Disclaimer: I didn't own the Ghost and Mrs. Muir characters. I only borrowed them. But the storyline and the characters of Donald, Elaine, Gary (that's are the names of three of my cousins), Oliver and Josephine (named in memory of my late uncle and aunt from Canada), Princess Lana and Captain David Mabery are mine.



Rating: K+

 

   The Rescue of a Princess

 Part One

  Carolyn made it back in time to Gull Gottage before the first lightning strike hit Schooner Bay and the worst of the thunderstorm swept over the cottage.  She had hardly made it inside the house, closing the door behind her, when the next lightning bolt hit the ground before the steps of the cottage following by a very terrible thunder clap. "Oh boy, that was close," Carolyn told herself because she was extremely glad not to have been hit by the lightning herself.

  Martha had heard the door and was glad to see that her employer had made it safely back into the house. She got a fright when finally facing Mrs. Muir because Carolyn looked so pale. "Mrs. Muir, are you alright? You look so pale."  she asked with concern.

 "Oh, Martha, is that a wonder?  I could have been dead if I hadn't made it into the house just in time before that lightning bolt hit the ground at the steps of Gull Cottage." Carolyn was still in shock.

 Meanwhile the worst of the thunderstorm was under way.  Martha also looked pale after hearing that news. "Oh, Mrs. Muir, I'm very glad you made it safely into the house. I think, we both could use a brandy right now."

 "Oh yes, I really think I need one."

 With that, both females made their way into the living room.  Just inside the door, Martha let Carolyn know that the children had made it home just in time too because the school was canceled earlier in view of the upcoming thunder storm. Carolyn was relieved to hear that.

 Meanwhile, upstairs, Jonathan and Candy were in the children's room when another lightning bolt just missed the house. "Oh boy, that was close!" Candy yelled with fright.

 "Oh yeah, Candy, that it was." Jonathan was a little frightened too. "Hope Mom gets home safely!"

 Neither realized that their mother was already home. At this moment, neither child had any idea that she had been lucky not have been killed by a lightning bolt herself. Outside the thunderstorm got worse and worse. More terrible lightning flashes and thunderclaps followed.

 At this moment, the captain appeared in the room. "Children, don't be afraid," he tried to calm the kids. "Gull Cottage has never been struck by lightning since I built it. You are really safe here. And don't worry about your mother either because she made back in time, too." He hid from the kids the news that their mother could have been almost killed by lightning.

 "Oh, Captain, that's very good news." both kids were relieved. And suddenly both winced again when another lightning bolt came very close to the house.

 Daniel noticed it and said. "You both should go below where your mother and Martha are."

 "Good idea!" Jonathan cried. "Candy, come on!  Let's hurry downstairs. Will you come with us, Captain? Maybe Mom and Martha need your protection, too!"

 "Of course I will."
*************
 At the same time, on the high seas, was the royal yacht, 'Princess Mary'.  It had left the coast of Canada about one and a half hours ago and was now on its way back to the Carribean island "San Victoria". At the entrance of Schooner Bay, the yacht got into that terrible thunderstorm. With wise foresight, Captain David Mabery had made sure that her highness Princess Lana, her bodyguard  Donald and her lady's maid Josephine were safe inside the yacht. But the Captain had completely forgotten the princess' habit of making excursions on deck even if the seas were very high and stirred up.

 While the captain and four other crew members desperately tried to hold the yacht on course, and in a unobserved moment, the princess Lana made her way back on deck to take a look at what the crew was doing and to see if she could help them.  On her way to the bridge, a bigger wave hit the yacht, overcame the princess and washed her overboard. Her terrible cry followed, but no one on board heard the princess Lana's cry for help.  She was desperately trying not to go down after noticing that nobody had heard her screams and she knew no one would miss her until the sea was calm again.

While the royal yacht was continuing her way through the very rough seas, the princess desperately fought against the high waves.  In this desperate hour, she saw the vision of her grandma, Queen Elaine, in her mind's eye.  Princess Lana knew she had to fight for her life because she wanted to see her grandmother again and, most of all, she wanted to be as good a queen some day.

