Chapter Two

Judy Adams

 Catherine browsed through Jacob’s new clothes one-by-one and chose a soft, kelly green jumper for his outing with Peter.  She gathered his shirt and accessories, then packed his bag, but decided to leave him in his pajamas until after breakfast.  Olivia or any of the other Tunnel women would be more than happy to bathe and change him so he would be clean and ready to go when Peter arrived to pick him up and take him out to see the Above world once again.  With so much to do before Winterfest, the Tunnel residents needed all the time they could spare to prepare for the festivities, so several Helpers took charge of the younger members of the community for a day here-and-there in the weeks prior to the occasion.  Many of them helped the little ones make decorations so that they, too, would feel the joy of contributing to the happiness it would bring to all of the Helpers the community had gained through the years.  After all, even the women who cared for the children in the Tunnel’s nursery needed time for their own Winterfest preparations.

Jacob smiled and giggled as his mother scooped him up along with his traveling bag, her tote bag, and other necessities for her own private errands, and headed out toward the Dining Chamber.  After walking for several yards, she suddenly remembered that she hadn’t yet checked for messages, something that was usually so automatic, and turned back toward the chamber from which she had just come. 

On days when Vincent had to leave extra early to work on an unexpected project and Catherine had no early morning duties below, Pascal, not wanting to wake her and Jacob, sent one of the children to deliver their messages to the two little boxes that sat in the small nook carved into the stone wall beside their chamber entrance.  Although she and Vincent each had their own little box, just in case there were any private man-to-man or woman-to-woman messages for each of them, most of the messages not of a personal nature were automatically put into Catherine’s little green box, while Vincent’s blue one often remained empty.  Everyone knew that since Catherine moved below, Vincent’s mind just wasn’t on things such as messages, while Catherine, still in attorney mode, still handled routine daily tasks with as much organization and professionalism as she had when she’d worked for the D.A.’s office only a year earlier.  Well, except for today. 

Catherine scanned the messages quickly, and seeing that although some were marked *private*, none was marked as urgent, so she decided to wait until she and Jacob finished their breakfasts before reading them. She tucked the notes into her sweater pocket, and together mother and son again headed off for the Dining Chamber.

***

"Now don’t forget -- not a word!" Vincent whispered out loud to William as he sped off in the opposite direction upon seeing Catherine and Jacob take seats at the far wall next to Olivia and Kanin. 

Though Catherine knew he wasn’t on a dangerous mission, she did think that Vincent was on one of the lower levels handling tunnel business, and he just couldn’t run the risk of her finding out about his plan now.  He’d kept it a secret this long.  Everybody’d kept the secret for weeks!  But soon…  She would find out soon.

***

Catherine had just finished feeding Jacob and had taken the last bite of her second biscuit as Peter arrived, earlier than expected.  He partook of some honey-sweetened tea that William offered, and stayed for a while to chit-chat with some young and new mothers who always appreciated his free medical advice and amusing child-rearing stories, both successes and bloopers.  After the young women and their children left the table, Peter took Jacob and departed for Above, and Catherine found herself alone at the table.  She took a deep whiff of William’s special brew of coffee that he had blended and prepared especially for her, then drank half the contents of her monstrous cup in just a few sips.

It was a relief to know that Vincent’s early morning project wasn’t an unsafe one.  Catherine worried a bit, as anyone would, whenever there was an urgent project like flooding, falling rocks and the like; but things had been pretty quiet and peaceful in the tunnels for the past weeks.  It seemed as though everything for this year’s Winterfest was falling into place, and that even the Tunnels themselves knew that the residents just didn’t have need of those sorts of complications this time of the year.

Catherine took the first message, read the outside, Private for Catherine, from Carla, the butcher’s wife.

 "My son, the one whose wife’s family owns that farm in Pennsylvania, said they have an overabundant crop of potatoes this year and he left a few bushels here at the shop.  Please, will you ask Vincent to send a group up to get some of them no later than the day after tomorrow, if possible?  I need the space.  And Devin wants you to call him at the diner, and he said it’s private.  Don't tell anyone, especially Vincent and your friend, Jenny."

She couldn't help but laugh at the last three lines, then put the note aside and unfolded the next message.

