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As Peter entered the threshold of Jacob's chamber, he cheerfully said, "Good
Morning Jacob!"

Happily, Jacob looked up from his chess game with Kipper, as he replied, "Peter,
you have returned!"

Peter approached Jacob, and with an embrace, he said, "Yes indeed OLE Chap!"

Because of Peter's arrival, Jacob turned to Kipper and said, "We shall resume this
game at a..."

Kipper finished Jacob's sentence for him, as he repeated disappointedly, "I know, I
know! We shall resume this game at a later date!"

Jacob suddenly realized, he had put Kipper off a few other times this week, as they
have tried to complete this game. As he thought back to the early part of the week,
Jacob had Vincent's injury to contend with, and now with the renovations, well there
have been several interruptions, because there is so much to be done!

In an attempt to sooth Kipper's hurt feelings, he put his hand on his shoulder, as he
emphasized, "I have postponed this game one too many times, hmmm Kipper?"

He continued conivingly, "Well I will tell you what..."

Jacob's hushed devious tone, caught Kipper's attention, as he promised, "...directly
after we lunch, I will bar everyone from this chamber, and we shall play till one of
us falls! We shall play to the end!"

Kipper smiled up at Jacob, and said, "All right Father, till the end! I won't let you
forget your promise."

Cheerfully, Kipper told Peter, "Nice to see you Peter, and I will see YOU later
Father!"

As Kipper ran from the chamber, shouting "Till the End!",  Jacob sincerely told
Peter, "I see so much of Devin in him at times...so ready to challenge me!"

Jacob lowered his head and smiled, as he secretly admired this trait in a young
headstrong spirit!

As Jacob took a deep breath, he redirected his attention back to Peter as he asked,
"So tell me Peter, how is Jolly OLE England these days?"

Peter enthusiastically said, "Beautiful Jacob! The weather was a steady 64 degrees,
and oh, I visited our old Alma mater. In fact I brought you something...here is a
print of the old place."

                              
Over to see Photo

As Jacob dreamily reminisced, "Ah, Cambridge University! We had a wonderful
couple of years there didn't we Peter?"

Nodding in agreement Peter said, "Oh yes we did." Peter started to laugh a bit, as he
said, "I will never forget the night I met you Jacob."

Peter brought his hand to his chin as he reminisced, "As I recall, you were nearly
arrested, as you were leaving the Shakespeare Institute of Birmingham! It was after
your performance as Hamlet!"

Peter started howling with laughter, when he thought back on that night!

Jacob pretended to be perturbed, until he himself, let out a stifled laugh, and
corrected Peter as he said, "It was Othello!"

Peter went on to say, "It was a good thing I, and couple of other fellow med.
Students, were working late on a thesis, and happened by. AND, it was a good
thing, one of them recognized you from a chemistry lab, and could vouch for you!"

Jacob laughingly added, "Yes there I was heading for the dormitory, minding my
own business...when the Bobby err...Policeman started questioning me!"

Peter laughed as he added, "Now Jacob, you were looking for trouble, walking
around in those flesh colored tights!"

Peter once again started laughing when Jacob explained, "It wasn't my fault  my
fellow thespians hid my britches on me! My only other choice was a tutu, which the
prima ballerina left behind!"

Peter laughingly added, "Perhaps the tutu would have been the better choice Jacob!"

As the two men sat together enjoying their tea, Vincent and Ronald came in to give
Jacob a message from Pascal.

Upon seeing Peter, Vincent graciously said, "Hello Peter, so we meet again!"

Peter and Jacob both stood to greet them, as Peter smiled, and said, "Yes Vincent,
long time no see! Hello Ronald."

Jacob excitedly said, "I wish to show you a picture Peter brought me from home. It
is a print of the college I attended, in my youth along with Peter. It is Cambridge
University, and it was founded at the beginning of the 13th century...imagine that!
We were Tripo's there together Vincent."

Vincent and Ronald both looked at the picture, and marveled at this beautiful
structure. With astonishment, Vincent noted, "The architecture is truly magnificent!
What must it have been like to learn in such a hollowed environment?"

Jacob sighed, "At first it was quite intimidating indeed, but then it became like our
second home."

One of Vincent's secret desires, had always been to attend a school such as this. All
through his life, his thirst for knowledge needed to be quenched, and he was
constantly challenging himself to learn about different things. Vincent had not told
even Jacob about his dream to obtain a degree in Literature, or perhaps Architecture,
a dream that could never happen.

