Chapter Forty-Seven

The Season That Just Keeps On Giving

Three weeks later:

Daniel groaned as he rolled over in bed, throwing one arm across his eyes to shut out the light from the lantern hanging above the writing desk. He listened to the steady clacking of typewriter keys and sighed.

His beloved wife hadn't been able to sleep again. She'd said typing settled her and their restless baby seemed to like the steady sound. It rocked him or her to sleep which allowed their mother to also find rest.

Daniel shook his head. Mary Kearn's generous and thoughtful gift had quickly become a double-edged sword. It had freed Carolyn from the need to have his finer penmanship on their final manuscripts ready to be sent to Sally Hall. Now Carolyn had taken to using it at night when she couldn't sleep.

Their editor had been enchanted with the new format and approved of it wholeheartedly. She'd even travelled up from Boston for a long weekend's intensive tutorial on the newfangled machine as soon as she could get away. Daniel had proved to be an able and patient teacher.

"This is wonderful," Sally had declared happily sitting back after her last lesson. "This is so much better than our old printing presses. I will most certainly be buying my own machine to be shipped down from New York. I will then teach my ladies how to use it to keep up with all our new submissions. And they are increasing all the time."

She laid a hand over Carolyn's. "But none of them can hold a candle to yours, my dear. You have been my magazine's salvation. My father still resents that fact."

Then she pulled a discontented face at them both. "Sadly, I must tell you that Ellsworth has decided to be very difficult again. He maintains he cannot see how a woman can succeed in business and tries to undermine me at every turn with my advertisers. He still talks of my doing my duty by giving him grandchildren."

She laughed shortly. "Like I have the time. I told him I have yet to meet the right man and besides…" She shook her head at Daniel. "The best ones are already taken. If I could find what you have…" She shrugged. "Maybe I would change my mind."

"Oh, it will happen one day…" Carolyn hugged her close. "It took me long enough to find this man, right here."

"I wish you well with your baby," Sally hugged her back. "I would like to be one of your godparents if you will allow me."

"I think that would be a wonderful idea…" Carolyn nodded, kissing her friend's cheek.

"Maybe that'll keep my old man off my back for a while." Sally laughed. "I have never been so busy, which annoys him no end. Even now, he's thinking of getting into publishing a series of ladies' novels as we are planning to do. I've been told he's scouting around for some suitable male writers. He still doesn't trust women."

She laughed, shaking her head even as she waved a dismissive hand. "Too late, Dad! I've already got the best. And I don't need some man to write for me."

She left the next morning, fully intending to change things in her Boston office and prove her father wrong yet again. Ellsworth Hall did not like being denied.

Daniel shook his head now at the steady clattering of the typewriter. With the time for the arrival of their child fast approaching, Carolyn has become quite wedded to the machine. She wanted so many things to be in the right order before her baby was born and her attention would become distracted for a few months.

Daniel sighed as he dropped his arm and sat up in bed. "I came home for some peace and quiet," he complained, smiling ruefully at his wife as she sat over the machine. "Must you also clatter away on that thing in the middle of the night?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Carolyn said, glancing over her shoulder at him. "But I've just had the most marvellous dream. I just had to get it down on paper before I forgot it. I didn't wish to wake you to write it down for me."

"Thank you…" Daniel pushed back the covers and got out of bed.

"I'm up now." He glanced at the dawn light beyond the curtained windows as he walked to lean on the back of the chair beside his wife's. "Is there anything I can do for you? Coffee? Tea? A back massage?"

"A massage would be heaven right now." Carolyn smiled at him, easing her back with her hands on her hips. "I swear this baby is now sitting right on my spine." She lifted her shoulders with a groan. "Dr Ferguson is so sure I still have some weeks to go yet before our child is born."

"Consider it done." Daniel nodded as he stood up to put his hands on her back and massaged up and down slowly, easing and soothing. "And as for that young pipsqueak, Ferguson…" He shook his head in disgust. "I could wish Dr Feeny was still around. Now he was a proper doctor."

"Ahhh… heaven…" Carolyn breathed as she read what she'd just written. "Thank you. I will be grateful when our child is finally born. These last few weeks always seem to drag. At least Candy and Jonathan were both on time."

She took her husband's hand. "And please do try not to terrify poor Dr Ferguson on his next visit. You quite put him out of countenance last time. He's doing his best and he is the only doctor in town. We must make the best of it."

"Very well, I will say no more, for now. I'll go to the bathroom and fetch you a warm compress," her husband promised, kissing her temple before leaving the room.

Carolyn smiled after him and then looked back to her work. "Now, where was I?"

