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Labor Day 2016 Round
Robin
ChicagoTunnelKid, JoAnn, Janet,
and Katie
Catherine raced home late Friday evening after a long day of trying to
forestall the need to work on the weekend. She wanted to maximize her
time Below since it was the Labor Day holiday. She would have three
nights Below, the longest time spent there since her father died. She
had packed the night before, needing only to change into more
comfortable, and warmer, clothes before heading down.
Despite being anxious to start her holiday, she carefully checked to
make sure no one was in the storage room, moved the boxes and opened the
door, threw down her duffle bag, and then pulled boxes a bit closer
while closing the door. She had hardly taken three steps down when she
felt strong arms lift her off the ladder and into a tight hug. She
hugged Vincent around his neck, pulling his head down to her shoulder.
They stood some minutes just absorbing the love and warmth from each
other. As far as Catherine was concerned, her holiday had just begun.
Wherever Vincent was, as long as she was with him, that was her only
criteria for a happy holiday.
Reluctantly, they pulled apart, and Vincent bent to pick up her duffle.
Taking her hand in his, they set off in the direction of the hub. Anyone
looking at them would have seen two people wearing the broadest smiles
they were capable of making. Both felt the other’s happiness through the
Bond, and rejoiced in it.
"Since it's Labor Day Above, William has declared a labor-free day in
the kitchen for himself on Monday," Vincent informed her, a merry
twinkle in his eye. "He gave everyone ample notice, so we have time to
organize ourselves and plan our own meals that day."
"Is this unusual?" Catherine asked.
"It's unheard of. William has assistance in the kitchen, of course, but
he's always been the general, issuing commands, working from recipes in
his head." Vincent cocked his head to the side. "I just want to warn you
now, we may end up eating a lot of sandwiches on Monday!"
“Well, William is
one of the hardest workers down here, day in, day out. He
deserves a day off. More than one, in fact. Are people just going to
feed themselves? That could make for an awful traffic jam in the
kitchen.”
“No, we have volunteers. The men… Pascal, Cullen, me, and a few of the
boys will be handling breakfast. We figure that’s the hardest meal to
mess up. The young women, led by Brooke, will be taking care of lunch,
and they’ve promised us a gourmet line-up of sandwiches, and Mary,
Sarah, Olivia, and Rebecca are taking dinner. They’ve promised us a
sumptuous meal, but won’t even hint as to what it is.”
"I wonder if I might get in on the fun?"
Two furry eyebrows raised in surprise. "You?"
"Yes, me. What's so surprising about that?" Catherine asked with a glare
- though loving, it was still a glare.
"Nothing!" Vincent hastily reassured her. "I'm sure the women will
welcome your help."
"I think I will stop by now and check out what the plans are and where I
might help." She tugged his hand to bring him down for a quick kiss.
"I'll see you later!" She grinned saucily.
As she hurried down the passageway, Vincent sent up a prayer of
thanksgiving that she had not volunteered to help at breakfast. He knew
that "burnt toast" was not on their menu.
As he contemplated what WAS on the menu, Catherine ran into Olivia,
burdened with a basket of clothing.
"Catherine! Welcome!" Olivia set her basket aside. After they'd hugged,
Catherine said, "I understand William has thrown the gauntlet down and
the ladies Below have picked it up."
Olivia shrugged. "He thinks we don't know our way around a kitchen.
Well...maybe I don't, not very well...but Mary and Sarah and some of the
older women say they were once wonderful cooks."
Catherine winked. "We'll surprise everyone!"
As Olivia continued on her way to deliver the clean laundry, she called
over her shoulder, "William may be surprised the most!"
Catherine decided Mary would be the likely ring-leader and headed her
way. As it happened, Sarah was there also, and their heads were close
together over the table. Planning was definitely afoot!
"Hello, ladies! You've got a new recruit!" Catherine stood smiling in
the entryway.
