Here is the first part of my new story. If someone of you want's a better title go for it and let me know.
Disclaimer: I didn't own the Ghost and Mrs. Muir characters. I only borrowed them. But the storyline and the characters of Donald, Elaine, Gary (that's are the names of three of my cousins), Oliver and Josefine (named in memory of my late uncle and aunt from Canada), Princess Lana and Captain David Mabery are mine.
My big thanks goes again to Susan Griffith for her always needed beta read and editing.
The Rescue of a Princess
Part OneCarolyn made it back in time to Gull Gottage before the first lightning strike hit Schooner Bay and the worst of the thunderstorm swept over the cottage. She had hardly made it inside the house, closing the door behind her, when the next lightning bolt hit the ground before the steps of the cottage following by a very terrible thunder clap. "Oh boy, that was close," Carolyn told herself because she was extremely glad not to have been hit by the lightning herself.
Martha had heard the door and was glad to see that her employer had made it safely back into the house. She got a fright when finally facing Mrs. Muir because Carolyn looked so pale. "Mrs. Muir, are you alright? You look so pale." she asked with concern.
"Oh, Martha, is that a wonder? I could have been dead if I hadn't made it into the house just in time before that lightning bolt hit the ground at the steps of Gull Cottage." Carolyn was still in shock.
Meanwhile the worst of the thunderstorm was under way. Martha also looked pale after hearing that news. "Oh, Mrs. Muir, I'm very glad you made it safely into the house. I think, we both could use a brandy right now."
"Oh yes, I really think I need one."
With that, both females made their way into the living room. Just inside the door, Martha let Carolyn know that the children had made it home just in time too because the school was canceled earlier in view of the upcoming thunder storm. Carolyn was relieved to hear that.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Jonathan and Candy were in the children's room when another lightning bolt just missed the house. "Oh boy, that was close!" Candy yelled with fright.
"Oh yeah, Candy, that it was." Jonathan was a little frightened too. "Hope Mom gets home safely!"
Neither realized that their mother was already home. At this moment, neither child had any idea that she had been lucky not have been killed by a lightning bolt herself. Outside the thunderstorm got worse and worse. More terrible lightning flashes and thunderclaps followed.
At this moment, the captain appeared in the room. "Children, don't be afraid," he tried to calm the kids. "Gull Cottage has never been struck by lightning since I built it. You are really safe here. And don't worry about your mother either because she made back in time, too." He hid from the kids the news that their mother could have been almost killed by lightning.
"Oh, Captain, that's very good news." both kids were relieved. And suddenly both winced again when another lightning bolt came very close to the house.
Daniel noticed it and said. "You both should go below where your mother and Martha are."
"Good idea!" Jonathan cried. "Candy, come on! Let's hurry downstairs. Will you come with us, Captain? Maybe Mom and Martha need your protection, too!"
"Of course I will."
At the same time, on the high seas, was the royal yacht, 'Princess Mary'. It had left the coast of Canada about one and a half hours ago and was now on its way back to the Carribean island "San Victoria". At the entrance of Schooner Bay, the yacht got into that terrible thunderstorm. With wise foresight, Captain David Mabery had made sure that her highness Princess Lana, her bodyguard Donald and her lady's maid Josefine were safe inside the yacht. But the Captain had completely forgotten the princess' habit of making excursions on deck even if the seas were very high and stirred up.
While the captain and four other crew members desperately tried to hold the yacht on course, and in a unobserved moment, the princess Lana made her way back on deck to take a look at what the crew was doing and to see if she could help them. On her way to the bridge, a bigger wave hit the yacht, overcame the princess and washed her overboard. Her terrible cry followed, but no one on board heard the princess Lana's cry for help. She was desperately trying not to go down after noticing that nobody had heard her screams and she knew no one would miss her until the sea was calm again.
While the royal yacht was continuing her way through the very rough seas, the princess desperately fought against the high waves. In this desperate hour, she saw the vision of her grandma, Queen Elaine, in her mind's eye. Princess Lana knew she had to fight for her life because she wanted to see her grandmother again and, most of all, she wanted to be as good a queen some day.
'Oh, Grandma, please help me!' she cried in her thoughts. Strength faded from the princess and, just as she was about to sink below the waves, a miracle happened and the waves washed her ashore where she lost consciousness completely.
In the meantime, back in Schooner Bay and Gull Cottage, the terrible thunderstorm, which had raged two and a half hours, had gone away. Only the rain was still continuing. There was considerable chaos in the town. Some house roofs were partly covered and the ruins lay around everywhere. But fortunately no townspeople were seriously hurt, save a couple of really painful injuries. Doctor Ferguson had his hands full with work.
Claymore was one of the persons who had one of these painful injuries. He lay whimpering on the floor of his bedroom and stared at the hole in the roof of his house. A few drops of the still- continuing rain dripped on his face. He was thinking. 'I hope someone finds me because I can't get up myself. Seems as if my right leg is broken.'
