A note to all my lovely readers:

If you wish to read my recent novel retelling the original story of The Ghost and Mrs Muir then please go to Amazon (US) and look under Books for Lucie and the Captain by Katherine Lange.

It can be downloaded to any device with the Kindle app. You do not need a Kindle to read it.

Thank you for your attention, please enjoy!

Chapter Thirty-Six

Dr Ferguson, I Presume

"Oh no…" Carolyn frowned worriedly at Madame Tibaldi. "What have you done? What can we do to fix this?"

"Oh, don't worry, my dear." The medium laughed as she shook her head. "This is just a small hiccup. It's just like Mrs Glick's dear, departed husband all over again. He didn't feel like talking either! Men can be so obstinate, especially in spirit."

Carolyn leaned closer to her. "Um, Madame Tibaldi. I'm afraid it looks like you've contacted the wrong sea captain."

"Oh, my dear, so it may seem to the uninitiated." The medium shook her head sagely. "I'm sure if this is not your Captain, and I can see he may not be, why he's simply a messenger. The real Captain will be along in a jiffy, you'll see. He wants to come back. All the way back to you from the Great Beyond. I can feel him, hovering ever so near to me right now."

"Near enough to throttle the blasted woman!" Daniel shouted, making his wife jump. "She is a faker and a fraud!"

Carolyn quickly pointed to the floating apparition. "I really don't think so. This man is Captain Horatio Figg. He died here in Schooner Bay over a hundred years ago and he's buried here too. I was the one who found his grave. And he and Captain Gregg did not get on at all. Figg wrote some awful things about him in his sea journal when they sailed together."

"Oh, pish tosh. Seawater under the keel." The medium wagged a knowing finger. "That's as may be when they were both alive. But things are different in the world of the spirits. I'm sure Figg is a messenger for your Captain. You will see soon enough."

"She cannot see anything at all," Daniel commented acerbically.

"We can take you out to Figg's grave," Claymore offered. "It's on the edge of town. Can we go right now? I want to go now." He began to edge out of his chair.

"Not yet, young man." Madame Tibaldi waved him back. "Your place is here to undo what you did out of spite."

She turned to the disembodied face floating in the smoke. "Captain Horatio Figg, is that your name? Speak to me…"

"Who else… would I be?" the apparition demanded testily. "What… is this? Who are you people? Why are you… in my bedroom?"

"Yes, yes…" Madame Tibaldi waved a dismissing hand at his questions. "I wish to know if you're a messenger for Captain Daniel Gregg. You must remember him. Are you bringing him back to us?"

"Captain Gregg!?" Figg's lined face suddenly strengthened and became angrily inflamed. "Midshipman Daniel Gregg, do you mean? That impertinent good-for-nothing ran my messages! I would not give him the time of day! Am I dreaming? Did he send you here to torment me?"

"I'll send him to perdition!" Daniel threatened furiously, shaking his fist at the face in the fumes rising from the urn.

The swirling smoke began to turn the same colour as Figg's swollen expression. "What is going on here!? I went to sleep in my bed, in my own house. Is this a dream or isn't it?"

"This charade must end now!" Daniel demanded. "Tell the woman to send him back where he belongs or I will!"

"I really don't think Captain Figg is a messenger for anyone. Certainly not the Captain. You'd better send him back right now," Carolyn repeated urgently.

"Oh, very well…" Madame Tibaldi sighed dramatically. "Perhaps you're right. But I was so sure. I shall send him back from whence he came. Then I will try again for your captain, my dear. I know he wants to come back to you and you want him to do so."

She chuckled, enjoying her own joke. "You certainly don't need two ghosts in this house. Though I could almost swear that earlier there were two of them…"

"Do it now!" Claymore demanded.

"There is something I want you to do, Captain Figg." Madame Tibaldi raised her arms, waving them in front of her face. "I will tell you now to begone! Begone forever back to where you came from!"

"What? Why?" Figg blustered. "No! I want answers!"

