Sadly, we don't own John and Anna Bates. We just gently use them. Eamon, Will and the twins do belong to us, however.

Your hearts are always safe with us.

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~Gossip, Dog Biscuits & Kittens~

John Bates ~ Journal Entry ~ March 22nd, 1928

March 22 10 am

Spring is coming and with it, Spring cleaning. We've had to hire two temporary maids to help out. Both young girls who will do just fine under Anna's supervision. We've also hired a couple of teenage lads to rake the gardens and get them ready for the outdoor dining that took off so well last Summer. Now let's hope we can get them from noticing each other long enough to get some work done. Anna said she already had to remind the girls to keep their minds on their work.

We've taken down the heavy forest green curtains and replaced them with new net ones that Anna and Sarah have been working on for months. We have a lot of windows to wash too. Tall ladders and I don't get along, even if Anna did allow me on one. Caleb will tackle the ladder to do the upstairs windows on the outside of the building.

Archie suggested we put in a large garden out back, near the stream, to help defray the cost of vegetables we use in the kitchen. He and Caleb said they'd turn the soil so Anna and Sarah can do the planting. Will wants his own little pea patch because that boy does love his peas.

Yes, Spring is indeed coming and with that, visitors to our part of the beautiful English countryside, happily situated between the Yorkshire Dales and the Yorkshire Moors. Each a short train ride away from our little hotel. We have several reservations for the rest of this month, and there are always drop-ins coming off the train. Anna or I have been driving to the station when the trains are due, in case anyone needs to be picked up. We always set our Grantham Arms sign next to the auto and more often than not bring a guest or two back with us.

Anna has been itching to get out in her flower garden for weeks now, and as I look out the office window, I see she's scratching that itch. The twins are in their little jumpers and bonnets, sitting in the old Moses baskets, which isn't going to work well, I can see - -

Sorry, I had to run outside. Finnie tried to pull herself up and tipped right out. She was fine when Anna picked her up. She was giggling. They're too big for those baskets. We need to find some other outdoor containment for them. I'll have to put my handyman cap on and see what I can come up with. I've brought them in with me and put them in their pen while Anna continues her gardening.

Will and I walked down to the Post Office earlier this morning. We ran into the Rev. Travers, not an altogether pleasant occurrence for me under normal circumstances, but after Will's newspaper fiasco even less so. In fact, there are several villagers I now know more about than I'm comfortable knowing. You remember the newspaper fiasco of last week, don't you? Well…let's refresh our memories...

xxx

Gossip - part 1

Where we left off last week -

'Oh my God. He mentioned Mr Hadley was going to print it for them if it was good!' Anna remembered.

'He wouldn't, would he? How good can a four and a seven-year old's attempt at a newspaper be?'

'John! It's filled with gossip! Of course, it's good! Our little boy is a gossip columnist!' Anna exclaimed with her hands on her cheeks.

'You don't think…?'

'Yes, I do. William's taken the paper to be printed. John, if people read this, we'll be ruined, and the whole village will be in an uproar. Oh no!' Anna wailed, and surely she was right.

'Sweet Jesus!' John uttered, unsure of what to think. 'What are we to do now?!'

'We have to get to Mr Hadley's office and stop him from printing that paper at once! I'll tell Daisy to watch the twins for a minute. Get your coat, John!'

They ran as fast as they could. Mr Hadley's office was just around the corner but they didn't have any time to waste. People stopped and stared with questioning eyes. John and Anna sped past them all. If these people read what William and Percy had written...well, it was over!

That thought made Anna feel sick to her stomach and John; he still couldn't quite believe what his son had done. Children would always be children and as he rushed to keep up with Anna, he remembered the times he spent listening to his mother talking over the fence with the neighbours. As a boy, John had always enjoyed hearing tales about the people they knew. But it was wrong anyway, he shook his head, terribly wrong. Still, John took a certain pride in what Will had accomplished. He was very smart for a lad who wouldn't turn five for two months.

'Mr Hadley!' Anna knocked on the door, trying to keep her composure. 'Mr Hadley, are you there?'

'Is it closed?' John asked, turning the knob. 'He always has it open when he's in.'

'Goodness sake, Mr Hadley!' Anna's voice rose. 'He's not here then.'

'Bloody hell,' John cursed.

'Wait! What time is it?' she asked him with a frown.

John pulled out his pocket watch. 'Six.'

'Six? John, he closes his office at five. Good Lord… he's at the hotel!'

'And you made me run all the way here?' John rolled his eyes in exasperation, as Anna hurried back to the hotel.

