Disclaimer:
I do not own anything. All rights belong to R.A. Dick (Josephine Leslie)and 20thCentury Fox.Alsothanks to all GAMM writers, both from the series and fan-fiction authors for publishing such wonderful stories; there is no attempt on my part to imitate any of these published works but due to a limited amount of themes to work with, many of the same-themed stories get told from a new perspective (i.e., Candy meets the Captain; the Captain becomes corporeal, etc…) by a new writer.
I have decided to remove the prologue. I have a fondness for them but upon further reflection have decided that it is not really adding anything to this story. So now it really will start with Chapter One. Hope this reconstruction doesn't bother anyone too much.
Ghost of Schooner Bay
Chapter One
The day started out innocently enough, warm as predicted and only due to get warmer. The children were excited when they left for school, it was the last week before summer vacation started, so the work load was light and play time was expanded. Carolyn could hardly believe how much they had grown in the short time they had lived in Schooner Bay. Candy was now twelve, and most definitely a preteen. She was starting to like boys and was included in most of the girl parties in and around the town. Jonathan was now ten and growing like a weed. He went from that adorable six year old that came up to the Captain's waist to coming up to his chest, and Carolyn doubted it would be long before he was as tall as the Captain. Her little boy was growing up so fast. He did well in school and had an avid interest in history and all things having to do with the sea and ship lore. Carolyn just couldn't imagine where he could have picked that up from.
As they pulled into school she demanded a hug and a kiss from them, and despite their good natured protests, they complied and then ran out to greet their friends in the school yard. Carolyn smiled; glad they were no longer considered outsiders by those that had lived in Schooner Bay. It had taken all four years but they finally belonged to the community.
She knew there were still rumors out there about the Captain haunting Gull Cottage, and most certainly there were rumors about her and the Captain. She liked those the best. Whether the residents of the community believed in ghost or not, all of them knew of the man, Captain Gregg, who had built and lived in Gull Cottage. And over the last hundred years there had been so many strange happenings, so many strange stories that most of the town believed that Gull Cottage was haunted by the man himself. But strangely, when the Muirs moved in, for the most part the haunting had stopped. The townspeople weren't sure what to make of that. A beautiful widow moves in with her two children and the formidable spirit quiets down. Speculation had been rampart for a while. Why would a beautiful woman like that stay in such an isolated location? Why wasn't she dating, or married? Was she involved with the spirit of Captain Gregg? And her favorite was the speculation that she was having an affair with the good Captain. She grinned to herself. Given time that had become true for both of them, but what the ignorant people in town didn't understand was that it wasn't just some sort of physical affair, it was a love affair. She and Daniel were deeply committed to each other and in love, but how could she possibly explain that to anyone? She knew she couldn't, so she didn't try. They both wished they could marry, but given the circumstances it just wasn't possible, I mean, how would one marry a ghost? Her ghost, she reminded herself with a smile.
Lost in her thoughts, she left to do her errands. It would take her most of the day but by the time she was done she would pick the kids up from school so everything would work out perfectly.
The beat up Pinto entered Schooner Bay without notice, driving unobtrusively around town for most of the day. Mid-afternoon the car stopped a block away from the Middle School and its driver climbed out. He was a thin, young man, with shaggy long hair, and dark brown eyes. He had a beard started that was not well kept up, and looked like it was there simply because he was too lazy to shave. He had a scar on his chin, and scars on his arm from repeated needle use.
He went by the generic name of John Smith, it made his life easier to be known as that, and he was in Schooner Bay on business, these small towns were a potential gold mine if he could get the children hooked on what he had to supply, very few dealers worked the small towns on the east coast, at least up in Maine, and if he was the only game in town, well then! He rubbed his hands together in glee. Yes, this could be a most lucrative stop.
John Smith opened the trunk of his car and pulled out several plastic bags filled with various kinds of pills. He was sticking to that today as they were easy to transport and get rid of, and he only needed to get the kids interested enough to start. Once they were hooked he could introduce the good stuff. He didn't care about the well being of anyone but himself, only the money mattered to him. After loading up the inside pockets of this vest, he looked around, made sure no one was watching, and pulled a handgun from the trunk. A quick check made sure it was loaded, a second check made sure the safety was on, and then he tucked it into his waistband.
