A Very Short Claymore Story, by Kathy
Any similarities to Susan's is intentional.
20th Century Fox and David Gerber Productions own the characters from the Ghost and Mrs. Muir. I am merely borrowing them for my own use and will put them back unharmed. Any other characters are the intellectual property of the author (me) and may not be used with express permission.
This story was written January 2002.
Many thanks to Susan G and Denise G for the editing and their encouragement.
"God certainly knew what he was doing when he put that one together." the tall, well-dressed man remarked, as he stared out the window of Norrie's Lobster House.
"Must be talkin' about Carolyn Muir." Norrie stated, without
looking up to verify. "She's the only woman in town, I'd think,
anyone would say that about."
Harvey walked over to where the stranger was, glancing in the same
direction. "That's who it is, all right." He informed the other
occupants of the room.
Lunch hour at Norrie's usually only attracted men who had no wife
to cook a noon meal for them, they were commonly known
throughout Schooner Bay as the "lunch-bunch"
"Who is Carolyn Muir?" The newcomer took a seat in a booth after the object of his observation had gone into the post office.
"She's the writer that lives up to Gull Cottage." Deke Tuttle, told him, giving the stranger a once-over.
"Oh, the haunted house." the man's eyes took on an interested light. "Yes, Kevin was telling me about it. Said he never saw a sign of a ghost when he was there."
"You related to Dr. Ferguson?" one of the men asked him. "Come to think of it, you look a little like him, only older."
"Which isn't hard to do." Ed Peavy chimed in. "The doc only looks
like he's 'bout 12 at times."
"Yes, Kevin is my baby brother. I'm John, his stock-broker brother." He shook hands with various men, and then turned to take a sip of the coffee Norrie placed beside him. "He got called up to Keystone this morning, to help the Doctor up there and I've been left to fend for myself today."
"Well, we will take good care of you." Fred clapped his back. "Bet this is completely different than where you live."
"New York City is a one-of-a-kind place, but Schooner Bay has its
own charms. I think I just saw one of them that I would like to know
better."
"You can forget that." George chimed in. "The strangest things
happen whenever I've tried to take her out. She seemed to want to go,
but when I got there, oh boy, that was another story."
"It seems the only one she will go around with is Claymore Gregg."
Norrie added, the look on his face one big question as to why when she
could have had anyone.
Claymore Gregg, who had been sitting in the back corner, eating his lobster and wrapped up in the financial page, had not paid any attention to the men's talk until he heard his name.
"And just what are we discussing, gentlemen, that made you bring up
my name?" he asked, not paying attention to the fact that his paper
was getting into the butter sauce.
"We were discussin' the fact that you seem to be the only man in town that we've seen Carolyn Muir out with and we were trying to figure out why?" Ed Peavy filled him in.
"It's not like she couldn't do better." a man by the register said. "But for some reason she prefers you."
"Well, that's very easy to explain." Claymore's cheeks puffed up with pride. "That's because she likes me for what I truly am."
"And that would be?" Harvey asked, knowing he could be in serious trouble with Claymore, but having to ask anyway.
"Well, it should be obvious. I mean a man of my charm and grace and
financial position. Not to mention that I am quite handsome and
well known in the community and we share some of the same social
advantages. And my last name is Gregg."
"Yeah, too bad your first name ain't Daniel," someone said.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Claymore was indignant.
"Well, if you can't figger it out... Of course you almost did end up
marrying her so maybe she does have a thing for you."
"What do you mean, I almost married her? " Claymore was trembling
now. "Don't you think I would know if I had been about to get married?"
The men took great delight in explaining to Claymore everything they knew about the marriage that had almost taken place between him and Carolyn Muir. "Rev. Farley was even in on it."
From the look on Claymore's face, everyone could tell he had had no
idea of what was going on, but he stood up to his full height and,
putting on a brave face, declared he knew all about it and had even
assisted in some of the arrangements.
"So, why didn't you go through with it, Claymore?" Norrie had to
know.
"Well, because I realized ... that is, I knew ... I thought ... I
did not feel like it."
That sent a roar of laughter throughout the restaurant, leaving Claymore even more frustrated than before.
"He didn't feel like it." several of the men mimicked him. "He
just didn't feel like it."
The door of the restaurant opened and the lady of the discussion
came into view. She smiled at all the men gathered there, who tried
very hard not to start laughing in her presence.
"Is Claymore here?" she asked Norrie. "I need to talk to him for a
minute."
"Right back there in the corner." Norrie pointed to where Claymore
had once again seated himself and was trying to get some dignity back.
"Claymore, I need to talk to you for just a moment, please." Her
voice sounded out of place after all the men's laughter. "I need to
discuss something with you."
Sitting down beside him, she talked to Claymore for a few moments,
everyone straining to hear what they were saying but only catching a
few words now and then. "It's obvious," and "We can't let this pass," and "You've got to do something about it."
After several minutes, everyone watched as Carolyn Muir leaned over and kissed Claymore on the cheek, whispered Happy Birthday to him and then walked out of Norrie's, saying goodbye to everyone.
"Maybe she does have it bad for him, after all." Norrie's mouth
fell open.
"And she could have me!" George shook his head.
"Or me, and I'm a much better catch." Fred countered.
"I guess strange things really do happen in small towns." John Ferguson shook his head.
Claymore just sat in his back seat and did not say a word. How the devil was he going to be able to fix that roof without it costing a lot of money? So what if it was over the Captain's prized stuff? But still, he had gotten a kiss for his promise to think about it. Maybe she did have a thing for him after all.