※※※※※

Four days before Christmas:

Candy and Jonathan crept quietly down the stairs, careful not to disturb the house. They'd dressed warmly for the day's adventure ahead. They'd left their mother and Henry sleeping.

It was Saturday, and over breakfast, the Captain had promised them he would take them out to the hill behind the town to cut down a suitable Christmas tree. They wanted it to be a surprise.

"It'll be 'bah humbug' if Claymore tries to stop us from cutting down one of his trees this year," Jonathan muttered as he pulled on his gloves. "He doesn't like us touching what's his. He only cares about himself and Henry. But we need a good one to make it the best Christmas ever."

"Yes, Mother said Uncle Claymore has always been a bit of a Scrooge." Candy shrugged. "She said he just can't help it. He loves money more than us. He'd rather there was no Christmas. Saves him on money and time."

She frowned up the stairs. "I wonder what's keeping the Captain. He said he'd be back down in a minute or two. We were to wait here for him."

"Yeah, wonder what's keeping him…" Jonathan nodded. "But we all know Uncle Claymore would rather die than celebrate Christmas. Bah humbug!" He grinned.

"As long as he doesn't try to interfere with our holiday fun now school's out," Candy replied. "He was just too awful to us last time. Insisting the Captain pay him for that tree we wanted. Like it was made of gold or something. And we're family. Bah humbug!"

"Don't count on it." Jonathan grimaced and shook his head. "Uncle Claymore might have been made all funny about renting out our house, but deep down a leopard doesn't ever change its spots. Donny Edmonds told me that at school."

"Henry is about the only thing he's ever truly given us for free." Candy frowned. "I guess that counts for something. And he does pay Mother handsomely to look after him."

"Yeah, he does. But Henry wasn't his to give away in the first place," her brother pointed out. "It's sad no one ever found his parents. I'd hate to be an orphan like that."

Candy shrugged. "Well, at least we got to keep Henry for good. He's family now too. Maybe Uncle Claymore has a heart, after all."

"Yeah…" her brother chuckled. "He keeps it in his safe and takes it out for special occasions."

"Yeah, he does…" Candy joined in her brother's merriment.

"Whatever we may think of Uncle Claymore, we must be grateful he brought your mother from Philadelphia to work for him here in Schooner Bay when he did," Daniel told them as he walked down the stairs pulling on his leather gloves. "Without that boon, we would never have met. And that money he paid her, kept you while I was away at sea."

Daniel settled his sea cap over his dark curls. "You forget the man was my cousin long before he was your uncle. Somewhere deep inside him, he does have a heart, though he likes to think he hides it from everyone."

"Yeah, he keeps it in his safe for special occasions," Jonathan repeated cheekily which Daniel didn't have the heart to deny.

Having begged some breakfast scraps from Martha in the kitchen, Scruffy walked up to his young master and sat down waiting to depart on their next adventure. Then he pointed with one paw toward the front door, growling softly in his throat. At the same moment, the doorbell rang.

Daniel looked up, frowning. "Who on earth is calling at this hour of the morning? We've barely eaten our breakfast."

"I'll get it," Jonathan said, hurrying to open the door.

Claymore was standing outside, all dressed up against the early morning cold. He tipped two fingers to the brim of his hat. "Good morning, children."

They both stared up at him, remembering their mother's instructions to show their great-uncle their best manners for her sake. "Good morning, Great-Uncle Claymore," they said in unison.

"Merry Christmas," Jonathan added, walking back to his sister's side and crossing his gloved fingers behind his back, hoping against hope that their great-uncle hadn't come to spoil their fun of cutting down their new Christmas tree.

Scruffy growled his displeasure, but he obeyed his young master's quick command to be silent. He sneezed his distaste instead. But he kept an eye out for any tempting trouser leg that might still come too close to his muzzle.

"Morning, Daniel," Claymore tipped his hat to his cousin.

"Hello, Claymore," Daniel replied as he walked forward to greet him. "What are you doing this far away from your beloved office? You might catch a chill being outside in the snow on such a cold morning. We were just on our way out to find a tree."

"Oh, I've come to share the greetings of the season with my beloved family," Claymore replied with an innocent look. "And any tree you intend to cut down will no doubt be on my property. I have foreclosed on a goodly few acres this year. No one steals from me."

"I just knew he would try and ruin Christmas…" Jonathan muttered to his sister. "Blast!"

"Is there anywhere left in Schooner Bay that you do not own now?" Daniel asked incredulously. "By my estimate, you already owned over half the town."

"The more things I collect the happier I am and the fatter my bank balance becomes," Claymore replied cheerily. "People pay me good money for my trees. It has become quite the lucrative business for the month. I am looking to make it permanent."

