| So sadly for Brigit, no one on earth could replace Catherine, not in his heart, or in his life, not even Brigit, whom Vincent greatly admired. And so Vincent gently released Brigit's hands from his shirt, and tenderly said, "I am not free to reach out to another. My heart is Catherine's." To which Brigit sensually said, "Aye but it is not yer heart I be needin'!" But because of Vincent's state, he didn't reply, and so expelling an exasperated breath, Brigit, decided it is perhaps time to throw in the towel, so mentally, she kept score...Strike one! Looking up at Vincent with an understanding smile, Brigit admitted "Ye sure must 'ave it bad fer Catherine..." To which Vincent nodded, and then replied, "I will say goodnight now Brigit..." As he walked to the doorway, Brigit stepped up to him, and asked, "Tell me ye won't hold this against me?" Turning to Brigit, he replied, "Of course not Brigit." Wearing not much more than a smile, Brigit then playfully said, "Jist so ye know, it takes more than one rejection to discourage a resourceful Irish Lass like me Vincent Wells. I'll be seeing ye in the mornin'." With his head down, Vincent tried to keep up his gentlemanly demeanor, and then said, "Good night Brigit." As Vincent left her chamber, Brigit with her hands on her hips thought to herself, "Well ole girl, ye showed him yer wares, and he didn't succumb! He must 'ave a fortitude made of iron!" And so after Brigit hopped back into bed, it was then Mary came dashing in, half asleep, with her housecoat on akimbo, and her hair bun loosely falling, she expounded, "Warning, I am coming in! Cover yourselves!" As Brigit realized Mary must have heard her call for Vincent earlier as well, she decided to have a bit of fun! And so she innocently asked, "What on earth are ye talkin' 'bout Mary?" As Mary glanced about, she anxiously asked, "Didn't I hear you call for Vincent? Isn't Vincent here?" With a tip of her head, Brigit suggested, "Ye must be hearin' things...look around...as ye can see, I'm all alone." Upon thinking she may have jumped the gun, Mary straighted and tied her housecoat shut, while smoothing back her hair, she then with dignity replied, "So it appears! Well I beg your pardon...good night Brigit." But before Mary reached the threshold, she became more alert, and realized she was sure she had heard something! And so turning around, she looked back at a very smugly smiling Brigit, to whom with a fanning wave, melodically said, "Nighty night Mary." So with no other recourse but to play along, Mary in reply, mimicked, "Nighty Night!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next morning, before Vincent had a chance to go to Brigit's chamber, she came to him! Looking so lovely, Brigit was wearing a deep green sweater over a pair of matching stretch pants, and for footwear, she had a pair of little black ankle boots on. She wore her hair long with just her sides pulled up and tied at the crown. Yes, yes...very lovely indeed. Playfully, she said, "Knock, Knock Vincent. May I?" Vincent quickly rose from his chair to greet Brigit, and with a pleasantness, he took her by the hand to offer her a seat, and said, "I thought since you were awakened in the night by Arthur, you would sleep in, I hope you were able to have a restful night sleep after I left." Brigit smiling up at Vincent, in turn said, "I had a few thoughts which kept me awake...after all, I was in distress...in more ways than one! If ye know what I mean..." Nervously Vincent looked downward, still feeling very self conscious by the events of last night, by privately trying to forget they even happened! So because of his silence, Brigit questionably said, "Now Vincent we are not a couple of kids, ye are not goin' to try to act like nothin' happened last night, are ye?" Looking downward, Vincent then raised only his eyes, and with a firm voice said, "Nothing did happen..." With her chin resting on her fist, she leaned forward toward Vincent, and sensually said, "In a sense tis true...however...I told ye how I was feelin'! And I am not ashamed of it!" In an effort to reaffirm his resolve, Vincent tried to convince Brigit by saying, "Our friendship must be based on that alone Brigit...friendship. Anything more is not possible for me, and talking about it makes me feel uncomfortable." With a very flirtatious smile, Brigit shook her head, and asked, "Aye Vincent, what am I to do with ye?" And then Brigit shared, "Ye Know...before he died, me Father wished, that more than anythin'... he wanted me to be happy." And so comically, Brigit looked Heavenward, as if she were talking to the Heavens and said, "Daddy if ye can hear me, I am tryin', God knows I'm tryin!" Stifling his silent laugh, Vincent looked downward and said, "Ah Brigit you do make me smile." Smiling back, Brigit raised a brow and said, "Well that's a start Vincent Wells, that's a start!" And then Brigit asked, "What ye doin' there?" To which Vincent efficiently said, "I am just gathering the children's lesson, which will follow breakfast." And Vincent then asked, "I am hoping perhaps, you would read one of your poems to the children, I thought "The Autumn Winds" would be appropriate..." Not wanting to say no to Vincent's request, Brigit nodded, and feigned enthusiasm as she said, "Aye Vincent, I'd be most happy to read it to the children." Just then the sound of the Breakfast announcement clanged through the pipe system, to which Vincent with an outstretched arm, asked, "May I have the honor of escorting you Brigit?" To which she flirtatiously answered, "Of course Vincent..