Albert sat there shock, his grandfather's spirit was sitting beside of him and looking at him. His face was full of kindness and love. It wasn't dark and angry like Zack's, not ugly or twisted like some monster .

Albert didn't know what he should do...he just stared at his grandfather. He looked around, his mind reeling with thoughts than finally he looked into the eyes of his grandfather, his grandfather looked at him with questions in his eyes than Albert slowly said, "H-he-lo?"

His grandfather only looked at him confused, then Albert tried saying 'Hello' again but his grandfather still didn't answer then Albert's face got red then he raised his voice then said, "She said my family could help me! How can they when you can't talk?" He was meaning Madame Roseria, the gypsy woman. She told him to ask his family to help him but he couldn't understand how since his grandfather couldn't even talk to him.

But then he calmed himself down and he said to himself, "This is my first time doing anything like this...calm down Albert." He sighed then looked at his grandfather, his grandfather just smiled then...as he sat there...something happened...a memory came to Albert...he rememebered a time a long time ago when his grandfather came to visit them, the trip when his wife died. The time Albert sat in the barn trying to read a book for school but it was SO boring! Then he looked over and saw his grandfather had finally come outside after locking himself in the sod house for days !

Well, Albert went down the rope ladder then went up the small path then started a conversation with him, they started talking about reading books in school, Albert told him how boring the book was then his grandfather told him about how he had to read 'Silas Marner' in his day but the students got together and paid another student to read it then...that gave him an idea!

Maybe if he couldn't talk to Zack, maybe somebody else could! Albert looked at his grandfather and all he could say was, "Thank you." He didn't see his grandfather sadly shaking his head "no". Albert then got up and walked away and his grandfather disappeared.

(((oOo)))

Albert was walking around, he really didn't have a location in mind to go to, he was just walking. He was feeling confused, determined but still a little scared in his guts. He finally realized that he didn't know where he was walking, he was just walking, he looked around the area he was in and knew he was on the road out-of-town. He heard a wagon coming down the road and thought he would stay so maybe he could catch a ride back into town.

The closer the wagon got to it, the more Albert recognized the driver, it was a boy he used to go to school with, Curt Timmons*, they graduated school together. Curt had left Walnut Grove to go be a lawyer, while Albert went to college to become a doctor. Curt had a round face with sandy blond hair, his face was open and friendly, when he pulled up by Albert, he said,

"Whoa girls! " He said to the horses, then set the brake in place then said, "Hey , Albert! It's been a long time, what are you doing out here?"

Albert smiled at his friend then he said, "It sure has been, I was just out taking a walk and, well, just walked more than expected. When did you get back to town?"

Curt smiled then said, "Came in last week for Christmas, I was going to Cuyler City* to run an errand for my Pa."

Albert then said, "Well, go on; I don't want to keep you from doing it."

Curt smiled then said, " No, you're not doing that. Hey, if you are not doing anything, how about going with me? We'll probably be up there and back before bedtime."

Albert thought about it for a second then he smiled then said, "Why not?"

Albert walks around the front of the horses then gets up in the seat next to Curt than Curt said, "I know it's a short ride to Cuyler City but it sure helps to pass the time with a friend."

Albert smiled, Curt let loose of the brakes on the wagon and then they took out for Cuyler City.

As they go on down the road, listening to the clap of the horses' hooves on the road, Curt then asks Albert,

"So, what are you doing these days Albert?"

Albert thought about it, he didn't want to tell him what has really been going on in his life these past few months so he told him only part of the truth,

"Well, I finished college at the end of the summer and like you, I'm just taking some time off to spend with the family; I'm going to medical school in the spring."

Curt nodded his head then he asked, "How is the family?"

Albert nodded his head then said, "Everybody's fine, Ma is still cooking at the restaurant, I'm helping Pa out at the mill with Mister Edward down this winter."

Curt watches the horses as they go on down the road then he asked, "Oh, I hate to hear that, what's wrong?"

Albert sighed in frustration then said, "Doc Baker doesn't know, he wants Mister Edward to go to Winoka but he's being stubborn as mule and roaring like a grizzly."

Curt smiled then said, "That's the Mister Edwards I remember..."

The two friends just continue talking until they get to town.

(((oOo)))

An hour later, they ride into town, they take the wagon through the middle of town until they get to a store with a sign that said, "Schrader Mercantile", they stop, jump down from the wagon then Curt ties the horses up to the hitching post then he turned to Albert then said,

"This is going to be awhile Albert, you can go look around if you want."

Albert looks around town, he looks at the wagons going up and down the streets kicking up the dust, he sees the people walking in and out of the stores and the bank then he said, "I think I will, see you in a few hours."

Curt nods his head than turns to go in the store while Albert walks over and gets on the board walks. He was looking in the store windows, seeing the different things that they were trying to get people to buy...he saw a few drunks come out of the saloons, then he heard some hammering, looked around then saw a boy putting up a sign on a post in front of the store he was standing in front of. The boy left then Albert walked over, looked at the sign and his eyes popped out at what he was reading.

'Come one, come all to see Madame Morcote as she gives the powers of clairvoyance to communicate with the dead.

Talk to loved ones that have gone on.

Tell them things that you wished you had told them before they went on to the great beyond.

Madam Morcote is set up at the north end of town, next to blacksmith shop.

The ad peaked Albert's interest, he looked around then he started walking in the direction that this "Clairvoyant" was at. He also stopped people to ask directions.

