#Stana getting aggressive with a sexist ghost

[thelastspeecher]

#5, Stana and Angie.

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5. Ghosts

I was able to write all of the domestic cute nonsense leading up to the big ghost scene pretty fast, but the actual ghost part itself was…difficult.  I’m not good at fight scenes.  Also, there’s not much of the ghost in this ficlet.  There’s still some cute Lady Stangie, though, so I think I was able to fill out this order all right.  Hope you like it.  

Word count: 1503

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              Angie pausedmid-chop, the knife she was holding hovering over a large carrot.  Stana looked up.

              “Babe?  Somethin’ wrong?”

              “Why isit so quiet?” Angie asked softly.  Stanashrugged and resumed peeling onions.  “Wehave kids.  It’s never this quiet.”

              “Maybethey’re behaving and playin’ quietly.”

              “All five kids?  All five of our kids?”  Angie set theknife down.  She stared at Stana.  “Darlin’, I think there would have to be anact of god hisself fer all of our children to behave at the same time.”  After a moment, Stana nodded.

              “Yeah,good point.  I’ll check on ‘em.”  Stana stuck her head into the nearby livingroom.  Danny was silently working on herlatest robot, something to do with scrambled eggs, while Emory napped on thecouch.  “Uh, Danny?”  Danny looked up.

              “What isit, Mom?”

              “Whereare yer sisters and brother?”

              “Emmettwent to the bathroom,” Danny answered. As if on cue, Emmett wandered into the living room.

              “Emmett,where are yer pants?” Stana asked.  Emmettlooked down at his bare legs.  Heshrugged.

              “Dunno.  Got my socks, though,” Emmett mumbled.  “So I’m mostly dressed.”  He looked around.  “Daisy ‘n Molly aren’t back?”

              “Pssht!”Danny hissed.  But it was too late.  Stana’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.

              “Emmett,”Stana said shortly, “where are your big sisters?”

              “Oh, um,uh…”  Emmett rubbed the back of his necknervously.  He nodded at Danny.  “R- right there.”

              “Daisyand Molly.  Where are they?”

              “I- um, Idon’t- I dunno.”  Emmett walked back outof the living room.  “Bye.”

              “Son ofa- Emmett!” Stana called.  Emmett didn’trespond.  Stana turned her attention toDanny.  “Danica Viola Pines.”  Danny swallowed and put her hands in her lap.

              “Yes,Mom?”

              “Whereare your sisters?” Stana asked.  Dannygrimaced.  “Young lady, you’d betterstart talkin’ soon, or I’m gonna take away your toolbox.”

              “No!”Danny whined.  She huffed.  “Fine. Molly heard about some ghost while she was at school the other day.  So she took Daisy and they went to ‘banish’the ghost or whatever.”

              “Banishthe- hot Belgian waffles.”  Stana wentback into the kitchen.  Angie looked upfrom the vegetables.

              “Well?”she asked.

              “Mollyand Daisy went to banish a ghost that’s haunting a bridge.  Apparently.”

              “What?!”  Angie dropped the knife.  “Ugh, those girls!  They take after ya too darn much,” Angiesaid, wagging her finger at Stana.  Stanafrowned.

              “Why areyou yellin’ at me?  It wasn’t my idea forthe girls to pull a Ghostbusters.”

              “Misplacedfrustration, dear.  Sorry.”  Angie wiped her hands on her apron.  “Okay, I’ll call Fidds to watch Danny and theboys while we track down our troublemakers.”

              “I canwatch Emory and Emmett on my own,” Danny piped up from the living room.

              “You werecomplicit in lettin’ Daisy ‘n Molly sneak away,” Angie replied.  “Yer notbabysittin’ yer brothers.”

              “I guessI can ask Uncle Fidds how to deal with this weird thing that I’m running upagainst with my robot.”

              “Nuh-uh.  No fun robot lessons.”

              “Oh, boo.”

—– 

              Stana speddown the road.  Angie squinted at thepiece of paper Danny had scrawled the location of the bridge on.

              “Fiddshas been a bad influence on Danny’s handwritin’,” Angie mumbled.  “I can barely make it out.”

              “Or youneed glasses,” Stana suggested.  Angieglared at her.  “You gotta admit, yer oneof the people who can pull off glasses, babe.” Angie’s scowl was wiped away and replaced with a fond smile.

              “So areyou, hon.”

              “Hellyeah.”  Stana looked out the window.  “Oh, there they are.  Hang on. What is Tate doing-”

              “Holycheese, Stana, stop, now!” Angie shouted. Stana slammed on the brakes. Angie unbuckled, threw the door open, and dove out of her seat.

              “What thefuck?  Angie!”

              “I tuckedand rolled!” Angie said, rushing towards the nearby bridge.  “I’m fine! Just park the car!”

              “Angie!”  Stana parked the car and turned it off, thenfollowed Angie.  “Damn that woman ofmine.”  She arrived at the bridge, whereAngie was standing protectively in front of Daisy, Molly, and – Stana groanedsilently – Tate.  “Tate!”  Tate looked over.  He grinned sheepishly.