"He's surely a stubborn one." Madame Tibaldi frowned. "Begone, I say!"

"Now, look here…" Figg protested, his hazy image starting to strengthen again.

"Oh, argue with me, will you?" Madame Tibaldi waved her hands again. "Leave immediately!"

"I don't like this…" Claymore wailed. "It's not working. What are we going to do?"

"Don't ask me." Carolyn shrugged helplessly, looking at her husband.

"Of course, it's working," the medium snapped crossly, waving her hands even more frantically. "I just need a bit more power…"

Figg's expression began to darken to thunderous. "Not until I get some answers…"

Madame Tibaldi jumped to her feet. "Begone!" she shouted with a frantic gesture of flapping hands.

"Enough of this pointless charade!" Daniel thundered as he slashed his hands in a sweeping gesture at the same time. "Captain Figg! I command you to go back from whence you came, you misbegotten, drunken numbskull! Depart this plane and cease your manifestation!"

"What? Who? No, wait!" Figg's staring, empurpled face began to retreat back into the curling smoke before abruptly vanishing completely. The urn fell back to the table with a clunk, rattling around in a circle before coming to rest.

"There!" Madame Tibaldi exclaimed happily. "Just a tiny mistake. A wrinkle in the world of the spirits. I'll soon fix it."

"What just happened?" Claymore asked.

"I have no idea," Carolyn replied. "But I think it's over. And I have no intention of doing that again."

She took Madame Tibaldi's hand. "I know you mean well, but it's best for everyone if we let sleeping ghosts lie. I'm sure the Captain is happy, wherever he is."

"Oh, but I was so sure he wanted to come back to you," the medium replied, grasping her hand tightly. "The spirits are never wrong."

She grimaced. "Well, almost never. And Figg was a sea captain. Just not the right one. I'm sure I can do better next time. I just need a moment to replenish my energies. A glass of sherry, just a small one, would be very welcome right now."

"I think we have done quite enough for one day," Carolyn smoothed her.

"He was a very poor Captain," Daniel commented sharply. "He commanded nothing but the inside of a brandy bottle and he couldn't always manage to get that right."

Madame Tibaldi braced herself. "I am sure I can try again, my dear. I know our Captain is out there."

"No, Olivia," Carolyn said firmly. "I think we have meddled in the spirit world quite enough for one day. There will not be another séance held in this house ever again."

"Oh, very well…" The medium sighed gustily. "It was worth a try. If you are happy then I must be as well. But I do think you're making a mistake."

"Well, I certainly couldn't go through another one." Claymore flopped back in his chair, mopping his brow. "I think I need a drink as well."

He grimaced sourly. "Maybe make that two. I really do need to stop coming up to this house. Bad things always happen here and I have to keep asking to be paid for my time and efforts."

※※※※※

"I really wish you would allow me to try again with another séance," Madame Tibaldi begged as she walked beside Carolyn down the front path toward her car. "I know I can bring the Captain back to you and as I said, your secret would be safe with me. I will never tell anyone about what happened here today nor will my spirits. You have our solemn and eternal word."

"I'm not sure what happened here today," Carolyn replied honestly. "But, I really think some things are better left alone. The Captain is safe, wherever he is."

"Very well…" The medium sighed gustily as they walked past the open gate. "I just wanted to undo what'd been done out of spite on the part of that awful Claymore Gregg. But maybe you're right. Some things are just not meant to be."

She walked around to open the driver's door of her car. "Goodbye, my dear, and may the spirits bless you always…"

She waved to the children who were watching her from the front porch. Claymore stood behind them, waiting impatiently to be paid so he too could make good his escape. They all waved back as the woman got into her car and shut the door.

"I doubt she will return," Daniel commented from behind his wife. "But it is certainly an experience I would not care to repeat ever again."

"Captain Figg didn't look too pleased either," Carolyn commented as she watched the medium drive away. "My heart was in my mouth. I wasn't sure what was going to happen next."

