Chapter 6

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After cramming it into her pocket, she raised sheepish eyes to his, shrugging slightly. How could she explain? What could she say? She had been prepared to do it herself even though she knew it was wrong. It had felt right at the time, and she could not in good conscience regret the results. They were finally free from that madman. Abruptly it penetrated. They _were_ free and the home tunnels were back in the hands of the community.

Only Serena was left to be dealt with. While all this was happening, she was furiously trying to think of a way out of this mess. In desperation she confronted Vincent and asked calmly–anyway she seemed calm, "You don’t remember marrying me?" Shocked silence greeted her and it emboldened her. After all, there was no one present who could dispute her. "I thought you would surely remember that. It was such a wonderful night." She laughed derisively as she secretly turned the ring that was on the third finger of her left hand until only the smooth golden band showed.

Vincent gasped in unbelief. Father shouted, "No," and Catherine paled as the crowd murmured in disbelief.

"You weren’t there, Jacob," she shouted at him over the crowd noise.

"John never said anything about it. He would have used it to torment me, and I was with him at all times. I don’t believe you."

"I don’t care what you believe. Here’s the proof."

Catherine’s eyes narrowed as Serena held up her hand with the gold band facing them. "Let’s see the palm of your hand," she demanded.

"Why should I? Here’s the proof," Serena reiterated.




Before she could move, Catherine grabbed her hand and forced the tightly closed fist open. She let out a huge sigh of relief. "She’s lying. It’s just a diamond ring."

"Please, let me go," Serena whined, cringing away from the angry young woman. "I won’t tell anyone about this place. Please, I don’t want to die."

"Oh, you won’t die, Serena. You are free to go, but if I ever hear that you have betrayed us, I will come for you myself." Vincent’s glittering eyes bored into hers, and she bolted from the chamber. "Watch her, Mouse. She came with nothing; she leaves with nothing."

"Ok good, ok fine," Mouse said, taking Jamie’s hand. They hurried after the former queen of the tunnel world and followed her closely to the Park threshold. With a satisfied smile at each other, they closed the sliding metal door and returned to the Common Room.

Leaning heavily against his stalwart son, Father sighed deeply. Concern for his father’s health prompted Vincent to steer him to his former bedchamber. After stripping the bed of Paracelsus’ hideous gold and black trappings, Rebecca immediately left to find more suitable bedding. Gratefully, Father laid down on the bare mattress and closed his eyes. Vincent tried to pry his fingers from the old man’s desperate grip, but every time he did the grip tightened.

"Pascal," Vincent called softly for the man. When the pipemaster arrived, Vincent asked him to take William, Cullen, Kanin, and John, and bring the former enslavers to the Great Hall. "But first will you have the body removed and thrown into the Abyss?" He shivered as he said the words, knowing that his father would bear the guilt of killing an unarmed man for the rest of his life.

Soberly, Pascal nodded and, rounding up the men he needed, proceeded to do as his friend had asked. While the men were doing this, the rest of the little army was dismantling the drug lab and also dumping the equipment into the Abyss.

Once again the pipes were ringing with the sweet music of messages flowing back and forth. When the message that all the prisoners were assembled in the Great Hall was heard throughout the tunnels, the community finally felt that they were home and safe at last.

Catherine left Vincent with Father and went back to the prison chamber to bring those left behind back to their home. After settling Mary into her own bed, she returned to Father’s bedchamber. He was asleep still holding tightly to his son’s hand.

"I can’t get free," he gently complained. "Each time I try, he wakes up."

"What a terrible dilemma," she teased. "Oh Vincent, what they have done to this place. It will take months to erase their vandalism."

"I know. And I still feel as if it is my fault."


"Think, my love. What could you have done? We trusted her. Even I was fooled until it was too late." She settled on the bed next to him and pulled his head to her shoulder. "Paracelsus planned very well. He used our weaknesses against us, and Serena betrayed our love and trust."

"How could we have been so blind?" he burst out.

"Would we have done anything different?" she asked. "I think not. It would be against our nature and the rules of this world. We take our chances each time we admit a new member."

"You’re right, of course," he agreed. "But I think we will be much more careful and cautious from now on."

"We should be, but how do you protect this world from someone like Serena?"

"I don’t know, love; we can only try."

