The wonderful aromas of chicken, olive oil, garlic, rosemary, and thyme wafted through the house as dinner roasted in a slow cooker since 8:00 a.m. Side dishes of baked potatoes, green peas, baby carrots, dinner rolls, and a large bowl of homemade classic Cobb salad with fresh bleu cheese crumbles were laid out on the dining table.
The table sat twelve, replete with plates, silverware, crystal glasses, and folded napkins. The marvelous sight of the food appealed to the guests, and they were eager to eat.
“Let us say grace,” Josslyn signed. She bowed her head in prayer. Guests joined her.
“Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.”
“Amen,” the guests signed.
Josslyn prepared a small plate of mashed peas, carrots, and potatoes along with a few pieces of a roll for Maddie, who sat in her highchair nearby. Josslyn cut a small portion of a chicken into fine slivers for Maddie as well.
George dug into his plate and savored the baked potato with a dollop of sour cream garnished with chives.
Thor sat on his haunches at the table by Caden’s side. He looked at the guests and begged for portions of the meal. Caden and Trina gave pieces of chicken and carrots to the dog.
Diva pawed on Augusta’s leg to beg for some food.
“Can the cat have some chicken, peas, or carrots?” Augusta signed to Josslyn.
“Yes,” Josslyn signed, “but only in very small portions as we just fed her”—she glanced at Thor—“and the dog earlier. So, yes, she can have a little bit.”
“Oh, good. Glad I asked. I’d hate to say no to them.”
The dining table lurched to one side by about three and a half inches. Everything on the table slid a few inches in the opposite direction.
Everyone flinched in surprise, including Diva and Thor. Diva ran from the dining room and through the living room toward the back of the house. Thor barked, startled.
“What happened?” Josslyn signed.
Everyone looked under the table to see if a leg might have broken. All four table legs were intact.
Evan ducked his head from where he sat.
“What is it?” Caden signed. “Why did you duck like that?”
“I heard a very loud slam that came from the kitchen,” Evan said as he signed at the same time. “It sounded like a cupboard door or a cabinet door slammed really, really hard. Now I’m hearing another sound. I can’t quite make it out, but it’s coming from the kitchen as well.” He cocked his head to one side and strained to decipher the sound. “It’s some kind of rattling, as if someone is shaking something very hard.”
“It might be the refrigerator,” Nathan signed as he rose from his chair and went into the kitchen.
Josslyn, Caden, and Trina followed.
Once in the kitchen, they saw that the door to the stove was trembling in a rough and violent manner, as if the stove door was stuck and someone—or something—was tugging hard at it, struggling to get it open.
“I’m going to get my tablet to get some pictures and video of this,” Trina signed. She ran upstairs to her room.
Jared, George, and Augusta came into the kitchen.
Evan saw the racket and turned to glance behind him. “It’s the stove door being pulled and shaken.”
Nathan approached the stove and placed a hand on the door. He could feel the intense shaking.
“No!” Josslyn signed. She held out her arms and waved her hands. “Don’t touch it! What if it’s an electrical thing? You could get electrocuted!”
Nathan pulled his hand away from the stove. “I didn’t feel any electricity coming out of it. Just a very intense vibration, that’s all.”
Trina returned with her tablet and took pictures, then switched the device to video mode and filmed the rattling stove door for about ten seconds. “This way, we have proof that something was happening with the stove.”
The vibrations stopped.
“Well, I have no idea what it could’ve been,” Nathan signed with a shrug.
“We can look at the stove later,” Josslyn signed, “and if it acts up again, we’ll call to have someone to come out and look at it. In the meantime, let’s get back to finishing our dinner.”
They returned to their seats at the table.
“As jarring as it was,” Evan said with an uneasy chuckle, “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“Me, neither,” Caden signed as Trina nodded in agreement.
A moment passed while everyone resumed eating, although they were nervous. As timorous as Augusta was, she tried to resume conversation. “How is Diva doing with her pregnancy so far?” she signed to Josslyn. “When is she due?”
“Oh, she should be due in about one or two weeks. Which reminds me, I need to prepare a box for her with newspapers so she’ll have a place to birth her kittens.”
Conversations soon turned to various subjects, such as favorite TV shows, movies, fiction and nonfiction books of different genres, and telling jokes. The guests were engrossed in their dialogue as they studied the person next to them or across from them speaking in sign language.
Without warning, the rectangular pendant chandelier with clear Swarovski crystals fell and crashed onto the top of the table. Particles of food splattered on the guests’ faces and their clothes. Most of them gasped and jumped from their seats, startled. Thor ran from the dining room.
“That scared me!” Trina signed. She picked up her tablet with jittery hands and walked around the table as she snapped pictures, then videoed the light fixture, which lay askew on the table.
“Scared me, too,” Augusta signed. “Look! My hands are shaking.” She held up her hands for all to see. “And my heart’s pounding.” She put a hand to her bosom.
Nathan, Josslyn, Caden, Jared, and Evan rose from their seats to get a closer look at the fallen fixture. They also looked up at the ceiling where electrical wires stuck out like the gnarled fingers of an arthritic hand. George and Augusta remained seated, and while Maddie still sat in her highchair and cried from fright, Josslyn moved her away from the table as a precaution.
“Looks like the wiring or something up there came loose,” Nathan signed, “and caused the chandelier to fall.”
“But it recently passed the home inspection, remember?” Josslyn signed as she looked at the ceiling for a moment.
“Yeah, but . . . This should not have happened.”
“Should we call the home inspector to have him come back and check this or should we call an electrician to have this checked out?”
“I don’t know. I can’t even think straight right now.”
“Why not call an electrician first,” Jared signed, “and go from there?”
“All right,” Nathan signed to everyone, “let’s get this cleared. The guys will help me move the chandelier and set it outside in the back on the side of the house by the trash bins until I figure out what needs to be done. Josslyn, please put Maddie in the living room for now. Mom, Dad, please go with Josslyn into the living room. That goes for you too, Trina.”
The men hefted the chandelier and carried it away as food particles dripped from the fixture to the hardwood floors along the way.
“So sorry about dinner,” Josslyn signed to her guests at the front door as they left. “I feel bad. I feel like it was a disaster.”
“No, don’t worry about it,” Augusta signed. “It’s okay.”
“Someone could’ve gotten hurt,” George signed.
“I’m just glad everyone’s okay,” Nathan signed.
“Yeah, me too,” Jared signed.
“We’ll have other dinner gatherings,” Augusta signed to Josslyn. “So, please do not worry about it.”
“Well, we’re bailing,” Evan said. “Thanks for a wonderful dinner and, no, it wasn’t a disaster. Please don’t say it was.”
They all said goodbye, and the guests went home.
Trina and Caden cleaned up the dining table and rinsed the dishes.
Josslyn and Nathan stood in the dining room and gazed at the ceiling. They tried to figure out how a simple light fixture could have come loose and fallen down.