Daniel shrugged. "It was I who dealt with Figg. He was no match for my powers. But I wasn't going to allow that foolish woman to spend the night beneath our roof or trouble you further with her twittering about holding another seance."

"No, she can be a little hard to take sometimes," Carolyn admitted honestly, as they walked back toward the house. "But her heart was in the right place and she meant well enough."

"That's as may be, Madam," her husband commented. "But we can do without the whole world trying to push its way into our lives. It is becoming tedious."

"Um, about my fee…" Claymore muttered cautiously as his great-uncle walked up the front steps. "I did everything you asked of me and more."

He held out a hand. "Greenbacks again, if you don't mind."

"You'll get your fee. Do you know what I really find most refreshing about you, Claymore?" Daniel asked in a musing tone.

"No… no… what?" Claymore pulled his crumpled hat onto his head, keeping a cautious distance.

"That no matter whatever happens or whatever befalls you, you do not change from your money-gouging, sand shark self." Daniel shook his head. "In the most macabre and troubling way, I find that fact strangely comforting."

Carolyn laughed with relief and the children giggled at the accurate description. Claymore looked both discomforted and disgusted as he managed to titter along with them. He was not about to protest the damning description as being unfair and endanger his payment before it was placed in his greedy hand.

※※※※※

Seated at the kitchen table over their coffee that evening, Carolyn studied her husband closely as she said, "I have my appointment with Dr Ferguson on Wednesday. Do you still wish to be with me? I will understand if you've changed your mind."

"Of course…" Her husband looked startled. "Why would I not wish to be you?"

"Most men would rather run a mile in the other direction than deal with their wife's pregnancy," Carolyn admitted honestly.

Daniel shook his head. "Well, I am not most men as you so charmingly put it."

"Then you will not frighten Dr Ferguson. Please be gentle with him for my sake. At least until he gives us our referral to the gynaecologist."

"Referral?" Daniel's eyebrows rose in confusion. "You're going to involve another doctor in your care? I'm not sure I like that idea, at all."

Carolyn shrugged. "It's just how things are done these days. Nearly all pregnant women are put into the care of a gynaecologist. Then, when the time comes, a maternity hospital delivery is all set. All we have to do is get me there in time."

"I don't understand…" Daniel's confusion deepened as he pushed aside his empty coffee cup. "I thought we… you would be having the baby here at home. My mother gave birth to me in our own home. The cot stored up in the attic was mine and my father's before me. I presumed we would be looking into securing the services of a suitable midwife. I thought you would want a female attendant."

"A lovely idea." Carolyn sighed. "But I'm afraid home births are rather frowned upon these days. For the safety of the mother and child."

"All the Gregg women who have gone through childbirth did so without any issues," Daniel replied reasonably. "Is there any need why we should break with time-honoured tradition?"

He leaned forward. "Do you suspect something is wrong?"

"No, no, nothing is wrong. I feel fine." Carolyn took his hand. "I know our times are sometimes at odds with yours. But I am sure we can always come to a compromise on the many issues before us. We have around six months to get things right."

"I never expected…" Daniel sighed. "I never thought that I would ever become a father. How could I do anything that could harm you or the baby? Or make you in any way, unhappy? I will adjust. Everything will be as you wish it to be."

"I'm sorry…" Carolyn squeezed his hand. "I'm very tired tonight. The last few days have been rather hectic and I really haven't had time to stop and think about it all."

"Then it's time for you to rest and recover. That's an order. I will go upstairs and run you a nice hot bath," Daniel offered, standing up. "If you are very good I might even consent to wash your back for you."

Carolyn smiled up at him, catching hold of his hand and kissing it. "Right now I couldn't think of anything more heavenly."

Her smile widened. "And when I get too fat to even see my poor feet let alone reach them?"

"Then it will be my pleasure to wash them for you as well…" Daniel bent down to kiss her before he left the room.

