Francis peeked at the note attached to the basket and read: "Welcome to our community. We hope you will be very happy here and that we can become close friends. Please enjoy the basket contents and call me if you would like. My name is Gladys Toadstool and my number is 572-0314."
Francis put the basket in the kitchen and proceeded to empty it. It's odd assortment included: ginger/lemon tea, chicken crackers, 1 dozen farm-fresh eggs, home-made chocolate chip cookies, a bottle of imported champagne, and a package of band-aids!
" Well," Francis thought, " I better call and thank her for her thoughtfulness. 'Hello Mrs. Toadstool. This is Francis Long. Thank-you for your amazing basket you brought to us.'"
"Oh, I'm so happy you like it and I am glad you have come to join our community. Now you must come to tea with me and Daisy Fluffy Feathers. How about today at 2:00?" Mrs. Toadstool told Francis more than asked her.
Francis walked over, as it was only a short distance away and a cute, little old lady answered the door. "Come in, come in. I'm Mrs. Toadstool. Let's go to the kitchen." And so, stepping over piles of newspapers and around overstuffed boxes, they made their way to a light , airy, kitchen/ dining room. One whole wall was dedicated to windows and the curtains were flapping around in the breeze. The curtains were a quaint yellow and red print and the wallpaper was red-checked.
The tea kettle signaled it was ready with a loud whistle and by the time Mrs. Toadstool set the table with cups and saucers, crackers, cookies and tea, they had a visitor sitting outside on the windowsill.
"Francis, please meet Daisy Fluffy Feathers." As Mrs. Toadstool poured the chicken some tea in a saucer and lined the saucer with chicken crackers, the chicken, a beautiful Rhode Island red, wearing a straw hat that had seen better days, set in to enjoy her tea. They talked, getting acquainted and when Daisy had had enough, Mrs. Toadstool declared tea over and started clearing it away. " I do hope you will come visit me next Tuesday. I have enjoyed visiting with you immensely and Daisy did, too! She ate all of her tea."
Walking home, Francis thought about how interesting Mrs. Toadstool was. She wondered what would have happened if she hadn't finished her tea before Daisy, since Daisy seemed to signal the end of the little tea party. Mrs. Toadstool was very kind and hospitable, even though a little absent minded.
After tea, it was a busy day with the washer and dryer and rototiller being delivered. The plumber got the appliances installed and they got started tilling the garden. They all took turns with even Mark able to till a few feet of earth. Julie made the most progress, as she was so determined to get the garden planted. They talked about where to put the different plants over a picnic lunch. They had pimento cheese sandwiches with tomato slices and lettuce and nice, cool lemonade, freshly squeezed.
Julie said, "I can't wait for our tomatoes to grow so we can have homegrown tomatoes on our sandwiches."
Mark said, "Let's get back to work; this is fun!"
Julie, Francis and Mark managed to get the whole garden area tilled and decided to do the planting and put up the stakes in the morning. After a day of hard work, they all got cleaned up and the kids went right to sleep.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Francis was unwinding on the secret porch with some freshly brewed decaf, and had actually poured two cups, just in case she had a visitor. She hadn't really gotten much closure from their last conversation and was hoping to change that. When she saw the other cup rise in the air and then hover over the other chair, she had to hide her smile. The ghost slowly faded into appearance.
Francis knew that she must protect the children and realized how unconventional this was, but In spite of herself, she felt a twinge of excitement at seeing the pink cane chair filled with the coffee drinking ghost.
Francis allowed her eyes to soak in the full sight of the handsome man now fully visible, "I thought we had agreed you would go away. You know we can't have a ghost living here and scaring the kids and disrupting everything."
The ghost had a stern look that made Francis's blood boil, "No, we agreed that since I can't leave the house, and I am just a normal human being minus a body, and that I haven't scared the children and am not planning to, we will live in harmony together in Huntington Acres."
Francis said, "But I am not a witch or a psychic or anything; why would you decide after all of these years to all of a sudden appear now, when we move in? There's nothing magical about me to attract ghosts."
He replied, "Speaking from a ghost's perspective, I find you plenty attractive, but I digress. Madam, the word you are looking for is 'medium', and obviously it doesn't take a medium for a ghost to appear and to top that off, I have no control of you seeing me. I tried for years, as I have already told you, I've tried to make contact with people and it never worked until now. Until you," He took a sip of his coffee and continued, "Actually, I think now that I am capable of appearing, whether that's thanks to your company or something else, I plan on practicing controlling my ability to appear and disappear. Thank you for that excellent idea. And, since we have been thrown together in these circumstances, I believe the solution is to make the best of the situation and learn how to get along," he said with a twinkle in his eyes!
"Aarg, you are just so frustrating and I am too tired tonight to go on arguing!" Francis didn't really mean it, but that's what came out.
"Where are the children? Did they go to bed already?" the ghost asked. "Yes, they had a busy day! What does that have to do with our argument?" Francis grunted out.
"Nothing. That's why I said it. I just realized I don't know your name, other than 'mom' as the kids call you. Personally, I don't feel comfortable calling you that," The ghost said with a slight smirk on his face and a twinkle in his emerald eyes.
Francis tried to push her anger down. She was not going to storm off again, "I won't introduce myself to a man with no name."
"I am Captain James Collier and you may call me Captain," he replied without hesitation.
"My name is Francis Russo, I mean Francis Long and you may call me Francis. The kids and I went back to my maiden name when Simon left," Francis said. "Why Captain?"
"I was a captain in the cavalry long ago. I am curious. If it isn't being too forward, may I ask what happened to your husband? During our first encounter, you were upset about that very thing. What did you mean by saying you were never married?" The Captain asked.
"How long do you have to listen?" Francis sarcastically answered and hid partially behind her coffee cup.
"Oh I have an unlimited supply of time." the captain answered, with a grin.
Francis poured them each another cup of decaf and began a recap of all that had transpired to set her and the kids on their journey, "Alright, if you really want to hear, then I'll tell you."
