Unknown


It was twenty past one on Thursday morning when Gosalyn woke hearing Catlyn give out a distressed cry. Gosalyn went to the crib and picked her up. "What's the matter, Catlyn?"
As soon as Catlyn was up in her mother's arms her sobs faded. Gosalyn did a quick nappy check and found that was not the problem. "Hungry then, sweetie?"

Gosalyn went downstairs and found Morgana busy in the kitchen. "Hi, grandma." She acknowledged the vast array of herbs spread out over the table and Morgana's all-in-one enchanted spellbook. "Hi Quacky."

"Hello, dear." Her mother and the enchanted book smiled at her as Gosalyn grabbed Catlyn's bottle from the cupboard.

"Nofangoofohthomummy." Catlyn shook her head, patting her mother's arm.
Gosalyn stopped, feeling stricken at Catlyn's rejection of food. "Then what do you want? Catlyn, tell mummy; what do you need?" Gosalyn was tired and tears threatened as Catlyn gazed back up at her silently. Gosalyn looked up at her own mother. "I don't know what else could be wrong."
"I-I don't know, dear. Let me see." Morgana took Catlyn into her arms. Catlyn stared quietly up at her grandmother. "Catlyn seems fine right now."
"This keeps happening." Gosalyn reported disheartened. "She gets two or three hours in and wakes up in a fit."
"Perhaps it could be stomach cramps?" Quacky offered from his stand. "This sort of thing affects Normal babies quite a bit, you know."
"Gastro-intestinal dysfunction?" Morgana looked down thoughtfully at Catlyn. "No; that's not it." Morgana disagreed. "Catlyn's tummy is all happy, isn't it, darling?" Morgana cooed into the duckling's ear, rubbing her middle. "There's nothing in her aura to suggest an illness at least that can be Seen."
"What's wrong, baby, why did you wake up crying?"
"Madonna mummy." Catlyn said sadly.
Gosalyn regarded Catlyn as her baby girl looked back at her. "There doesn't seem anything physically wrong?" She asked Morgana for confirmation.
"Well, I think it would be best if you got a proper cleric's opinion, but your father and I both agree that Catlyn seems to need more physical contact than Raya and Justin did."
Gosalyn felt a flash of fear that Catlyn would turn into a spoiled brat. "What Catlyn needs is to learn that she can't get everything her way all the time." Gosalyn countered the idea firmly. "She has to learn to sleep in her own bed just like all the other babies do." Gosalyn took her daughter back.

"I'm sure Catlyn will learn all about the reasons for rules and such, dear." Morgana reassured Gosalyn. "You are very much your father."
Gosalyn paused recalling the case file on the coffee table earlier and her poor dad who sometimes needed more help than he dared to admit. "Is he alright with his latest case?"
Morgana frowned fractionally. "Well; I should say he has found his plan." She averted her eyes and turned back to her cauldron.

Gosalyn looked over the ingredients on the table. Morgana was working on a classic protection spell. "That bad, huh?"
"Oh, don't panic, honey. Luck favours the prepared and so that is what I'm doing."

"Come on, Catlyn. If you're not hungry then it's time to let mummy get back to sleep." Gosalyn looked back to Morgana. "Say goodnight to grandma, Catlyn."
"Ooniyammah." Catlyn waved.
"Goodnight, Catlyn. Pleasant dreams."

'Dreams.' Gosalyn treaded up the stairs. 'There's an idea.' "Are you having bad dreams, Catlyn? Are there bad pictures in your head while you sleep?"
Catlyn pointed to the master bedroom as they passed. "Arweedahbadeefahbageye." Catlyn smiled cheerily up at Gosalyn.
Gosalyn was extra tired but Catlyn's smile was still refreshing. "That's the way, honey; think happy thoughts. Fall asleep on happy tho-." Gosalyn yawned and started rocking Catlyn in front of her crib, humming her off to sleep once again before putting her down.