※※※※※

Four days later:

Dr Ferguson walked slowly up to the front door of Gull Cottage, trying not to look as nervous as he felt. The newly fallen snow had been cleared from the road all the way from town, making driving easier. As the afternoon advanced, a weak winter sun appeared to share a welcome warmth.

Ferguson looked the house over with concerned eyes. The sunshine did nothing to remove the disturbing sense of its brooding nature. It had been several months since he'd last made a house call to the strange residence.

He'd been surprised to receive a request from Carolyn Muir, now calling herself Mrs Gregg. She said she had recently been married. Given the timeline, he was even more surprised for her stated reason for his visit today.

Mrs Gregg quickly denied his mention of his usual practice of seeing pregnant women at his office in town. She'd insisted on him making a house call, saying it was more convenient for her new husband who wished to attend the appointment with her.

Since he was being paid a higher fee, Ferguson didn't put up too much resistance. He had no intention of lingering in the house any longer than necessary. But the idea of meeting the mysterious Mr Gregg quickened his curiosity.

"It's not the lady of the house that worries me…" he murmured, adjusting the sudden tightness of his necktie before raising his hand to the doorbell and pressing the button. "It's the house itself that gives me the creeps."

Over a year ago, when he'd first arrived in Schooner Bay as Dr Feeney's most recent and last associate, Ferguson had been regaled with all the rumours about spooks and hauntings in the old sea cottage. It seemed the townspeople were very fond of their tales of ghostly doings and enjoyed trying to frighten any new residents. He tried not to dwell on them or give them any credence.

He raised his chin. "I'm a man of science and modern medicine. I do not believe in ghosts or things that go bump in the night."

In answer to his ring, the front door swung open slowly, creaking eerily on its hinges. Ferguson swallowed tightly, not at first seeing who'd opened the door.

"Hi, there," Jonathan appeared from behind the door to greet him, taking a large bite from his half-eaten apple.

"Ah, good afternoon…" Ferguson looked down, his taut stomach dropping with relief. "How do you do? I'm Dr Ferguson. I'm here to see, ah… Mrs Gregg."

"Oh yeah. Mum said you'd be calling today and we was to let you in." Jonathan stood back. "Come on inside. Mum's upstairs."

"Thank you…" Ferguson stepped warily over the threshold looking all around.

He could not shake the sensation of being watched by an unseen gaze. As he drew level with the open living room doors he frowned at the stern portrait hanging above the fireplace.

He hadn't noticed the painting in his previous visits, but it looked oddly familiar. He was sure he'd seen the image of the man somewhere else. The stern eyes seemed to be boring deep into his soul and they carried an explicit warning. He eased his necktie for a second time.

"What a… splendid-looking fellow," he commented, needing to fill the brooding silence.

Immediately he felt foolish. It was simply a painting of a long-dead man and this was just an old house.

"Yeah…" Jonathan stopped to look in. "That's Captain Gregg. This is his house."

"His house?" Ferguson's nervous tone rose a couple of notches.

All the spooky stories he'd heard came crowding back. Surely the boy was mistaken.

"Well, in a way. I meant, he built it." Jonathan shrugged, seeing his error. "A long time ago."

Daniel materialised beside the physician, glaring at him. "This fuzzy-cheeked cabin boy is not a doctor!"

Ferguson felt a shiver run down his spine as he turned from the living room. "You said your mother is upstairs, young man?"

"Yeah…" Jonathan shrugged at his stepfather. "I'll go and get Martha. She'll show ya up."

The boy vanished into the kitchen, leaving the doctor to look all around uneasily. He tightened his grip on his medical bag, feeling he needed some kind of shield for the unseen menace.

"I'm a man of science and modern medicine…" he repeated as he waited.

"A juvenile charlatan is what you are!" Daniel complained. "A pup!"

Martha bustled into the foyer, bringing the delicious scents of fresh baking and a welcome sense of normalcy. "Oh, good afternoon, Doctor," she beamed at him. "And right on time too. Follow me. But I'm sure you remember the way."

She indicated the staircase before walking up the steps. Ferguson followed, still feeling as if someone's eyes were boring into his back.

