Do Grandma Lu And Felix Both Find What They Are Looking For?

 Grandma Lu couldn't wait until her brother answered the phone. She had finally joined that ancestry group. She got two weeks free. Hopefully she would find all she needed or wanted in those two weeks, but if she didn't she figured she deserved to spend a little money on herself. She didn't have many hobbies, so anyway..."Oh, Keith! You are never going to believe what I found on this new website I joined. A whole biography of our great grandfather G.W. Banister in a book. I think there just might be even another book that has more information about him. More than we realized. Anyway we knew he and some other men came to the Iowa territory looking for cheap land.

 But they had made a mistake and thought that the land that was just there for the taking had not been purchased, but it had. It was called Sioux City and many people had already settled there so they decided to look further and found land by the Sioux River right by our farm." She chuckled and said, "It was just up the road about five miles and we never even knew it. Just a second I'm going to send you a picture of G.W. and his pals on Messenger. It even has a picture of the first cabin built and a map and the names of all those first men that came with him. He is on the first row clear to the right. He looks just as stern as our grandfather did and was." Grandma Lu chuckled to herself and kind of shook her head. "Oh those memories of him are for another day." They talked about their ancestors and visited then they decided to call each other with more tidbits from the past whenever they found something interesting.

She went back to the old newspapers and started reading about her great grandmother, Margaret Allison. "Oh so that's where that name keeps appearing in my history. If my last baby had been a girl I would have named her Allison, but Allison was also used for my Uncle Leslie's middle name. Hmm. Oh my goodness I have to tell Keith about this someday. She was something else. She was only seventeen years old when G.W. went back to Hardin County and married her. I can't imagine letting my daughter go with a man she barely knew. Oh well so many things have changed over these many years. Oh here is a story my boys will love."

G.W. had been gone for some time either fighting in the Civil War or on one of his many trips to grind corn or barley. He also went to Des Moines to buy furniture and dishes when he needed to. Whatever the reason Margaret was in charge of the farm and children. One day she looked out the window and there was a flock of turkeys. Oh how good a roast turkey would taste. So she got the shotgun off the rack and proceeded to quietly walk close to those many turkeys. And then she shot! Well, she missed all of them. She was later accused of shutting her eyes when she pulled the trigger. They had cornbread pigeon pie that night for supper. Well, not what I would have chosen, but I'm sure it filled their bellies. What a fun story.

While Grandma Lu was looking through the old newspapers and letters she had no idea that Felix had taken the perfect opportunity to sneak into Marleewood. He saw a lady and a dog leave so he quickly went into the doggie door. He didn't much like the plastic swinging in the door, but he was on a mission. He had a zoom meeting with two potential clients. As he made his way into the Quiet Room he was so surprised. Another cat was actually talking to one on the computer. He had been hacked!

He jumped up on the desk chair and said, "Okay, what's going on here? I had a meeting with two potential members of my Historical Society of Long and Forgotten Felines. Are you trying to squash my sale? he said to Tiger. Tiger was a well known trickster so Felix was well aware of his sometimes underhanded dealings. Mouse was on the computer and said, "I don't want anything to do with either one of you. I'm over and out."

Felix was not a happy camper. He had no sales today and he was going to leave without his commission he was counting on. Before he left he hissed at Tiger and said, "You'd better get out of here before Grandma Lu comes back. She was not a bit happy when she found you in the bathroom. I'm just warning you for your own good. Now I'm going to have to go back to my humans and schmooze them for additional treats and of course a new toy. By the time I'm finished I won't need a job. I will make sure they get up at the crack of dawn with my breakfast and before I retire for the evening they will be trained to give me my midnight snack.  I could retire here I guess. I'll just see what the future brings. Oh yeah this is the life. Puurrrfect...."