Chapter 14
Jenny could no more stop herself from pelting Vincent with questions than she could have stopped breathing. 'Where were they going? How long would it take to get there? Was there anyone else living here? How long had Vincent lived there? And what was that constant tapping noise she could hear?' She had many more questions too about Cathy and Vincent, like: How had they met? How long had they known each other? And even more about the wedding and coming baby. She fully intended to get answers to each and every one of them before she left that night!
Vincent had been answering her questions about his world as they walked along. She was told that they were going to the central hub of the tunnel chambers, specifically to his father's study. It was only a few minutes walk he assured her. Yes, other people lived Below but the actual number varied at any given time, at the present time there were about one hundred living in the tunnels. Vincent admitted that he'd lived there all of his life from the time he'd been found as an infant and brought to the man who became his father. The tapping noise was their way of communicating. People would tap out messages on the pipes letting the others know what was happening. He smiled and told her that was how Father knew the three of them were on their way to his study right now.
Suddenly the passageway ended and Vincent stepped into a room that looked to be filled wall to wall and nearly floor to ceiling with books. The large room was lit by dozens of candles as well as randomly placed oil lamps. Vincent strode right in and placed Catherine down in a comfortable looking chair near an elderly man and woman.
The man started asking questions about why Catherine was being carried and her health. The woman quickly replaced the coat Vincent had taken off Catherine with a fuzzy shawl and covered her lap with a blanket, seconds later, she pressed a hot cup of tea into Catherine's hands.
Catherine looked up from the cup of tea to see Jenny still hesitating in the doorway. Vincent followed her gaze and immediately started to apologize. Reaching out for Jenny's hand to help her down the three metal steps into the room with the rest of them he noticed the tears in her eyes. "Jenny?" he questioned softly.
"If there had been any doubt in my mind that Cathy could be happy here, seeing how you and your parents rushed to care for her tells me all that I need to know!"
"Let me introduce you. Jenny, this is my father, Jacob Wells, but everyone here Below calls him Father." Vincent let the two of them shake hands.
Father said, "Welcome to our world, Ms. Aaronson."
Then Vincent brought her to stand in front of Mary and told her, "You were correct in the fact that this wonderful woman is the mother of my heart, but we all call her Mary."
Mary's eyes shimmered with tears at Vincent's words, and she greeted Jenny with a warm smile. "Have a seat here next to Catherine and let me get you a cup of tea too, child."
"I'm sorry if I offended anyone with my comment," Jenny apologized as she took the offered seat.
The first to respond was Mary, "How could a mistake of love, offend?"
"Yes quite so!" Father declared and Vincent just smiled and nodded as he took his place on Catherine's other side.
"This is an amazing library, but it looks like you could use some more shelves!" Jenny grinned.
"Actually this is my study, Ms. Aaronson. The library is in another chamber."
"Wow! You love books like I do then!"
The two of them went on to talk about their mutual love of books for several minutes. Catherine reached out and gave Vincent's hand a squeeze as her friend managed to charm Father. When the debate started over who the greatest poet of all time started Catherine couldn't hold back a giggle.
"Oh gosh! I'm sorry for dominating the conversation that way!" Jenny exclaimed. "We should be talking about these two crazy kids getting married and having a baby!"
Catherine was happy to change the subject to something so very dear to her heart and said, "We are going to be married in three weeks at Winterfest."
To be continued….