Chapter Forty Two (Buried on Page One)

I sit up for Martha, begging for food but she ignores me as the puts the pancakes on the table. Carolyn isn't hungry because she is going to a new job, and no one seems to mind but Captain.

Carolyn is very busy it seems she is doing lots of work all the time, and she is hardly home anymore. The children are okay with it but Captain is unhappy.

He talks to the empty air, he is lonely, and scares Martha by spinning the telescope. Captain calls my playmates waifs, even though we were out together having a good time. They have things to do but stop to give Carolyn a hug and a kiss. They are fine. It is Captain who is the waif, and Carolyn knows it.

Captain doesn't like the paper and is determined to cause mischief, he tells me so. What he is about to do sounds funny, I hope everyone has a sense of humor. I think Carolyn is unhappy with her job, it sounds like she is doing everything. The town is upset about the Captain's changes. I am laughing my butt off, I think it is funny. Martha thinks it is funny. She is laughing her butt off too. Carolyn is mad at Captain though and she tells him so.

I find him in the living room later that night after everyone has gone to bed. He is staring at his portrait.

Why are you looking at your picture?

"Just trying to remember who that man was."

It's you. Who else would it be?

"No, you don't understand, my furry friend. That was me, several lifetimes ago now. I am no longer the same man; in fact I am not a man at all."

Yeah, yeah, I know, you're a spirit. Get to the point.

"You're quite irritable tonight."

Just tired of the game that you and Carolyn play.

"The point is that the paper Carolyn is working for publicized that I killed myself, committed suicide. That made me so angry that it was one of the things that bound my spirit to this earth." He paused and looked at me. "Since she is now working for that paper I am going to ask her to find evidence that I did not commit suicide and then print a retraction."

Yes? And?

"And I am wondering how it will affect me after that is accomplished. The other main reason I am bound to this earth is that I wanted to set up a retirement home for seaman but I never got to do that. If I accomplish that too, what will happen to me?"

What do you mean? I intoned seriously; he was starting to scare me.

"I mean, what if when those two things are taken care of, things that matter so much to me, what if I have the peace I desire and the door to heaven opens for me?"

You would leave us? You can't do that!

"That's just it, Scruffy; I am not sure what will happen when that time comes. Will something happen automatically, as when I died and became a spirit? Or will I have a choice?"

Maybe you can choose to stay with us? I ventured, and he could see the worried expression on my handsome terrier face.

"You want me to stay?" Again with the amused smiled.

Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. You are very helpful in protecting my family. It is a lot for one terrier to do you know.

"Our family, Scruffy, and yes I do know." He paused. "I promise I will try to stay. I am not yet ready to leave."

Good, I let out a small sigh of relief. Damn it! He is my favorite ghost and I do not want him to leave us!

"You should go back to bed now, don't you think?"

I was making my nightly rounds, making sure all is well.

"I will take care of that. You know I always do."

All right. Thanks, Captain. I wagged my tail and went past him back up the stairs. I could hear my bed calling and was determined to put it to good use. Content, I curled up in it and went back to sleep.

Carolyn looks very tired lately. My playmates are asleep when she returns from work the next day. Captain stops her before she goes into her room, but then she realizes that she wants to hear what he has to say. So she calls him back. Captain tells her that this paper published an article about his suicide which wasn't true

Carolyn needs to find evidence about Captain's death before she can correct things; Captain says he will help her. They bother Claymore to find papers. They find proof the proof they need, so she says she will get the paper to publish a retraction correcting the article that was published on Captain's death. She is surprised when the front page of the paper is devoted to the Captain's article, he has been playing at the paper again and she is mad.

Captain nearly admits how much he misses Carolyn when Carolyn's former boss drives up. He wants Carolyn to go back to work. She, on her own, decides that she will work from home. Captain is happy again.