Then he sat back and waited. The children would be released from school in about an hour, so he would go and start to walk around the school in half an hour. His timing should be perfect to catch the children that were getting out a little early. Just a few today would do, and then he could show up again next week, or later in the week. Word would get out among the kids and soon he would have a substantial business in this little backwater town.
Carolyn's research out of town had gone well; she had an interview with Gerald Ponticuff, an architect in a local ship building firm. He was a most interesting man and gave a great interview. The subject was even of interest to Daniel who mentioned that he might pop in on her to see how things went when she arrived back in Schooner Bay. She hoped Daniel would show up, it would be nice to have him along when she picked the kids up from school.
She pulled up into her usual spot a little distance away from the front door and saw a couple of Jonathan's classmates talking to a stranger, someone she had never seen before, someone that looked like he didn't belong to this town. Her sixth sense kicked in and she knew something wasn't right. She watched for a moment and saw the man hand the children something which they smiled and thanked him, still talking. Then more kids came out of the school and curious as to whom their friends were talking to, walked over to the stranger who eagerly engaged them in conversation. Candy and Jonathan came out and Carolyn waved them over to her immediately.
"Mom, what is it? Why do you look so worried?" Candy asked.
"Do you know who that man is?"
They both looked over and the stranger and shook their heads.
"Neither do I. I think he's up to no good." She sighed and then made a decision. "Kids, I want you to do me a favor, as quick as you can go and get Constable Peavey or any of the deputies that are available."
"Even Claymore?" Jonathan asked.
"Only if no one else is available, and tell them to hurry."
"What are you going to do?" Candy asked, suspicious of her mother's motives.
"I'm going to try to put a stop to this," she said.
"Mom, that's not a good idea." Candy said.
"Yeah, can't you just watch him? Or better yet, I'll go find out what's going on, after all those kids are my classmates." Jonathan said, and before Carolyn could stop him he was on his way to the crowd of children that surrounded the stranger.
"Blast!" Carolyn swore and then looked at her daughter. "Candy, this is important. Quick as you can, get help. Have them drive over here, tell Mr. Peavey that a stranger is threatening the school kids."
Candy's eye grew wide. "You think it's that serious?"
"Yes, I do." She gave Candy a quick kiss on the forehead. "Hurry, Candy. I'll be here."
Candy nodded and ran off. Carolyn knew it wouldn't take her athletic daughter long to find help and was comforted by that fact. Now to extract Jonathan and his classmates from this suspicious man's company.
Gathering her courage she got out of the car and walked over to the stranger. Some of the children saw a known parent approaching and scattered. Jonathan left the man and ran to his mom.
"Mom, he's giving away pills, he's calling it candy."
Drugs? A drug dealer had shown up in Schooner Bay? That was unthinkable that such a slime ball would be here to expose her children and all of Schooner Bay's children to such an unthinkable addiction. She wouldn't let him continue this.
"Jonathan, go and wait by the car."
"But Mom!"
"No arguments, do as I say."
Grumbling, the boy turned to walk back to the car.
Without further ado, Carolyn Muir marched up to the drug dealer, and in a stern voice looked at all of the remaining children, now only five or so, and spoke to them. "Shame on all of you. don't you know what this man is? He's a drug dealer and he's trying to get you hooked on drugs."
A couple of the children looked startled and ran away. Three of the school's hard headed children shifted from foot to foot, undecided by the appearance of a known parent.
"And if that isn't enough to convince you, your parents will be told about this."
Grumbling, they turned away.
Carolyn turned to the unkempt young man, her green eyes filled with anger. "Go. Leave and don't come back. Our community has no need of you."
"You stupid, meddling bitch! How dare you interfere in my business?" He pulled his gun out of his waistband and Carolyn heard the safety removed.
Blast! It never occurred to her that he might be armed.
At that moment, the Captain showed up by the car, looking for Carolyn. Not yet oriented he saw Jonathan first. "Jonathan, where's your mother?"
Jonathan, mouth dropping open in horror at the scene unfolding before him could only point. "Help her, dad."
Captain Gregg looked over to see a crazy young man pointing a gun at his beloved, and he too heard the safety being removed. In a flash he disappeared and reappeared between the young man and Carolyn.