Private for Catherine, from Mrs. Linden:  "Thank you for offering an escort for Winterfest, and yes, I’d love to spend the night.  By the way, Devin wants to talk with you.  It sounded important, but he said don’t tell Vincent or Jenny.  He said to call him at the diner."

Of course the invitation and acceptance were just routine.  Mrs. Linden’s bursitis had been acting up for several years now, and certain residents were always escorted to Winterfest, and some stayed the night so they wouldn’t have to go out in the cold night air.  Many of their elderly or widowed Helpers delighted in staying until after breakfast the following morning, and none would miss Winterfest for any reason whatsoever. 

Catherine started to laugh out loud as she read the final two messages, but put her hand over her mouth and looked around to see if anyone was watching or listening.

Private for Catherine, from Mrs. Yang:  "Please call Devin at the diner.  Shhh…  Don’t tell.  It’s a secret."

To Catherine, from Jenny Aronson:  "I forgot to ask how I should dress for Winterfest.  What are you wearing?  And what about Vincent and Devin?  By the way, did you find out if he's coming?"

"Well, I guess I know what my first errand today will be," Catherine mused to herself.

Something must be up for Devin to ask for her through so many of the Helpers, Catherine surmised.  She’d rearranged the order of her errands and visit Mrs. Linden first.  In exchange for free legal work she’d done for the widow after her husband died last year, Mrs. Linden insisted that Catherine use her phone any time she wanted to, even for long distance, and explained that she would feel hurt if she wasn’t taken up on her offer. It had been difficult at first for Catherine to accept freebies from those both Above and Below, but Vincent made her realize that, just as Mrs. Linden always said, the Helpers loved feeling needed, so she had agreed to accept the kind woman’s offer.

The back room of the bakery was just perfect for whenever Catherine needed a quiet place to chit-chat and make plans.  She wasn’t sure what Devin was up to, but she knew it must be terribly important to him.  She also knew she would have to call him soon, because she was just dying to find out whether this matter concerned Vincent, Father, or hopefully, her dear friend, Jenny. Or maybe he needed some legal advice about the diner he’d started about nine months ago.  It had been doing very well, or so he’d said. She gulped down the rest of her coffee, grabbed her bag and planner, and headed for the entrance to the bakery from Below.

***

"What’s with the new name, Mrs. Linden?" Catherine called out when she saw the shiny new sign, leaning against the wall across from the telephone stand. The shop had been called Linden’s Bakery for as long as she could remember.

♥ Sweets for My Sweet ♥

"Catchy name," she thought.

"I’ve decided to retire and spend some time relaxing and visiting with the kids and grandkids," Mrs. Linden told Catherine dreamily, "so I sold the place, and the new owner is taking possession in just a few days. That sign was sent over a couple of days ago. Don’t worry, though. I wrote it in the contract that you still get phone privileges, even long distance!"

Both women laughed, and then as Mrs. Linden continued arranging her delicacies neatly on the doily-lined trays in the shop’s display cases up front, Catherine dialed the diner’s number.

"Wells’ Diner," the voice on the other end of the line proudly announced.

Devin had been extremely busy with starting the business totally from scratch, as he had salvaged a run-down train car, got a pretty good deal on what a short time later turned out to be a small piece of prime real estate, and made a very popular establishment out of it. Under the circumstances, not even Father could fault him for not having kept in contact over the last several weeks.

"Hello, Wells’ Diner! How are you?" Catherine tried not to let her curiosity get the better of her, so she waited for him to tell her whatever was on his mind.

As soon as he heard Catherine’s voice, Devin told his hostess to take over, and he gave the phone call his full attention.

"Cathy, it’s good to hear from you! Umm… Sorry I haven’t called lately. It’s been a bit hectic here, but things are going better than expected. I’ve got so many things to tell you!"

"That’s great! Father’s very proud of you, you know, and so are Vincent and I, and well, everyone! It’s just amazing what you’ve been able to do in so short a time," Catherine told him, and she meant every word.

Devin was getting used to hearing compliments, and it felt better and better each time. He’d worked really hard to show that he could be the sort of son his father could be proud of, but he also had another reason for wanting to better himself in this stage of his life.

