And so with the subject seemingly at rest, Catherine solemnly looked down at Anna's journal that she held in her hand, and discreetly, handed it to Vincent. And so with a look of gratitude in his eyes, he took the journal from her.
Meanwhile, Lisa served the tea, and while she poured, Mary directed everyone's attention to the provisions William prepared for them. There were sandwiches and also some sweet bread too.
While suddenly the thought struck Vincent, that a search party was still looking for Catherine! So Vincent then made a motion to rise, while saying, "I nearly forgot! I must inform Mouse and the others that you have safely returned Catherine."
Hastily, Catherine stood, and said, "Please Vincent stay seated...afterall, since I am the one who caused all this worry, I will be the one to call off the troops."
Upon hearing Catherine's offer, Vincent tipped his head as he surprisingly asked, "You Catherine?"
To which Catherine held her head high, as she responded, "Yes Me Vincent! It may surprise you to know that I have picked up a few codes here and there, and I feel that I should be the one to send the message! So please, everyone just relax, and enjoy your refreshments."
And because Jacob could see Catherine was really trying to fit in, he sided with her, and with assertion said, "If Catherine would like to, she should! After all...she is one with our community now."
Appreciating Jacob's comment, Catherine respectfully said, "Thank you Father."
So with a nod, Vincent conceded, and politely held out Catherine's chair for her, when suddenly she began to question her own judgement about executing this task!
Feeling a bit nervous, Catherine hesitated momentarily, and then tried to walk confidently, as she approached the pipe that ran through Vincent's chamber.
As she picked up the stone to tap out her message, she bit her lip knowing that all eyes were on her, and everyone would be critiquing her code expertise!
And so Catherine couldn't help but wonder, "Oh my...what did I get myself into?"
And so tightly, she closed her eyes, trying to recall the rhythm of the code she wanted to send out, which was:
"CATHERINE MADE it back and IS in VINCENT'S CHAMBER."
As she started tapping away, everyone around the table started to chuckle and laugh softly as they tried to stifle themselves.
Upon hearing the giggles, Catherine turned around and urgently asked, "What's so funny, did I tap something wrong?"
As not to embarrass Catherine, Vincent did a discrete wave of his hand, as he attempted to silence everyone.
But because everyone was still tickled, and no one yet answered, Catherine looked pleadingly at Vincent and asked, "Please tell me...what did I say in my message?"
So as not to hurt Catherine's feelings about her coding, with caution, Vincent replied, "Your message enlightened the community to the fact that:
"VINCENT IS CATHERINE'S CHAMBER MAID!"
And then Vincent encouragingly added, "You had the correct codes Catherine, however slightly out of order, and perhaps missing a word or two, which changed the intent."
Everyone one by one around the table began to burst out laughing, as they could not hold back any longer!
Although Catherine so badly wanted to cry from embarrassment, she laughed too, imagining her own silly faux pox. Vincent as her chamber maid!
Although he was in pain, Vincent gallantly walked to Catherine's side, wanting to assist her with her task.
So as Vincent approached, Catherine felt a sigh of relief and was affected as Vincent looked down at her.
So gently, Vincent placed his hand over Catherine's, and re-tapped the coded message...this time...in the correct order.
To which Mouse sent a reply message, acknowledging they have stepped down.
Meantime, Jacob finally stifled himself, and noted, "I am so pleased you thought to call off the search party Vincent. I should have thought of notifying them myself! Perhaps the drug in which I had been injected with, is still clouding my thinking, or maybe it is because of my old age."
After hearing Jacob refer to himself as old, Lisa looked admiringly at him, making him feel like the hero she viewed him to be, as she said, "Not you Father...you will never grow old."
In response, Jacob shakily smiled, as he said, "Ah, one cannot deny the passage of time Lisa. Still your words have bolstered this old heart."
As Vincent and Catherine returned to the table, and things calmed down a little, a pleasant chatter filled Vincent's chamber. The sound of clinking china could be heard as everyone relaxed, sipping their tea, and passing the plates of sandwiches and bread. All seemed well in their world once again.
Wondering about all she missed while out and about, Catherine turned to Rebecca and asked, "So did Vincent to eat all of his soup earlier?"
Happily, Rebecca nodded as she smiled firstly to Catherine, and then past her at a pleasantly doted on Vincent, and said, "Oh yes...he was quite hungry, and besides...I think he knows better than to send a bowl back to William's kitchen that is not completely empty!"
Jacob scoffed as he chuckled, "Yes indeed that is true! Any food left uneaten, sends William into a tizzy wondering if something may have been wrong with his cooking!"
Mary then mentioned to Catherine, "Lisa told us she saw you and Jennifer yesterday in the city. It would seem it is as they say, a small world!"
Catherine affirmatively nodded, and nicely answered, "Oh yes Mary we did...in fact..."
Catherine then turned to Lisa and continued, "...I would like to explain, just so you understand Lisa, if Jenny seemed a little strange yesterday, well.... it was for a good reason! She had just came from "Paulz Petz Parlor" and...well, second thought, perhaps this is not the place to mention it. Just let me say, it was not because of you she was in a hurry!"
Upon hearing only half of the story, Rebecca quizzically said, "Sounds mysterious Catherine."
In accord, Jacob raised his brow as he said, "Indeed it does! Catherine, we are sure if it involves Jennifer, it must be entertaining...so do tell Lisa...please...tell us all!"
Still questioning if she should tell the story, Catherine smiled at Vincent and said, "I haven't even told you about this yet Vincent, but if you all insist..."
So Catherine took a breath, and looked around the table and explained, "Well, while I stopped at the hardware store yesterday for the can of varnish to re-finish Anna's desk for Vincent..."