 'Oh, Grandma, please help me!' she cried in her thoughts. Strength faded from the princess and, just as she was about to sink below the waves, a miracle happened and the waves washed her ashore where she lost consciousness completely.
***********************
 In the meantime, back in Schooner Bay and Gull Cottage, the terrible thunderstorm, which had raged two and a half hours, had gone away.  Only the rain was still continuing.  There was considerable chaos in the town. Some house roofs were partly covered and the ruins lay around everywhere. But fortunately no townspeople were seriously hurt, save a couple of really painful injuries.  Doctor Ferguson had his hands full with work.

 Claymore was one of the persons who had one of these painful injuries. He lay whimpering on the floor of his bedroom and stared at the hole in the roof of his house. A few drops of the still- continuing rain dripped on his face. He was thinking. 'I hope someone finds me because I can't get up myself. Seems as if my right leg is broken.'

 Then he yelled very loudly because he heard Ed's voice, who was shouting orders. And there were some women's voices, too.  "Hello!  If someone out there can hear me, please come and rescue  me.!  I can't get up by myself. Oh PLEASE!" Now Claymore's voice sounded completely in despair.

 Susan Leevey was one of the women doing her best to help the good doctor in his work. Suddenly she heard a man's voice yelling.  She knew from the sound of the voice that it belonged to Mr. Gregg. His voice sounded very pitiful. Not hesitating long, Susan ran into Claymore's office. The door to his bedroom was wide open.  She found him, whimpering with pain, lying on the ground. She knelt down beside him and tried to calm him.

 "Mr. Gregg, I'll get the doctor immediately," she said, after noticing his broken right leg. "Please, hold on a bit longer."  But Claymore didn't hear her because he had lost consciousness in his pain.  Susan hurried out of the house to fetch the good doctor.

 Meanwhile, in Gull Cottage, Carolyn, the kids, Martha and Daniel were sitting in the living room.  There was a roaring fire in the fireplace, and they were all playing a game together. Suddenly, Daniel seemed absent-minded because he missed his cue in the game 'Ghost'.

 Carolyn noticed it and said, "Captain, it's your turn."

 "What?" Daniel was still mentally absent.

 "Captain, what's the matter?  We are playing 'Ghost', remember?"

 "Oh, yes!" But Daniel was still somewhere else with his thoughts. His feeling told him that some stranger urgently needed help. Suddenly he said. "Mrs. Muir, we should stop this game because you and Martha need to hurry to the beach to take a look." Before Martha could ask why, Daniel continued, "Because there is someone lying on the beach, who could use help immediately from you both."

 Martha and Carolyn looked at each other with questioning faces but didn't say a word. Instead, they both got up and followed the captain's request. 
****************************
 At high sea again

 The royal yacht had made her way out of that terrible thunderstorm with some small damages. While Donald and Josephine slowly righted themselves again, the first mate, Oliver, made his rounds on deck to take a look at how bad the damages really were.  As he looked, he found a single shoe near the railing on the larboard side.  He picked it up and looked at it, getting a fright when he saw that it was Princess Lana's right shoe and it was soaked completely.

 "Oh NO!" he cried. "Please, God, let the princess be safely inside in the lounge or below in her cabin."

 Before hurrying  into the lounge, he gave the shipsboy Gary the order to take a look below and see if the princess was in her cabin.  It wasn't long before Gary was back on deck, with the bad news that the princess was nowhere below decks.

 "Oh no! Please, let her be in the lounge." the first mate prayed.  But there he only found the bodyguard and the lady's maid.

 Donald immediately noticed Oliver's worried face. "What's the matter, Oliver? Is something wrong with the yacht?"

 "No, no, the yacht is alright." Oliver wasn't sure how to tell that the princess was missing.  "Donald, I have some very bad news for you. Princess Lana is missing."

 "Missing?  What do you mean, she is missing? I thought she was below deck because the last time I saw her, she was making her way down the stairs." Donald was horrified when thinking the princess had done it again and had gone on deck in that terrible thunderstorm. 'Please NO!' he prayed. 'How can I face Queen Elaine?  She will never forgive for my inattentiveness.'  "Please don't tell me she was washed overboard without us noticing it."

 "I'm afraid, that's the case, Donald, because I found this shoe near the railing  of the larboard side and a little blood on the railing itself. It's better that I immediately tell the captain that we lost the princess somewhere in that thunderstorm."  With that, he left the lounge in big hurry.