'Well, yes. Because he's your son.'

'He's my son when he does something wrong, I see.' He shook his head as he caught up with her.

'Well, he doesn't take after me on that,' Anna stated.

'Ah! So you are saying he takes after me? Am I the gossip? I don't gossip, Anna.'

'You do it so often you don't even realise it.'

'Me? What about you?!'

'Me?! I don't ever.'

They walked into the hotel by the staff's door, and before she could say another word, John stopped her, grabbing her arm. She faced him at once.

'Look at us fighting. This is ridiculous. We should know better than to argue over these things.'

Anna nodded in agreement. 'You're right. But now we have to find Mr Hadley or William.'

'You looking for William?' Archie, the cook, was just walking by when he heard them speaking.

'Yes, have you seen him?'

'Yeah, he was heading to Mr Hadley's room.' The young chef pointed upstairs. 'The little guy said he had some business to talk to the man about.'

'Oh God! Hurry John. We have to catch him.'

Anna and John rushed past Archie without saying another word. The young man found it all too strange, but he only shrugged his shoulders and returned to the kitchen. He had dinner to prepare.

'William!' Anna called as she caught sight of her son walking down the upstairs hallway. A tied up bundle of papers under his arm and a cheery, easy spring to his steps.

'Hello, Mummy. Hello Daddy,' the boy said with a smile. 'I have my papers to-.'

'Give them to us,' Anna said as she snatched the papers from under William's arm.

'Why?' The boy was confused. His parents looked sick.

'Did you show this to Mr Hadley, son?' John asked him.

'Not yet, I was just going to. Percy and I wanted to read it one more time. It's really good, Daddy.'

'William Bates, we have to talk, right now,' Anna said, guiding the boy downstairs.

'What did I do?' William cried, trying to remember what on earth he had done this time.

'Go on, to the office. We'll speak inside,' John told him.

Soon enough, the child was sitting in his father's chair waiting for a good, old scolding.

xxx

'Don't you know it's wrong to gossip, William?' Anna questioned her son. The mood had improved now that both she and John knew that this paper would never see the light of day.

'Yeah but, then I thought it wasn't anymore.'

'Whyever?' she insisted.

'Because you did it, and Daddy too, and everyone did. I thought it was all right now.'

'What?' John looked at Anna, perplexed and she shook her head, just as confused. 'I didn't do anything.'

'Yes you did, Daddy. Everyone did,' William said. 'And you said gossip was for girls but you did too.'

'What? I didn't say that, Caleb did.' John didn't want to believe what he was hearing. What a load of...wait...did he really gossip?

'William, listen,' Anna kneeled before her son, placing her hands on his shoulders. 'Everyone does it, yes, but that doesn't mean it's right. You see, it's wrong to get it out there for everyone to read. There are secrets and rumours that everyone sort of knows but we don't talk about them, and when we do it's with people we can trust. And it's very wrong to spy on people too. That's even worse.'

'We did spy, yes,' William confessed, looking down. 'Because nobody would talk in front of us and we it wanted to be good.'

'What if we wrote that you sometimes suck your thumb to fall asleep, Will?' John asked. 'Or that you wet your bed last week? You wouldn't like that getting out.'

'I wouldn't,' the boy shook his head, horrified. 'Percy would make fun of me.'

'See, and that's what you would have done to other people if your paper had gotten out.' Anna explained.

'I won't do it again, I promise,' Will said solemnly.

'That's good.' John smiled down at the boy, running a gentle hand through his hair.

'Percy won't like that we worked for nothing, though,' William said, screwing up his brow.

'I'm sure he'll understand,' John reasoned. 'His granny wouldn't like to know he was spreading rumours. Now, we keep this.' He patted the pile of papers on top his desk.

'You can go, Will, and please, don't spy on people again,' Anna pleaded.

'I won't Mummy.'

'He's so naive,' John sighed as soon as William was out of the room. 'He didn't know he was doing wrong.'

'I know. Let's burn it later tonight, so no one will ever see it. And until then, lock it in the safe,' Anna suggested.

'That's a good idea. Yes.'

xxx

Eamon walked into the parlour, stretched his arms over his head and settled himself on the settee. Anna's meal of a hearty meat pie was delicious and good food always tired the old man.

John looked up from where he was kneeling on the floor before the fireplace, 'I thought you were helping Anna with the dishes?'

'Eh, she kicked me out. Told me to rest my bones.' He noticed the papers in John's hands, and of course, curiosity took the better of him. 'What are you doing there?'

