A Beautiful Friendship Continues
Standard disclaimer applies; no profit is made other than kind words. All characters and situations belong to R.A. Dick and Fox. This can fit into Day On, but need not. It is a direct sequel to Mary's The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship and is a birthday present for her.
A very soft knock on the wheelhouse door made Captain Daniel Gregg look up from noting down the latest events in his logs.
"Yes?" he called.
A tow-headed little girl stepped into his sanctuary cautiously. "Captain?"
"Candy, welcome, dear girl," he beamed, fixing a gentle, welcoming smile on his face. He was not quite sure how to deal with such a young female, but Candy Muir had always struck him as being not exactly a typical one. The same could be said for her mother.
Stepping inside tentatively, she peered around the room in wonder. Still, she said nothing, so he prompted, "What may I do for you?"
Facing the ghost squarely, Candy blurted, "Can I, I mean, may I ask you some questions, Captain, sir?"
"Belay the sir, Candy, though I do appreciate the respect behind the word," he winked. "Take a seat."
When Candy was comfortably ensconced on the sofa he often shared with Mrs. Muir, the Captain moved his seat so that he could converse with her face to face. He wondered if he should offer her some refreshment, but hardly thought Madeira was quite the thing to give a child.
"Is something on your mind?" he finally asked.
For a moment, Candy hesitated, then replied, "Not really, Captain. I just wanted to catch up; I've missed an awful lot that's gone on for the last year, and I bet you have tons of cool stories, even more than the ones Jonathan has tried to tell me about." She turned red. "I'm really sorry about not listening to him and for not believing in you." The blush darkened. "I feel silly, too, for being scared of you. I should have known better. This house has never felt spooky or anything bad, except for when you weren't here, like after Mom cut down the tree." She blew her bangs up. "So, I guess I'd like you to say we're okay, that you forgive me for being chicken and kind of stupid. I'd like to spend more time getting to know you, like we did the other day during the storm, if that's okay?" In her eyes was a silent plea to say it was and that he was not angry. There was also a deep need in the blue orbs, one Daniel was sure had been in his own at her age, the longing for a dad.
"I could have made things easier, I suppose," the seaman smiled gently. "That first day you were here, admittedly, I did try to scare you all away, so you had justification for being somewhat frightened. In fact, I should feel a failure if I had only managed to jar Claymore's nerves."
Candy giggled. "It doesn't take anything to rattle him, or Mr. Harve."
Cheered by her mirth, Daniel added his rich laughter to her childish one. "Indeed. I do feel as if I know you; after all, I have been able to see you for the last few months, however; you cannot say the same about me." He stroked his beard. "However, watching someone is not the same as talking to them. I am very glad to get the chance to know you, one to one."
"Really? You were so neat and all the other day; Jonathan said you don't like being called nice, or I'd say you were. But, you might've felt sort of on the spot, like you had to take care of me."
"I've wanted to let you know I was here, but as I told you then, you did not seem to be ready for the knowledge that your home truly is haunted."
Candy looked rueful. "And Martha still isn't, though I'd love to tell her you aren't an ogre. And, no way do you look like one!"
Daniel Gregg was just vain enough to be extremely gratified by that admission. "I believe you said you wanted to ask me lots of questions, but we did not get very far the other day. Playing chess took all our concentration. Of course, that is as it should be. It is a serious game."
Nodding her agreement, Candy began to ask her questions. Mostly, she just needed him to confirm what she had worked out in her mind since learning that a ghost living with them was the piece that made anything that seemed off base during the last year come together in her head.
"So, was that curse real, or was it just Claymore being – himself?" she asked as they made their way through recent history.
"He believed it was, and while I am not certain of whether or not magic works, given the fact that I did not believe in ghosts until becoming one, I am sure he could have scared himself into an early grave. That is the true power of most such things, from what I understand about voodoo and so forth," the Captain replied.
"Are there a lot of ghosts? Is my father one?"
That was certainly out of the blue, albeit a natural thing for the girl to wonder.
"I have no idea how many there are, but not everyone becomes an earthbound spirit, Candy." He chose his words with care. "If your father is a ghost, he has not made himself known to me, so I cannot say. It does seem to me that if he were, he would have tried to reach out and contact you all by now."
Did he imagine a touch of relief on her countenance? "That's kind of what I thought, but it's been on my mind since we met for real."
Suddenly, Candy saw the clock. "Oops. I promised to help Martha in the kitchen. So, I ought to go." Biting her lip, she looked at her new friend.
"I quite understand. Your mother and I worked out some time back that there are instances when life gets in the way of what one wants to do." He smiled, thinking of all their Madeira afternoons. Some of the dearest ones were caught on the fly and suffered from interruptions, but he cherished Mrs. Muir's efforts to keep their dates.
"Yeah," Candy nodded.
"You are welcome to return at any time. We have a great deal of catching up to do, you know," he admonished.
"And, will you tell me YOUR stories, about when you were, I mean, before we came?" Candy floundered.
"You mean from when I lived? Of course; it does not bother me to say the word alive, dear girl."
"Cool. You are the best, Captain Gregg," she beamed. "I'm so glad we know each other now. Promise you won't ever leave again or let us try to go? I hated it when I thought we'd have to, like after Miss. Peakskill visited, or Grandpa and Grandma Muir came, or when Mr. Thompson did." Her nose wrinkled.
"Your mother must do what she thinks best, but I will not leave, and were you to, I would not be happy."
Candy thought a second, then nodded. "Good enough, I guess. But … "
"You need to attend to duty, a most admirable trait. Run along, and come back soon."
"You bet."
As the door closed, the Captain found himself smiling and looking forward to those visits.
Little girls were not scary after all.