Rating: K


                                                    Carolyn's Fear of losing the Captain Forever by Anne 

There was a terrible blizzard outside of Gull Cottage. Because of the infernal noise, Carolyn woke up much too early in the morning. In the dark, she couldn't see anything. So she decided to get up to take a look outside the master bedroom. Maybe the noise was coming from there. One second after she was out of her bed, the room started to turn. Carolyn began to sway, she fell with a muffled bang back onto her bed and then knew nothing  more.  This noise woke her children. "Candy!" Jonathan called in the darkness. "What was that?" 
"I don't know, Jonathan!" Candy called back. "That noise was coming from the direction of Mom's bedroom." 
"Yeah!" came Jonathan's voice again. "We should take a look. Maybe Mom needs our help." 
"You are right! Let's take a look." With that, both were out their bed. They started in the dark to the door, opened it and went down the hallway in the direction of the noise they had heard. Candy opened the door to her mother's bedroom, turned on the light and hurried with her brother into the room to see what had happened to her mother. And there both saw that Carolyn lay on the bed, still as death. 
Jonathan asked his sister with a worried voice. "Candy, is she dead?"
 "No, Jonathan, I don't think she is dead. I think she is unconscious. Please wake up Martha and tell her she should come up here immediately. Mom needs help. I think she has a fever." 
"I'm on my way." Jonathan called and with that, he hurried out of the room. He ran downstairs and knocked very loudly on Martha's bedroom door, crying, "Martha, Martha, please wake up!" 
Jonathan's loud voice soon woke Martha. "What's the matter, Jonathan? Why did you wake me up so early? What's the emergency?" she called from inside. 
"It's Mom, she's lying on her bed and is unconscious. We need your help."  As soon as Jonathan had said that, Martha was quickly out of her bed. She turned on the light, put on her bathrobe and hurried out of her bedroom door. She passed Jonathan and ran upstairs. While she was running upstairs, she thought to herself. 'By the devil, why is Jonathan calling for me and not the Captain? He must have heard that noise, too. Where is he?' With that last thought, she reached the master bedroom. And there she saw  that Jonathan was right. Mrs. Muir lay crossways on her bed. "What happened?" she asked Candy. 
"I don't know, Martha. Jonathan and I were awakened by a noise that seemed to come from the direction of Mom's room. We wondered what had happened, so we got out of our bed to take a look and see what had caused that noise." Candy answered and then she continued. "I think she has a high temperature!" 
"How do you know she has high temperature, Candy?" Martha wanted to know. 
"Because she has a very hot forehead and she mumbles constantly, stuff that doesn't make sense." 
"What kind of things, Candy?" Martha wanted again to know.  "I don't know, but something about Captain Gregg." 
"If this is so, then she has a really high temperature. I think we should first get her properly into the bed." and Martha managed to accomplish that. "What now? We need a doctor but with this terrible blizzard, the doctor couldn't make his way out here. Somehow we must bring down her temperature!" Martha pondered. 
"Martha, I don't think she is ill. I think it is the absence of Captain Gregg that caused her fever." Jonathan said. He was back upstairs again. 
"Why do you believe that?" Martha wanted to know. 
"Because I heard the Captain and Mom last night. Both yelled at each other terribly. I couldn't hear what the fight was about. I just heard the last words of the Captain." 
"And what were his last words?" 
"He said that he never will come back." now Jonathan was close to tears.
"Jonathan, do you really think he is gone forever?" Candy asked. 
In this moment, Mrs. Muir's tiny voice was heard. "Captain, I'm so sorry. Please don't leave me, I need you. I can't live without you." 
"Kids, whatever it is, we must make sure that the Captain returns." Martha said. 
"I know where I can find the Captain." With those words, Jonathan was out of the room before Martha and Candy could ask him how he knew. 
"Candy, what did Jonathan mean, he knew where he could find the Captain?" Martha asked in a worried voice.
