Amy's Story

Chapter 7:

"Hah! I knew it!"

Carolyn was sitting at her desk. The morning was dark as snow fell outside. The sudden voice of the ghost of Gull Cottage startled her, and she jumped, making a large dark scratch in her notebook.

"You know I've asked you not to startle me like that!" she said with some heat.

"My apologies, my dear. I was just so excited with the news this morning that I could not contain myself. I'm sure you'll agree once I tell you," Daniel replied. She merely looked at him with an expression that was a mix of annoyance, curiosity, and condescension. "You see, Madame, that piece of bilge, that wharf rat, that pestiferous pot of entrails had been hiding for years, right under our noses!"

"Who is this," Carolyn decided not to repeat Captain Gregg's descriptive epithets, "person?"

"Why, Figg himself, that's who! He apparently had made his way back from where we left him in the Caribbean, with several kegs, I might add, of the best Jamaican rum. That enabled him to bribe his way back to town and silence anyone who might have seen or abetted him. Too bad for him, he disposed of most of the rum down his own gullet before he could concoct an explanation for his appearance. In order to maintain the myth, his family was forced to bury him in the back of their old farmhouse. He's been moldering there for years."

"And dear Captain," Carolyn began smugly, "how will this change anything?"

Daniel Gregg had an astounded look on his face. "You will have to make this knowledge public. Then the townspeople will know what sort of family they are dealing with, Horatio Figg will not be the town hero and the Cooper-Grover wedding might even be called off!"

Carolyn stood and faced the specter. He had said outrageous things in the time she had come to know him and much as she loved the soul he possessed she knew that he had a well-developed ego. But this was too much even for him. "I will do no such thing. I am not about to spread gossip," she held a hand up firmly as he began to object. "Whatever people know or don't know about Figg is not my concern and I wouldn't do anything that would interfere with the marriage of Phyllida and Albert Allan. And lastly," she said, bearing down on the Captain, "I think you are jealous because you're not the one considered to be the hero of Schooner Bay! Hah!"

She folded her arms as she confronted him. His expression was clearly angry, and she thought that he even looked red in the face.

"Very well, madam. I can see there is no point in speaking with you about this. Good day!"

He dematerialized so quickly that Carolyn didn't have a chance to retort. He really was incensed this time, that was clear. She was equally upset with him, and at first she didn't mind his not appearing to her for several days. Toward the end of the week, she was becoming a little anxious, but Nate reported that the specter of Gull Cottage was still making himself known, to him at least. Another week went by and he still hadn't made any attempt to speak with her, and Carolyn was becoming more uneasy with each passing day and she didn't know how to resolve the situation. She couldn't do as he had asked her and tell his story of Horatio Figg to anyone. She couldn't even confirm how much of it was true. She was willing to apologize for the way she had confronted him, but she suspected that would not be enough to appease him. Stubborn ghost!

Since New Year's, Amy and Red had been spending more time together. He would walk her home to the Parsonage every day now, regardless of the weather, holding her hand. Often they would spend Saturday afternoons looking in the stores on Schooner Bay's main street and once Red had even given her a present of some ribbons for her hair. They, at least, were content.

January was rapidly coming to a close when Agnes Whitman sat down with Mrs. Muir, Martha, and Nate at Gull Cottage, to discuss the situation with Amy and Red. She had been delegated by her husband, because he was uncomfortable speaking with the women about the situation. It was clearly something that no one had expected or planned for and everyone, except the couple themselves, was becoming uneasy about it. Mrs. Whitman began;

"I know this is an uncomfortable topic to discuss. I suppose the whole situation could not have been avoided, though perhaps we could have prepared ourselves better." The others nodded in agreement but kept their thoughts to themselves for the moment. "What worries me most," she continued, "is the potential for Amy and Red's friendship to become….more….I don't know how to say this, but…."

"More intimate?" asked Mrs. Muir.

"Yes," the older woman replied with a mixture of relief and discomfiture. "I would imagine that Red, having spent his life on the sea, with the example of other men, would have, ah…, made use of, shall we say, 'facilities' available in many ports?"