"Blasted peep!" Daniel dematerialised and reappeared in the main bedroom in his human form.

"You left as soon as you heard the doorbell. What have you been doing?" Carolyn asked, seated at the desk, going over their notes for their latest manuscript. "We have a deadline to meet."

"I know I said you needed to see a doctor," Daniel complained. "And of course, I stand by that. But are you sure that immature peddler of potions and pills coming up the stairs is even qualified to physic you? He still doesn't look old enough to shave!"

"It will be fine, you'll see. Dr Ferguson is a good doctor." Carolyn shook her head at him. "You just need to have a little faith. Dr Feeney had confidence in him."

"I shall judge that for myself," Daniel grumbled as he walked to the desk. "When I asked, Claymore informed me that the doctor over in Beacon Cove is well into his seventies," he added. "Just like old Dr Feeney, you cannot beat experience. Maybe we are best to see him, after all."

"Old Dr Castle doesn't make house calls this far from Beacon Cove. We would have to drive over there." Carolyn looked at him with an understanding smile. "You just want me to see a doctor who was born in the same century as you. Dr Feeney was almost ninety when he was finally forced to retire."

"Exactly my point. I cannot see how that is not a good thing," her husband replied in an offended tone.

"The doctor's here. May we come in?" Martha asked as she knocked on the closed bedroom door.

"Here we go…" Carolyn whispered as she stood up. "Now please remember the last time you two met he couldn't see you. You need to be kind to him and try not to bully the poor man. I like him."

"I shall be as meek and mild as a church mouse," Daniel promised with a scowl.

"Come on in, Martha," Carolyn called out, giving her husband a disbelieving look.

The door opened and Dr Ferguson walked in. Martha shook her head as she closed the door behind him and returned downstairs.

"Ah, good afternoon…" The doctor frowned at Daniel, obviously taken aback. "Um, are you, Mr Gregg?" he asked warily. "Your wife said you would be here. But most of the husbands prefer to stay well away."

"It's Captain Gregg…" Daniel pointed out tersely. "And yes, I am Carolyn's husband. And I will be staying." He folded his arms as if daring the doctor to disagree.

"Ah, I see. My apologies…" Dr Ferguson tried not to stare as he paused by the door, looking as if he wanted to turn and run. "It's just unusual, that's all. Most men do not cope well with pregnancy."

"I don't see why," Daniel denied. "And I am not like most men."

"You promised to be kind…" Carolyn shot back with a sharp undertone. "Now behave!"

She turned to smile at the doctor. "Please, come on in."

"I… I'm sorry, but have we met somewhere else before, Captain?" Dr Ferguson asked, walking slowly forward. "Your face does look awfully familiar. But I just can't seem to place it."

He laughed nervously. "Of course, I know you cannot be the man in the portrait I saw downstairs as I arrived. The man that the boy said built this house. It must have been somewhere else."

"Mine is a common enough face," Daniel deflected quickly. "The portrait you saw is that of my ancestor, the original Captain Gregg. Not that it's any business of yours."

"Oh, I see. Yes, of course, of course…" Ferguson shook his head. "No, that wasn't it. I'm sure it will come back to me."

He put his medical bag down on the side of the bed and opened it as he turned his attention to Carolyn. "Ah, you told me on the telephone that you two have just tied the knot of matrimony."

He frowned thoughtfully. "And just last week. How, ah… how very timely…"

He nodded. "And congratulations are in order. You asked for your first pregnancy examination. You estimate that you're about three months along and you've successfully passed through your period of morning sickness without too many problems."

Daniel watched him carefully, waiting to intervene. But Ferguson made no further comment on the obvious discrepancy of the marriage date against the time Carolyn had indicated that she'd fallen pregnant.

"Yes, that's right, Doctor." Carolyn nodded, slanting her husband a warning look which he ignored. "My last two pregnancies were similar."

"This will be your first and last examination of my wife…" Daniel muttered harshly, glaring at him.

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