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So meanwhile, on their way to breakfast, Mary filled Rebecca in on the happenstance which occurred last night! And though she couldn't prove anything, Mary swore she heard Brigit summoning Vincent to the Guest Chamber! To which Rebecca thoughtfully surmised there were three possible scenarios, "Number one, Vincent didn't hear her, Two, he ignored her, or Three, he had already left before you arrived." With a nod, Mary said, "True...true, although I got there pretty quickly..." And it was then, when a fourth possibility crossed both of their minds, and they each blurted out, "Or, Vincent was hiding!" And so because of this possibility, both women felt even more determined to keep their eyes open, and keep their eyes on Brigit! Meanwhile, everyone gathered in the Dining Hall, and Brigit was still holding on to Vincent's arm as they entered the Hall, and they looked too much like a couple for Mary, and Rebecca's liking, causing them to exchange worried looks! They then whispered to one another, that they hoped nothing did transpire between Brigit and Vincent last night! And so in unison, Mary and Rebecca dashed over to form a buffer of sorts, and offer Brigit some alternate activities! And so they offered her a seat by them. So with a charming smile, Mary slipped her arm through Brigit's available arm, and said, "Brigit, we are saving a seat for you by us! Thought you may like some "Girl" talk for a change!" And so with a futile attempt to extract Brigit from Vincent's arm, Mary tugged, as she urged, "...come on along!" And because Brigit didn't want to give these two "Girls" the time of day, she continued to look sweetly up at Vincent and answered, "Aye thank ye jist the same, but I'll be joinin' Vincent this mornin'." Well, since Brigit had clung so tightly to Vincent's arm, Mary had no choice but to give up and let go! Yes! It was clear Brigit was not leaving Vincent's side! And so curtly Mary then said, "Very well then Brigit, perhaps you will join us after breakfast, you simply MUST have a tour of our exquisite Sewing Chamber. In fact a lovely quilt project is in progress right now, and I think you will..." As Brigit butted in, cutting Mary off in the middle of her sentence, she informed her, "I will be joinin' Vincent for the Children's lesson this mornin'. I thank ye jist the same." Exasperated, once again, Mary and Rebecca had to concede, and so Mary politely said, "Well perhaps another time then." As Vincent and Brigit ventured forward, it was then Mouse approached, with Authur perched on his shoulder! And as Brigit spotted Mouse's pet, she screeched, "Ah, there's that RAT agin!" To which Mouse corrected Brigit, as he proudly stated, "Not Rat, I'm Mouse!" And so Vincent interceded, by saying, "I believe Brigit is speaking about Aurthur." And because Mouse needed to clarify what Arthur was, he said, "But Arthur's not a rat...he's a racoon...and soft too...wanna pet him?" And as Brigit screeched, and hid behind Vincent, she yelped, "Vincent! If ye please!" And so Vincent once again needed to intercede, by telling Mouse, "Brigit is not fond of animals Mouse, and so it would be appreciated if you keep Arthur at a distance." With a shrug of his shoulders, even though Mouse couldn't understand why someone wouldn't want to pet Arthur, he pouted as he said, "OK fine." And then walked over to join his friends for breakfast. As Brigit looked up at Vincent, she in a trembling voice replied, "I dinny think that furry pest would be joinin' us fer brekky!" And so with an understanding nod, Vincent informed her, "Because Mouse thinks so highly of his pet, we all accept Arthur will be where ever Mouse is..." With that said, Vincent then found their seats, and as they sat down at the table, Brigit looked down the row of seats, and noticed Pascal was giving her a flirtatious wave with his fingers in a fanning fashion. Waving back, Brigit, under her breath said, "Oh that Rascal!" Vincent not hearing what she had said, politely inquired, "Brigit?" In an attempt to cover up her rudeness, Brigit stealthily reasoned Rascal rhymed with Pascal, so mischievously she informed Vincent, "I jist said, Oh that Pascal! He is wavin' at me over there!" To which Vincent happily noted, "Hmmm, It appears you definitely have a fan in Pascal." Feeling quite smug, that she managed to worm her way out of trouble, demurely, she smiled up at Vincent, and settled in closer at his side. It would seem, that the Tunnel community had never eaten as well as they did during Brigit's visit, and William enjoyed showing off his culinary skills for her! This morning, for breakfast, he chose to make Mushroom Omelets