Nature or Nurture Ch. 37-39

It is as if Catherine can see his intent in his eyes, for she sits on his lap and strokes his face gently, as if to calm him down. And it does calm him down even further, she is such a sweet child, and so brave.

Then she say, 'I suppose if she does this to a child, she cannot have a conscience. Mina told me she didn't have one either, until Adison gave her hers back. Maybe Adison can give this lady her conscience back, that would be the worst punishment that could be inflicted on her, for she will have done much worse things than this.

But you may also just take her out, dad, she has no humanity at all.'

When all is said and done, Catherine is definitely Heathcliff and Cathy's child, with a fiery temper totally opposite from Adison's forgiving nature. But from his own experience he knows that with Adison there to help raise her, that temper will always be under his daughter's own control, just like his own.

Chapter 39

The next day, the boiler arrives. It's about one o'clock, Mina is already awake, when someone knocks on the door. Victor has a patient in the new practice, most regulars did not like to hear that they would be expected to come to the doctor from now on, instead of the doctor coming to them, but since they do want the services of Dr Frankenstein's practice, they have little choice but to adapt.

Surprisingly few patients have given their notice and moved to another practice, and of course they have gained a number of local patients, for they have been able to reduce their prices because they can see more patients in one day. They may save as much as an hour per patient by not paying house calls.

With Victor busy for another ten minutes, he has asked Adison to open the door and let the work-crew in, and to her surprise she finds three rather young people standing behind it.

The oldest of them looks like a noble, with very delicate features framed with curly hair, but dressed for manual labour as one would expect. The younger man is very slim and rakish looking, also with curls, and dressed similarly, for hard work.

They shake hands and as Adison only uses her first name, they do likewise. The taller guy is called Paul, the thinner one Lukas, and though neither of them is broadly built, they lift the new boiler easily enough and bring it inside.

A striking young woman follows them in, she is tall for a woman, with a wealth of curves neatly covered in a business-like suit, her skin is nearly as pale as Vincent's, but she has the copper coloured hair that generally goes with the fair complexion. She introduces herself as Melissa, and she carries a load of copper piping and a bag that probably contains their tools.

The three follow her to the bathroom, where they look surprised by the row of showers, but not by the huge bath. Adison realizes she doesn't really know what Victor means to do with the boiler, she thought they'd add one for the showers, but Paul, who seems to be in charge of the team, wants to remove the large boiler and hook up the new one to bath and showers both.

Unsure, she fetches Victor, he's the one who ordered the stuff made, his patient will have left by now. And indeed he has, and Victor promises to deal with the specifics, Catherine in tow to take a peek at their visitors.

Adison retreats to the kitchen, there is only so much space in the bathroom, and today is her turn to cook.

As they enter the bathroom, Victor introduces himself and Catherine, toddler style, naming her Adison's daughter. She watches the newcomers with interest, the taller man seems to be the boss, he looks a lot like Victor, very handsome, only he is dressed differently, for physical work, not patients, Catherine realizes. Still it looks good, especially those vests where they can store a few tools they'll need all the time.

The woman is almost as light as her dad, but she has freckles and copper red hair. Very pretty. She's taller than Mina and even curvier, but her clothes aren't as nice, she'd look much better in a dress. But that may be on purpose, for it would be strange to fit piping in a dress.

The other guy, now, he is special. Where the lady yesterday seemed cold and like a reptile, this man, a big boy almost, feels warm and very nice. He looks ordinary to her normal eyes, but something in him pulls at her other vision, and that something is different. She finds herself pulled towards him, but not like the handsome Dorian Grey in the theatre, this one is not enchanted, just nice. He has seen her, and he smiles, he likes children, and he offers her a handshake..

'Hello, I'm Lukas.'

Not happy at all to have to be a toddler when she has so many questions to ask him, she blurts out, 'I'm Catherine, are you a man?'

Big blunder, how can she expect a man to own it if he's not entirely human? How would Mina like it if someone were to ask her whether she's alive?

But he doesn't seem to mind, he sends her a broad smile, the cutest smile ever, and says conspiratorily. 'No, not really, but please don't tell anyone, I look human enough, don't I?'

And he does, from his curly hair to his tiny elegant shoes. His clothes are nearly the same as the other man's, but his trousers are looser and his shirt has more colour. The other guy wears heavy boots, very sensible when one works with heavy metal objects. Suppose something heavy or sharp was to fall on those elegant little shoes, that would hurt his foot a lot.

Of course she promises him not to tell anyone he's not human, and his niceness encourages her to ask him what he is. Too bad she's limited to toddler speech, it's cute, but not suitable to ask questions.

He tells her he has work to do now, but he promises to tell her if there is time. That is a nice guy, she wants to be friends with him.

The other man tells Victor they can leave this boiler working all day, and use it to get hot water in the kitchen as well, and heat the entire house. Catherine can see Victor finds that hard to believe, but he promises to talk it over with the others.

Watching them work, Catherine immediately knows they are not going to be able to lift that old boiler, it is massive, and heavy. But dad can lift it, or Mina, though they probably shouldn't see that.

Victor is berating himself that he forgot to have it removed before, he should have let Vincent do it earlier. And that is very true, for it will look weird to let him do it where they can see it, and even weirder if he lets Mina do it.