While Carolyn blushed a bit, Martha merely cocked an eyebrow. She perhaps, knew Red better than anyone in the house. It wasn't that she didn't think that he was incapable of knowing and enjoying a physical relationship with a woman, it was more that she didn't think that he would see his 'romance' with Amy in the same way. Before she could put her ideas into words, Nate took the floor.

"Let me assure you, Mrs. Whitman, that I have spoken with Seaman Secor. We discussed what appropriate behavior between him, and your sister-in-law is, and he is very concerned about being proper and protective of Amy. I sincerely believe that he fully understands his responsibility to behave correctly in this matter".

"I am glad to hear that, Mr. Douglas. However, the Reverend and I do remain concerned that Amy has fantasies of marriage and having a child with Red. We have talked this over with her many times already. You know she can be stubborn and does not understand why this is not a reasonable possibility. She is even fantasizing about a wedding like the one the Grover family has planned. When she heard a description of Phyllida's wedding dress, she spent days making drawings of a dress for her wedding to Red!"

"Yes, we know. We saw some of them," Martha responded drily.

"Perhaps we can explain that Phyllida and her fiancé have known each other for a very long time and their engagement was only announced publicly after Albert Allan had successfully established his law practice," Carolyn suggested.

"And we can also tell her," Martha added, "that Red is retired and has no way to support her, a household or a child". Everyone agreed that it was a good suggestion and prepared to speak to the couple.

The cold winter weather hadn't yet moderated before the day of the Grover-Cooper wedding arrived. All of the inhabitants, or at least all of the living inhabitants of Gull Cottage, had been invited to the wedding ceremony, but only Carolyn had received an invitation to the wedding supper to be held in the Grover's large home that evening. In all those weeks, the spirit of Daniel Gregg hadn't shown himself to her, and while she was heartbroken, Carolyn sadly consoled herself that it was likely for the best. After all, what kind of relationship could they have? Even Amy and Red had more than she and the Captain ever would.

When their group arrived at the church, Carolyn wasn't surprised to see that Colonel Porter was in attendance. He was chatting with other members of the Grover family and one of them inclined his head in her direction. Porter turned in to look at her briefly before clearly thanking the other gentleman, and then made his way over to her side.

Martha and the seamen went to take their seats while Carolyn waited for the tall blond officer to greet her. She could feel the blush rising in her cheeks.

"How do you do, Mrs. Muir? I should say that it is a pleasure to see you again, but I hardly remember our last encounter, although I should. I must offer you my sincerest apologies. I must have had too much to drink that night, an error I can promise you I will not repeat again."

"Oh, Colonel, I don't think you had imbibed much at all that night," Carolyn replied. "You must have been ill. Nevertheless, you were excellent company." How could she possibly explain what had really happened?

"You flatter me, Mrs. Muir. Regardless of my state, I should never have forgotten a face as lovely as yours!"

Carolyn's blush heated her cheeks even more at the man's flattery. He really was quite handsome, and if his blue eyes weren't as familiar as they had been the night of the engagement party, they were exquisite, nevertheless. She should spend the effort to become a little more acquainted with him.

"He would be a suitable match for you," Daniel Gregg's voice whispered in her ear. "He is an honorable man, in the prime of life and well-situated," the spirit continued. "He has a good home in Boston and has been considering retiring from the Army to devote himself to business. As a West Point graduate, he has many contacts and will do well. His temperament is mild, certainly milder than mine, although he is hardly spineless."

Carolyn jumped at the voice she hadn't heard in weeks. Porter looked at her curiously. "I hope I wasn't too forward?"

"No, no. I just am not used to such flattery, now that I am a widow."

"Well, I hope you will become reacquainted with it. You certainly deserve it!" he replied.

Captain Gregg whispered in her ear again, "And he seems to be as adept with complimenting a woman as I am. Yes, you would do well to marry Junius Porter, my dear."

"Why are we talking about marriage?" she whispered back to the spirit.

Porter looked at her quizzically again. "We weren't speaking of marriage, but I am glad to know it is not far from your mind, since it is not far from mine."

Inwardly, Carolyn sighed.