IN THE MIRROR
By Susan Smallwood and Susan Griffith

Part 7

Lucy sat at her new typewriter, banging clumsily at the keys and trying to ignore the Captain, who was reading over her shoulder. Chuckling, he paced slowly across the room, his gait rolling as though he was once again walking his quarterdeck. Suddenly, the typing stopped, and he turned to find Lucy staring at the typewriter with an expression of distaste.

"Well? What's the matter?" He asked, with a frown, coming to

read over her shoulder again. "You haven't finished the sentence."

"I know. It's that word. I've never written such a word."

He read it again, then looked at Lucy with a puzzled expression, "it's a perfectly good word."

"I think it's a horrid word." she said grimly.

"It means what it says, doesn't it?"

"All too clearly."

Carolyn chuckled.

"Well, what word do you use when you want to convey that meaning?"

"I don't use any!" Lucy said, hotly.

The Captain, by now, had grown impatient. "Hang it all, Lucia, if you're going to be prudish, we'll never get this book written. Now put it down the way I give it to you."

Glaring at him, Lucy emphatically typed out four letters.

"Good," he said, and resumed his pacing. "At this point, having had a drink, I went upstairs."

Again Lucy stopped typing. "Why?"

"By the powers, what does she mean `WHY'?" The Captain was

incensed. "If women would just accept what we say when we say it,

and not be infernally and forever demanding to know the whys and

wherefores..."

"SHH!" Carolyn hissed.

"Why what?"

"Why did you go upstairs?" Lucy asked, suspiciously.

"Because I saw no harm in it."

She shook her head, "you must have been very young and foolish."

"I was young," the Captain stated, severely, "but I was never foolish. Inexperienced, perhaps. Curious, as young men are. Eager for adventure. I matured early."

Lucy smiled, "I wish I'd known you then. How old were you, Daniel?"

"Sixteen. It was me first voyage."

"HA! I beat him by four years!" exclaimed the Captain.

"Only sixteen," Lucy said softly, looking up at him. "I suppose you'd run away from home?"

"Yes. I was an orphan, brought up by a maiden aunt in a country village." He frowned, "now, let's get on with it. Where was I?"

"Upstairs."

"Ah, yes." The Captain settled himself on the bed, then continued. "The customs of Marseilles are different to any -"

"Different FROM," Lucy corrected him.

"To or from, who cares? This isn't a blasted literary epic, it's the unvarnished story of a seaman's life."

"It's certainly unvarnished."

Captain Gregg looked at her with annoyance, "Well, smear on your own varnish! Change the grammar all you please, but leave the guts in it!" "Madam, I must say, she reminds me very much of YOU when I was

trying to tell you my story." the Captain grinned at Carolyn.

Carolyn nodded. "Yet at this point he has told her she can smear

on the varnish if she wants to. Notice he did NOT sneakily rewrite

the entire story without her knowledge!"

"Hmmm." the Captain turned back to the movie, unwilling to speak

to that charge.

Carolyn wondered about the Captain's childhood, and whether his

had been similar. To her surprise, she found that Lucy was

questioning HER Captain about that very thing.

Abandoning her writing, Lucy stood by the bed, where the Captain was still comfortably seated. "I think it would be nice if we included a chapter on your early life - your school days."

"I never went to school." he announced, to Lucy's surprise. "I was educated by the Vicar."

"Poor man!" she smiled, "he must have had a dreadful time."

The Captain grinned up at her, "He enjoyed every minute of it - except the time I put a snake in his bed."

"You must have been a horrid little boy."

Carolyn chuckled again. The Captain looked over at her and cocked

an eyebrow quizzically.

"I suppose you were a model of all the virtues when you were twelve?" the Captain asked Lucy, eyeing her.

"Certainly I was. I won a prize for deportment at school." Lucy said.

"I can see you!" the Captain laughed. "A fat little girl in hair ribbons."

"I wasn't fat. I was skinny." she said, primly.

"Just as bad."

"And I wore my hair in braids."

The Captain rose, and stood very close to her. "And a thousand freckles." his eyes traveled down to her face, "You still have freckles."

