Chapter Two

With Love All Things Are Possible

Three days later…

"No, Daddy." Danny frowned up at his father. "Not going home." The young boy folded his arms across his small chest. "Stayin' here."

"We cannot stay here," Daniel remained calm as he shook his head. "Martha, Candy and Jonathan are already on their way back to the car. But we can come back some other time."

"Yes, we can." Carolyn tried not to smile as she sank down onto her haunches beside her young son. "We do have to go home sometime, darling. We can't stay here on the island, forever. I know how much you want to. I do too."

She ruffled the boy's dark curls with a loving hand. He looked so like his father standing there with such a mulish look of deep disapproval on his face. The boy stuck out his bottom lip in defiance.

"Why not?" Lucy asked, standing beside her brother in the same defensive stance. "Like it here. Mr Peabody and Elroy stay here. All the time. They lonely."

Both children turned to look at the squirming ghost and his pet who were standing just inside the open door of the cabin. Elroy pulled off his tasselled cap and worried it between his hands.

"I didn't do nothing," he wheedled. "I didn't say nothing. Honest Injun, Sir!" He saluted Daniel haphazardly. "My Captain's pretty lady?" He turned to look at Carolyn beseechingly.

"You seek to lead a mutiny?" Daniel asked in a low, menacing tone. "On board my ship?"

"Lonely…" Elroy squirmed even more, making his cat begin to growl low in his throat. "It gets so lonely out here without any of my lovely humans around. I just asked. Where's the harm?"

His hunted gaze swivelled back to Carolyn. "You do understand, my Captain's pretty lady? I like having you all here. Makes me feel special and wanted."

"Oh, Elroy…" Carolyn shook her head. "You know we can't stay. Jonathan and Candy have their schooling and I have my writing I must get back to. But we'll be back again when we can get away again for a few days."

Her gaze met her husband's. Their intimate tryst down beside the dock still lived in her memory. A warm and intoxicating encounter she would love to repeat. Her lips curved, seeing the same look in his eyes. Silent promises were made between them.

"But we likes Elroy!" Danny persisted. "He's funny!"

"And Mr Peabody," Lucy added loyally, pointing to the black and white cat who was watching them with wide, unblinking eyes. "Likes him too."

Her innocent blue eyes gathered tears as they tracked back to her mother's. "We get a cat? Like a cat. Nice kitty." She made stroking motions through the air with her hand.

"Yeah…" Her brother concurred, with a brightening face. "Like cats." He shrugged, glancing sideways at Elroy.

Daniel sighed, going down on one knee beside his wife and before his children. "I get the distinct feeling we are being suckered here, Madam. Out-manoeuvred and out-gunned by a couple of master manipulators. Deviousness in ones so young."

"And the price of peace is a cat." Carolyn shook her head. "I really do not see the harm in that. The house is big enough."

"Scruffy might have something to say about it," Daniel opined. "That dog has a mind of its own. But if we get to go home this side of the forenoon watch…" He shrugged. "I'm game if you are."

"Yes. How will we know if we don't try…" Carolyn rose to her feet. "One cat…" She raised a stern forefinger at her children who were watching her with twin expressions of wide-eyed innocence. "Only one. I will ask Uncle Claymore about it when we get back to Schooner Bay."

"Oh, thank you, Mummy!" Lucy sniffed as she threw her arms around her mother's thighs and hugged her tight.

"Yeah, thanks, Mummy!" Danny added his approbation with the same loving gesture.

The twins looked at each other, both secretly smiling in their triumph. Daniel shook his head again as he watched them.

The pair were not yet two years of age, but they already had very wise heads on their shoulders and a firm grasp of the fine art of negotiation from a point of advantage. He could admire that, even as he puzzled over what the immediate future might bring. He suddenly felt far older than his one hundred and fifty plus years.

"Come on…" He took a young shoulder firmly in each hand, turning both children toward the door. "Let's go home before you two find anything else you simply cannot live without."

"Okay. See ya, Elroy…" Danny waved as they left.

"Yeah, see ya…" Lucy smiled. "And Mr Peabody."

"See you when we see you again…" Elroy commented wistfully as his four favourite humans left the main cabin, closing the door behind them.

"Alone again…" He sighed sadly as he faded away, followed by his mewling cat.

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"Cats? What would I know about cats?" Claymore demanded to know when Carolyn telephoned him the next day to make her inquiries. "What do you think I am? Some kind of pet store?"

