Vincent smiled softly at Father and Peter. “It is no wonder Little Jacob’s bottles were evoking visions about Catherine. It was her milk.”
Father nodded at Vincent. “Besides being better for Little Jacob, I was hoping that handling Catherine’s milk might help to restore your connection to her.”
Vincent then looked at Diana and grinned, “Semantics, huh, little Brat?”
Diana tossed her head at him. “Don’t look at me like that, you big Monster! You were not making it easy for me to think on my feet!”
Vincent smiled at Rolley. “Have you been giving piano concerts for Catherine every night, Rolley?” Rolley smiled and nodded his head.
Isaac spoke up and said, “Vincent, this is the best job I’ve ever had in security. I never even knew that I liked classical music until I started staying here, and I was treated to Rolley’s nightly piano recitals. His music is straight out of Heaven!”
Vincent smiled and nodded at Isaac, and then he looked at Jamie and chuckled. “That was some performance you put on with that so-called illness of yours! I should have known something was amiss when Mouse told me he needed to move a table, because he couldn’t think with it where it was!”
Jamie giggled at him. “I really did have cramps, Vincent. I just usually refuse to go to bed with them. Mouse was doing his best to figure out how to delay you, so I could get changed into my nightgown and hop into my bed, after I landed on his bed from his express chute. I had just finished eating supper when you caught Kipper coming out of the kitchen chamber with Catherine’s soup.”
Vincent raised his eyebrows. “How on earth did you manage to eat that whole bowl of soup after eating supper
too, little one?”
Jamie giggled again. “I didn’t. My canteen ate it!”
Vincent laughed at her. “Well, that explains why your floor was strewn with clothes that you vigorously objected to my picking up! OK, so tell me, who was the mastermind behind that elaborate charade?” She pointed at Tony, who was holding Little Jacob at the table, and he grinned sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders at Vincent.
Father spoke up at that point. “You should also know, Vincent, that Tony was the one who was primarily responsible for protecting you from knowing about Catherine until you were reconnected to her. He had stowed away in the coroner’s van when we rescued Catherine, and he insisted that he needed to repay his Gypsy debt to you and Catherine for restoring him to his grandparents. He has kept track of you this entire time for us.”
A look of realization passed over Vincent’s face, and he smiled. “I was that king piece that was all over the tunnels! That was the new code that Pascal was working on, a code to keep track of me, wasn’t it?” They all nodded at Vincent. Vincent chuckled and shook his head as he remembered the message echoing over every pipe as he was running from his chamber the previous evening.
“Tony, you sounded the alarm, The King is awake,’ didn’t you?” Tony smiled and nodded his head. Then Vincent went on with his realizations. “I wondered why the
tunnels were so empty!”
Diana laughed, and the others joined her as she said, “No one wanted to get run over by you when you figured out where Catherine was!”
Vincent shook his head and smiled at all of them. “Well, I can’t argue with the results. That the entire community could protect me from knowledge of this while I healed is truly a miraculous labor of love. Thank you— all of you!” He paused and then asked, “I saw the pictures of Catherine’s funeral on Diana’s crime-work-wall. What did you bury in that cemetery?”
Father laughed as he answered, “That’s exactly what Joe wanted to know too. It was a flour sack loaded with one-hundred-five pounds of sand.”
Vincent laughed as he said, “Well, from what I saw in those pictures of Diana’s, that poor sack-of-sand had a really lovely funeral, and everyone looked truly devastated to have to say good-bye to it!” They were all nearly in stitches laughing with Vincent over that comment.
Everyone got up to leave, and Vincent was filled with additional joy to see Father put his arm around Mary as they left together. Mary had gone to Vincent in distress a couple of months ago. She was heartbroken over nearly losing Father to another woman. Mary had felt that it was somehow selfish to be in love with him, and therefore, she had never told Father how she felt about him. Vincent was glad to see that Mary must have taken steps to fix that mistake.
When Diana got up to leave, Vincent stopped her. “Diana, would you please stay for a few minutes? I need to ask you about something.”