The next morning Gosalyn was ready to go shopping for her new jobs. Gosalyn had had another night of broken sleep with Catlyn and felt every bit of it. She sat taking a moment to try to figure it out as Catlyn was entertained with sucking messily on an unmashed watermelon chunk. It wasn't a cry for food or a cry for a nappy change ... besides which Catlyn had words for them, and even though Gosalyn might not understand straight away, Catlyn would keep chattering plaintively until Gosalyn guessed right. It was a mystery. Why would Catlyn wake up in the middle of the night crying until she was picked up and had to fall asleep in Gosalyn's arms again?

Raya softly interrupted her midmorning bleary eyed stare. "Don't go out today, Gosalyn." She grabbed Gosalyn's waist for a hug.
"Did you have a nightmare?"
Judging by the continuing tight grip and Raya's down turned head she figured the answer was yes. "Please."
"Alright." Gosalyn took a breath, changing her plan for the day as she petted Raya's hair. "I can go early tomorrow instead and get the dress and phone in the same trip. Since I'm not going anywhere right now, why don't you come and talk to me?"

Raya sat down on the chair beside her. "Yes, Gosalyn?"
"Did you think about what I asked you?"
Raya raised an eyebrow. "About what?"
"About finding a good joke."
"Oh!" This time Raya nodded solemnly. "Yes and I found one! And it goes: I'm a Mallard: the joke's on them." There was a glimmer of keen determination in Raya's dark eyes that filled Gosalyn with a nice warm confident feeling.
Gosalyn grinned and hooked an arm around Raya. "That's my kid sister." She snorted in good humour; "secretly spirited."


It was not long after a standard uneventful lunch and Gosalyn sat on the bunny rug with her tiny duckling in the centre of the lounge room floor.

"Gosalyn?"
Gosalyn looked up from her school book to her father's voice. She suppressed a yawn. "Yeah, dad?"
"I'm just taking Raya to the doctor." At that moment Raya came down the stairs and went to his side. "We'll be back in about an hour or so. Will you be alright here to look after Justin?"
"Sure, dad. He's no problem. Uh, where is he at the moment?"
"Out the back. I've told him that if he needs any help, you're on duty."
"Ready and able." Gosalyn saluted him as she sat on the floor, bright, colourful baby toys on one side and her dreaded history book on the other.
Her father nodded somewhat solemnly and then turned to Raya. "Let's go, Raya, sweetie."

The door closed behind them and Gosalyn returned her attention to Catlyn, keeping an ear out for trouble as the sound of the car engine faded into the distance. "1480 to 1834. Yeah, yeah I get you, Mr. Spanish Inquisition."


After several minutes of relative peace Gosalyn looked back to Catlyn and her baby girl was missing. "Catlyn!" Gosalyn darted her eyes around the room to the movement and saw Catlyn crawling into the hallway. Gosalyn took a breath. It was okay. There was only the hall stand in there and that was pretty sturdy made in some antique solid oak wood and it had withstood a lot worse than just a baby's handling. A bunch of shoes ... But then there was the front door. It was closed but Catlyn was probably curious about where her aunt and grandfather had gone. Gosalyn got up and went after her. Catlyn was standing, propping herself up using the door, whilst trying to reach the very high up doorknob.
"No outside without mummy, sweetie." Gosalyn's voice startled Catlyn and she fell backwards onto her nappy on the inside door mat. Unfazed, Catlyn pointed up at the door knob, "Mummy." She exclaimed in excitement. "Oi!"
"Oi?" Catlyn's vocabulary was the sum of all the words she'd heard being spoken around her. "... Boy?" Gosalyn jolted on the interpretation, feeling her hair and feathers all standing up on end. She whisked Catlyn away from the door.
Catlyn squawked in objection, still reaching for the handle. "Oi!"

"I-don't-think-so!" Gosalyn's voice echoed in the tiled hall for a moment; dark, ominous and scary.

"... Oimummy?" Catlyn asked in a soft sad little voice on the verge of tears, pointing back at the door.
"No, Catlyn." Gosalyn insisted sternly, unable to back down, not really wanting to. She returned Catlyn to the rug and knelt down in front of her so she could explain her reasoning face to face. "No boys, Catlyn. You are far too little for all that nonsense."