Then he yelled very loudly because he heard Ed's voice, who was shouting orders. And there were some women's voices, too. "Hello! If someone out there can hear me, please come and rescue me.! I can't get up by myself. Oh PLEASE!" Now Claymore's voice sounded completely in despair.
Susan Leevey was one of the women doing her best to help the good doctor in his work. Suddenly she heard a man's voice yelling. She knew from the sound of the voice that it belonged to Mr. Gregg. His voice sounded very pitiful. Not hesitating long, Susan ran into Claymore's office. The door to his bedroom was wide open. She found him, whimpering with pain, lying on the ground. She knelt down beside him and tried to calm him.
"Mr. Gregg, I'll get the doctor immediately," she said, after noticing his broken right leg. "Please, hold on a bit longer." But Claymore didn't hear her because he had lost consciousness in his pain. Susan hurried out of the house to fetch the good doctor.
Meanwhile, in Gull Cottage, Carolyn, the kids, Martha and Daniel were sitting in the living room. There was a roaring fire in the fireplace, and they were all playing a game together. Suddenly, Daniel seemed absent-minded because he missed his cue in the game 'Ghost'.
Carolyn noticed it and said, "Captain, it's your turn."
"What?" Daniel was still mentally absent.
"Captain, what's the matter? We are playing 'Ghost', remember?"
"Oh, yes!" But Daniel was still somewhere else with his thoughts. His feeling told him that some stranger urgently needed help. Suddenly he said. "Mrs. Muir, we should stop this game because you and Martha need to hurry to the beach to take a look." Before Martha could ask why, Daniel continued, "Because there is someone lying on the beach, who could use help immediately from you both."
Martha and Carolyn looked at each other with questioning faces but didn't say a word. Instead, they both got up and followed the captain's request.
At high sea again
The royal yacht had made her way out of that terrible thunderstorm with some small damages. While Donald and Josefine slowly righted themselves again, the first mate, Oliver, made his rounds on deck to take a look at how bad the damages really were. As he looked, he found a single shoe near the railing on the larboard side. He picked it up and looked at it, getting a fright when he saw that it was Princess Lana's right shoe and it was soaked completely.
"Oh NO!" he cried. "Please, God, let the princess be safely inside in the lounge or below in her cabin."
Before hurrying into the lounge, he gave the shipsboy Gary the order to take a look below and see if the princess was in her cabin. It wasn't long before Gary was back on deck, with the bad news that the princess was nowhere below decks.
"Oh no! Please, let her be in the lounge." the first mate prayed. But there he only found the bodyguard and the lady's maid.
Donald immediately noticed Oliver's worried face. "What's the matter, Oliver? Is something wrong with the yacht?"
"No, no, the yacht is alright." Oliver wasn't sure how to tell that the princess was missing. "Donald, I have some very bad news for you. Princess Lana is missing."
"Missing? What do you mean, she is missing? I thought she was below deck because the last time I saw her, she was making her way down the stairs." Donald was horrified when thinking the princess had done it again and had gone on deck in that terrible thunderstorm. 'Please NO!' he prayed. 'How can I face Queen Elaine? She will never forgive for my inattentiveness.' "Please don't tell me she was washed overboard without us noticing it."
"I'm afraid, that's the case, Donald, because I found this shoe near the railing of the larboard side and a little blood on the railing itself. It's better that I immediately tell the captain that we lost the princess somewhere in that thunderstorm." With that, he left the lounge in big hurry.
Captain Mabery acted immediately and turned the yacht around. On Donald's request, the captain didn't inform the coast guard but rather some friends of the bodyguard who would help in the search for the princess. He wanted to avoid the press getting wind of the princess' accident. He didn't want Queen Elaine to learn from the media that the princess was lost at sea through his fault. He meant to inform her himself about her grand-daughter's accident in as gentle as way as possible. He knew it wouldn't be easy. He knew he would maybe lose Elaine forever because of this unpardonable incident. He blamed himself for not having taken better care of the princess.
At the same time, down the beach below Gull Cottage, the princess was still lying unconscious on the sand of the beach. The raindrops dripped at her face and body, and the wetness soon meant that Princess Lana began to open her eyes.
As if seen through a veil, she was aware that she seemed to be lying on a beach. Where was she and what had happened? Her head was aching. Suddenly it hit her 'OH NO!' she cried in her thoughts. 'The royal yacht, where is it?' And then everything came back to her. The thunderstorm, the high waves and her being on deck of the yacht when she was met by a very big wave and then washed overboard. Then another thought shot through her head -- she had, by a miracle, survived that terrible accident.
She tried to sit up and succeeded. Her head was still aching terribly. She tried not to lose consciousness again. While looking around, she noticed only some outlines of her vicinity because she was still dazed. And now she realized she was freezing. The last thing she was aware of was some hands grabbing her and drawing her away from this very cold place before losing consciousness again.
to be continued