Diana smiled and sat down on the loveseat by Vincent and Catherine. “What did you need to ask me, Vincent?” Vincent looked at Diana and said, “This may sound really strange to you, Diana, but Catherine’s scent is not right. I mean, she smells like herself, but something is missing.”
Diana nodded her head as she remembered Vincent’s dream about the flowers in his grandparents’ solarium. “You mean that she doesn’t smell of honeysuckle vines and roses.”
Vincent was really grateful that Diana understood. “Exactly! Catherine always smelled so wonderful, familiar, like a forgotten happy memory trying to surface which I couldn’t quite grasp. Until I had that dream about the pink rosebush with the honeysuckle vines growing up through it in my grandparents’ solarium, I never knew why that scent made me so very happy, other than the fact that it was also Catherine’s scent. Scents are powerful doorways to memories, just like her scent was for me. Perhaps that scent would help to bring her mind forward to consciousness again. I was hoping that you might have seen what perfume she was using when you were profiling her at her apartment.”
Diana nodded her head and smiled at Vincent. “Vincent, I have just what you need in my bedroom. You
need to take Catherine to the bathroom now anyway. Ill be back in just a few minutes.”
When Diana returned a few minutes later, Vincent had Catherine settled back on her bed. He was seated at the table eating the meal William had sent for him. He looked expectantly at Diana, and she came to him with a small notebook in her hand. “Ever since Father told me that Catherine was alive, and that they were all waiting for you to be reconnected to her, I have kept this notebook with me. It is the notebook that I used to record everything I discovered about Catherine when I was studying her life and profiling her. I actually have a shopping list of sorts of the scented toiletries she used. Do you want to see it?” Vincent was ecstatic. “I do, please show me!”
Diana handed him the notebook, open to the page Vincent needed, and he read her notes:
Catherine Chandler had the following scented toiletries in her bathroom:
Mountain Meadows brand Honeysuckle Creamy Bath & Shower Soap
Aubrey Organics brand Honeysuckle Rose Shampoo & Conditioner
Crabtree & Evelyn of London brand Evelyn Rose Body Lotion
Eco-Beauty Organics brand Organic Rose facial products Farouche Perfume by Nina Ricci (The perfume contains rose and honeysuckle notes which draw all of the others together.)
Vincent shook his head with wonder. “You really are thorough when you profile people, aren’t you?”
Diana nodded and smiled. “People are like puzzles to me. If pieces are missing, I get an incomplete picture. Catherine likes using a signature scent. That, in itself, is a small statement about the type of person she is. It helps to define her as an individual.”
Vincent looked at her as he asked, “Do you know where these things can be found?”
Diana smiled and nodded at him. “Actually, I checked out every cosmetic boutique and health food store she shopped in to find where she bought all of these things. I know right where to get them.”
Vincent shook his head. “Diana, you can’t go shopping for these things yourself. It isn’t safe for you until Joe can arrest Adrian.”
Diana smiled at his concern for her. “I know that, Vincent, but I’m sure that Susan would be thrilled to go shopping for Catherine. Ill give her this list and tell he
r where to find these toiletries for you. I’m sure that she can have them in time for Catherine’s bath tomorrow.” Vincent smiled happily. “Thank you so much, Diana.” As Diana was leaving to take the list to Susan, Joe was coming into Catherine’s room. Vincent saw Diana color up, and Joe looked completely flustered. Diana scooted quickly out of the room, and Joe just stood there watching her leave. It was all Vincent could do to keep from laughing out loud at them.
Joe finally turned around and faced Vincent, but he seemed to have difficulty remembering what he was there for. Finally, he said, “They told you that they finished translating Gabriel’s notebook, didn’t they?”
Vincent smiled as he replied, “Actually, no, I’ve been a little distracted.”
Joe chuckled, “I can’t imagine why! I met Peter out in the hallway when I got off the elevator, and he told me that you ended up here, like we all figured you would, last night. I am so happy for you, Vincent!”
Vincent nodded, “Thank you, Joe. No words can describe how wonderful it feels to have my bond with Catherine restored. It is a feeling beyond joy!”