"Vincent?" Sarah called from outside the curtain. Catherine got up and pulled the curtain aside. Mary was leaning heavily on Sarah’s arm.

"Mary! You should be in bed," Catherine exclaimed.

"I tried to stop her but she insisted on seeing for herself that Father is all right," Sarah explained.

Releasing his fingers from his father’s grasp, Vincent scooped Mary into his arms--she rested there like a feather--then eased her down to sit next to a sleeping Father. Tenderly she stroked his wrinkled cheek, "He looks so tired and worn," she said.

"No more than you do, Mary," Vincent said.

"I’m glad he’s dead," she said vehemently, referring to Paracelsus.

"Don’t think about that now. Why don’t you lie down beside Father?" Catherine suggested. "I’m sure it will make both of you feel better."

"I think I will," the older woman agreed. The younger women helped her to lie down and pulled a quilt up over her. She took Father’s hand in hers, closed her eyes, and went to sleep.

With Mary beside Father, Vincent was able to leave Father, and the two lovers went directly to his old chamber.


The usually clean but cluttered interior was a mess. All of his cherished mementos, souvenirs of the world he could never live in, were gone, replaced by cheap mass-produced figurines and pottery. All his books, his journal, his chest of childhood toys was missing. Later they were found in a storage chamber. Paracelsus kept anything that pertained to Vincent. Serena’s clothes filled his chifforobe and were scattered everywhere. There were jewelry boxes filled with gaudy but expensive baubles. Several mirrors hung on the walls. Serena loved to see herself covered with jewelry. The bed was not his bed. It was brand new and covered with lacy, feminine bedclothes in the most mismatched, glaring color scheme that assaulted Catherine’s sense of fashion.

"I can’t stay here," the horrified man cried, backing out of the chamber.

"No, of course not. We’ll get rid of this junk and have your chamber back to normal right away."

"No . . . I will do that," he mumbled.

"Vincent!" she cried. "No, it will be too hard on you."

"I caused it; I will fix it."

She was getting exasperated with his refusal to let go of his guilt. "It was _not_ your fault. If anyone is a victim, it is you, love. You caused nothing. Believe me, my love, believe me. No one blames you, not one single soul."

Sadly, he shook his head and, taking her hand, returned with her to the library to keep a watch over his father.

The community members returned to their chambers aghast at what had been done to their homes. Haphazard sleeping arrangements were made for everyone, and for the first time in more than two years, they slept free of fear and anxiety.

A community-wide meeting had been scheduled for the following morning. The main topic of discussion would be what to do with Paracelsus’ followers. After an hour of discussion, they decided to offer their former captors the freedom to choose that was denied to them. They could either stay with the tunnel society or choose to leave. If they proved worthy of becoming members by conforming to the rules and regulations required of every member, they could stay but with the first infraction, they would be summarily banished with the understanding that if anyone betrayed the Tunnels they would pay for it. Paracelsus had succeeded in one of his sick schemes; he had changed the trusting environment of the community. It took many years for them to return to the ethics that had originally been the foundation of the family but eventually they did. All strangers were now viewed with suspicion and had to pass a rigorous background examination. Father was deeply grieved that this had come to pass but could not fault his family for their fears. He wondered if his actions had contributed to the atmosphere of distrust that pervaded the community. When he died five years later, he was able to see the principles of his world begin to return.

*************


Gripping Catherine’s hand tightly, needing her moral support, Vincent asked to address the assembly. "I . . . ," he said then halted unable to continue for the moment. The assembly sat quietly and waited for him to continue. He started again.

After listening to Vincent fumble through an apology, Kanin couldn’t take it any longer and jumped to his feet, pointing an angry finger at his friend. "No way, Vincent. You don’t get the luxury of bearing all the guilt for what happened. We let ourselves down, not you. We’d come to depend on you so much that we let this happen. We bear more guilt than you do. Every one of us accepted that snake into the community."

Vincent opened his mouth to make a comeback, but William rose to agree. "He’s right Vincent. You bear a minimum of the guilt. If anything, we failed you."

A murmur of agreement rippled through the crowd. John, who had come through this ordeal to become a fully grown man spoke up, "Yeah, we sure did. It’s not your fault. Hell, she almost killed you."