"That's just mean doing it to people," Candy declared hotly.

"It's highway robbery," Jonathan added stoutly.

"Oh, come, come, children…" Claymore beamed. "I'm here to tell you that was the old Claymore. Why I have managed to turn over quite the new leaf."

"I feel you still want something," Daniel replied darkly. "You never come to my house unless you need something. We will have our tree. With or without your permission. And there will be no payment this year."

"Tut, tut, tut, tut," Claymore replied with a smile. "As I just said, that was the old me. The new me has come prepared to assist you in cutting down the best tree on any of my land. Free and clear, no strings attached. We can also bring it home tied to the top of my carriage. I've brought along some stout rope."

Candy regarded him with awe. "Are you really feeling all right, Uncle Claymore?"

"Yeah, are you truly feeling all right?" Jonathan added with a wide-eyed look. "I mean… what do you want for our tree?"

"Not a groat, not a sou, not a bean, not a single, red cent, my child…" Claymore patted him on the head indulgently. "You'll see that I am quite the reformed man. Thanks to your father's faith in my word, I was not myself."

He beamed at them all before he turned aside to indicate the children were to go before him. "Now come along all of you. The morning awaits our little hunt for Christmas treasure."

The children and their dog looked after him with awed wonder written large in their wide-eyed expressions. Even the dog forgot to growl his disdain.

"How can anyone change so much?" Candy demanded to know.

"He said he doesn't need your money," Jonathan pointed out as they walked down the front path toward Claymore's carriage. "I'm worried that isn't Uncle Claymore. Do you think he's been taken over by something? Maybe he's sleepwalking and doesn't know what he's doing."

"I don't know…" Candy shrugged as they climbed into the carriage. "But as long as we get our tree before he wakes up."

"Well, Claymore, you have quite outdone yourself this time," Daniel commented drily as he shut the door behind the two children. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"You accepted I was not myself when I rented out your house for that confounded wedding," his cousin replied as they both climbed up into the box seat. "This is the least I can do. You have made me see the errors of my ways."

Daniel shook his head as he spread the warm driving rug over their knees. "I hope this new Claymore lasts all year and not just for Christmas. I will not have the children disappointed when you turn back into your usual Scrooge and start complaining again."

"Oh, there'll be no hope of that, Cousin," Claymore replied comfortably as he slapped the reins to the rump of his horse. "This Christmas Claymore is here to stay."

"Yes, well that remains to be seen," Daniel replied cautiously. "Carolyn will be very surprised."

"You really think so?" Claymore raised his brows. "Oh, I do hope so. Your wife has been nothing but kindness and charity to me from the very day she arrived. She has quite brightened up my life."

"I can thank you for that," Daniel replied, as they turned off Bay Road and took a rutted track up into the hills behind the house. "If you had not brought Carolyn to work for you, then we would never have met. I can admit I also owe you a debt."

"Oh, pish tosh…" Claymore sniffed, shaking his head. "It is all much of a muchness. We are one big happy family now, and that's all that truly matters. Henry is growing up into a fine young boy. Thanks to your wife and Martha."

As they stopped below a broad hillside full of trees, a group of carollers approached them in single file, wending their way through the light dusting of snow toward a dotting of houses further behind the hill. Each singer was carrying a gaily-wrapped Christmas present. They were singing 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' as they passed the carriage.

The children got out to watch and both men climbed down from the box seat to see the singers on their way. The group smiled and bowed their heads as they passed, following a narrow track toward the distant farmsteads.

Jonathan leaned closer to his sister. "You know, I think it's going to be a very Merry Christmas…"

※※※※※

Once they'd transported their carefully chosen tree all the way home again, tied to the roof of Claymore's carriage, Daniel and Claymore carried it into the parlour and set it up in the corner between the bay window and the fireplace. All four stood back to admire their handiwork, well-satisfied with their morning's work.

"I think it'll do very nicely." Daniel nodded. "But the branches look a little bare. What do you think, children? What shall we do?"

"Well, Martha said she'd leave out some dishes of cranberries and popcorn to string up when we got back with the tree," Candy replied pointing to the bowls of goodies on the coffee table. "We can do that while we're waiting for Mother to get up and dressed. I'm sure I heard Henry just now."

"An excellent idea," Daniel approved, sniffing the air. "Speaking of Martha, her Christmas fare smells delicious. I wonder what she's got cooking."

"Come on." He clasped Claymore by his shoulder. "I think we both should just go and have a word with her about what we're having for dinner. Cutting down a tree has made me hungry."