Diana came back into the room, and the electricity between her and Joe was tangible, but they both avoided looking at one another. Vincent smiled and shook his head. Diana looked at Vincent as she blushed again. “I just gave Susan the list, and she is going shopping right now.” Then she finally looked at Joe and asked, “What is going on with your criminal roundup, Joe?”
Joe glanced at Diana, and then he looked at Vincent as he answered her question. “The FBI helped us to move quickly with arrests and indictments of everyone working for Adrian. We have raided and shut down every illegal business on the list. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Adrian Vlas, Jonathan Pope, Steve Palmer, and several of Adrian’s hit-men are missing. With all of his offshore accounts, the FBI’s theory is that he has probably escaped the country, and he is living high and causing trouble somewhere else by now.” Joe finally looked straight at Diana. “Until we know for sure, though, it still isn’t safe for you in the city, Diana. Adrian was bent on revenge. I’m not convinced he is really gone yet.”
Diana met Joe’s eyes for a brief moment, and then she looked at the floor. “Oh, stop worrying, Joe! I’m not going to wait until you are gone, and then escape out the door into the city!”
Joe was firm. “Please see that you don’t, Diana! If you do, I swear 111 paddle you!”
Diana couldn’t help giggling, and then a smart-Alec retort escaped before she could stop it, “Promise?” Diana couldn’t believe she had actually said that. She turned red as a beet and practically ran out the door.
Joe stared after Diana, and then he turned to Vincent. “Did she really just say that?”
Vincent chuckled, “She really did!” Vincent was amused to see a far-off smitten look come over Joe as he wandered out the door without another word.
After Joe and Diana left the room, Mary came in with Little Jacob. She asked Vincent, “Are you ready for a nursing lesson, Vincent?”
Vincent looked overjoyed. “Nothing would make me happier, Mary.” Vincent took Little Jacob from Mary and gazed down into his bright and alert little face as he said, “You kept Mommy’s secret too, didn’t you?” The baby smiled up at his father.
Mary ran the bed up to a sitting position, and then she took Little Jacob from Vincent. Vincent settled on the bed with Catherine cradled in his arms, and then Mary showed him how to help Little Jacob to nurse from Catherine. It gave Vincent a profound sense of peace and satisfaction to know that Little Jacob was being nourished by his own mother’s milk.
Mary sat down in the rocking chair next to the bed, and while Little Jacob was nursing, Vincent talked to her. “It looks to me like you have taken steps to correct that ‘terrible mistake’ you told me about a couple of months ago. You and Father looked very happy together, and I was so glad to see that.”
Mary smiled at Vincent. “Yes, I finally decided to tell Father how I felt. Vincent, he was overjoyed to know! He told me that he had just thought that I wasn’t interested in him that way. We have wasted so much time!”
Vincent shook his head. “Then your time together now will be that much sweeter. Have you noticed the avoidance dance that Joe and Diana are doing?”
Mary giggled, “The entire community is talking about those two. They really are confused, aren’t they? Neither one of them seems to have a clue how the other one feels.
It looks like Father and I all over again, only funnier!” Vincent chuckled, “It really is funny! That all started
when they came out of Gabriel’s mansion, after we retrieved Dr. Vlas’journals and the videotapes. I don’t know what happened in there, but they are head-over-heels in love with each other now. Something has them stuck in reverse, though. I think I might just have to step in and do some interfering.”
Mary laughed, “Please do, Vincent. It is almost painful to watch them!”
The next morning, when Diana returned to Catherine’s room with the toiletries, Vincent surveyed the products, and then he gave her a look of dismay. “I don’t know what to do with most of this! I have seen the women of our community going into the pool chambers and our bathrooms looking like street urchins after an hard day’s work, and afterward, they magically reappear looking like angels. I’ve always wondered how they could transform that way.”
Diana laughed at his bewildered look. “You didn’t think I was going to leave a big Monster like you alone with her and all of this stuff did you? There’s no telling what she would end up looking like!”