 Captain Mabery acted immediately and turned the yacht around. On Donald's request, the captain didn't inform the coast guard but rather some friends of the bodyguard who would help in the search for the princess. He wanted to avoid the press getting wind of the princess' accident.   He didn't want Queen Elaine to learn from the media that the princess was lost at sea through his fault. He meant to inform her himself about her grand-daughter's accident in as gentle as way as possible. He knew it wouldn't be easy. He knew he would maybe lose Elaine forever because of this unpardonable incident.  He blamed himself for not having taken better care of the princess.
**************************
 At the same time, down the beach below Gull Cottage, the princess was still lying unconscious on the sand of the beach. The raindrops dripped at her face and body, and the wetness soon meant that Princess Lana began to open her eyes.

 As if seen through a veil, she was aware that she seemed to be lying on a beach. Where was she and what had happened? Her head was aching. Suddenly it hit her 'OH NO!' she cried in her thoughts. 'The royal yacht, where is it?' And then everything came back to her. The thunderstorm, the high waves and her being on deck of the yacht when she was met by a very big wave and then washed overboard.  Then another thought shot through her head -- she had, by a miracle, survived that terrible accident.

 She tried to sit up and succeeded. Her head was still aching terribly. She tried not to lose consciousness again. While looking around, she noticed only some outlines of her vicinity because she was still dazed. And now she realized she was freezing.  The last thing she was aware of was some hands grabbing her and drawing her away from this very cold place before  losing consciousness again.
********************* 

 Part Two

 Meanwhile, on the high seas at 5.00 p.m, the yacht had returned to the last position where Princess Lana's accident could have happened during that terrible thunderstorm. The sea was calm now. Two more yachts with full crews had arrived. Now they could immediately start the search before the darkness would make it impossible.  Donald  seemed really confident about finding the princess alive. He knew they had to find her highness  alive. He had been blamed for that accident by the queen herself, after he had informed her that the princess was missing at sea.

 Queen Elaine had immediately flown to Boston. Nothing could keep her in the palace.  She was praying that Lana would be found alive. The queen couldn't stand it if she would have maybe lost another family member in such short time by such an accident again. Her second son and Lana's father, Prince Robert, had lost his life also in a ship's accident. The queen was furious. Why had her 'Head Security' not taken better care of  her grand-daughter? Queen Elaine couldn't and wouldn't forgive him for this inattentiveness. She wished that Donald was standing before her right now, so she could beat him terribly with her fists. 
**************************
 At the same time in Gull Cottage, Carolyn and Martha had managed to get the trembling young lady into the house. They had taken her upstairs and into the spare room, where they had lain her down on the bed and freed her from her wet things. Now she was covered with several blankets. Lana burned with fever and she was trembling all over. Carolyn feared for the young lady's life. Now she only knew one thing, a ambulance was needed to bring the young lady to a hospital as quickly as possible.

 She was about to give Martha the order to call for a ambulance when suddenly Lana, in her feverish delusion, yelled. "NO, please!  I don't want to be taken to a hospital."  The princess wanted to avoid anybody learning her true identity. But before losing consciousness again, she whispered another single word, 'GRANDMA'.  Now Carolyn was really worried about the young lady.

 Before Martha could leave the room, Daniel was suddenly there and blocked the way to the door. "Martha, you can't make the phone call."

 "Why not, Captain?" Carolyn wanted to know.

 "Because the phone line is still dead. Remember, my dear?"

 "Oh, yes. How could I forget that?"

 Before she could continue, Daniel spoke again. "And don't forget the young lady's last words. You can't fetch a ambulance because we should respect her wish even if she said it in her feverish delusion."
 
 "But, Captain, we can't help her here.  She needs professional help from a hospital doctor."  Carolyn began to protest but then she changed her mind after looking in Daniel's blue eyes. There she saw something that told her that he knew more about the young lady than he wanted to say. "Alright! But if we let her stay, we need Doctor Ferguson. He has to come here and examine her. Agreed, Captain?"

 "Agreed, my dear. Martha shall drive into town and fetch the good doctor."