Father looked at him in astonishment. Swear words were never heard in the tunnels, but he understood that after hearing those words bounce off the walls for two years, it was difficult to overcome their influence.

Cullen stood up and in his calm voice stated what all believed. Looking directly into Vincent’s desolate eyes, he declared, "Vincent, this is a closed case. Accept the fact that you are not to blame and help us put this place back in order."

Continuously shaking his head, the young man cried, "How can you say that?"

"Because it’s the truth," Mary shouted as she rose unsteadily to her feet. Vincent’s mouth dropped open. Holding on to the back of the chair in front of her to steady herself, she continued forcefully, "Enough of this wallowing in guilt. We don’t have the time to mollycoddle you. We need you to help us. We need your strength and your knowledge. Help us." She dissolved into tears and fell back onto her chair into the arms of her friend, Sarah. Swiping at her tears, she glared at him, daring him to take up the mantel of leadership that she had thrown at him. Murmuring loudly, the group agreed with her.

Shocked that so gentle a woman could shout at him, Vincent snapped his mouth shut and stared at her. Could it be true? Was his family as guilty as he? Was Catherine right, after all? Slowly he nodded his head and smiled faintly for the first time since the rescue operation had begun. He would believe his family and let go of as much guilt as he could. Seeing the smile on his face, Catherine squeezed his arm in joy and leaned against him. For the first time since she had come Below, she felt that he would be all right.


Father raised his voice, dismayed at how weak and reedy it sounded, "People, please. We all have our share of guilt. We need time to heal and hard work is one of the best medicines there is. Let’s begin the reordering of our world and things will slowly right themselves"

Nodding in agreement, the assemblage broke up and returned to their labors of love. Several of the men stopped by Vincent and told him they were holding a meeting to prioritize the repairs. He told them he would be there shortly.

Exhausted, he fell into a nearby chair. Bent over him protectively, Catherine was lending him all the strength she could. The young man raised his eyes to the weary, grey eyes of his father. "I’m sorry you had to experience so much pain and degradation, Father," he said sadly.

"My own fault, my son." Father looked directly at the young woman. "I should have listened to you, my dear. All this would never have happened."

"Hindsight is 20-20, Father. I made mistakes too," she commented with a small, forgiving smile.

He limped over to where she stood, jealously guarding the man she loved. Taking her in his arms, he said, "I haven’t had time yet to properly thank you for saving my son. Bless you, my dear, and thank you for all you have done."

"Oh Father," she cried, burying her face in his shoulder as the tears started. Finally, at last, she could let go for a few moments and not have to be strong for anyone, only for herself. It was such a relief. After a few minutes, she patted him on the shoulder and stepped out of his embrace. Smiling tremulously, she said, "Oh, how I needed that." Straightening her shoulders, she returned to Vincent’s side.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yes. Are you?"

"I think so. I have much to think about and I can do that best while I am working."

"Then let’s get with it. Let’s start this clean up," she said brightly, pulling him to his feet. And they began.

***********


It took a long time for the stench of the occupation to pass, and an even longer time for the tunnel members to begin to trust again. Paracelsus had almost succeeded in destroying the tunnel world, but if anything this had toughened and strengthened them in the battle for their world. Eventually, life settled into a fair imitation of the life that was once theirs. Still, Vincent could not be completely disillusioned from his belief in the innate goodness of people. Catherine, being the practical one, accepted the changes, knowing that in good time the pendulum would swing in the opposite direction. She didn’t care as long as she was by Vincent’s side. Mary and Father never regretted their feelings about Paracelsus and died within a week of each other. But not before they got to see the newest tunnel members: Vincent and Catherine’s son and daughter.

Epilogue

A year later seated in the Chamber of the Three Falls, Catherine turned to the man she had almost lost and asked, "Is it finally over? Are the tunnels and our family almost back to normal?" Sitting between his outstretched legs, she was resting comfortably in his arms, her back leaning into his strong chest.

"Yes, my love, we are well on our way to a full recovery." He bent down the top of her head.

"No more guilt?"

"No, I have finally accepted that it is the height of egotism to take all the blame."

She chuckled and bent her head back until she could look into his clear, blue eyes. "I’m glad you finally see reason."

"All because of your courage and strength."

She shook her head adamantly and repeated the words she had used once before, "It wasn’t courage. It was love."

Fini