Vincent looked vastly relieved as he chuckled. “Well then, little Brat, show me!”
Vincent was fascinated by Diana’s help with Catherine’s feminine grooming. They bathed Catherine and shampooed and conditioned her hair, and Diana taught a delighted Vincent other mysterious female grooming tasks. Diana also showed Vincent how to blow-dry her hair and style it simply. Catherine was then creamed, perfumed, and dressed in a fresh nightgown. When Vincent had carried Catherine back to her freshly made bed, Diana asked him, “There, is that better?”
Vincent sat on the edge of Catherine’s bed and closed his eyes, as he breathed in her scent deeply. “Oh, yes, so much better! Thank you, Diana. Life is really complicated for you women, isn’t it?”
Diana laughed, “Yes, but it is so very worth it to see the effect our efforts have on our men.” Diana shook her head. “You really are an unusual man, Vincent!”
Vincent looked at her and asked, “Why is that, Diana?” Diana giggled at him. “Most men are only interested in the results, not in how those results are achieved.”
Vincent smiled at her. “When Catherine wakes up, I don’t want her to feel neglected. She always took the time to look and smell the way she did. It is a small thing for me to take care of that for her while she can’t do it for herself.”
Diana smiled at him, and then she changed the subject. “I feel like a bird beating its wings against a cage. Thank goodness I don’t sleepwalk, or I would be out in the city every night. I sure wish Joe could catch Adrian!” Vincent understood her restlessness, because he had felt that throughout his life. “Diana, why don’t you go below, and visit the Waterfall Cavern? That always helps me when I feel trapped.”
Diana nodded, “Oh that is such a good idea, Vincent.
I think 111 do just that right now. That should help me to settle down.” She left Catherine’s room then and headed for the tunnels.
Later in the day, ten-year-old Eric knocked softly on the door, and Vincent looked up from eating another delicious meal William had sent to him. Vincent smiled at the boy. “Come in, Eric! What brings you all the way here?” Then he saw the book under Eric’s arm, and he chuckled, “As if I need to ask! Did you want to read to Catherine?”
Eric was tall for his age and slender, with straight blond hair and huge grey eyes, which looked even bigger behind the thick lenses of the glasses he wore. He broke into an happy grin and nodded. “Cathy saved my life when sh
e rescued Ellie and me from that horrible Ridley Foster Home. Father told us that it would be better if we didn’t come here until you found Cathy, but now I want to do something for her. Tony told me that Cathy had told him that her father used to read Rudyard Kipling’s stories to her when she was a little girl. So, I brought The Jungle Book to read to her. I thought I could read a little of it every afternoon to her.”
Vincent remembered how Eric had not been frightened by his appearance when Catherine had brought the child to him for protection, and he was warmed by Eric’s thoughtfulness now. “I know that Catherine will really
enjoy having you read to her. Even if she doesn’t seem to hear it, her subconscious mind and her heart will hear it. Thank you, Eric.”
Eric added, “Vincent, Tony asked me to tell you that he and Jamie have gone together to the Crystal Cavern to get the things you left there.”
Vincent smiled, “That was thoughtful of them. Thank you for telling me, Eric.”
Eric settled on the rocking chair by Catherine’s bed. Then he opened the book and began reading to her. It brought tears to Vincent’s eyes to see how much unselfish love Catherine had inspired in everyone.
Vincent had finished eating and brushing his teeth, and Eric had just finished reading to Catherine, and he was going out the door when Joe stepped in. Vincent looked at Joe in surprise. “You are back! Has there been some new development in Adrian’s case?”
Joe smiled and shook his head. “No, I’m just worried about Diana. I wanted to make sure that she doesn’t decide to go traipsing around the city yet.”
Vincent chuckled, “Don’t worry, Joe, although I’m sure you will anyway. She does have cabin-fever, so I sent her below to the Waterfall Cavern. I think that should calm her down. She doesn’t have a lot to occupy that active mind of hers since she and Father finished translating Gabriel’s notebook. I know that she won’t go running off up top, though.”
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