Carolyn breathed deeply. "Ed Peevey said you employ him from time to time as the town's dog-catcher."

"Dogs, yes," Claymore replied shortly. "Cats, no. Dreadfully snobby creatures. My wee budgie in a cage does me quite nicely. I don't need some beast that only eats and sleeps and ignores me. Or wants to eat my bird."

"Well, I'm really sorry if you can't help me, Claymore. The children have their hearts quite set on a cat." Carolyn hesitated. "I was willing to pay, of course. I don't expect your services for nothing."

She rolled her eyes at Daniel who was sitting right beside her at the bedroom desk.

"Skinflint…" he muttered. "I still do not like the idea. We are home and the children will get over it."

Carolyn covered the mouthpiece with her hand. "A promise is a promise…"

"You're willing to pay me to find you a cat?" Claymore's voice rose in surprise, then filled with bonhomie. "Well, all right then, see here. That puts quite a different spin on the matter. But I make no promises now. Not a single one."

"I understand." Carolyn smiled. "Let me know if you hear of anything."

"I have put it in my diary," Claymore reassured her. "I am sure I can find you something in a few days. For the right fee, of course."

"Of course. Goodbye, Claymore. And thank you."

"You're welcome," Claymore grouched. "A cat, indeed."

"Penny pinching ne'er-do-well," Daniel muttered as his wife hung up the receiver. "You're too kind to him. He would sell his own mother for the right price. If he ever had one."

"Honey gets you further than vinegar." Carolyn laughed as they went back to work on their latest manuscript.

※※※※※

Four days later…

The four Gull Cottage children were all sitting together on the floor as Candy and Jonathan were attempting to teach their young siblings the finer points of playing checkers. Their collective concentration was intense.

Their mother had agreed that they may have their lunch in the living room because the game was at a critical stage and could not possibly be abandoned. "But just this once…" she warned with a raised finger and an indulgent smile.

Scruffy was seated keenly at his usual station, keeping a close eye out for any checkers or scraps of half-eaten sandwich that might happen to fall his way from a neglected plate. Jonathan had sternly informed the twins not to take any of his dog's dodgy advice.

Suddenly the doorbell sounded, loud and long. Carolyn frowned as she looked up from her many pages of final editing. "Who on earth could that be on a Sunday morning?"

"I'll get it for you, Mrs Gregg," Martha called from the kitchen. "It's probably Ed back again. He's taken a liking to my new line of apple pies. That man's appetite is totally inexhaustible." She chuckled indulgently. "In a lot of ways." She sighed.

"Thank you, Martha," Carolyn replied, going back to her editing.

The children hadn't looked up from their game. Nor Scruffy from his vigil.

They all heard the front door being opened, and then Martha talking to someone. But the unexpected visitor didn't sound anything like Ed Peevey. Their unexpected visitor was female, and the voice was dearly familiar.

"Oh, how lovely…" Carolyn put aside her work and was about to stand up when an excited voice remarked from the open doorway, "Well, isn't this scene always just the sweetest case of déjà vu any observant body could ever wish to see in this old world? The lady of the house at home with her four darling children and their little dog. That's how it always should be on the morning of God's good grace."

"Olivia!" Carolyn stood up and held out both her hands toward the spritely older woman who swept into the room, smiling happily.

"Oh, my dear, dear, dear Mrs Gregg…" Olivia Tibaldi took both her hands and kissed her cheek. "How are you? It has been a positive age since I've been back to see you all. But I have just been so busy. Too busy!" She chuckled indulgently. "Not that I'm complaining."

She winked at the children and their game. "My money's always been on the dog. Though I've told him time and again that chess is more his game."

"It's so wonderful to see you again," Carolyn replied, drawing the medium to sit beside her on the couch. "It has been too long since you were last with us."

Olivia sat down and looked all around. "Yes, well, it's so good to be finally back here, in this darling house. It has been too long. You are well?"

The children quickly abandoned their game and came to sit around the two women with the twins at her feet. They all adored the slight little woman. She fascinated them endlessly. Behind them, Scruffy took advantage of their sudden desertion and wolfed down the remains of their lunch. He licked his lips and grinned at their visitor.

"I am very well," Carolyn assured her. "I've also been extremely busy too. My books are selling exceptionally well."