 "I don't know, Martha. If I knew it, I would tell you. But don't worry, he won't be doing anything dangerous." Candy tried to calm Martha but wasn't even quite convinced herself.
In the meantime, Mrs. Muir fought against her fever. She felt as if she were dead and walking through the other side. She was on her way to search for Daniel but couldn't find him on the other side, either. She began to cry. "Daniel, where are you? Please come back to me!" but she didn't get any answer. Now she was trembling more and more.
Martha and Candy began to worry that Carolyn was on the way to losing control over her body.  "Martha, I'm terribly worried about Mom. It seems she can't control her body any longer." Candy now had tear-stained eyes.
*****************
 At the same time, as he always did, Jonathan had found the Captain. When the Captain saw Jonathan, he asked him. "Jonathan, what are you doing here? And how did you find me?" and then he noticed Jonathan's tear-stained eyes and his frightened face. "What's the matter, lad? Why are you crying?" 
"Oh, Captain, it's so good that I have found you. I'm here to bring you back home." the boy said. 
"Why should I come back to Gull Cottage? I'm no longer needed there." 
"Captain, we need you. No, that isn't the whole truth, Mom needs you more."  When Jonathan said that, the Captain`s face began to darken. He began to thunder but then he suddenly stopped as he saw that Jonathan had begun to cry bitterly. "Oh, lad, please stop it. You know, I can't stand it."
The boy stopped his crying with great effort. "Please, tell me, what happened after I left?"  And Jonathan began to tell him what had happened. When he had finished, there was a moment of silence. "Please, Captain come back with me!" Jonathan pleaded. "What ever has happened between you and Mom last night, couldn't you forget it now? Mom needs you, really, please!" 
Daniel began to fight with himself. He had sworn never to go back to Gull Cottage. On the other hand, he loved Carolyn, more than the life he had lived. But he never would admit it. No, he couldn't leave her behind. Now that he knew that Carolyn was in trouble, perhaps because of the fight they had had, he decided to go back with Jonathan. "Come, lad, let us make our way home." he said finally. 
****************** 
Inside of Gull Cottage, Martha and Candy continued to sit beside Mrs. Muir`s bed. And Carolyn was still trembling. "Oh please, little brother, come back quickly!" Candy pleaded.
At first, Candy and Martha didn't noticed that Captain Gregg had materialized in the room. Then Candy saw him and called out happily. "Thanks to Jonathan, you are back, Captain! Where were you?" 
And now Martha noticed him, too. "Good thing you showed up, Captain. Mrs. Muir is in such a state over you. Did you know that you caused her fever? You..." but she couldn't continue. 
"Martha, that's enough!" Daniel yelled. "Maybe I should go again and never come back." 
When Carolyn in her subconscious became aware of Daniel's voice, she opened her eyes suddenly and cried with wild fire, "Stop! Both of you! It's my life!"
Martha and the Captain were perplexed after Mrs. Muir's last words. Candy jumped and ran out of the room because she knew what would come next. She decided to look for her brother, and find out where he had been. 
After Candy had left, Martha found her voice again. "Alright, I'll go downstairs and leave you both alone." On her way to the door, she turned around and shot the Captain a warning glance. "But, I'll be back should we have trouble here again!" and then she was out of the room. 
Now Daniel was alone in the room with Carolyn. She was still a little dazed from the fever, but suddenly she felt better as she looked in Daniel's eyes. "Oh, Daniel, I'm so happy you are back. And so sorry about last night. I know I shouldn't lose my temper. Can you forgive me?" 
"I'll forgive you. But it wasn't your fault alone, it was mine too. You know we both have our temper. So can you forgive me, too?"  "Oh yes, Daniel, I do." 
"How did you feel now?" 
"Much better, but..." 
"But what?" he knew what she wanted, but he would hear it from her lips. 
"Daniel, kiss me." Now it was out.  He sat down on the bed. He took her in his arms and then kissed her. Now she was very happy and her fever was gone.

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