 "I will. And don't worry, Captain, I won't tell the doctor the truth about our guest's real state of health. He will notice it soon enough." And with that, Ms Grant hurried out the bedroom door, down the stairs and past Candy and Jonathan without a word. She went out the front door in the direction where the station wagon was parked. Fortunately, the car hadn't been damaged by the storm. Now she was on her way. She drove a rather zigzag course on her way to town because she had to evade some ruins which lay around everywhere.  In addition, she had to pay attention not to jump with her employer's car over the cliff because of the slippery road.  'Oh, my God, I hope I make it safe to town!' she thought.

 A short time later, Martha arrived unhurt in Schooner Bay. She got a fright when she saw the big mess which the thunderstorm had caused in the town. All over, uninjured townspeople were busy with tidying works. She got out the car and began searching for Doctor Ferguson. Suddenly she saw him standing by a ambulance. Ms Grant made her way to that car. She was really perplexed when seeing that the person on the stretcher was Claymore. He was conscious again and his right leg had been splinted provisionally.

 Claymore saw Martha standing behind the doctor. A little dazed from the syringe, the one which had been given him for the pain, he mumbled. "I have a broken leg, Martha. And I have to go to the hospital."

 "Oh, sorry to hear that, Claymore." Martha said with concern. Before the back door to the ambulance was closed, she continued, "I wish you a good recovery."

 After the ambulance had driven away, the doctor finally faced Martha. "How can I help you, Ms Grant? Has someone in Gull Cottage been injured by the storm, too?"

 "No, nobody in the cottage is hurt, but Mrs. Muir and I found a strange young female lying unconsciousness down the beach. I think she must have survived a ship's accident or something because her clothes were very wet."

 "Oh, I see. You want me to come with you and take a look at the young lady because she has become ill, right?" the doctor mused.

 "RIGHT, doctor!" came Martha's answer.

 But neither made it to Gull Cottage because Mrs. Muir's station wagon got stuck in the mud halfway there. Walking wasn't to be thought of either. It was rather slippery for a stroll to the house. What now?
*******************************
 In the meantime, Lana continued to talk about ever more confusing things in her feverish delusion. Carolyn and Daniel watched her but could do nothing about her present state. Carolyn put new cold cloths on her forehead, and both prayed that Martha would make it back in time with the good doctor in tow.

 Suddenly a knock at the front door got the attention of the children. "Who can that be, Candy?" Jonathan asked.

 "I don't know, little brother. Well, it can't be Martha because she has a key. Let's take a look." Candy suggested.

 And they did. Opening the door, both kids were perplexed to see Ms Leevey was standing before them. "Come in, Ms Leevey." Candy said, because she saw that Susan looked very tired.

 "Oh, thank you, Candy, Jonathan." and she came in. Closing the door behind her, Susan asked a bit tiredly. "Where is your mother?"

 "Mom is upstairs!" both kids called at the same and Jonathan continued, "She and Martha found a young female down the beach and brought her in here. The lady is very bad condition, I believe. Martha is in town to fetch Doctor Ferguson."

 "Oh, that doesn't sound good. May I take a look? Maybe I can help. My father is a doctor himself, and I have helped him several times in his work."

 "Wow!" Candy was astonished. "Alright, come with me. Jonathan, you should take a look outside to see if Martha is somewhere in sight."

 "Will do!" With that, the boy hurried out the front door.
************************** 
 
  Part Three FINALE

 Candy showed Ms Leevey to the spare room. "You'll find Mom and the lady in there, Ms Leevey. If you'll excuse  me now, I'll go below again. If you or mom needs me, you'll find me in the living room." And Candy left. 

 Susan  nocked at the spare room door and called with a little hoarse voice. "It's Susan Leevey here. May I come in?"

 Inside, Carolyn and Daniel looked at each other and then at Lana, who was still thrashing in her high feverish condition. "What do you think, Daniel?"

 "Well, you should let her in, my dear, because we don't know when Martha will be back with the good doctor in tow."  Daniel was wondering  why the  housekeeper wasn't back yet because she had left the house about a half an hour ago.  He hoped nothing had happened to her because he know  about the condition of the road. "And I think you really could use some help. And  don't worry, Carolyn. Ms Leevey can neither see nor hear me, unless I wish it."

