The Final Seven

Chapter 4

June 12th, 2014 - 12:13 P.M.

The following day I took my sister to my Aunt’s for the weekend.  She lived on the outskirts of town, and unlike our home, her house sat on fifty acres of open fields.  In her solitude, my Aunt tended to her own farm, and raised beautiful, thoroughbred horses.

My sister loved horses.  If she could have spent her entire life at my Aunts, helping her with the horses, she would.  As we pulled down the long, gravel driveway, my sister bounced up and down in her seat in excitement.

“Oh, I can’t wait to see Aunt Lizzie’s new foal!”  My sister’s smile was contagious, and I couldn’t help but smile with her.

“I’m sure she might even let you feed her.” 

My sister’s eyes grew bigger.  “That will be so cool!”

As we come to the end of the driveway, I could see my Aunt cleaning the barn fifty yards from the house.  Instead of pulling up to the home, I drove straight up to the iron fencing corralling the outside of the barn.  My sister jumped out of the vehicle as soon as it was in park.  I too got out, and grabbed my sister’s bag from the trunk.

Although my Aunt was covered in dirt, grime, and other disgusting materials found with a number of animals, Kate ran up and jumped into her arms. Aunt Lizzie’s face glowed as she tenderly caressed Kate’s hair in her gloved hands.

“Are you ready for a fun weekend, my dear?”

Kate wriggled out of Lizzie’s arms.  “I’ve been waiting all week for this!  Can we please go see the foal first?”

Lizzie smiled.  “Absolutely.  We should go see Dakota before too long, too.  I’m afraid I found a buyer for him.  He should be here later on today.”

Kate looked crestfallen, but it soon went away.  She knew how Lizzie’s business worked.    Lizzie had made quite the lucrative career selling her horses for over six figures each.  Her dedicated principle of finding the right home for her horses, and not just the abusing race jockeys, had made her one of the most prominent horse breeders in the nation.

Most people who met Lizzie were unable to tell that she was a millionaire.  She stood there with her animals, without any helping hands, in torn coveralls, which covered her grimy jeans, and flannel t-shirt.  The only expenses Lizzie did not save on were her animals and their homes.  Though her frugal lifestyle gave her the appearance of poverty, her heart was made of solid gold.

When my father died, Lizzie stepped in to make sure our lives were taken care of.  At first, Mother’s sickness was only an occasional problem.  A couple months after my parent’s accident, Mother began to drink when she was unable to handle the reality of her life.  Lizzie was with us every day, and watched as Mother gave up her responsibilities, and began to live in her own world.

With Lizzie’s help, I had myself emancipated from Mother.  Lizzie had given the judge a strong testimony on my maturity, and assured the judge that she would continue to be in our lives.  After the judge granted my emancipation, Lizzie had her lawyers provide the paperwork to place me as Mother’s power of attorney. 

The lawyer produced two separate forms that would allow Lizzie and I to be in control of my family’s assets, as well as Mother’s well being.  I would learn the responsibilities of an adult life, but my aunt would be there if anything fell apart.  I took the paperwork home, forged the signatures of Mother, and returned them to Lizzie.

For the next few months, we continued to live with Mother, and Lizzie showed me how to handle all of the financial responsibilities for my family.  In that short time, I had learned more of life’s lessons than I did in ten years of school.  Lizzie had shown me how to handle all of our bills, how to deposit my father’s life insurance checks, and even how to file the taxes.  Lizzie had groomed me to be an adult.