As Jacob longingly gazed at the picture along with Vincent, he added, "You would
love it there Vincent."

Vincent nodded as he said, "You must tell me more about it one day Father."

Jacob cleared his throat of a sadness, brought about by the wish Vincent could see it
for himself, yet knowing that could never be.

Jacob changed the subject as he noted in amazement, "My, my look at you two,
please tell me you are heading for the Bathing chamber, the sweat is pouring off of
you!"

Ronald answered, "Actually Jacob we thought we might go to the Falls for a swim."
Concurring, Vincent nodded,  and said, "Yes, we had a fierce game today, Ronald
gave me quite a challenge."

Admittedly, Ronald said, "I may have given you a challenge Vincent, but you still
creamed me...but one of these days..."

Vincent then inserted, "Oh Father...I wanted to tell you, Pascal had interpreted a
message from Lou. He had talked to Lisa, and it would seem she is most anxious
about coming home tomorrow. Lisa wanted to send her regards on to...you."

Jacob smiled as he felt the sentiments from Lisa warm his heart. Jacob softly said,
"Yes indeed, well thank you for the message. I wonder if William could prepare her
favorite dish for lunch? I will have to check with him...at any rate...it will be nice
having Lisa back home again."

Vincent agreed, "Yes it will Father."

Vincent then turned to Ronald and said, "We better go, Mary is waiting for me to
add the finishing touches on Catherine's chamber. Although I suspect she has
already finished!"

Curiously, Peter inquired, "So Mary is in Catherine's new chamber? I should...uh,
go and say hello, before I uh...go."

Jacob cheerfully offered, "I will walk with you Peter, I want to make certain you
don't get lost!"

But before Jacob could grab his cane, Peter stopped him by saying, "Oh I have been
there before Jacob, no need to bother. I'll just kinda pop on in there, on my way
out!"   

Jacob scoffed, "Tut tut, no bother at all, I would be happy to walk with you."

Once more, Peter stressed, "No really Jacob, I will be fine..."

Ultimately, Jacob conceded, as said, "Very well then Peter."

He then said, "I will see you tomorrow."

Peter took a deep breath, feeling relieved Jacob finally relented! Although...Peter
wasn't sure why he felt awkward about it. There was nothing between Jacob and
Mary, and certainly he himself, has known Mary for years! But all of the sudden,
there was...something. At any rate, Peter was anxious to give Mary her keepsake, he
had gotten for her from England.

He then told Jacob, "Yep I will be back for the Children's concert, and I will be
bringing Cathy's friend Jennifer along with me."

Vincent turned to Jacob, and explained  he had gotten to talk to Catherine last night
and she was fearful, she may arrive home late tomorrow, and she wanted Peter to
escort Jennifer.

Jacob smiled as he said, "Well from all you have told me about this young women, I
am anxious to meet her Vincent!"

Vincent and Peter shared a knowing look, as Peter said, "Yes you best be on your
toes tomorrow Jacob. She is quite a corker!"

Hearing this news for the first time, Ronald quizzically asked, "So Catherine's friend
is coming to the tunnels?"

To which Vincent explained, "She was quite disturbed not knowing where Catherine
would be living, so Father consented to letting Jennifer visit the Tunnels before
Catherine's move here. To put her at ease."   

Peter informed Ronald,  "And to save my life! Jennifer was quite concerned, I was
the mystery man in Catherine's life Ronald! Can you imagine that!"

When Jacob laughed at the thought of it,  Peter turned to him and said, "Well it isn't
that hilarious!"

Jacob calmed down enough to say, "Catherine's suitor indeed!"

Peter looked away from Jacob a bit miffed, and said to Vincent, "Oh yes, you might
find Elizabeth busy painting already. I dropped the supplies off as I passed by her
tunnel. It has been quite awhile since I visited the Painted Tunnels. It is really a
wonderful historic tribute to this community. I really enjoyed taking a moment to
admire her work."

Jacob thoughtfully said, "Now that is something I haven't done in a while myself
Peter! Perhaps I will venture down there later today. You have piqued my desire to
see all of those beautiful images once again."

Vincent turned to Peter and thankfully said, "Peter, I thank you very much for doing
this for me."

As Peter exited the chamber he waved his hand and said, "No problem Vincent. See
ya tomorrow gentlemen."

Jacob noted, "My he certainly seemed to be in a hurry, did he not? Is it my
imagination or was it once Mary's name was mentioned, he seemed unsettled!"