The two women looked up, then at each other (for they had heard about
Catherine's culinary talents), then back at Catherine. Then the three
women met in the middle for hugs all around.
"Have you decided on a menu?" Catherine asked. "Above, hamburgers are a
go-to Labor Day celebration meal. What do you folks usually do?"
The two women looked at each other then Mary looked over at Catherine.
"I think you have been sent as an answer to our prayers!"
Sarah nodded. "William didn't tell anyone when he made his announcement
that there wasn't much in the cooling room."
"Tell me what you need, and I'll get it, no problem!" Catherine grinned.
"Besides, that might be safer than my cooking!"
The two women looked at each other again. Mary hesitated and then went
for it. "Would you be able to get a pig for a pig roast?"
"What a wonderful idea! Done! Now, what else are we having, and what
else is needed?" With that, Catherine approached the table to make a
list. "If this is supposed to be a surprise, it's going to be tough to
bring down a pig unnoticed. I'm going to need help on that end."
The other ladies hadn't thought about that. Yes, some strength would be
needed. They responded in unison. "Vincent!"
Meanwhile, some of the men were gathered at the Mirror Pool, glumly
tossing pebbles into the water. Cooking wasn't something they had ever
done. Those who had come from Above had always depended on others -
their mothers, wives, or girlfriends, or room-mates with culinary
talents. Below, it had been a succession of people with skills, like
William, that precluded the necessity for others to teach themselves.
They realized now how sadly lacking in life skills they were, other than
in brewing tea.
"Toast?" Pascal suggested.
"Know how to bake bread?" grumbled Cullen.
"Oatmeal, perhaps?" Vincent offered.
Zak piped up, "I helped William make oatmeal a couple of times when I
had kitchen duty. Well...I saw him make it." He shrugged. "I guess I
didn't pay much attention though."
"Is it too much to ask Catherine to go UpTop and buy a bunch of
doughnuts?" Cullen asked, feeling desperate. "Or bagels?"
Vincent eyed the small group. "We must do...something...ourselves. And
do it well. Otherwise William will never let us hear the end of it."
“Are there
any cookbooks in Father's library?" asked Eric. "’Cause I always heard
that if you can read, and follow directions, you can cook!"
After half an hour of poking around, Cullen shouted, "Eureka!" He held a
Betty Crocker cookbook aloft in victory.
The men and boys huddled around the open book as Cullen flipped through
the pages. Most of the recipes were for six to eight servings. They
realized they'd have to make several batches, trebling or quadrupling
the recipe each time. It was an intimidating task, one they didn't feel
up to. Plus, the number and amount of ingredients were frightening.
"How does William do it?" Pascal murmured. Each of them felt a new
respect for the cook, who seemingly effortlessly created meal after meal
for their large numbers.
The young women were faring no better. They had assembled in the
chandlery to plan their luncheon - gourmet sandwiches. But they hadn't
thought until now that sandwiches required lots of bread...and their
bread had to be made from scratch most days, as they didn't have a
dependable source of enough loaves to fulfill the community's daily
needs. This was much more than they had bargained for. Now they not only
had to cook up the sumptuous fillings they had promised, but bake bread
too. And the ingredients.…
The young women were gazing at each other in dismay at the same time as
the men were doing the same thing in the library.
Catherine set out to find Vincent. She passed by Rebecca's chamber on
her way and heard voices. She popped in to say hello, and found a set of
dismayed faces.
"Catherine, do you know how to make bread without flour?" Jamie asked.
"Um, no," Catherine admitted. "Are you out of flour?"
"Maybe enough for three loaves, but that won't feed everyone lunch,"
Brooke stated forlornly.
"Come with me, Jamie. I'm heading to the grocer's myself. We'll get what
you need." Faces perked up, and Jamie grabbed her coat.
"We need Vincent for this shopping trip, too."
Catherine led Jamie to Vincent's chamber, only to find it empty.