"I know…" Olivia tapped the side of her nose with one forefinger and winked. "My spirits keep me well informed. They tell me everything about you and yours. They keep watch."

"Remind me to keep my thoughts to myself in future," Martha remarked ruefully as she turned from the open doorway. "I'll go make the coffee."

"Oh, my dear, dear children…" Olivia beamed at each of the children in turn. "You know I always say, always expect the unexpected. It's my golden rule, you know. That way you're never surprised by a man or spirit or disappointed in life."

"We remember." Candy nodded. "You gonna show us any card tricks this time, Madame Tibaldi? The last ones were neat."

"Yeah, and I got some new bumps to read…" Jonathan inclined his head toward their visitor, pointing to his scalp. "Are you staying long this time?"

"Long enough to see how my babies are doing," the medium replied, chucking her fingers beneath Danny's chin. "And how much they've grown since I was last here."

"I'm not a baby!" the boy replied in an indignant tone. "I'm gonna be two!"

"And me too gonna be two," Lucy added in concert.

"You'll always be my babies." Olivia leaned down to hold their faces between her hands and kissed them both on the forehead. "All my babies are still my little ones."

She winked at Jonathan and Candy. "You all are. In my eyes you always will be."

The twins regarded her doubtfully but didn't comment further.

"And how have you been, Olivia?" Carolyn asked.

I've never been so busy, lecturing and writing books. I have only now just come back from a lecture tour in London. It was so exciting. I even got to see Her Majesty. From a distance, of course. Such a lovely little woman."

Danny leaned close to his sister to whisper, "What's a Her Majesty?"

"Dunno…" Lucy shrugged without any real interest.

Olivia sighed. "But time goes by so fast when one is enjoying oneself. All too soon I was back here in New England, and I just had to come and see you all again."

"It all sounds wonderful…" Carolyn took the old lady's hand.

"Oh, that's not all." Olivia brightened. "This morning, I heard through my spirits that a certain something had been requested. That a bargain had been struck for co-operation."

She leaned forward to whisper loudly to the twins, "Remember I said that the spirits tell me everything." She winked at their shining faces and wide-eyed wonderment. "You can't keep a secret around me."

"You are funny," Danny said, shaking his head. "Like Elroy."

"I see…" Carolyn mused. "Well, ah, thank you. For whatever it is that you have brought for us."

"Well, I was driving here from Bangor this morning," the medium replied, lowering her voice to draw her audience in. "When I saw something on the side of the road. Just sitting there, like it was waiting for me." She smiled happily. "I didn't know until that moment where such a sweet being needed to belong."

Carolyn began to wonder what the medium was talking about. "Why, um, that's very thoughtful of you, Olivia. But, we—"

"Oh, my dear…" Madame Tibaldi clasped her hands before her. "I am sure it is meant to be. A match made in heaven you might say. Why, I'm quite fizzing with excitement. I could not look away and I could most certainly not drive on and leave the poor thing there on the side of the road."

Martha walked in, carrying a tray. "I had a very odd feeling we're gonna need this hot and strong." She put the tray down and poured three cups, handing two out and carrying hers to the chair beside the fireplace. She sat down to listen to the conversation with deep curiosity.

"What did you bring for us, Madame Tibaldi?" Jonathan asked breathlessly.

Olivia looked around in an admiring circle as she sipped her coffee. "Something I was told you all needed. As soon as I saw it, I said to myself, 'Olivia, this is a sign. You've been away from Gull Cottage quite long enough. Your babies need your help.'"

Candy giggled. "Do you always talk to yourself about yourself, Madam Tibaldi?"

"Oh, always, my dear, always." The medium waved an airy hand. "How else am I going to get any intelligent conversation worthy of me? You know I can't talk to the spirits all the time."

She waved her hands. "Despite what I tell them, they never cease talking to me. Prattle, prattle, prattle, all day long. And half the night too, if I let them. It can be quite tiresome."

"You are so funny." Jonathan chuckled. "I really do like you."

"I like you too, young man. But then I always did have an eye for a good-looking man with a fiery eye and a strong chin." The medium put aside her coffee cup and got up to trip across the room to gaze up at the portrait hanging above the fireplace.

She sighed, reaching across the mantle to touch the bottom of the heavy frame with reverent fingers. "And just where is our handsome Captain?" She winked. "It's really him I've come to see, you know. He's always so virile and commanding."