Vincent relayed, "I believe he was anxious to give Mary a souvenir he had gotten her
from England Father."

Jacob boisterously asked, "A souvenir? For Mary? Since when has Peter come
bearing gifts for Mary?"

Vincent lowered his head, trying to hide the glint in his eye from Jacob. He did not
wish to start any rumors, but he himself had been privy to a few signs of flirtatious
behavior between them this past week.

Vincent simply said, "Well Father, you yourself received a gift, would you deny
Mary that same pleasure?"

Jacob stammered a bit and said, "Of course not Vincent...but it was in the manner
Peter acted. He practically forbade my accompanying him."

Ronald surmised, "Maybe he just didn't want to bother you Jacob."

Scratching his head, Jacob pondered this possibility, and said aloud, "Still I would
have liked to have gone along, and been witness to what it was Peter brought back
for her."

Vincent put his hand on his Father's shoulder, and said, "Perhaps later you may pry
the information from Mary and find out!"

Jacob looked sheepishly at Vincent realizing how nosey he sounded, and said, "I
suppose it is none of my business...but still..."

     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Peter looked in Catherine's chamber, he could see Mary struggling with the
heavy quilt she had made for the bed, and so he offered,  "Let me help you Mary."

Startled a bit, Mary turned, and with a rose flush that tinted her face, she said,
"Peter, it is so nice to see you. I was gladdened at the news you were safely back
home."

Peter replied, "Thank you. It is good to be home."

As the two stood facing each other Peter cleared his throat as he nervously offered,
"Let me help you, just tell me what you are trying to do here."

Mary stammered, as she explained, "Well if you would stand at the other side of the
bed, then we can make sure the quilt is straight and fold the quilt evenly over the
pillows."

Peter enthusiastically said, "Consider it done!"

Mary then added the toss pillows she also sewed for Catherine's bed, and placed
them strategically on the head of the bed. After she arranged, and rearranged them a
few times, she was finally satisfied at the symmetrical cozy affect that she finally
achieved.  

Peter watched Mary as she fiddled with the pillows and said, "Catherine will love
what you have done here."

Mary shyly said, "Vincent did all of this Peter, I merely added a few womanly
touches that's all!"

Peter softly said, "Very nice touches Mary."

Peter reached into his pocket and brought out Mary's gift, "Oh, This is for you
Mary. It is a souvenir from England. I hope you will like it."

Mary aghast said, "Oh my goodness! What could it be?"

Peter smiled as he said, "Open it and find out Mary."

Mary nervously reached for the lovely purple velvet box and as she lifted the lid, she
lost her breath as she gazed upon the most beautiful cameo she had ever seen! "Oh
Peter!"

As Peter looked at Mary, he explained, "It is called an Angel Skin Cameo Pendant
Mary. I hope you like it."

Mary gasped, "Like it, Oh Peter I love. It looks like a pink shell!"

Peter nodded, "It is, it is crafted from a queen conch shell. I thought it suited you
Mary."

Mary sighed and said, "I have never had anything as beautiful as this. I don't feel as
if I should except this Peter!"

Peter assuredly said, "Of course you should Mary, we have been friends for a very
long time. Please except this as a token of a very special friendship we have between
us."

Mary lowered her head as she emotionally said, "When you put it that way Peter,
how can I refuse this wonderful gift."

Peter said smiling, "You can't! May I help?"

Mary smiled back and said, "Yes please."

As Peter finished fastening the clasp he said, "There, turn around and let me see it
on you."

As Mary slowly turned back to face Peter, she touched the cameo and Peter said, "I
knew it would look perfect on you."

               
Over to See Photo of Cameo


Mary looked down ward at her pendant and said, "Thank you, I shall wear it
always."

To which Peter replied, "You are most welcome Mary. Well I better run for now, I
will see you tomorrow for the encore of the Children's concert."

He then added, "You know I must admit, I didn't get to enjoy the last concert. I was
so worried about Cathy's where-abouts, I couldn't concentrate on anything else!"

Mary agreed, "I know what you mean. Catherine and Vincent's future together was
questionable and  on such shaky ground that day, now look...here we stand in her
future chamber, in her new home."

Peter looked around and agreed, "Yes Mary, those two are certainly fighting hard to
be together, and now it looks as if it will really happen. Well,  I'll see you tomorrow."

Mary affectionately said, "Yes, tomorrow."

To be continued
Chapter Eleven
Dreams of Gold!
By
Sharon Holtz
Chapter Ten
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