with the mushrooms he had cultivated himself. And on the side, he served sweet honey wheat muffins, along with some light, honey whipped butter. As Brigit prepared to take a bite, she just happened to see William peaking around the corner from the kitchen! Yes William was waiting to see what kind of a reaction Brigit's first bite had received. Waving at him, she then raised her fork and then dramatically took a bite. Oh how Brigit raved and raved, about how delicious his cooking was, and the compliments went on nonstop! Meantime, Rebecca and Mary, watched on with commentary, as William proceeded to suavely serve Brigit another cup of hot tea, as their cups remained empty! Yes it would seem William was the Host with the Most, once again this morning, and Brigit had a captive tunnel audience once again too! As the breakfast hour concluded, it was time to get on with the day, and so as everyone went their separate ways, Vincent in the meantime, escorted Brigit to the Library chamber, where the children gathered for their lesson. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And so as Vincent addressed the class, he paced before them, as he informatively said, "Now children, I know you are all aware of Brigit's visit here with us, and..." With that being said, the children all broke out into a cheer! With a calm, Vincent tried to regain control, as he softly said, "Yes, we are all excited to have Brigit here in our tunnel home, but doubly excited to have her here in class with us..." Vincent then turned to welcome her, as he requested, "Brigit?" And so Brigit hesitantly approached, with a forced smile, she addressed the children, saying, "Good mornin' everyone, I think I met most of ye, so I feel as if I am right at home n' amongst friends." Just then Seth piped up and asked, "Soo, I'm gonna test ya, do you remember my name?" Being caught off guard, Brigit searched her memory bank, but could not remember this dear child's name! And so finally she said, "Sorry, but I am afraid yer name escapes me at the moment." Next, Zach asked, "What about me? Do ya remember mine?" To which Brigit stammered a bit as she searched for his name, when Samantha butted in, and questioned, "How about mine?" Helplessly and apologetically, Brigit held out her hands, searching for somebody's, anybody's name, when Kipper broke in, surmising, "Hey I bet you remember my name Brigit, it rhymes with ZIPPER!" To which Brigit hesitantly, and hopefully guessed, "Dipper? Nipper? Clipper?" In an agitated reply, Kipper corrected her by saying, "No, it's Kipper!" So as poor Brigit stood there, floundering terribly, Vincent came to her rescue by saying, "Children, children please. We have plenty of time for Brigit to get to know each of you by name, but in the mean time, our discussion today, will be about the books Brigit has written. And because we are lucky enough to have many of her books in our possession, I thought we could discuss their content along with Brigit today." And so Vincent presented Brigit a chair to rest upon, and then asked the class, "Now...who would like to be the first to ask Brigit a question pertaining to one of her books?" In response, all of the children raised their hands, hoping to be the one Vincent called on. As Vincent looked upon the eager children, and though he truly loved them all, he tried not to favor any of them. However, if truth be told, there was one small child who seemed to need something extra, something more...so yes, there was something about Natalie that especially touched him. As Vincent saw her excitement, as she raised her little hand, he simply had to call on her. So softly he said, "Natalie, Do you have a question you would like to ask Brigit?" Restlessly, Natalie fidgeted a moment, and then finally asked, "Were you born with red hair, or did you get it out of a bottle like Mary said?" Upon hearing Natalie's question, Vincent quickly sanctioned her by saying, "Natalie, that is not polite to ask such a question. And besides, our questions should be in reference to Brigit's writing, and her writing only. Understood?" To which Natalie answered, "Understood...sorry if I was rude Brigit." As Brigit sat feeling a bit embarrassed, she had no recourse but to say she forgave the child, and so she said, "Ahem, tis alright..." Vincent then gave Natalie a discreet look, indicating he was not pleased with her question, and then looked over the other children, and asked, "Would anyone else like to Brigit a question ABOUT her writing this time?" Excitedly, they all raised their hands, and after Vincent called upon them, one by one, they each had a relevant question for Brigit concerning one of her stories. This obviously pleased Brigit very much, for the fact the children knew her content so well, and so a robust discussion began. Well, as the discussion carried on and on, Vincent realized the friendly Q and A, turned into an in depth interrogation! And so upon seeing Brigit was becoming agitated, and frustrated by all the adolescent inquiries, Vincent took back control! So as he got things back on course, Vincent informed the children, "Everyone, I have a