Chapter 28

Mother Superior quickly left the gathering in her Private Dining Room right after she finished the Benediction telling all, "Have fun. See you at four!"

"How about we take one of Mom's carts for the tour of our community this afternoon?" Judith suggested to the group. John could see the anticipation in her face knowing that she loved to drive Mother Superior's elongated "Momma Mobiles" every chance she got.

Nods came from everyone in the group and soon they were all heading down the stairway to the catacombs. "I knew it!" Judith exclaimed as they reached the lower level tunnel. "Mom left a cart here for us."

"Smart mom," John offered as they all piled in.

Judith of course took the helm and John settled in next to her, riding 'Shotgun.' Kim and Mary climbed into the seat behind them and the other two couples and their Pages took up the rear seats.

They were soon backing out of the parking space below Mother Superior's Private Dining Room in Convent's West Wing. When she guided the cart further into the Catacombs rather than heading toward the Eastern Exit they'd taken before, John asked her, "Are we going the right way?"

Judith laughed at him saying, "It's another secret of our Catacombs. We aren't supposed to drive this thing on the County Roads so we go UNDER them. When our Order first started to build our Community years ago, they extended the tunnel over to it.

"It's quite functional especially in the winter when snow drifts cover the roads. We don't have to wait for them to be cleared. We have a small pick-up station over in the community and run a shuttle back and forth for residents during winter storms. Year round some of us walk in here when it's raining hard too."

Just as they got to what John figured was under the end of the West Wing the Catacomb widened slightly and there was a stairway that he guessed led up to the lobby of the Chapel. Also, ahead there was a lined off walkway at the side of the tunnel.

"Nice feature," he thought.

Soon the tunnel sloped upward to ground level. A small glass walled building loomed ahead and the waiting area appeared. The 'Station' as Judith had called it was wide enough for a cart to park to pick-up or discharge passengers and then turn around to head back underground toward the Convent's buildings. She slowed but didn't stop there. Driving on a ways past the 'Waiting Area' she pulled up to the large doors at the far end of the Station.

Automatically the doors opened in front of the cart and they were in the midst of the community. "Let's go to my house first," Judith suggested and without waiting for an answer she pulled the cart into the nearby road, turned to the left and drove off down the macadam streets of the housing area.

John was pleased to see how immaculate the homes and yards were. All landscaping was well trimmed and looked like it was regularly maintained. Mother Superior had said that the grounds were well kept but even the best kept condominiums he'd ever seen were not anywhere near the quality of what they passed.

"Nice, Eh?" Judith offered.

Leaning forward from the seat right behind him and placing a hand on John's shoulder, Mary commented, "I want to live here!"

Turning to his wife, John smiled in agreement, "Absolutely!"

Soon they pulled up in front of what could be called a sprawling colonial house. The two story, columned vaulted front, suggested a colonial style and sported a two car garage on the right. A similar single story addition on the left side balanced the structure.

Judith noticed John's evaluating the house and offered, "When Mom became Mother Superior, we were allowed to add an office for her." Confirming the area she was referring to, she pointed toward the addition on the left side of the house. "It really makes the front of the house look great."

Then shifting her hand up, pointing to the left part of the second floor, Judith nudged John saying, "My room's up there."

He'd been wondering where she slept when she was over in the community and thought, "It's too bad everyone's here. I know just what I'd like to see and do in that bedroom."