With astonishment, Catherine turned to Jacob, and said, "You have your own personal Library here!"
As she ran her hand over a stack of books, Catherine hesitated before picking one up, and hopefully asked, "May I?"
Happy to see Catherine was as enamored and as appreciative of tomes as he, Jacob kindly answered, "Yes, yes, of course my Dear, look at what ever you like, and while you explore, I will warm us some tea."
As Jacob navigated about his chamber, he mentioned, "My Goodness it seems like ages since I have been home...but mind you its been less than 48 hours!"
As Catherine sat off to the side of Jacob's chamber leafing through books, she agreed, by saying, "I had the same sensation as I entered my home too."
Meanwhile, Mary and Rebecca who had just finished their kitchen duties, were relieved to hear Jacob was back home!
To which Mary noted, "Father's home! Now he can help us guard Vincent's Virtue too!"
And so they raced through the tunnels, over to Jacob's chamber, and without any protocol at all, Mary and Rebecca scurried down the steps into Jacob's chamber, with them both excitedly exclaiming, "You are home Father! Thank Heaven!"
Alarmed by these two boisterous bellowing belles, Jacob brought his hand to his heart, and declared, "Good Grief ladies, you startled me so, you nearly sent me HEAVENward!"
Upon realizing they did come in like a whirling dervish, Mary apologized, saying, "We are sorry Father, it's just that we are so happy you are home!"
But before they informed Jacob of the goings on, Mary and Rebecca both inquired about Peter and his Mother's funeral.
With thoughtfulness, Jacob replied, "Peter is managing through his grief, ahh his Mother's death hit him hard, but the funeral was lovely...very lovely. But thanks to his sister's support, and the support of me and his other close friends who were in attendance..."
Jacob then with an excited tone, walked over toward where Catherine was sitting, and said, "...ahem, ladies, I would like to introduce you to a young lady who was also there at the funeral..."
It was then Catherine stood, as Jacob continued, "Mary and Rebecca...this is Catherine, who is also a very close friend of Peter's."
Upon hearing her name, Mary, and Rebecca looked at one another, with Mary clarifying, "Did you say Catherine?"
To which Jacob answered, "Yes Catherine! Tis Vincent's Catherine, and because she has known Peter all her life, Catherine was in attendance at Mrs. Alcott's funeral as well."
With a pleasant smile, Catherine greeted them, and the two ladies, stood stunned by the fact Vincent's Catherine was there! And then finally Mary, dumbfounded-ally pointed toward Jacob, and then to Catherine as she asked, "So you...so she...at Peter's..."
Humored by Mary's stammering, Jacob chuckled, and then offered, "Let's all sit down shall we, and I will fill you in on the whole story."
As Jacob served the tea, he explained, "Now bare with me, and I will explain everything."
Jacob then settled in himself, as he thoughtfully recollected, "You see, I first met Catherine at the Florida airport...and well this Dear girl was so kind, and it wasn't because I was Vincent's Father...no, no! Neither of us had nary a clue yet who each other was! No, you see Catherine was kind to me because she saw I was a bit out of my element and reached out to me...Airports are quite modernized these days! At any rate, we spoke and then I met her Father Charles at the airport as well...and since Taxi's seemed to be scarce, Charles offered me a ride. However, in the meantime, I had somehow managed to successfully hail a Taxi on my own, and we said our good-byes."
Jacob and Catherine shared a smile, as he rehashed all the coincidences of their meeting, and then Jacob continued, "Now this part of the story will tickle you two ladies, because when I arrived at Peter's Mothers' home in the Taxi I spent twenty dollars on, Catherine and her Father, Charles were already there, unloading their car! Needless to say, I wish I had accepted that ride!"
Everyone shared a chuckle, and then Jacob continued, "Well we immediately recognized each other from the airport of course...and realized we all had traveled there to be with Peter in his time of need. And because of our mutual friendships with Peter...we became fast friends."
Feeling a little confused about not knowing Catherine was Vincent's Catherine yet, Mary asked, "So why didn't you realize who Catherine was?"
With an amused chuckle, Jacob smiled once more at Catherine as he reminisced, saying, "The reason being, was Charles referred to his daughter as Cathy! And though I did know through Vincent that Peter and Catherine were acquainted, I had nary a clue Cathy was Catherine!"
And then turning to Catherine, Jacob noted, "And you didn't know who I was..."
To which Catherine in agreement said, "No...I didn't know your last name or anything, nothing that would indicate you were Vincent's father."
With curiosity, Rebecca then asked, "So then how did you two...well put it all together?"
Thoughtfully Jacob recalled, "Well, Catherine and I were having a heart to heart, because mind you, we had become quite fond of each by now...and..."
Jacob glanced at Catherine for help as he relayed the chain of events, and struggled on saying, "...yes I believe I saw your book of Wordsworth, no wait, I think you may have mentioned Vincent's name first, yes, that's right, you mentioned his name, then I saw your book! And like a flash, it all became clear...and we were then together, able to unravel the mystery which caused their falling out..."
Jacob then explained the crux of Vincent and Catherine's problems, and the tragic chain of events which led to the miss-understanding.