              “Hi, AuntStana.”

              “God,Fidds is gonna kill me,” Stana muttered. She rubbed her eyes.  “Well, atleast everyone’s safe.  Don’t know why yahad to run from the car like that, Ang, but whatever.”

              “Ya don’tknow why I had to run?” Angie said.  She noddedin front of her.  “Do ya not see thefloatin’ fella right in front of us?” Stana looked over.

              “…Okay,now I see it,” Stana said.  A man inold-timey clothes hovered before them, dripping ghostly water onto thecobblestones of the bridge.  “Uh, hey,man.”  The ghost glowered at her.  “So, uh, we’re gonna just…take these kidsback home and ground them.  Soundgood?  I think that sounds good.”  Stana looked back at Daisy, Molly, and Tate,who were still standing behind Angie.  “Kids,load up.”

              “No,” theghost rumbled.  Stana whipped her headaround.

              “Excuseme?  Did you just say ‘no’?”

              “Yes.”

              “Look,buddy,” Stana started, instinctively adopting a fighting stance.  Angie put a gentle hand on Stana’s arm.

              “Excuseme, sir, but we’re just goin’ to take these kiddos home, okay?” Angie saidcalmly.  “We’ll get out of yer hair.”

              “No,” theghost said again.  Stana scoffed.

              “You can’tstop us from taking our daughters and nephew home.  You’re just a ghost.  Watch.”  Stana picked up a rock and tossed it at theghost.  It went right through him,clattering against the cobbles.  “See?”               “I know I’m a ghost,” theghost said, his voice reverberating ominously. “I also know why I remain tethered to this realm.  I fell over the bridge and drowned a centuryago.  My essence is tied to the verystones you walk on now.”

              “Bit dramatic,”Stana muttered.  The ghost scowled.

              “You havea mouth on you.  It’s not an attractivequality in a woman.”

              “My wifethinks otherwise,” Stana said smugly. The ghost’s mouth dropped open.

              “Mom, don’tpiss off the sexist ghost,” Molly said.  “Hekept sayin’ stuff about Tate protecting us even though I’m older than him.”

              “Sexistghosts are the worst type of ghosts,” Angie muttered.  She shot a look at Molly.  “And watch yer language.”  She looked back at the ghost.  “Sir, don’t worry, we’re just goin’ to headout now.  Thank you fer not killin’ us.”

              “Spoketoo soon, Aunt Angie,” Tate said quietly. He pointed at the ground.  The nearbyriver had risen without their realizing it. Water was pooling around their feet.

              “It’sokay, we can resolve this fast,” Angie said. “Stana?”

              “I’m onit, babe.”  Stana grabbed a small glassvial out of her pocket.  “See ya later,spooky.”  She threw the vial on theground, the glass shattering.  The ghostlet out a hiss of pain and vanished.

              “Mom, howdid you-” Daisy started.  Stana pickedDaisy up.

              “Holywater.  Your Uncle Fidds made us bringsome along when we told him a ghost was involved.  It won’t keep the ghost off our backs fervery long, though, so we need to go.”

              “TaterTot, Miss Molly, come on,” Angie said briskly, leading the way back to the car.  Stana put Daisy into the backseat, then got intothe driver’s seat.

              “That wasanticlimactic,” Molly complained as she and Tate loaded up.  Angie got into the passenger’s seat.  She turned around to face Molly, Tate, andDaisy.

              “No, thatwas easy.  Did the three of ya even think to bring holywater?”

              “We broughtsalt,” Tate said.  Stana rolled hereyes.  She started the car.

              “Salt.  Salt’s not gonna do squat against aghost.  If you guys are gonna bother tosneak to do things, at least bring what you need.  That’s just common sense.”  Stana shook her head.  “Molly, Daisy, I thought I raised you better ‘nthat.  Be a responsible hoodlum.”

              “We’llkeep that in mind next time,” Molly said. Angie frowned.

              “I don’treally want there to be a next time that ya sneak out and bring yer cousinwith.”

              “Yeah,but that’s unrealistic,” Molly said.  “Thebest you can hope for is that we bring the stuff we need to banish the ghostproperly next time.”  Angie rolled hereyes, but with good humor.

              “Fairenough.  Let’s get home and get the threeof ya grounded.”

              “What?  Why?” Daisy whined.  “We didn’t do anything wrong.”

              “Yousnuck outta the house to banish a ghost and got yer siblin’s to cover fer ya,”Angie said.  “I think that qualifies asdoin’ somethin’ wrong.”

              “Also,you didn’t think ahead,” Stana said.  “LikeI said, when you sneak out, you gotta have everything you need.  Come prepared next time.”

              “I don’tthink that’s the lesson we should be teachin’ ‘em, dear,” Angie said.  “We should focus on the lyin’ and sneakin’out.”

              “Sure,sure.  The not being prepared, that can bea sorta side-lesson.”  Angie chuckled softly.

              “Fine.  I’ll go ahead and add ‘not bein’ aresponsible hoodlum’ to their list of charges.”