Flustered, Lucy looked down, "only seven of them. And I'm told they're most becoming." she added defiantly.

He looked again, "they are, at that."

Lucy smiled at him, then glanced at the chiming chronometer. Captain Gregg's eyes never left her face, and his gaze grew intense.

"Good heavens! Eleven o'clock." Lucy exclaimed. She turned to the Captain, and their eyes met. "I - I had no idea it - was so late."

"Yes," he said softly, "you'd better be getting some sleep." Suddenly, he shook off his mood, and added, gruffly, "we'll put in a full day tomorrow."

"Avast there, you are approaching stormy seas, my lad!" warned the

Captain. "Getting too close to her ..."

"Is that bad?" Carolyn asked, her green eyes glowing in the

firelight when she turned briefly to him, then looked back at the

television.

"Could be," the Captain muttered. "Could very well be ..."

"Daniel?" The Captain paused by his telescope, and Lucy continued, "what did your Aunt do when you ran away from home?"

He smiled, "Probably thanked heaven there was no one around to fill the house with mongrel puppies and track mud on her clean carpets."

"Did she write to you?"

"Every Sunday for seven years," he said, thoughtfully. "I was at sea when she died - the year I got me mate's ticket."

Lucy leaned against the wall, lost in her own thoughts, a gentle smile on her face.

"What are you thinking about, Lucia?"

"I'm thinking," she began, softly, "how lonely she must have felt - with her clean carpets."

Lucy looked up, and the Captain had gone. The balcony door was open, and a gentle breeze is stirring the curtains. With a contented sigh, Lucy went to her desk and blew out the candle.

"I must say, Madam, it looks as if this movie is turning in to a blasted romance! I was hoping for an adventure of some sort. I wanted to hear his life story -- Blood and Swash! Instead, we are subjected to this drivel ..." the Captain said.

"I like it," Carolyn said, mildly. "I expect his aunt WAS

lonely." She was silent for a minute. "Captain ...?"

"What is it, Mrs. Muir?"

"I was wondering ..." she hesitated for a moment. Then she

gathered her courage. After all, he had asked about her marriage in

a roundabout way! Why shouldn't she ask about his childhood? "You

were only twelve when you went to sea?"

"As a cabin boy."

Carolyn waited. The Captain said nothing more.

"Captain?"

"Yes, Mrs. Muir?"

"You are very aggravating." her green eyes looked stormy for a

moment, then both of them were laughing.

"My dear, you read the journal I wrote when I got command of my

first ship. How much more do you need to know? You know how I felt,

what my dreams were ..." his voice trailed off. Then he flashed her

a wicked grin, "MOST of my dreams."

Carolyn looked away from his penetrating blue eyes.

The tone of his voice dropped, and he said huskily, "And most of

those dreams were fulfilled upon your arrival at Gull Cottage."

Swallowing hard, Carolyn felt desire sweeping over her, followed

swiftly by frustration. She had thought she had her emotions well in

control, but watching this particular movie with the Captain was

casting her adrift amid the seas of turmoil. She was glad when the

commercial was over so that she could pull out of herself and simply

be a viewer in another life.

It was a bright sunny day when Martha, coming home from town, peddled her bicycle to the back of Gull Cottage and leaned it against the fence. She unloaded her purchases, and hurried up the foot path to where Lucy was sitting out on an iron bench, tired and pale.

"I saw that Coombe in the village. 'E give me this for you," she handed Lucy a letter.

Lucy read it wearily and sighed, "It's another demand for payment of the rent."

Martha nodded, "'e said something about sending the bailiffs to put us out."

Lucy nodded gloomily, and Martha looked at her with a worried frown. "I got a little saved, mum. Nothing to spend it on, 'ere."

Lucy looked up at her friend, touched by her offer, "Oh, thank you Martha - but I wouldn't dream of taking it. We'll manage somehow."

"Yes, mum," Martha said, uncertainly, starting towards the house.

"Oh, poor Lucy!" Carolyn said, with heartfelt sympathy. "I know just how she feels. I can imagine her discouragement."

"Just as well that Captain sees the unimportance of her worry and gets her moving." the Captain said. "See, 'bailiffs are nothing but sea-lawyers come ashore.' I DO like his expressions!"
 