Needless to say, Vincent's Vestal Wardens were beside themselves with joy, and so with tears in her eyes, Mary said, "Oh my Dear, I am so happy you are here Catherine, and this can be all straightened out!"
Rebecca too added, "That is for sure! Vincent has been quite heart-sick, and so too are the children! They are very worried about him."
With a nod, Mary inserted, "Yes the children, very intuitive, especially where Vincent is concerned."
Jacob then raised his brow and said, "Well the sooner we clear things up, the better for everyone! In fact, Vincent should be coming straight away, because Mack is finding him as we speak! Oh Dear...I do hope Mack doesn't dawdle."
As Catherine sat within Jacob's chamber, listening to the three, she felt quite at home under their protective and welcoming ways. Yes, Catherine felt quite honored meeting the people of this underground society. And she thought of how different they were in their style and manner, kind of a matronly Gothic.
Just then Rolley, the children's music teacher, peaked inside and asked, "Father, the children are so happy you are home, and they would like to welcome you back with a song they composed specifically for this occasion. Is this a good time?"
Jacob looked around at the three ladies, and in an excited fashion, answered, "Yes, please Rolley show the children in!"
With permission given, the children all rushed into the chamber, giving Jacob a round of welcome home hugs!
And because of their zeal, Mary admonished them, saying "Easy children, you don't want to knock Father over!"
To which Jacob replied, "Needn't worry Mary...I braced myself when I saw them coming!"
And then he gleefully responded, "Hello Children, I've missed you!"
Jacob then looked over at Catherine, and with a smile he told the children, "Before we hear your song, I eh, I have heard, you've been worried about Vincent."
In concurrence, the children all replied, that yes they have been!
And then one of the children clarified, "Yea, and it's all because Vincent has girlfriend problems!"
And then little Natalie stepped up to Jacob, and said, "Father, I've been wondering, wouldn't an oberation be quicker than waiting for "Time" to fix Vincent's heart?"
Kindly, Jacob looked down at little Natalie and told her, "Unfortunately Natalie, there isn't any sort of operation that can help Vincent..."
But then with an uplifting tone, Jacob continued, "However...there is A someone who can help..."
And it was then, Jacob looked over at Catherine, and with a nod in her direction, he told them, "I would like for you all to meet the lady, who CAN fix Vincent's heart. This is Catherine, Catherine Chandler."
As he brought Catherine in under his wing, he continued, "Catherine, I would like you to meet Rolley, the children's music teacher, and then of course these are the children."
The children all nodded as Father introduced them each by name, saying, "This is Joshua, Eric, Zach, Joseph, Natalie, Kipper, Samantha, Heather, Jonah, Seth, etc."
And as she met each child, Catherine was quite moved, as she looked into the faces of all of these formerly lost children. Realizing these are the children Vincent spoke so heartfelt about.
And so meanwhile, upon seeing Catherine looking so joyful with the tunnel children, it occurred to Jacob, that because of all the anguish filled events of the past couple of days, he had not seen Catherine actually smile, not from true joy anyway, and so he thought of what a warm lovely smile she had!
And so after the introductions were done, Seth then smiled, and with a lisp caused by his current state of being “front toothless”, asked, “Just wondering, do we call you Mith Chandler or Caferine?"
In response, Catherine smiled and said, "Oh please Seth, call me Catherine, as should all you children."
Informatively, Joseph spoke up to say, "Okay, Catherine it is! So Catherine, I think you should know something."
To which Catherine softly replied, "Yes Joseph what is it?"
Worriedly Mary and Rebecca looked at one another, wondering what Joseph was going to say! Would it be something he observed between Vincent and Brigit?
But before Mary and Rebecca could stifle the "Little Darling" he had already continued, "Well, what I think you should know is, even though you and Vincent have problems, he still thinks you are nice, I heard him tell that to Pascal."
And then Samantha added, "I heard him too, but I don't get it...if you are nice, why didn't you write Vincent back? It really hurt his feelings."
And so it was after a few more similar comments were made by other children, Catherine realized this pint sized bunch, knew an awful lot about their falling out!
Meanwhile though, upon hearing the children questioning Catherine so pointedly, Jacob and Mary were about to caution them, when Catherine gave them an appeasing nod, indicating she would like to handle the children on her own.
Yes instead of feeling confronted, Catherine instead felt touched, seeing how much the children all truly cared about Vincent.
And so thoughtfully Catherine explained, "About my not replying to Vincent's note, well the reason is because I never found his note, asking me to leave a reply. And because of this unfortunate happenstance, Vincent thought I didn't want to see him again. So...this is why I am here. I want to tell Vincent I would have written back, and I want you all to know, I wouldn't ever want to hurt Vincent's feelings, not for the world."
Upon hearing Catherine's explanation, the children all nodded, seeming to get it, when Natalie tugged on Catherine's sweater, and asked, "Catherine?"
Looking down at this precious little dark haired girl, Catherine bent down to her level, replying, "Yes Natalie?"
To which Natalie inquired, "There's a lady visiting us, and she writes books, and her name is Brigit...do you know her?"