"What about us?" Danny asked with a fallen chin.

"Oh, my dears. Never doubt that I love you all dearly. Of course, I've come to see you too. That is why I brought you my gift today."

"Daniel is up in the wheelhouse with Lucius, doing whatever it is that men do when they get together. Just what is this mysterious gift?" Carolyn frowned in total bewilderment as she put down her cup.

"You will all have to come out to my car and see." Olivia waved an airy hand.

Martha stood up and put aside her coffee. "Well, I'm game, for one. This I have to see."

The children were all on their feet immediately. "We're all coming too!" Candy replied.

Carolyn nodded. "Very well…" She still wasn't sure what the medium had brought for them.

"Excellent!" Olivia declared joyfully. "I shall lead the way, just like the Pied Piper!" she declared spreading her arms wide and pumping the air.

"This had better be good," Martha whispered to Carolyn as they all left the house. "After such a build-up. I wonder what she's brought us."

"Oh, don't worry," Olivia replied, leading the way down the front path to the gate. "My gift has already agreed that this is the very house where they wish to live. They are quite certain of that."

The two other women exchanged dubious glances as they walked up to the car. "We don't need another ghost," Martha stated. "We already have enough of those."

"Oh, this is better than any ghost," Olivia replied in a very certain tone. "Ta-da…"

She opened the back door of the car and they all crowded forward to peer inside. What greeted their eyes made them all gasp. It was the biggest cat they had ever seen.

Sprawled out on the back seat, it blinked at them with huge blue eyes. Its coat was as white as snow beneath the mat of leaves and mud. But it still looked haughtily regal. It opened its mouth to yawn at them, displaying a healthy set of very large white teeth.

"It's a baby lion," Candy announced dubiously. "I've seen white ones like that on TV."

"No, it's a tiger cub," Jonathan contradicted her as he stared at the creature. "They can be white too."

"It's a Maine Coon, you sillies," Olivia replied with an affectionate laugh. "It's the state cat."

"This is what was sitting on the side of the road waiting for you to drive past?" Carolyn asked with raised eyebrows.

"Of course," Olivia replied. "He needed a home, and he knew that I knew of just the one."

Martha frowned. "How do you know that he doesn't have a home already?"

"Because he's already told me that he's quite homeless," the medium assured her. "It seems the lovely old lady who owned him died recently and the family threw the cat out. They never liked him, and he hated them. He was walking down the road wondering where to go when he felt me driving along behind him. So, he sat down to wait."

Carolyn stared at the massive beast. "I wonder why they didn't like it."

"It probably ate half a cow every morning for breakfast including the horns," Martha offered darkly. "It looks hungry enough."

The animal yawned again and blinked at her. Its long pink tongue flicked out to lick its lips.

"You can speak to cats too?" Candy asked, very impressed.

"Oh, I talk to anything and everything that is happy to talk back to me," Olivia assured her. "Spirits, cats or dogs. They're all the same to me."

She looked down at the spellbound twins who were staring wide-eyed at the great beast. "What do you think of your new pet, kids? Do you like him?"

Right on cue the cat began purring with a low rumble that seemed to fill the car. His tufted ears pricked up as the enormously fluffy tail stirred lazily. He blinked his wide blue eyes, accepting his due to be admired by the young pair. He gave a small, plaintive mew.

"All ours?" Danny breathed.

"Keeping him?" Lucy demanded to know. "Wanna keep him."

"Yeah…" Danny nodded quickly. "Keeping." He glanced at his mother.

Olivia nodded. "Of course, he's all yours. Haven't I just said so? He'll be happy here. He likes you all."

"Scruffy might not like it," Jonathan said dubiously.

"Since that cat is bigger than your dog, I'm afraid Scruffy might not have any choice in the matter," Martha replied.

"I guess we'll just have to see how it will all work…" Carolyn stared helplessly at Martha. "After all, we did promise them they could have a cat…"

"What's his name?" Candy asked.

Olivia shrugged. "He didn't like his old name. So, I guess it's whatever you want it to be. I'm sure he won't mind."

"Looks like he's a bit of a bruiser to me," Martha muttered.

"Bruiser!" Danny declared brightly.

"Yeah, Bruiser!" Lucy added.

"I guess Bruiser, it is then…" Carolyn shook her head as she and the cat stared at each other. She wondered what her husband was going to make of this incredible beast with blue eyes.

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