Kate Chapter 34
From: Karen
It took Kate and Carolyn almost a week to clean out Kate’s new office. Carolyn thought they would never finish. 30 boxes of books had been carted to the library to be sorted. Kate threw away final papers dating from 20 years ago. She and Carolyn laughed at the eccentricities of Professor Bates.
"I can’t believe he kept all this stuff." Carolyn exclaimed. "Some of these papers are older than I am!"
A lot older than I am, mused Kate. Aloud, she said, "I wonder why Professor Bates held on to the papers. I read a few of them, there wasn’t anything earth-shattering written. Just typical college presentations of American history." She put the last pile of papers in the large garbage can in the hallway. "I feel sorry for the custodian. This can has to weigh a ton!" she said.
"At least you can find your way around now, Kate." Carolyn said. "Now we know what the desk looks like. Isn’t it beautiful?" She ran her hand along the top of the old cherry desk.
It was beautiful. Kate thought it had been made early in the 20th century. The drawers had a wonderful aroma coming from them. It smelled fresh and clean, although no one had cared for the desk in years.
"What a shame to hide such a lovely old thing." said Kate. "Now that everything is cleaned, I hope it stays that way." she laughed. "My desk at home was messy, but not as bad as Professor Bates’s."
"It’s your desk now, Kate." said a voice from the door. The two women turned to find Professor Stokes standing in the doorway, admiring their handiwork. "You may do with it what you will." he said smiling.
"Eliot, what a surprise! How nice. Did you come to rescue us from our drudgery? If not, begone!" Kate said, greeting the professor warmly.
He laughed at her jest. "I shall have to leave then. I just came by to see how things were coming along." He surveyed the office. "I must say, you two have certainly changed things." Eliot wandered over to the window. "You know," he said as he looked out, "I always wondered what the view was from this window. No wonder old Bates had all those books in front of it. You overlook the parking lot!"
"Isn’t it awful?" Carolyn said. "I am bringing Kate a plant that will cover the view. A nice ivy, I think."
Kate laughed. "I think an ivy might be over-kill. The outside is already covered with ivy. I need something different."
"A giant spider plant would hide the parking lot quite nicely, don’t you think Professor?" Carolyn asked Professor Stokes.
"I know nothing about plants, Carolyn. I will let you two fight it out amongst yourselves. I must go." Professor Stokes said. "I will see you on Thanksgiving Day, Carolyn. Kate, I shall see you on Monday. Good day to you both." With a slight bow, Eliot left.
Kate sat down at her desk. "I am glad your mother invited Eliot for Thanksgiving. He is such a nice man. And I think he likes Elizabeth very much." she said slyly.
"Do you think so, Kate? I hadn’t noticed. I will have to ‘spy’ on them at dinner." Carolyn said. "Professor Stokes is a nice man and a good friend to our family."
Carolyn sat down in the chair reserved for visitors. "Oh, Kate, I almost forgot. Willie Loomis has been looking for you."
"Willie? What does he want, I wonder?" Kate said as nonchalantly as she could. Did Willie have a message from Barnabas?
"Did you tell him I was here most of the time?" Kate asked.
Carolyn nodded her head. "He came to the house earlier in the week, but you had just left for the day. I told him where you were, but he didn’t seem too interested. Maybe colleges intimidate him." she shrugged. "Anyway, a couple of times he came to see you in the evening, but you had already gone to bed. Whatever he wants, it must be private. He wouldn’t let me take a message for him."
"Well, perhaps I should go to the old house and find out what he wants." Kate said. "Listen, I am exhausted. Let’s go back to Collinwood. That way I can go to the old house and talk to Willie." She stood up and grabbed her coat and bag.
Carolyn followed Kate out to the car. As Carolyn drove back to Collinwood, she asked cautiously, "Do you suppose Barnabas might be here for Thanksgiving dinner?" She glanced quickly at Kate to see what her reaction would be.
Kate didn’t answer right away. When she did answer, she turned away so Carolyn did not see her tears.
"I don’t, Carolyn. It’s is up to Barnabas to come or not." Kate replied, brushing away the tears. "Let’s talk about something else, okay?"
"All right, Kate." Carolyn said, sympathetically. "Do we have everything we need for Thanksgiving dinner? I think we do."
Carolyn and Kate had decided to cook Thanksgiving dinner for the family, giving Mrs. Johnson the day off to spend with friends.
"Mrs. J ordered the biggest turkey I have ever seen. It must weigh thirty pounds! It will be delivered Wednesday. We have all the ingredients we need for pumpkin and mincemeat pies. I want to go to the green grocer’s for fresh cranberries. That’s about it, I think." Kate replied.
"I think that’s it, too. The oysters for the dressing will be delivered on Wednesday, as well." Carolyn said. "I am so excited about cooking ourselves. I have never cooked a whole dinner before. Uncle Roger has been teasing me about burning the water." Carolyn laughed.
"Don’t worry, Carolyn. Roger will be eating his words when he gets a taste of our cooking!" Kate said.
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Willie was getting nervous. He had tried to deliver Barnabas’ note to Kate all week. She was either at the college in Rockport or in bed. He didn’t like the idea of going to the college. School had not been a pleasant experience for Willie; college would be too much for him to bear. All those smart students walking around like they owned the place. He was afraid to step on campus.
Willie finally decided to wait at the gates in his car. It was cold, but if he turned the car on for a half-hour or so, it wasn’t so bad.
After waiting for about 2 hours in the cold, Willie saw Carolyn’s car. He honked his horn and got Carolyn’s attention. She pulled over and Kate got out of the car. She motioned for Carolyn to head for the house. Willie unlocked the front passenger door and Kate slid in next to him.
Handing Kate the note, Willie said, "Barnabas wanted me to give this to ya. It’s kinda late. I couldn’t catch you at the big house. Sorry."
Kate took the note from Willie. "It’s okay, Willie. I understand. I have been pretty busy lately." she said.
They sat in the car in silence. Kate clutched the note in her hands. Willie didn’t know what to say. At last, he said, "Ya want me to take ya home now, Kate?"
"Yes, please, Willie. Thank you." she replied. He thought the ‘thank you’ was for the note, not for the ride.
"Sure, no problem." Willie said, making his way down the winding drive to the big house.
When the car arrived at the front door, Kate opened the door to get out. Willie put his hand on her arm. She looked at him, puzzled.
"Kate," he said, "don’t ya wanna know how he’s doin’?"
At his question, Kate sat back in the seat. Turning to Willie with a hurt look in her eyes, she said, "I am sure he is fine, Willie. And don’t you dare tell me not to give up hope." she said when he opened his mouth to speak. "Thanksgiving is next week. It has been four weeks since he went on this little adventure of his." Kate’s voice rose in anger.
"If Barnabas Collins thinks I am going to wait around here forever, he is sadly mistaken! Just because I got a job doesn’t mean I am a permanent resident of Collinwood. And you can tell him that for me! Goodbye, Willie. Thank you for driving me to the door." Kate said as she slammed the car door closed.
Watching her stomp into the house, Willie let out a heavy sigh. He didn’t know what the note said, but he would wait to hear from Kate again before he gave Barnabas her message. Not for the first time, he wished Kate and Barnabas would stop all this nonsense and get back together. He was losing his patience with the two of them.
"I might just have to something about it." Willie said to himself as he drove to the old house. "Yep, I don’t know what yet, but I’ll think of somethin’!"