CHURCH LADY P.I. Part # 4 Some Bunny's Home

CHURCH LADY P.I. Part # 4

Some Bunny's Home

REMEMBER: This is a mystery and it must be read in order, including the  Introduction, then Part 1, Part 2, etc. due to the fact clues are everywhere. (L-L)



 I looked around quickly but I was completely alone. Who had put that bunny next to me and why they did I had no idea. But I did know that there would be a little girl very happy to see her smiley-faced friend again.

I took Velveteen back to the hotel where I was staying and she kept me company for the next couple of days. I needed to get the address or phone number of Ginnette and Sarah but his town was so small it had no phone book and most churches completely shut down on Mondays because Sundays are the busiest day of the week for a Christian, especially those who work for the church. Early Tuesday morning I phoned the church office to discover how to get hold of Ginnette. At first I almost got hung up on, until I mentioned that I had found Sarah’s bunny. Then I got put on hold. Then a man, who’s name I didn’t catch, came on the line and told me to just drop the bunny off at the church. When I hesitated he offered to come and get it from me himself. I explained to him that I had made a promise to Sarah personally to find her bunny and return it to her. After explaining this, yet another man came on the phone to talk to me. This one was very insistent that I bring the bunny to the church and adamant that he would "give out no information about any church member". When he realized I would not change my mind about delivering the toy to Sarah directly, he blurted out her phone number and hung up without so much as a “good-bye“.

I immediately called Ginnette and Sarah’s home, but got a busy signal. I phoned a couple minutes later and got their answering machine. I phoned several more times, but kept getting the answering machine, yet each time I did not leave a message. I wanted to bring Velveteen to Sarah directly and as quickly as possible, but I still didn’t know where she actually lived. However, I am a professional investigator, so I did "my thing" and by 11:00 am I was standing in front of Ginnette and Sarah’s house, ringing their doorbell.
It only took a few seconds for the door to be answered, but in that brief time I looked the house over and realized this house was the “exception that makes the rule”. It was a typical middle class abode, right down the line.

Ginnette answered the door and I could tell she was not pleased to see my face again, but when I presented Velveteen she perked up and put an “I-told-you-so” expression on her face. As Sarah appeared from behind her mother Ginnette said, 

“Look. Velveteen showed up again, just like she always does.”

With her know-it-all attitude, I realized I was forming a strong dislike for Sarah’s mother. On the surface she seemed to be saying pleasant things, but beneath her words she made you feel like you were being scolded and about to be sent to bed without any supper. Just as I was beginning to think these un-Christian like things about Ginnette, they vanished as quick as a hummingbird in a hurry when I looked into Sarah’s face. I had handed Velveteen directly to her, but her initial look of joy and relief had completely vanished and replaced by an expression of … I don’t know what.

I had planned to leave quickly, but when Ginnette asked me to stay for a cup of tea I blurted out a “yes” with my mouth, even though my feet wanted to make a hasty retreat. I felt things had taken a step beyond “weird” and we were heading into the territory of “wrong.”

While Ginnette and I made polite conversation over our tea cups at the kitchen table, Sarah sat in a chair without saying a word, while a glass of milk and 3 cookies remained untouched on a plate in front of her. I was trying to catch her eye, but she just stared at the floor and wouldn‘t look up. By the time almost an hour had passed I was getting ready to leave but still hadn‘t been able to engage Sarah in conversation and her cookies remained untouched on her plate.

I was getting up to leave when the phone rang. I told Ginnette that I would be on my way, but she asked me to stay for a moment because she wanted a “private word” with me when she got off the phone. What she probably expected to be a short phone call took on a new tone and, as near as I could tell, Ginnette seemed to be debating with someone about which hymns she would play at the next service. I waved at Ginnette and started toward the door but she motioned me back and mouthed the words, “please wait”, so I settled down on their comfortable “shabby chic” sofa. Sarah came and sat next to me still carrying Velveteen and her downcast expression. Curiosity and concern got the better of me and I decided to use a direct approach to find out what was bothering her.

“I thought getting Velveteen back would make you happy, Sarah. Aren’t you happy?”

She just shrugged her shoulders. So I continued trying to be both sympathetic yet firm.

“Tell me, Sarah, why aren’t you happy?”