'Burning this week's gossip column,' John joked with a chuckle, straightening his glasses with his finger.

'What?! I haven't read it yet!'

'I was joking. This is just something Will and that Percy boy wrote together. They've been spying on people and writing about what they see and hear. Spying on us!' John told.

'What? On us?' Eamon asked.

'Among others.'

'Have you read it?'

'No. Anna did a few lines and she said it was rather scandalous.'

'And you burnin' it? You mad?' The old man sat up shooting his son an urgent look. 'Let me see that.'

'What? No, it's none of our business.' John shook his head. 'Anna will be mad if we do.'

'Anna will be mad if we do…' Eamon mocked. 'You chump. You don't say no to gossip when you're standing at the bar listening to it.'

'It's different. Oh, my…'

'What?'

John laughed. 'Well according to this, 'Old Lady Grantham says the Vicar's sermons are so dry that Mr Earl Grantham takes a drink from a bottle he hides in his pocket before he goes into church,' he read. 'I always thought he smelled kind of...of alcohol whenever we spoke on Sunday mornings.'

'Ha! That's a good one. What else?' Eamon insisted, rubbing his hands together.

'Listen to this! Mr Molesley was heard asking the barber about wigs on Wednesday. There's a bald spot on of top his head that he's trying to hide.'

John continued.

'Mrs Carson told Miss Baxter she was ready to retire, but she doesn't look forward to being cooped up in their cottage all day with Mr Carson. She said, 'At night, for a few hours is fine, but all day, every day? Goodness me, that's more than I could take. We'll have to find him a hobby.'

'I can see Percy's heavy hand in this.'

'He's got it all, that boy,' Eamon nodded. 'His granny has a mouth like a sailor, I can tell you that, and she doesn't hide it from her grandson. But Mr Carson seems like a...difficult bloke. Don't know him well, though.'

'He has a personality of his own, but he's a good man,' John defended his old coworker.

'If you say so…'

'Hold on! Wedding plans in the making?' John straightened his glasses on his nose.

'Wedding plans?'

'If it's to be believed. Listen. Mrs Patmore and Mr Mason were seen in fits of laughter and then they started kissing! This reporter thinks there will be a wedding by Summer.'

'Oh my Lord…' Eamon laughed aloud. 'Those boys are good, all right! So, Mr Mason has been having some benefits, I see.'

'Father, please! It's only a rumour, from children, no less.'

'Don't you be naive. Those boys have been spying on people, didn't you say so? They wrote what they saw.'

'True, that's true…'

'I there anything about us?' Eamon asked.

'Let me see-' John looked down at the paper, ready to start reading again but before he could...

'I can't believe it! What are the two of you doing?' Anna said as she walked up behind them, her arms crossed and a disappointed look on her face.

'He made me do it, I swear.' John pointed to his father at once.

'What? You started reading it on your own.' Eamon tried to defend himself.

'Look at you two, giving William a talking to and then you behave as bad as he did.' Anna shook her head. 'The difference is that he's a little boy who didn't actually know what he was doing was wrong.'

'Look, I'm burning them.' John showed her the pile before tossing it into the fire. 'See.'

'He's burning 'em. See?' Eamon repeated.

'Better for all. And if I find you didn't burn everything…'

'I swear, I did, love. Just did.'

'Good!'

With that, Eamon hefted himself off the settee and made for the backdoor and his room in the hotel. 'Night all.'

Anna joined John on the floor. The fire felt good as they watched all that juicy gossip go up in flames. 'Was there anything really good in there?' Anna asked.

John looked at her with a smug expression on his face, 'I couldn't say, Mrs Bates. I've sworn off gossiping.'

That remark garnered him a swat on the arm.

'What's that you've got there?' John asked.

'Oh, it's the pad William and Percy used to take their notes.' Anna let her thumb run along pages flipping the edges, tempted. John was watching her. She tossed it into the flames too. 'Ah well, there are much nicer things I'd rather do in front of a fire,' she purred before climbing on her husband's warm lap.

And that was the end of Will and Percy's Newspaper. From that day on, the adults would always make sure the children were far away when they wanted to share some rumour, because surely, it wasn't the end of the gossip.

xxx

Dog Biscuits - part 2

March 22nd, 1928

The funniest thing happen last night, well, John might not think it's very funny, but Will and I did. You see, Will has needed a little cheering up ever since his gossip column caused near disaster. The poor little darling really did feel terrible about that, though not any more than John and I did for our part in it. So we've tried to keep his mind occupied by giving him fun and useful things to do.