"I'm staying?" Claymore asked cautiously, dragging off his hat. "I wasn't expecting…"

"It is Christmas and goodwill to all men. Unless you have somewhere better to be," Daniel replied, tossing his sea cap aside onto the nearby couch. "Like getting back to your office to count your ill-gotten gains."

"Oh no…" Claymore shook his head quickly. "I've already counted them, and I've given Jack the rest of the week off to spend Christmas with his family. I can assure you that I am quite reformed."

"Then, come on…" Daniel encouraged, taking his arm. "What are we waiting around here for?"

In the warmly fragrant kitchen, Martha was preparing a large Christmas pudding. She moved over to the oven to peek in on several trays of fat pies that were bubbling temptingly. She smiled with satisfaction as she took out the trays and placed them on the kitchen island. She looked up as the two men appeared in the doorway, watching her closely.

"I must say…" Daniel rubbed his hands in anticipation. "Martha, you always manage such glorious mouth-watering aromas. I'm quite famished."

He moved closer, reaching around her to help himself to a fresh mince pie, which he tossed to Claymore. His cousin managed to catch it awkwardly and began blowing on his hot fingers. "I really should have a plate…" he complained.

Daniel ignored his grumbling as he managed to snatch another hot treat, tossing it from palm to palm to cool it. "I can't wait for the feast we're going to enjoy on Christmas Day."

"Men…" Martha shook her head at him. "You never seem to grow up. Always thinking with your stomachs." She chuckled indulgently as she picked up a nearby plate and handed it to Claymore. "I've just come down from taking Mrs Gregg's breakfast up to her. She is resting comfortably enough. No doubt wee Henry will be awake again and wanting his bottle. Poor wee thing's teething again."

"I'll tell you something," Daniel replied as he nibbled his treat. "The shipboard food cannot hold a candle to your cooking. The men of the Carolyn still miss yours. They want to know when you'll be back on board."

"Poor men…" Martha shook her head at him. "Always needing a woman to look after them. But you know we all await the arrival of your babe. There is the real master or mistress of all our destinies."

"Yes, that's very true…" Daniel nodded, looking up at the ceiling as he heard his wife moving about as she attended to a fractious Henry. With his recent teething troubles, the poor boy hadn't been sleeping well.

"Is there anything I can do?" Claymore asked. "I mean, I am the boy's father." He looked uneasy but willing.

"Don't worry. It'll be all right. I'll take up a cold teething ring for the poor mite in a moment," Martha replied as she fussed with her arrangements. "You'll be staying to take luncheon with us, Claymore? I won't hear you say no for an answer. You did a good thing this morning. There's hope for you yet."

"Then I guess I'm staying…" Claymore nodded, finishing his pie and eyeing another. "That was truly delicious. I don't have anyone to cook for me."

"Have I told you lately that you are a treasure?" Daniel asked, leaning in close to soundly kiss Martha's flushed cheek. She was distracted enough by his praise not to see him swipe another mince pie.

"Oh, you charmer…" She looked up and swatted half-hearted at him for his trespass. "Go on with the pair of you! Get out of my kitchen and leave an honest woman to her labours!" She chased them both from her domain, waving her hands.

Across the foyer, in the parlour, the children were busy with Christmas festive fare. Candy was stringing dried cranberries while Jonathan worked with a large bowl of popcorn. Scruffy was doing his part by snapping up anything that fell his way.

"You two have certainly been busy." The captain smiled at them as he returned to the room. Finishing his second pie, he bent down to help himself to a handful of popcorn.

"Hey, no fair eating the ornaments," Jonathan chided him. "We won't have enough."

"Wait until you see what I've brought home for you all." The captain crossed the room to retrieve his seabag from where he'd hidden it behind the alcove curtain. "I've kept them until now." He opened the bag to carefully remove the wrapped gifts he'd purchased in London.

Candy and Jonathan got up to follow him, trying to see around him. Their intense curiosity was alive in both their faces. Daniel carried the pile of gifts back into the living room, kneeling to place them beneath the tree.

He didn't look up as he said, "I'm getting ready to hang some chains of cranberries and popcorn on the tree any moment now. That's if the dog hasn't eaten them all."

"Aye, aye, Captain!" Jonathan saluted him smartly before both children quickly returned to their tasks. Scruffy remained on alert for any more treats that might come his way.

"Scruffy…" Jonathan warned the dog severely. "If you don't stop, Saint Nicholas isn't going to bring you a big, fat, juicy bone!"

The dog barked before he left the popcorn and went to curl up beneath the tree, his head on his paws. He sighed dramatically before closing his eyes and began to dream of bones and where he'd buried them in the garden the previous summer. At least, he knew where to find them.

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