She was holding the bunny in her lap and clapping it’s little paws together and answered with a short, “I dunno.”

I’ve questioned many adults, some of them with criminal records and have been quite successful in getting at the truth, even if I have to trick them into telling it, but tricks and deception rarely work on children. They’re just too smart for that. But I had to get Sarah to open up and tell me what was bothering her and the only way to do that was to demonstrate  that she could trust me. and the best way to get someone to open their heart to you is to open your heart first. That and prayer. So I did both.
 I took Sarah (and Velveteen) onto my lap and began to talk to her until I felt her little body begin to relax a bit. At one point her mother took the telephone away from her face and whispered, “Sorry” and rolled her eyes. Sarah saw that too and, I suppose sensing time was short, she took a deep breath and finally blurted out the problem.

“You found the wrong bunny.”

“I don’t understand, Sarah. Is this your bunny, Velveteen?” I probed directly.

“Yes. But the wrong one.”

Then I heard the voice of her mother echo in my mind:
 “ Sarah loses that silly rabbit all the time. She loses it, complains and sulks for a couple days, then it either turns up again or I go buy her another one. They are only $5.00 at Harker’s Dry Goods down town. So you really needn’t bother.”

Then specific words repeated themselves: “She loses it … it turns up again … I buy her another.”

I felt there was an answer to this little girl's unhappiness just beyond my mental grasp, so I persevered.

“Sarah? How many times has your mother bought you a new bunny?”

She jerked her face up and looked directly at me.

“Five!”

She glared at me. Almost “willing” me to understand.

“When your mother said, ’it turns up again’ does she mean you find it, or does it show up like it did with me, just appearing out of nowhere?”

“Yes. Yes. That’s it!” She said loudly and then looked at her mom before continuing in a quieter voice.

“This is Velveteen Violet, not Velveteen Bow. Velveteen Bow is the one that left this time.”

Things were finally starting to break through my thick adult brain.

“You said, ’left’ not ’lost’. How do they ’leave’?”

Sarah’s bottom lip started to quiver as she continued, “I don’t know. They’re there and then they’re not. Sometimes they come back, but sometimes they never come back, so Mommy buys me another one. But now … but now …”

She stopped mid-sentence and the tears started to fall down her face, but I urged her to go on. Confusion creased her brow as she continued,

“ I don’t know. I don’t know. Now old Velveteens are coming back and I don’t know where they’ve been or why some come back, but others haven’t and they’re gone. I don’t know if they’ll come back or how they’ll get back to me and then I wonder”, she paused, “ I wonder, … I don‘t know. I just don‘t know.”

After another moment she regained her composure and I spoke gently to her,

“So you’ve named them? To keep track of them?”

She gave a huge sigh and she leaned her head on my chest and hugged my neck. I must admit at that time I didn’t comprehend all she was saying or what it all meant. In honesty, I was probably more confused than Sarah was. But I was starting to comprehend the nightmare this little girl was living in. A bunny would suddenly disappear and then after some time would just as suddenly reappear. When she tried to explain it to her mother, Ginnette thinking Sarah was just an absent minded child would buy her another one. Each time a Velveteen would disappear or reappear Sarah would become more frightened and confused, enhanced by her inability to communicate to her busy mother what was happening.
As I sat there with Sarah, gently stroking her hair, I knew that when I came upon her on Sunday, sitting on that step and crying it was no coincidence. I was sent here to help this little girl with her problems and try to solve the puzzle of her bunnies. A feeling of foreboding came over me and, I'm ashamed to admit, I tried to think of a theory that would easily explain away the situation so I could get out of it. But I couldn‘t.

I felt Sarah shudder as I continued to hold her and my sympathy for her drove away my own selfishness. If I wanted out of these circumstances, what must it be like for this 8 year old girl to be trapped in them?! 

As smart as I can be at times what I keep forgetting is that God knows exactly what’s going on and He has a plan to make things right. All I need to do is be attentive and available. So that’s exactly what I decided to do.
The Bible says "God chose the foolish things of this world to shame the wise." {1 Cor. 1:27}, but at that moment I didn't know which category I fit into.

LINK to Next Part # 5 "Under the Willow"





Copyright 2015 "The characters and events in this story are not meant to represent any persons living or dead and are entirely a product of the imagination of the writer." LR