"Who the hell are you?" the young man yelled. "I don't care, I'll kill both of you," and he pulled the trigger.
Knowing that he was immaterial and the bullets would pass through him and hit Carolyn, the Captain did the only thing he could think of at that moment to prevent that occurrence, he concentrated for all he was worth and willed himself to become material, corporeal as quickly as possible. He was rewarded with the knowledge that he had achieved this state by the impact of several bullets at point blank range into his now solid chest. He reeled from the impact, and gasped at the feel of it, he hadn't felt anything even remotely resembling pain in over a hundred years. After a moment he stood up to his full height and towered over the stunned scruffy man.
John Smith looked at his gun, knowing he had emptied the six shots into the chest of the man before him. How could he possibly be standing? He blanched knowing that something unnatural stood in front of him. "What the hell are you? You can't be human!"
"I'm your worst nightmare!" the Captain roared, and with a gesture of his hand the man was slammed into the ground, hard, and then slammed again. "You will never in your life lie a hand on this woman! Do I make myself clear?" The wind was whipping up around them and the thunder was loud even though it hadn't started to rain yet. With another gesture the man remained pinned to the ground, unable to move. The Captain turned back to the object of his concerns, Carolyn Muir. As he turned to her, she gasped, and put a hand over her mouth in horror.
"My dear, are you all right?" he noticed that her arm was bleeding by her shoulder, and he gently reached for it, surprised when he stepped back.
"Daniel? How can you possibly be all right?"
"What?"
"Your chest, look at it."
He did so and saw why she was so distraught. The man had indeed emptied four of the six shots into his chest, leaving what appeared to be jagged flesh and a large gaping hole where his heart should be.
"Umm, I suppose that is rather disconcerting to you."
She nodded, and for one of the few times in her life, seemed frightened of him.
"Carolyn, it will be all right, I promise you. When I have a chance to change it will repair itself." He shrugged. "One of the few advantages of being a spirit." He paused and gave her an engaging smile. "Now may I look at your arm? You're bleeding."
"I am?" She looked and saw that she was indeed bleeding, and now that she was aware of it, it did hurt.
He reached for her arm and pushed away the cloth gently, and she gasped in pain. He frowned and looked at her. "It appears you've been shot, my love. You will need to go to the hospital."
"Shot? Me? But how?'
"I wasn't fast enough, blast. It was either the first shot or else it somehow past through me and hit you. I'm so very sorry," he was very disturbed by her injury.
"Daniel, you saved my life. Why would I be upset by an injury?" she reached out and touched his cheek.
The subdued man made noises of protest, and with an annoyed look, the Captain clenched his fist. The man reached for his throat but shut up.
"Daniel, can you let up on the thunder?" Carolyn asked, realizing that it was quite noisy.
"Oh, yes, that." The thunder quieted almost immediately.
She looked past his shoulder and saw Jonathan running over to them, throwing himself first in his mother's arms, then in the Captain's, though when he drew back from the Captain he looked at him curiously. "Does that hurt?"
"No, not really." The Captain laughed and tousled the boy's hair. "Stings a bit."
"I'll bet. Good thing you're a ghost, otherwise I think you'd be one again."
"He's right, you know." Carolyn looked past the Captain again and for the first time in minutes, as she saw Candy and Mr. Peavey walking up to them, that a crowd had gathered and every single one of them was seeing the Captain, her Captain. "Oh, blast!" She closed her eyes.
"My dear?"
"Captain, you have an audience. And they can all see you."
He had been so caught up in the events that were transpiring that he had forgotten about hiding his natural state of being, or making sure that no one saw it.
"I could leave."
"But they've already seen you. Can you make them all forget?"
"Mass hypnosis?" He rubbed his chin. "Possible, though sketchy at best."
"You can do that?"
"Of course, but the greater the number the more likely some of them will not take to it."
"Damn." Carolyn looked as frustrated as he felt. She suddenly closed her eyes and staggered as he caught her.
"I'm definitely not changing now; I need to get you to a hospital."
"I'll be fine, you need to go."
"No, we'll just deal with the fallout."
He turned around to face Mr. Peavey, Candy, and the crowd that surrounded Carolyn and him.
"Blast!" he said with a shake of the head.