With a tip of her head, Catherine, with a bit of hesitation thoughtfully replied, "As a matter of fact...I do."
Happy Catherine knew who she was talking about, Natalie then giggled as she noted, "She sure has big red hair doesn't she, and well, Mary says Brigit is big in other places too! But anyway, what I wondered is, do you sweat a lot like her?"
Upon hearing Natalie comment/question, Mary stood stunned, realizing Natalie was actually THE "Little Darling" who needed stifling!
And so meantime, Catherine looked up at Jacob, indicating she may need his help!
With angst, Jacob hurriedly cut in to thwart any other commentary about Brigit! And so Jacob suggested, "Now children, that's enough questions concerning sweating or otherwise..."
And as Jacob shot Mary a dirty look, he sternly added, "...and remember, tisn't nice to talk about people in an edgy way!"
With a helplessness, Mary shrugged her shoulders, realizing there was no point in trying to stage any kind of defence.
And so in wanting to get this show on the road, Jacob clapped his hands together, and smiling at the children, he said, "How about singing your song now?"
To which they all excitedly agreed, then lined up, and anxiously looked at Rolley, awaiting their cue.
Rolley smiled as he turned to the audience of four, raised his arms, and signaled for the children to begin. And the children sang:
We missed ya Father, Oh yes it's true We missed your yelling, your popping veins too, we even missed the work load oh yes it's true Oh Father we missed you! We missed ya Father, Oh yes indeed We missed your sternness and the stories you read When you're not here spying it's kinda fun and fine But then cuz we miss ya, our hearts pine
At the completion of the little dilly, Jacob looked at the three ladies, and tried to stifle a chuckle, before he said to the children, "Yes, very good children, very good indeed!"
And then teased, "Later though, I will find out who wrote the line about my yelling!"
The children all laughed, and then Mary noted, "Children, it is time to prepare for bedtime."
And then turning to Rolley, Mary asked, "Would you mind taking them Rolley? Laura and Brooke should be waiting for them in the bed chamber."
Saying he would be glad to, Rolley waited as the children made their rounds, giving everyone a goodnight hug, and when it was Catherine's turn, she sweetly reciprocated, calling them each by name.
Meantime, Rolley had no sooner left with the children, when Mack came bursting into Jacob's chamber.
With a questioning look, Jacob asked him, "Well Mack, did you locate Vincent?"
To which Mack smugly answered, "Yes Governor."
Waiting for him to elaborate further, Jacob anxiously asked, "Well....did you ask him to meet me here in my chamber?"
Shaking his head, he looked back at Jacob grinning, and said, "No Governor."
By now, Jacob was getting pretty exasperated with this joker, and sternly asked, "And why not?"
As Mack walked further into the chamber, he explained, "Well Governor when I found him in the Hot Springs Chamber, I didn't think it would've been proper to 'ave spoke to him!"
Jacob and Mary exchanged confused looks, and Rebecca could not believe Mack's gull of not executing Jacob's request!
And so with a frustrated sigh, Jacob approached Mack, and asked, "Now please tell me why it would NOT have been proper to relay the message to Vincent as I asked!"
To which Mack then replied, "WELL Governor, he wasn't alone, if you get my drift! The sexy Irish gal was with him! And it looked as if they were getting ready to do THE HORIZONTAL MAMBO, you know the BUMPITY BUMPITY, THE MATTRESS DANCE! So I think to myself, "If I was about to BOP THE BALONEY, would I want to be disturbed...I think not Governor!"
A bomb could not have induced any more pain and destruction than these crude words from Mack had caused.
Everyone in this underground chamber, sat shell-shocked for a moment, and then Jacob realized he had to quiet this fella from saying anything more, and so he quickly dismissed Mack by saying, "That will be all Mack!"
But wanting to further explain his intent to follow Jacob's orders, Mack then went on to say, "I just want ya to know, I am gonna tell him, but I figured I'd give Vincent a bit longer to PARK THE PORPOISE and then I..."
In a fervent attempt to silence Mack, Jacob angrily repeated, "I said that will be ALL Mack, now good night, and needless to say, summoning Vincent is no longer necessary!"
Standing speechless thus far, Mary regained her dignity, and voiced how offended she was by such terminology, by saying, "Really! What a rude way to talk in front of women, and Father too!"
Mack simply shrugged his shoulders as he left Jacob's chamber, saying,"Didn't mean to offend any one...just sayin' it as I sees 'em! Well, Good night Governor, ladies!"
The four were now left alone in Jacob's chamber, not knowing what to do or to say.
Catherine, who was still holding her gift of Wordsworth to her heart, slowly bent her head, and fought back the ebb of sadness.
With a fatherly concern, Jacob approached Catherine, and said, "Dear child, I don't know what I can say. This doesn't sound like behavior Vincent would engage in."
To which Mary angrily said, "It doesn't sound like Vincent Father, but it does sound like BRIGIT! She has been after Vincent for the past two days!"
Upon hearing Mary's explanation of what has been happening, forlornly, Jacob turned to Catherine and said, "I had no idea...Catherine...and as I stand here...I wish there was something I could say...ahhh my Dear....I am so sorry."