(((oOo)))

Albert walked up to a large tent, it was pretty large, much like the circus tents that are used. There was people all around the opening of the tent, he looked at a sign that said "Welcome to Madame Morcote's reading. Please enter with respect of the dead that is around."

He heard the murmurings of the people around him then he went to the tent's opening and walking in, when he got in, he saw the same thing as it was outside. People were all around, sitting on pine logs that was made into benches, standing against the wall of the tent. It made Albert think of a field packed with cows and bulls. He smiled at the thought then he remembered why he was there.

He sat down, looked around but didn't see anybody on stage. Then finally the curtain, which were really bed sheets opened up and there she was, a small woman. She didn't look at all like Madame Rosaria. She was a small woman with milk colored skin, she had on a bright blue scarf tied around her blond hair, she had on a white blouse with a dark blue skirt that was outlined in gold.

She then looked out among the crowd then she said, "I have come to give the people of this fine city the benefits of my powers ! Who among you will be the first to come and let me show you?"

Just then a man standing in the back said, "Oh, you are a fake! You can't show us anything!"

Madame Morcote stood still and rigid and she looked at the man harshly then she said, "Just stand and watch, you will see the powers come forth!"

She looked out at the audience then her eyes settled on a woman in her late 40's, she had on a black shawl and she was crying then Madame Morcote said, "Do you wish to try my powers?"

The woman in the audience dabbed her eyes with her white handkerchief and she said, "Yes, I would like to try to talk to my..."

Madame Morcote put her hands to her head then said, "Your father."

The woman gasped then she said, "That's right, how did you know?" Everybody gasped in the room then Morcote said, "I know."

Morcote put her hands back on her head then said, "Your father, he died...in the war, right?"

The woman gasped then said, "Yes, in the early part, I never even knew him."

Albert noticed something that passed between Morcote and the unnamed woman, he wasn't sure. But he listened to some more, "Your father, what is his name? "

"Raymond" said the woman then Morcote said, "I will try to plead with your father to come forth."

She closed her eyes then said, "Raymond, father of...what is your name, please?" "Sarah." said the woman then Morcote went on, "Raymond, father of Sarah, please come...please come."

Just then a male figure appeared behind the other bedsheet/ curtain with candlelight in the background and the voice of either woman, Madame Morcote or Sarah faded out in his mind, all Albert was doing was concentrating on the figure. He was getting no feeling at all from the image behind the curtain, no warmth of feeling like he got from Zack or his grandfather...just nothing.

He got up, went outside and he noticed that most everybody that he saw when he came up to the tent were gone. They had either gone inside or left altogether but he did recognize one person...Madame Rosaria. She was looking at what was going on inside from the right corner flap, he could see the anger in her face. He went up to her, then whispered, "Madame Rosaria?"

She looked up at Albert, she didn't have a look of surprise or anything on her face, just looked back at the spectacle inside than Albert asked, "What's going on? What are you doing here?"

She looked back at Albert than said with a wave of her small hand, "I know that woman, she is fake! She is what you say 'Gives bad name' !"

Albert made a face then he said, "I knew it."

" I would scratch her eyes out if I could, no, do more!..."

She started spewing some Italian obscenities, Albert than said, "Shhh, shhh, what is that?"

She looked at Albert confused, he put his hand up to signal to her to really be quiet and they heard sounds that were almost like cat scratches but more than that. He looked around then heard the sound coming down the alley between the tent and the blacksmith shop, he took Rosaria's wrist then they slowly went down the tight area, he whispered to her.

"This is going to be tight and be quiet!"

She nodded her head then they slowly walked down. Albert saw a man, he seemed to be in his late 40's , early 50's, he was moving a clothesline or something back and forth. He looked back at Rosaria then carefully, they got closer than he heard the man say, "I keep having to go back in, the damn candle keeps going out."

Another male voice said, "She's bringing them in like pigs to slaughter."

They laugh then the first man said, "Get the hell back over to the other side now."

They hear feet rustling than Albert signals for Rosaria to go back, she does then when they get out from the cramp quarters, she said, "I knew it! I ought to go in and..."

She turned to go inside but Albert stopped her then he said, "No, let me. You just stay back."

Albert went in, Madame Morcote was talking to a new person, this time a tall man with long brown hair and beard but before anything else happened, Albert walked right to the front and pulled down the bedsheet to expose the top part of a male mannequin. Not satisfied with that, Albert goes and yank down the clothesline and it pulled in the two older men from the sides then he turned to the crowd, picked up the mannequin then shouted,

"Here's your ghost!...

He pointed to the men then said, "And here's Madame Morcote's helpers! Give them a hand!"

THe women gasp and faint while the men raise their fists in anger than Albert said, "My guess is even tho' she didn't charge any of us to come in, she would have later!"

One woman in the back of the tent said, "She told me if I gave her a dollar, she would let me talk to my sister in private!"

Another woman stood up then cried, "And the same with my husband! "

A man stood up then said, "She told me three!"

A man with a sheriff's badge on, stands up then said, "I was afraid of this..."

He turned around then said, "I think you "Madame" better get your crew and get out-of-town before I can't even stop this crowd."

Morcote looked at Albert with an angry, hard look than Albert said, "And don't even bother coming to Walnut Grove."

She then turned and left. Albert gets down and goes to the front where Roseria stood then she smiled then said, "I told you that you can find answers within yourself, you do not need help from anybody, not even me."

He smiled then they both walked out but before they do, Albert lets go of the sheet and it fell to the ground.

A/N-*Curt was my character, they never mentioned anybody of that name on the show.

* Culer City was my invention also.

Sand n' Sable