 Carolyn knew Daniel was right. "I know, Daniel. I know." Before going to the door, she put a  new cold cloth  on the forehead of the young lady.

 Daniel vanished before Susan entered the bedroom, but before he left, he told his dearest he wanted to look for Martha. He was really worried about  her now.

 Once inside the room, Susan examined the young lady. Immediately she noticed  that Lana was in very, very bad  condition. Her very high fever was alarming. Susan was worried about Lana's life.  She knew the young lady really needed full medical support. Since she would only get that in a hospital, then Lana needed to be placed immediately in the intensive care unit. 

 When she told Carolyn her opinion, the two had a rather bad dispute about that subject. Carolyn didn't want  to take the young lady to a hospital but Susan was of a different opinion. Ms Leevey didn't want to fulfill Lana' s wish simply because she was the daughter of a hospital doctor. Her father  had taught her never to comply with the request of a person in the throes of a feverish  delusion.

 Neither Carolyn nor Susan suspected that her highness, because of her feverish delusion, was fully registering  everything in her near vicinity. In this moment, Lana saw again the face of her grandma in her mind's-eye.  She not only saw the queen's vision, but Donald was also there. Lana, in her feverish delusion, became a witness to a very bad dispute between her grandmother and the 'Head of Security' . The dispute between these  two seemed to be caused by Lana's terrible ship accident.  Elaine blamed Donald for his inattentiveness. She accused him of not having tried hard enough to prevent this accident, since he knew  about the escapades of her grand-daughter.


 As a countermove, Donald reproached Elaine for having permitted Lana's trip in the first place, so he said Elaine was also partly responsible for this accident.  Now the queen  was very furious. In her rage, she terribly scoured her 'Head  of Security' and yelled very  angrily.  "I never want to see you again, Donald.  Get out of my sight immediately."

 "Very well, your majesty. Goodbye!" Snorting with rage, Donald left the compact area and let Elaine be alone in her pain. NO! She wouldn't cry,  not about him. 

 Now the princess moved still more restlessly in her bed and yelled, "NO, NO, please NO! GRANDMA, please call Donald back!"

 And suddenly followed words which Susan hadn't expected. "And nobody takes me to a hospital, is that clear? Because it's my  life!"

 Lana's cry interrupted the dispute between Carolyn and Susan. "Now, Susan, you heard the young lady's request. And by the way, this is my house and I, for myself, do respect the wishes of my house guest even if they say it in a feverish delusion." Carolyn spoke very determinedly because it gradually dawned her now what was the true reason for the high fever of the young lady. It was certainly not the accident she had had alone.

 Susan left the room without a further word. Just outside the door, she knew Carolyn was right and wondered which devil had ridden her because of the illness of this pretty young lady causing her to argue with her best friend in such way.  Maybe the terrible events of this damn day but also her great tiredness had caused these reactions in her. She knew she needed a hot bath, a brandy and much sleep.

 Inside the room, Carolyn had meanwhile sat down on the bed, taken the young lady's right hand and squeezed it. Now she spoke very tenderly to the still strongly-trembling Lana. "I don't know what troubles you, my dear. But I can see your anguish. I wish I could help you. If only you could tell me your name, so I could really help you." Continuing in her thought. 'Oh Daniel, please come back soon and with Martha in tow.' Now she was worried about Martha, too.
***********************
 Back on high seas, night was falling. Hours had now passed since they had started the search for the princess. But the result was depressing as no sign of her highness had been found anywhere at sea. In view of the upcoming darkness, the search was stopped.  Donald, however, did not want to accept this result. His friends tried in vain to get him to stop the search but didn't succeed. After the other two yachts had left, the royal yacht 'Mary' anchored for the night in the bay above Schooner Bay. Nobody on board suspected that Lana wasn't all too far away from them.
**********************
  At eight P.M., Daniel discovered Mrs. Muir's car. It was stuck very deep down in the mud. And it had begun raining again. Inside the car, Martha was still awake and shivering over her whole body.  Doctor Ferguson had meanwhile  fallen asleep in the passenger seat. Nothing could get him awaken. The housekeeper was praying that someone would come and rescue her. She was so tired, but she knew she should not fall asleep. She tried to keep her eyes open.