Lucy sat at her new typewriter, banging clumsily at the keys and trying to ignore the Captain, who was reading over her shoulder. Chuckling, he paced slowly across the room, his gait rolling as though he was once again walking his quarterdeck. Suddenly, the typing stopped, and he turned to find Lucy staring at the typewriter with an expression of distaste.

"Well? What's the matter?" He asked, with a frown, coming to

read over her shoulder again. "You haven't finished the sentence."

"I know. It's that word. I've never written such a word."

He read it again, then looked at Lucy with a puzzled expression, "it's a perfectly good word."

"I think it's a horrid word." she said grimly.

"It means what it says, doesn't it?"

"All too clearly."

Carolyn chuckled.

"Well, what word do you use when you want to convey that meaning?"

"I don't use any!" Lucy said, hotly.

The Captain, by now, had grown impatient. "Hang it all, Lucia, if you're going to be prudish, we'll never get this book written. Now put it down the way I give it to you."

Glaring at him, Lucy emphatically typed out four letters.

"Good," he said, and resumed his pacing. "At this point, having had a drink, I went upstairs."

Again Lucy stopped typing. "Why?"

"By the powers, what does she mean `WHY'?" The Captain was

incensed. "If women would just accept what we say when we say it,

and not be infernally and forever demanding to know the whys and

wherefores..."

"SHH!" Carolyn hissed.

"Why what?"

"Why did you go upstairs?" Lucy asked, suspiciously.

"Because I saw no harm in it."

She shook her head, "you must have been very young and foolish."

"I was young," the Captain stated, severely, "but I was never foolish. Inexperienced, perhaps. Curious, as young men are. Eager for adventure. I matured early."

Lucy smiled, "I wish I'd known you then. How old were you, Daniel?"

"Sixteen. It was me first voyage."

"HA! I beat him by four years!" exclaimed the Captain.

"Only sixteen," Lucy said softly, looking up at him. "I suppose you'd run away from home?"

"Yes. I was an orphan, brought up by a maiden aunt in a country village." He frowned, "now, let's get on with it. Where was I?"

"Upstairs."

"Ah, yes." The Captain settled himself on the bed, then continued. "The customs of Marseilles are different to any -"

"Different FROM," Lucy corrected him.

"To or from, who cares? This isn't a blasted literary epic, it's the unvarnished story of a seaman's life."

"It's certainly unvarnished."

Captain Gregg looked at her with annoyance, "Well, smear on your own varnish! Change the grammar all you please, but leave the guts in it!" "Madam, I must say, she reminds me very much of YOU when I was

trying to tell you my story." the Captain grinned at Carolyn.

Carolyn nodded. "Yet at this point he has told her she can smear

on the varnish if she wants to. Notice he did NOT sneakily rewrite

the entire story without her knowledge!"

"Hmmm." the Captain turned back to the movie, unwilling to speak

to that charge.

Carolyn wondered about the Captain's childhood, and whether his

had been similar. To her surprise, she found that Lucy was

questioning HER Captain about that very thing.

Abandoning her writing, Lucy stood by the bed, where the Captain was still comfortably seated. "I think it would be nice if we included a chapter on your early life - your school days."

"I never went to school." he announced, to Lucy's surprise. "I was educated by the Vicar."

"Poor man!" she smiled, "he must have had a dreadful time."

The Captain grinned up at her, "He enjoyed every minute of it - except the time I put a snake in his bed."

"You must have been a horrid little boy."

Carolyn chuckled again. The Captain looked over at her and cocked

an eyebrow quizzically.

"I suppose you were a model of all the virtues when you were twelve?" the Captain asked Lucy, eyeing her.

"Certainly I was. I won a prize for deportment at school." Lucy said.

"I can see you!" the Captain laughed. "A fat little girl in hair ribbons."

"I wasn't fat. I was skinny." she said, primly.

"Just as bad."

"And I wore my hair in braids."

The Captain rose, and stood very close to her. "And a thousand freckles." his eyes traveled down to her face, "You still have freckles."

Flustered, Lucy looked down, "only seven of them. And I'm told they're most becoming." she added defiantly.