To which Mary inquisitively clarified, "The very can of varnish, Jennifer struck one of Paracelsus's drone's with?"
In affirmation, Catherine nodded, and said, "Yes Mary that was the can! Had I known it was a potential weapon, I would have gotten the larger can!"
Everyone started to laugh, and Vincent himself looked down in amusement, as he thoroughly enjoyed Catherine telling her story.
Catherine then continued, "Anyway, as I was in the hardware store, Jenny ran into the pet shop to pick up some food for her pet turtle Gonzy, and well...a Coo Coo bird, that had been flying freely around the shop, left a few droppings on Jenny's head! So when we met up with Lisa, Jen was quite embarrassed, and very anxious to get to the apartment and wash her hair!"
Jacob looked puzzled as he glanced around the table, and saw everyone start to laugh, and he then looked back at Catherine and inquired, "Left a few what? A Coo Coo left a..."
But before anyone needed to further explain, Jacob then laughed as he got it too, and said, "Oh my!"
Lisa softly laughed, and admitted, "I did think perhaps she seemed a little curt. Jennifer is usually so LOUD, and BOISTEROUS, and it did bother me maybe a itsy bitsy, but then I thought... No, no Lisa, you must not take this affront personally."
Catherine smiled to herself, thinking that sounded sort of like a back handed compliment, and then replied, "Yes, you are right, Jenny is always so full of life."
Happy for this insight, Lisa gratefully said, "Well thank you for wanting to put me at ease about that odd encounter."
Lisa then tried to sound matter of fact, as she generically mentioned, "I haven't seen Ronald yet...I suppose he is in his chamber resting."
To which Mary chimed in, "No he's not, although he should be! He insisted on escorting Jennifer safely home."
Upon hearing this info, Lisa's face fell a little as she said, "Ah, I see..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Jennifer unlocked the door, and as she looked up at Ronald, she said, "I hope you will stay, I would love to show you the apartment."
To which Ronald smiled at Jennifer and replied, "Yes, I would like to check it out."
So Jennifer walked in first, and excitedly said, "Well this is home! I cannot wait to get all moved in!"
With a nod of approval, Ronald looked around and said, "What a nice place."
Jennifer too looked around Catherine's now empty apartment, and said, "Yes it is! Cathy has it all ready for me. The whole place had been cleaned, and the carpeting is practically dry, and tomorrow is moving day...and I am moving in! I am hoping to have everything organized before I have to report back to work on Monday."
To which Ronald then offered, "If you need extra help, I would be glad to come back tomorrow, and give you a hand."
Appreciating the offer, Jennifer happily said, "Oh that would be wonderful!"
Meantime Jennifer felt being so near Ronald like this alone, was very flustering, and found she was at a loss for words! And then she thought "Refreshments! I should offer Ronny something to drink! I still have a 6 pack in the fridge!"
And so Jennifer anxiously offered, "May I offer you a beer?"
Ronald smiled and repeated, "A beer uh? It has been a long time since I have had a beer. Yes, that sounds nice."
Jennifer excitedly said, "Oh good, we can sit outside. There are some chairs out there on the balcony, and we can relax a little bit. It has been quite a day..."
As they settled in around the patio table, Ronald saw Jennifer was having a hard time twisting the beer cap off of her bottle, he politely took it from her hands and said, "Here Jenny let me open that for you."
Jennifer gratefully said, "Thank you."
As they took in the air of the beautiful night, talking about the day, Ronald looked at Jennifer, and on a serious note said, "When I thought you were in danger...when you were all in danger, everything came crashing in on me. The familiar feelings of helplessness washed over me again, and suddenly I knew...I could not face another loss. Had anything happened to Father, Catherine...you...well, I'm not sure I would've been able to find my Faith again. I am not sure I would have had the strength. It has taken me so long to get here...where my eyes are open again."
Jennifer nodded trying to understand the pain Ronald was attempting to describe. As she looked at the man she was falling in love with, she just wanted to hold him.
Ronald then carefully said, "I have made a decision...and I had not arrived at this decision alone...I have prayed a lot about it. I now feel ready to reach out again. If you would be willing to take a chance on an admittedly fragile hearted man, I would like to know if...oh my God, I don't even know what you would call this at my age, go out? Date? Go steady"
Ronald then looked down embarrassingly and shifted uncomfortably in his chair, searching for the right words, when he heard Jennifer anxiously say "Yes."
With a look of surprise Ronald looked up and asked, "Did you say yes?"
Jennifer nodded and laughed as she said, "I'm not sure what I said yes to exactly, but...yes, I said yes!"
Ronald laughed too, and then stood, and Jennifer stood too. He then walked toward her, and he kissed her softly at first, but with a needed show of passion, they both in a heated embrace found themselves inside of the barren apartment!
When suddenly the phone rang! As the answering machine clicked on to take the message, Jennifer was stunned, as she heard the voice on the phone! It was Mrs. Aranson! And she was very upset!
Jennifer remained frozen, as she heard her Mother say, "Catherine, Catherine have you seen Jennifer? I am afraid she has been abducted or something!"
In a shocked manner, Jennifer looked at Ronald, and said, "Oh no, Mom's worried about me! I better call right back."
She then smiled back at Ronald, saying, "I swear my mother has radar!"
Ronald looked at Jennifer, and they both began to laugh at her Mother's timing, and feeling perhaps a little relieved too.
As Jennifer dialed the phone she said, "Mom has high blood pressure, I better calm her down before she has a stroke or something!"
Jennifer then added, "Although nothing would please my Mother more, knowing she had saddled me with a life long guilt trip!"
Ronald laughed at Jennifer's humorous comment, but then said, "You are a good daughter. It is understandable she would be worried."