  And the miracle happened; as if by magical hands, she was transported back into the cosy warm cottage. When opening her eyes again, she immediately noticed that she lay on the couch of the living room. The roaring fire warmed her. And candles were all around because the power still was not back on.  Jonathan and Candy were upstairs and Ms Leevey had somehow managed to get home to her own warm cottage.

Carolyn was still sitting on the bed and she squeezed Lana's right hand. The princess  was still continuing with her babbling of nonsense, as it seemed to outsiders. When Daniel appeared in room to take a look at how the lady was doing, he saw Carolyn on the bed and said, "I found Martha and brought her home. But your car is still stuck in the deepest mud.  Somehow I managed to transport the young doctor back home, since he was with Martha in the car."

 "Oh Daniel, that's good news." Carolyn was relieved. "The car isn't so important at the moment, the main thing is, our good Martha has remained uninjured." Seeing Daniel's questioning face, she continued. "I had a dispute with Susan about our ill female guest.  As you can see, she left."

 "Oh, I see, Carolyn." Daniel had a certain idea what had to have happened during his absence. "How is the young lady doing?"

 "She still has her high fever. But what worries me the most are her very peculiar fever dreams."

 "Peculiar fever dreams, you say?" Daniel asked. "What kind of fever dreams?"

 "Well, I can't tell you. Please have a seat, Daniel, and watch. Then you will learn what kind of dreams I mean." Carolyn was still squeezing the princess' feverish right hand. And then again she put a new cold cloth on the princess' still glowing forehead.

 Her highness had yet another peculiar dream. Lana found herself again in the royal palace and she was once again witness of another bad conversation between her grandma and Donald. This time it was all about the love relation between the queen and her 'Head Security'. Donald had asked Elaine once again if she would consider marrying him. It was high time to bring their relationship into the public view.  But Elaine had turned him down again. It was the same old story. She still was the queen and he was her 'Head of Security', so a real open relationship between the two would be impossible right now.

 But Donald didn't want to wait any longer, so he left forever. Lana couldn't stand the anguish of both, so she yelled again. "NO, NO, please NO!" GRANDMA, DONALD!" Lana 's strengths faded. She fell into a coma.

 "Oh NO! Daniel, what can we do?" Carolyn had tears in her eyes. "She mustn't die. She still is so young."

 "Please, don't cry, my darling." and he took Carolyn in his protecting arms. 
*****************  
 It was a terrible night. Carolyn stood night-watch with Lana, who was still in coma. Sleep wouldn't come for Carolyn, although she was terribly tired. Daniel was by her side. He was very worried about his beloved's health condition. But he couldn't persuade her to rest.  Fortunately, neither the children nor Martha knew of this unbearable condition. And for that the captain was grateful, that all three were slumbering peacefully in bed.

 On the Royal Yacht, Donald was pacing the ship's deck like a hungry tiger. He simply couldn't sleep, either. His thoughts were always with Elaine. How would she react when he maybe had to tell her that Lana lost her life?  NO, he didn't want to think of this extreme case. He knelt down by the railing on the starboard side and began to pray.

 In Boston, sleep wouldn't come for Elaine either. Like her 'Head of Security', she was pacing her hotel suite.  Now she knelt down, too, and began to pray. 
********************
 Against Six A.M on the next morning, Carolyn had finally fallen asleep. It wasn't conscious for her that she lay next the princess in the same bed. Daniel was still watching both ladies.

 Two hours passed, and thanks to the nearness of Carolyn, Lana woke up from her coma. Her forehead wasn't glowing any more. She blinked and suddenly her eyes were wide open and finally she looked in the deep blue eyes of the captain. "Who are you?" she asked, astonished, because she hadn't suspected to see a man in the bedroom. And finally she noticed a sleeping female body by her side. And then something deep down told her that she was facing a ghost. But she had no fear because Daniel looked so friendly.

 Well, you may wonder how it could be possible that the princess could see the captain. Quite simply, he had made himself visible to her. "My dear, your are safe here. I am Captain Daniel Gregg, at your service. Glad to see you recovered from your bad illness."