surprise for you. Brigit has agreed to read a poem from her book, "Can you imagine?" and because of the season we are in, I thought it would be quite fitting for her to read, The Autumn Winds." As he looked over at Brigit, who was still regrouping, he continued, "And how special it is to have the author herself read this poem to us, in the manner she intended it to be read. So Brigit, if you would?" After collecting herself from being grilled by the adolescent tunnel brigade, Brigit cleared her throat, fluffed her hair, and shakily began, "Children I hope ye will enjoy me poem, "The Autumn Winds" The Autumn Winds What brings the Autumn Winds what force might it be that has the power to mock even the tallest tree a wind that's able to steal it's every leaf leaving it bare tis beyond belief Yes the Autumn Winds don't seem very kind but because every season has a reason, and has it's time A time to grow, as Spring doth provide A time to be, during the Summer tide Then Autumn comes to bare bad news And during Winter, all nature may snooze Then Nature's cycle begins anew So I guess we should say Thank you Autumn Winds for just being you The children all clapped as Brigit finished her recitation, and because she was feeling quite up to her neck with the children, she discretely told Vincent, "I am feeling a bit worn...and oh me garsh, it's hot in here!" And because of Vincent's intuitiveness, he sensed Brigit's desire to escape, and so he took her by the hand, and then instructed, "Children, Brigit is leaving, so please thank her." To which Jonah yelled, "Thank youuuu, and see ya later Brigit!" And because Jonah's send off began a barrage of similar screeched out farewells, Brigit's head was about to pop! Upon seeing he had to thwart the cherubs loud chorus, Vincent stepped up and told them, "Children, you needn't speak at such a high decibel." Grateful to Vincent, Brigit turned to wave, and thought frankly, she could not get away fast enough! Taking in a deep breath, she began to travel down the tunnel for the Guest Chamber, when suddenly she caught sight of Mary and Rebecca coming her way! And so Brigit quickly turned around to go the other way, and then she saw Pascal, and he was heading right for her too! Quickly, Brigit had to decide on the lesser of THREE evils, and so in a flash, she made her choice! She re-entered the Library chamber. And as she reappeared, the children all audibly noted, "Hey, she's back!" Causing Vincent to look behind himself, he saw Brigit, flush to the wall of the library chamber, as if she were trying to hide! And so he kindly said, "So happy to have you back Brigit." To which a very flustered Brigit looked at Vincent and asked, "If ye dinny mind I will just sit here quietly n' listen." Vincent with a polite nod, answered, "As you wish Brigit." Then turning to his class, he said, "Children back to our lesson, now let's see, we were talking about poetry..." Meanwhile, Brigit exhaustedly settled down in the back of the chamber, and as she pulled out her hanky, she wiped her brow, and just let her mind wander. And so as Brigit sat, she ended up enjoying herself, as she watched Vincent with the Children, and she could not help but to think, "Oh what a tale this could be! Children with a teacher the likes of Vincent!" And though she did find amusement in watching Vincent teach, realistically though, she pondered this retreat to the tunnels. And Brigit began to wonder if Vincent would ever succumb to her feminine whiles, and if he doesn't, well this will not exactly be a weekend from hell, but very close to it. And so she silently sat, debating on cutting her losses. Yes she just may leave these rustic tunnels, and check into a ritzy hotel! Meanwhile, as the children sat quietly, to practice writing in cursive, Natalie raised her hand, so Vincent went over to see what she needed. And so she said, she wanted to ask him a question, one that no one else could hear, to which Vincent bent down to listen. And as she put her little hand on Vincent's shoulder, she began to fiddle with a lock of his hair, and whispered, "Is Brigit your new girlfriend..." With a sigh, Vincent humbly answered, "No Natalie, Brigit is a very dear friend of mine, not a girlfriend." To which Natalie softly declared, "Oh goody, cuz I don''t like you having a cracked heart from that old girlfriend." Realizing Natalie must have overheard some conversations, Vincent lovingly looked back at Natalie, and tried to put her at ease, as he repeated his Father's sage words, saying, "Father assures me, my heart won't stay cracked, with time it will mend..." Thinking about this, Natalie responded, "Well, I guess Father would know, he's The doctor!" With a nod, Vincent assured her, "That's right. So you see, don't worry about me, I will be fine. And besides, at your age, you shouldn't be worrying about such things. That's grown up stuff. So for now, you just be a little girl. OK?" To which Natalie, with a big smile, said, "OK! I can do that easy enough!" To be continued Chapter Twenty |
| Hero of my Heart! By Sharon Holtz Chapter Nineteen _______________________________________________ |