He came up with the idea that he and Percy could teach Jack a few tricks. I agreed that would be a good past time for them. Harmless, right? But after one whole day of trying to get him to shake hands, Jack proved to be a terrible student. John advised Will, 'You can't teach an old dog new tricks.' Percy agreed, 'Yeah, Jack is too old and dumb'. Will and I thought that was perfectly awful advice and we... I mean, he was even more determined. Will decided that all Jack needed was a reason to shake hands. He needed a treat. And not just table scraps. He gets those all the time, for doing absolutely nothing but being a dog.

'What he needs is a dog treat!' Will declared. 'A dog biscuit! Can we make him some, Mum?'

I'd never made a dog biscuit before. Never even thought of such a thing, but why not? If I could make people biscuits, I could make dog biscuits. It couldn't be all that different. So Will and I started to mix our first batch. Ever the entrepreneur, he declared that if they worked for Jack, he could make more and sell them around the village. Because in his view, 'Everybody wants to teach their dogs tricks. Maybe even Mr Earl would buy some to teach Tiaa her tricks!' Try as we might, we can't convince the boy to call His Lordship by his proper name. To his credit, Lord Grantham doesn't seem to mind, in fact, I think he likes it.

Not knowing what else to use, we mixed together a cup of cooked oatmeal, left over from breakfast, half a cup of applesauce and an egg, then poured it into a small pan to bake. They smelled good, but would they work?

Will waited impatiently while they baked and cooled. We sliced them into rectangles. In the end, we had a dozen dog biscuits. That would be enough to see if they worked. Would they entice Jack to shake hands? Yes! Yes they did! After a good hour's work Will and I had succeeded in teaching Jack to shake. I was just as amazed as Will. Later that afternoon we even made a second batch for the Jack's roll-over lesson the next day.

Now, for the funny part. Late last night I woke to find my husband gone. When he hadn't returned after five minutes, I went looking for him. He wasn't in the children's room or the bathroom, so I headed downstairs. And there I found him, sitting at the kitchen table dunking a dog biscuit into a mug of milk.

He looked up. 'What?'

Anna Bates ~

xxx

& Kittens - part 3

A few days later...

The beds had clean sheets, the birds could be heard singing from the cracked-open windows, the girls were changed and now played in their pen in the kitchen, and the house smelled of lavender. It was a good day. Warm and sunny. Spring was showing what it was capable of. And her garden. Oh! Anna loved her garden, filled with crocuses and daffodils, blossoming dogwood trees and fresh grass, ever so green.

Anna was taking the day off from her work at the hotel to catch up around the house and work in her garden. Looking out her kitchen window, she could see her husband in the office. He had recently repositioned his desk so he could see both the garden and his home without turning around. He now sat with his glasses on and eyes focused on some paperwork. The most handsome of men. The most wonderful of husbands. He looked up as if sensing her gaze and a second later flashed her a big grin. She waved and blew him a kiss. The darling man pretended to catch it and placed it on his heart.

'Mummy? Have you seen Charlie?'

'Oh!' Her son's voice made her jump and she turned to face the child. 'Charlie? No, I haven't.'

'I haven't seen him since yesterday. He went out but never came back.' Will sounded worried.

Anna thought for a moment, trying to remember. 'No. I think...I think I saw him last night, in our bedroom. You know he likes to sleep in the pile of clothes I have to iron, even though he shouldn't.' She rolled her eyes remembering about the number of times she had shooed Charlie from there, only to find him in the same spot minutes later, sleeping like the Lord of the manor.

'I'm going to check to see if-.'

'Will, are you there?' Percy shouted, sticking his head through the kitchen window.

'He is, Percy. Do you want to come in?' As soon as she spoke the boy was walking into the kitchen, carrying a cheeky smile and a messy head of hair. Although she couldn't see it clearly she knew across the garden, John was watching and wrinkling his nose. He really didn't like Percy.

'Hello, Mrs Bates. I was wondering if Will could come out to play? I've heard the other boys found a dead deer near Mr Mason's farm,' Percy said, politely. He was always so polite when interacting with Will's parents.

'A dead deer? Yes!' William's eyes were big in anticipation.

'Oh goodness me! The poor animal. Are you sure-.'

'Please, Mummy,' William pleaded.

'I don't know…' Anna sighed. 'And Mr Mason's farm is on the other side of the village.'