 "Captain, where am I? The only thing that I remember is that I was on deck of the Royal Yacht 'Mary' in that terrible thunderstorm on the sea. I was trying to reach the bridge when a big wave hit the yacht, overcame me and then finally washed me overboard. I remember that I cried for help but nobody heard me. I know I struggled very desperately with the sea and then I know nothing more."  Then it occurred to her again about the weird dreams she had had when she was in a feverish delusion. "I must have spoken rather confusing things, I believe."

 "Not at all, my dear. But now you should tell me your name."

 "Oh, how could I forget? I'm Princess Lana of San Victoria, Captain."

 "Well, nice to meet you, your highness."

 "Oh no, please call me Lana. That sounds much better than your highness."

 "Very well, Lana."

 In this moment Carolyn began move and opened her eyes. Immediately she was out of the bed after noticing the young lady was awake.  Daniel immediately noticed Carolyn's questioning face. "It's alright, my dear. May I introduce you? Carolyn, this is Princess Lana of San Victoria. And Lana, this is Mrs. Carolyn Muir."

 "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Muir."

 "Oh, please call me, Carolyn."

 "Very well, Carolyn. Then you should call me Lana."

 "Well Lana, nice to meet you, too. And I'm glad to see you have recovered from your bad illness. We all were very worried about you."

 "I can imagine, because I must have spoken considerable confused things, Carolyn." Lana said.

 "I think, NO, Lana!" Carolyn said with a grin on her lips. Her tiredness was as blown away. "Well, since you are awake, what do you think about a big breakfast?"

 "Sounds great, Carolyn. I'm really starving and very thirsty. Where is the bathroom? I think I should take a bath before breakfast. I really could use one after all this sweating health cure." Lana felt really well.  "And at breakfast I'll inform you who you should call and tell that I'm alive."

 "Very well, Lana. Come with me." Carolyn said and then she remembered the naked state of the princess. "I'll better get you a bathrobe of mine before you leave the bed."

 Lana knew what Carolyn meant because Captain Gregg was still in the room. "I'll wait for your return, Carolyn."

 "Good, I'll be back in a instant. Captain, you better come with me."

 "Oh yes, my dear." And both left the room.

 Just outside Carolyn said, "That was very sweet of you, Captain to show yourself to the princess."

 "My dear, how often must I tell you that I'm not sweet?" And he vanished.
*******************************
 At 1:00 P.M. in the afternoon, Candy and Jonathan were, like the other children, in school and Martha had Ed's help with the tidying work, and getting her employer's car out of the mud. Carolyn and Daniel were still in the house together with Lana, who impatiently awaited her grandmother. Daniel had discovered the Royal Yacht. He had somehow managed to inform Donald through Captain Mabery that the princess was alive and where she could be found.

 Donald, for his part, had immediately called Elaine in Boston and told her the good news. Now she was on her way to Schooner Bay, as a friend of Donald's was driving her to the small town.
About three o'clock, the queen and her 'Head of Security' arrived at Gull Cottage. Immediately Lana hugged her grandma after she and Donald had entered the house. "Oh grandma, I'm so happy to see you. Grandma, may I introduce you?  This is Mrs. Carolyn Muir, who saved my life."

 "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Muir. I must really thank you for saving the life of my grand-daughter."

 "Your Majesty, you're welcome." Carolyn said politely. "But tell the truth, I wasn't alone. I had help from my housekeeper, Ms  Martha Grant. She and I together found the princess down on the beach. But Martha isn't here right now."

 "Oh, too bad." The queen said. "Well, maybe I can also meet her someday. Well then, Lana, it's high time to get back to San Victoria, as duty calls."

 "A pity. But Grandma is right, it is high time to get back to my royal life. But I promise I'll come back, Carolyn."  Before she left, she hugged Carolyn very tightly. Lana had tears in her eyes when finally leaving the cottage with her grandma and Donald.

 Carolyn was standing alone in the living room. She seemed very sad but Daniel comforted her by taking her in his protective arms. "Carolyn, my darling, you will see her again, believe me."

 "I know, Daniel, I know."
***********************
 Three weeks later, Carolyn got a phone call from San Victoria. It was Lana who invited Carolyn, the children and Martha to visit her and her grandma on the royal Carribean island. Of course, the captain was invited, too, because Lana knew about him and she wanted to see him again.

The End????
Stories