Her eyes narrowed and her teeth clenched, "Bruce. I should have known you were there. I'd recognize your stench anywhere."
"Lillith. You were always the sweet talker weren't you?" the man displayed a huge grin on his face. He then turned to Alfalfa, "You still hanging around with her, Alfie?"
"That's Alfalfa." Alfalfa glared at him.
"I thought I told you that I didn't want anything to do with you anymore." Lillith said.
"Oh, I'm hurt." Bruce raised a hand and placed it over his heart. "It gets me right here. But you know there is some unfinished business that we need to take care of Lillith."
"There is nothing left for us to take care of." She stated flatly.
"Ah, but I think there is. You'll be very interested in what I have to say." A huge smile spread across his face. "And since you never return my calls, I think we should discuss this tonight, over dinner."
"I'm not going to go anywhere with you."
"Suit yourself, but if you don't, the people in this town may find out some very interesting things about you." He started to laugh.
Lillith's face turned pale and her voice went to a whisper, "How dare you! We settled that debt years ago, you bastard!"
"Not quite all of it. Let's say 7 p.m., at Sorbo's café?"
She took a deep breath and gave him an icy look. "Fine. I'll be there. Just don't expect me to be nice."
"I never do Lillith, I never do." He turned to leave but looked back over his shoulder, "Oh, and leave servant boy here at home. This is just between the two of us." He started to laugh again and disappeared into the crowded street.
"How could you agree to go out with him?" Alfalfa asked once Bruce was out of earshot.
"What choice do I have Alfalfa? You know that man can destroy everything I have worked so hard for these last few years."
"Well, I'm not letting you go alone."
"Yes you will. I don't want any problems." She said. "You know that man can be difficult."
"I still don't like it."
"You don't have to." She looked at the packages that were still on the ground, "Now pick up those packages. We need to get home. I have a lot of thinking to do."
Scene 3:
Nicole walked down the hallway wearing a pair of black jeans, cowboy boots and one of the more fashionable tops that Twanky had picked out for her a few nights previously. She had her hair swept back in a clip that fastened in the back of her head and her face had a smile that spanned ear to ear.
"So, how do I look?" She asked Shannon when she reached the end of the hallway.
"Oh, just perfect." Shannon replied without looking up from her place on the couch where she sat reading the newspaper.
"Come on Shannon. I'm serious." Nicole responded. "I'm really nervous. You know this is the first time I've been out since…since…" Her voice turned into a whisper and her eyes started to well up with tears.
"Nicole, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." Shannon stood up from the couch and hugged her sister. "You look great. I'm just not looking forward to spending the evening alone. Especially after all the excitement the last couple of nights."
"Thanks Shannon."
"But I must admit I was surprised that to hear that you agreed to go."
"Me too. But I have to start over sometime." Nicole replied.
Suddenly the doorbell rang. "That will be for you, but I can answer it if you would like to make an entrance."
"No," Nicole started to smile, "That's all right. I'll open it."
Nicole opened the door and saw Chris standing there. He was dressed in a pair of blue jeans, a colorful button down shirt and a nice pair of boots. On top of his head was a black cowboy hat and in his hand he held flowers. "Hey there. You look great." He smiled. "These are for you." He handed the flowers to Nicole.
"Thank you. That is so sweet." She replied as she took the flowers. "Shannon, do you think you can put these in some water for me?"
"Sure. Why not? It's not like I have anything better to do." She took the flowers and started for the kitchen.
"We should go now. It was nice seeing you again Shannon." Chris called after her.
"Yeah, yeah. Bye." She replied as the front door shut leaving her in total silence.