'It's all right, Mrs Bates. I'll take care of Will. I won't let him get hit by a car or fall in the pond or anythin', I promise. I'm responsible,' Percy crowed, puffing out his chest.

Anna was unsure but relented. Like John had told her many times, you need to let a boy be a boy. 'All right then, but be careful. And don't come home too late!' The last words went unheard as William and Percy ran off as fast as they could.

'Don't you grow up, my darlings.' She leaned over the pen where the girls were playing and talking their baby talk. She brushed away the strands hairs that insisted on flopping on their forehead.

Finn, like her father, had darker hair that seemed to be curling at the ends. Fee was just like William had been. Blond, silky straight hair just like herself. She smiled, rising. 'Now, Mummy is going to get her ironing, but I'll be right back. And after we're done we can spend time in the garden...maybe daddy will join us too! How wonderful!'

The girls watched as their mother walked away, wailing just a little when she was out of sight. 'Mummy's right here, just a minute!' Anna called to them.

She ran up the stairs in a flash and walked to the main bedroom to grab the laundry she intended to iron. She loved doing it in the kitchen, with the sun shining through the windows, her girls by her side and her husband just a glimpse away. But, as soon as she stepped into the room she knew something wasn't right. The small cabinet where she stored the clean laundry was slightly opened and she felt like she wasn't alone.

'Charlie?' she rolled her eyes. 'How many times-' Before she could finish her sentence she heard a couple of high pitched meows. 'What on earth? Charlie?'

Slowly, she walked to the cabinet, not knowing exactly what to expect, and when she peeked inside, she couldn't believe her eyes.

It was Charlie, yes. Charlie, a mama cat and four little newborn kittens.

'Oh my goodness!' She brought one hand to her mouth. 'Charlie! What's this?'

But the cat only looked at Anna with a determined expression on his face, telling her in his own language that his lady needed a safe place to give birth to their babies, and of course, he couldn't give her less than his favourite spot in the world.

x

'You nearly jumped out of the window getting my attention. Is everything all right? What's going on?' John was being dragged up the stairs by his wife minutes later. Anna had called him from their kitchen window, waving and waggling her arms in the air as vigorously as she could.

'Come, John. I have something to show you!' she insisted, walking him to their bedroom.

'Good God! The twins are downstairs, Anna. Are you that…'

'What? John! It's not that.' She shot him a look.

'You're being so urgent,' he chuckled. 'You're always like this when...you know.'

'Well, don't get too excited because it's certainly not that this time,' she told him, stopping before the small cabinet. 'Now open the door.'

John looked at her, puzzled, before doing what she asked, and when he did…

'Kittens! Oh, my...'

'Yes! Charlie brought his wife here to have their babies. Isn't that sweet?' Anna gave Charlie a little rub on the nose. 'He's such a wonderful daddy, and husband.'

'I didn't know Charlie had a wife. Aw, look at them, Anna,' John smiled. 'They are so tiny. William will love this.'

'They were only born a few hours ago. I put folded clothes here yesterday and they weren't there then.'

'Congratulations, Charlie!' John cheered as the cat couldn't help but give his girl a lick, proud of this little family of his.

'Isn't she a beauty? And the babies too.'

'She really is,' John said. 'The little ones have good genes. You are a smart boy.' Charlie began licking again. First the mother, then the babies. The high pitched meows were heard again and they only stopped when the kittens found their way to their mummy's breast.

'William will be sorry he missed this to see a dead deer.'

'Wait!' John looked closer. 'Those are my pyjamas, Anna! 'She's given birth on my favorite pyjamas!'

'It's all right, John. Charlie just wanted to make sure she would be safe to have their babies. He loves to sleep here.' Anna was too enamoured with the kittens to even care.

'Well... . You make sure to wash them a couple of times, all right?'

'I will, but it's fine. Just look at them.'

'Yes, I guess…' John had to agree. 'I'll ask Archie for a sturdy box for them. He always has some in the kitchen.'

'Yes do. I'll find an old blanket for them too. See if we can get back your pyjamas, but they do look so comfortable on them.'

That comment earned her a side-eye from John, but he found himself charmed by the little family. 'Don't worry, girl,' he whispered, running a gentle hand along the mama cat's fur as she looked at the two humans with a frightened expression on her face. 'You and your babies are safe here.'

Charlie rubbed his nose against her again, as if telling her that these two were good enough to be trusted. And, indeed, his little family couldn't be in better hands.

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Just John & Anna Bates, living a happy life with their family and friends, no more, no less. If you enjoy this chapter please think about leaving a review. It makes our day. :)