He looked again, "they are, at that."

Lucy smiled at him, then glanced at the chiming chronometer. Captain Gregg's eyes never left her face, and his gaze grew intense.

"Good heavens! Eleven o'clock." Lucy exclaimed. She turned to the Captain, and their eyes met. "I - I had no idea it - was so late."

"Yes," he said softly, "you'd better be getting some sleep." Suddenly, he shook off his mood, and added, gruffly, "we'll put in a full day tomorrow."

"Avast there, you are approaching stormy seas, my lad!" warned the

Captain. "Getting too close to her ..."

"Is that bad?" Carolyn asked, her green eyes glowing in the

firelight when she turned briefly to him, then looked back at the

television.

"Could be," the Captain muttered. "Could very well be ..."

"Daniel?" The Captain paused by his telescope, and Lucy continued, "what did your Aunt do when you ran away from home?"

He smiled, "Probably thanked heaven there was no one around to fill the house with mongrel puppies and track mud on her clean carpets."

"Did she write to you?"

"Every Sunday for seven years," he said, thoughtfully. "I was at sea when she died - the year I got me mate's ticket."

Lucy leaned against the wall, lost in her own thoughts, a gentle smile on her face.

"What are you thinking about, Lucia?"

"I'm thinking," she began, softly, "how lonely she must have felt - with her clean carpets."

Lucy looked up, and the Captain had gone. The balcony door was open, and a gentle breeze is stirring the curtains. With a contented sigh, Lucy went to her desk and blew out the candle.

"I must say, Madam, it looks as if this movie is turning in to a blasted romance! I was hoping for an adventure of some sort. I wanted to hear his life story -- Blood and Swash! Instead, we are subjected to this drivel ..." the Captain said.

"I like it," Carolyn said, mildly. "I expect his aunt WAS

lonely." She was silent for a minute. "Captain ...?"

"What is it, Mrs. Muir?"

"I was wondering ..." she hesitated for a moment. Then she

gathered her courage. After all, he had asked about her marriage in

a roundabout way! Why shouldn't she ask about his childhood? "You

were only twelve when you went to sea?"

"As a cabin boy."

Carolyn waited. The Captain said nothing more.

"Captain?"

"Yes, Mrs. Muir?"

"You are very aggravating." her green eyes looked stormy for a

moment, then both of them were laughing.

"My dear, you read the journal I wrote when I got command of my

first ship. How much more do you need to know? You know how I felt,

what my dreams were ..." his voice trailed off. Then he flashed her

a wicked grin, "MOST of my dreams."

Carolyn looked away from his penetrating blue eyes.

The tone of his voice dropped, and he said huskily, "And most of

those dreams were fulfilled upon your arrival at Gull Cottage."

Swallowing hard, Carolyn felt desire sweeping over her, followed

swiftly by frustration. She had thought she had her emotions well in

control, but watching this particular movie with the Captain was

casting her adrift amid the seas of turmoil. She was glad when the

commercial was over so that she could pull out of herself and simply

be a viewer in another life.

It was a bright sunny day when Martha, coming home from town, peddled her bicycle to the back of Gull Cottage and leaned it against the fence. She unloaded her purchases, and hurried up the foot path to where Lucy was sitting out on an iron bench, tired and pale.

"I saw that Coombe in the village. 'E give me this for you," she handed Lucy a letter.

Lucy read it wearily and sighed, "It's another demand for payment of the rent."

Martha nodded, "'e said something about sending the bailiffs to put us out."

Lucy nodded gloomily, and Martha looked at her with a worried frown. "I got a little saved, mum. Nothing to spend it on, 'ere."

Lucy looked up at her friend, touched by her offer, "Oh, thank you Martha - but I wouldn't dream of taking it. We'll manage somehow."

"Yes, mum," Martha said, uncertainly, starting towards the house.

"Oh, poor Lucy!" Carolyn said, with heartfelt sympathy. "I know just how she feels. I can imagine her discouragement."

"Just as well that Captain sees the unimportance of her worry and gets her moving." the Captain said. "See, 'bailiffs are nothing but sea-lawyers come ashore.' I DO like his expressions!"