Father's was the next logical stop and, sure enough, he was there with
the rest of the men. She motioned for Vincent to come outside.
"Catherine, Jamie, what is it?" Vincent was curious why he had been
pulled out of the room.
"We need you for a shopping trip, mostly to carry what we get, but you
have to promise not to tell anyone."
"Shopping trip? Perhaps Kipper should come with us. We have some
supplies to pick up, as well." He stepped back in to get Kipper.
"Gentlemen, problem solved. I'm going shopping with Kipper's help. We
will return with something for breakfast!" Relieved looks accompanied
Kipper and Vincent’s leaving.
The little group walked toward a helper's grocery store a little past
Catherine's apartment entrance. As they walked, Catherine held Vincent's
hand and pulled him close to whisper, "Is this William’s sneaky idea to
get the food stores replaced?"
"I've thought, too, it is his way to show how we have all been taking
him for granted." Vincent walked silently a moment. "We should do better
for William, help more, and appreciate what he does. I'm not sure what
everyone will get for breakfast because we men are all thumbs in the
kitchen, so I'm hoping Kipper can find something in the store."
The group was nearly at the tunnel entrance of the store. Vincent lagged
behind a bit with Catherine.
"What?" she asked, knowing there was something on his mind.
"I doubt we have enough between us to pay for what we need. Catherine, I
hate to ask, but if you could help ...."
She raised his hand to plant a kiss on the back. "It's on me, Vincent.
You all labor so hard, yet you welcome me with open arms, feeding me,
taking care of my needs without a thought. Let this be my treat. And I
think we need more food than just for Monday. So let's get while we're
getting, okay?"
He nodded, a warmth spreading through him as he felt her joy in doing
this task.
"Everyone have their list?" he asked. "I'll be here to help you carry it
all back."
They climbed the stairs in the basement up to the back of the store,
peeked out to see if anyone was in the area, then went into the store.
Catherine told them to get what they needed plus some staples; she would
be at the butcher counter.
* * *
The Labor Day meals were all cooked and consumed, and the larder was
well stocked. Breakfast had been cereal and milk with fresh fruit,
accompanied by heartfelt apologies to William for not cooking as he
normally did. William covered a smile as best he could, thanking the men
of the Tunnels for not messing up his kitchen by attempting to cook in
it. Lunch was a simple affair of canned tomato soup and sliced meat and
cheese sandwiches - and again, apologies were made to William by the
young women, along with expressions of sincere gratitude for all the
efforts he made every day to provide delicious meals for them all.
Again, William was gracious in accepting their thanks. By dinnertime,
the community was quite over the experiment and hoping that they did not
have another basic, uninspiring meal ahead of them. They were pleasantly
surprised by the simple meal of roast beef, mashed potatoes, and mixed
vegetables the older women cooked - and even though the meal was closer
in spirit to what William might have served rather than the exotic meal
they had envisioned, the woman all admitted publicly that it had taken
all of them most of the day to put dinner together for everyone, and
frankly they had no idea how William managed by himself with a skeleton
crew of helpers. At that, he had stood humbled by the round of applause
the community had given him...and had smiled broadly, his point made.
Catherine walked slowly back to her threshold that evening, leaning
against Vincent's side, within the shelter of one of his strong arms. He
carried her duffel bag; her long weekend was at an end.
"It was quite a weekend." She sighed.
"Not what you expected?" Vincent knew how to understate things.
"Everyone was in such a tizzy over the meals they had to
prepare...nobody really noticed us sneaking away!" She laughed in
delight. "That afternoon we shared behind the falls…."
"It will stay with me always, Catherine." Vincent stopped her, turning
her to face him, and they shared a languorous kiss. "Those stolen
hours...the passion we shared...."
She sighed once more. "We found a way to move forward...with courage and
with care."
"Yes," he said simply. "I love you, Catherine."
"I love you, Vincent."
She took her bag from him, gave him one more lingering kiss, then moved
to the ladder at her threshold.
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