"Cathy, I have a couple of surprises I’m working on, but I need some help. This is what I’m thinking…"

***

Since Vincent told him that keeping busy would help take his mind off Jamie while she was attending classes Above, Mouse decided to spend the morning gathering crystals from the smaller, but closer, of the two caverns which grew these precious items. He’d promised Vincent and Father that he’d never go to the deeper cavern alone. He knew he’d be safe and could always find his way back, no matter how far he went, but a promise was a promise, and he tried to keep it. Vincent had recently told him that keeping promises was a very grown-up thing to do, unless keeping the secret would hurt others. This child-like man wanted so much to be grown up for Jamie. Father and Mary had told him how much everyone loved him and would miss him if he were ever to leave and not come back. He wondered if Jamie would miss him, too. So, with the prospect of being grown-up in Jamie’s eyes, Mouse was determined to keep all promises that he made, unless keeping them would hurt others.

Mouse spent the rest of the afternoon looking over the handful of crystals he’d brought back to the workshop portion of his chamber. He’d learned from Vincent that bigger wasn’t always better, so he didn’t mind that the crystals from this cavern were smaller than the ones from way down below. He spread them out on his work table so he could take a closer look. A tiny one caught his eye with its exceptional sparkle. There was no doubt that this would be the one he would use.

"Mouse like. Jamie will like. Jamie maybe like present and Mouse, too!"

Opening drawers and searching through baskets, Mouse found all of the proper tools he would need to finish his gifts on time this year. He’d learned to plan ahead, thanks to Vincent, and had already made gifts for most of the Tunnel friends his age and younger, and there were only a few more of the special ones left to make.

Mouse got out his tools and one of his rolls of special jewelry wire and began twisting a long piece into a coiled basket that would hold the special, tiny crystal he’d chosen just moments ago. He squinted his eyes, chewed on his bottom lip, and even held his breath a few times as he worked on this most special gift of them all. Even if it took all day and night, Mouse was determined to work on this gift until he got it just right!

***

Mary sat in her chair and rocked. It was so quiet.

"Not even a sound from the pipes tonight," she said out loud to herself, before taking in a deep breath through her nose, and then letting it back out through her mouth.

She thought about how happy she’d been, living in the Tunnels all these years, having so many children to care for -- and about Father. She also thought about how lonely she sometimes felt. Even knowing that there were so many people around and knowing how much everyone loved her, she was still lonely, at night, when she had a few moments to herself to think.

Tomorrow. Perhaps tomorrow will be different. It’s the same thing she thought every night before bed. Maybe things will be different… tomorrow.

Mary crawled into bed, then leaned over to blow out her one lit candle. She closed her eyes, but tonight, sleep just wouldn’t come.

***

By the time Catherine finished the rest of her errands and got back to the Tunnels, it was very late. Good thing she alerted everyone ahead of time so they wouldn’t worry. Everyone knew that they trusted their special bond, but they worried anyway.

She made her way to the Dining Chamber, knowing that dinner was over, and stopped at the entrance to the now-empty space. Just as she was about to turn away, William brought out a plate of her favorites, all heated up, and a cup of warm cocoa.

"I knew you’d be hungry," he said as he set the plate and mug down before her. "You’re always starving after you’ve finished a full day of errands, and everybody knows that!"

William winked and met Catherine’s bright smile with his own as he returned to the kitchen area, knowing that Vincent would be much happier with a satisfied Catherine instead of a hungry one. Well, not hungry for food, anyway. He snickered to himself as he finished up his chores for the evening.

It had probably been a long day for everyone, but that didn’t make Catherine’s feet hurt any less. She ate what she could, washed her own plate, utensils, and put them away, and headed for the chamber she shared with Vincent. Peter wouldn’t be bringing Jacob home until late morning, so they’d have their chamber alone for the second night this week.

When reaching their chamber, Catherine changed into her night clothes and crawled into bed next to the already-sleeping Vincent.

"You must have had a busier day than usual, my love," she whispered, though not really expecting him to hear. It was rare indeed for Vincent to fall asleep without waiting for her to get home. She slid her arm across his chest, put her head on his shoulder as he rolled onto his back, and drifted off to sleep effortlessly, as Vincent awoke just enough to manage a light kiss on his wife’s forehead before drifting back to sleep himself.

~