But for now, he talks with the taller man about the bronze, apparently that is the stuff the old boiler is made of, and Victor thinks the man might want to have that ugly monster. Catherine wonders what for, when he makes such beautiful boilers himself, until she realizes that he can melt it down and make beautiful boilers out of it, of course.

Bored with talk of bronze, she moves to the beautiful lady and takes her hand. Ladies like that generally, and it is something a girl her age would do.

She has a gorgeous necklace, are they horses? She cannot see, the lady is so tall, and she asks politely if she may check them out. Not used to little children, the pretty lady doesn't understand three word speech, so Catherine points at the necklace.

The lady kneels for her, that is very nice, and Catherine can see they are indeed horses, linked head to tail, running round after round around her white throat.

Catherine wants to ask a thousand questions, did one of those guys make that, and how come they look alive, and why do they have the same colour as her hair, and is that stuff bronze, too.

Apparently her wistful look makes it appear as if she wants to touch them, for the lady says, 'You can touch them if you like, thank you for asking.'

Catherine traces the movement, so amazing, maybe she can get Adison to ask some of those questions later. She tries to get the lady to talk about them by saying a few more words, but it doesn't work, her toddler act is too good, she gets only toddler information back. Still, the lady is very pretty, and very nice to her, and she does take the time to let a little girl study her necklace.

Then Victor asks her, 'Catherine, would you be so kind as to find Mina and ask her to come here? We need her to lift that beast.'

They'll find that very weird, a toddler running errands. And a woman lifting a whole boiler, why doesn't he have dad lift it? It's way too early for dad to leave, but she cannot tell Victor that, she's a toddler.

So she goes to the kitchen, where she supposes Mina will be this time of the day, indeed finding her there, and asks her to come with her to help lift some stuff. Dad is not yet there, but Mina can easily lift that thing by herself, though it will make them think.

It is kind of funny to see those men ready to help lift the heavy boiler, and wonder undoubtedly why Victor is not moving in to assist the lady he has introduced as his partner, and Catherine anticipates their looks when Mina lifts it easily all by herself. But Mina is very polite and lets them do a bit of the work, and soon they have the ugly thing in the hall, and the men are fitting up the new, beautiful boiler.

They know where every pipe has to go, and they know exactly which of them is doing what, but watching people work gets boring after some time, so they leave and let the guys do their job.

Catherine goes to the kitchen and tells mum all about the necklace and her conversation with the pretty lady, and begs her to ask all those questions about her necklace if she gets the chance.

'I'll see what she'll tell me, I'm going to get her in here to make some coffe and talk a little, watching guys work must be boring.

'I'm going to watch Mina and Victor spar, it's frustrating to pretend to be a toddler when people are nice, and you want to ask them thousands of questions. The smaller guy, I like him, I wish I could talk to him as me.'

And Catherine is off to the basement.

Adison makes her way to the bathroom, and immediately sees a huge difference. The ugly beast of Victor's phase as inventor of steam- related appliances is gone, and the only slightly smaller, but much more elegant boiler has taken its place. Adison watches them work for a while, those guys clearly know exactly what they are doing, they must be very close to work in such harmony.

Their woman, for to Adison it is obvious that she is as intimate with both of them as they are to each other, seems rather bored with having nothing to do, so Adison asks them whether they prefer coffee or tea, though she suspects they all want coffee.

Surprisingly, the woman, Melissa, owns up that she prefers tea, and the way she says it suggests to Adison that she usually drinks coffee, and that she does not exactly agree with the reason she now drinks tea. Her stance and something about her hair and skin confirm Adison's suspicion, and she checks out her hands for a ring.

She has a gorgeous one, made of three strands of gold twined together, and a look at the guys confirms that they have the same ring. As she thought. And they either make a lot of money selling boilers, or they make the jewellery themselves, which is not unthinkable seeing the craftsmanship they've put in a simple convenience.

The ring on Melissa's finger is indeed a bit tight, a clear sign she is probably expecting, and the way she obviously rues not being able to stand the taste of coffee, she is not too happy to be in that state. Adison shows her sympathy by observing, 'I prefer tea as well, though I suppose you usually drink coffee.'

This suprises the girl, she cannot be much older than Adison herself, and she looks at Adison in a strange, rather blank way for a very short time, as if she knows Adison has seen she's pregnant and has her own way of finding out people's secrets.

'Will you come with me to the kitchen to help me carry?' Adison asks her, 'Catherine says you were very nice to her, let her touch your necklace with moving horses. Can't think what she meant by that, but of course she is only two, she can't say things exactly as she thinks of them, yet.'

That of course is a little white lie, for Catherine can say anything she likes, but the poor girl wants to know more, and Adison wants to help her.

Now Melissa shows her the necklace from up close, and Adison is again impressed by the girl's cleverness, she has described the exact feeling the object gives even in toddler speech.

And she has the perfect opportunity to ask the questions that Catherine wants answered so badly. First she tells Melissa, 'I stand corrected, she told me exactly what she saw, those horses really do move.'

And then she proceeds to express her admiration, and asks whether Paul made them, and Melissa tells her he did, though apparently he loves making boilers and inventions even better. And he loves to make steel swords, but cannot find a market for them.

Well, that shouldn't be a problem, Vincent still has a saber to replace, and Bruce and his students have taken up fencing with enthusiasm, and there are their old swordsmaster and all those actors who fence to improve their posture.

'Steel swords, that sounds like a totally different cup of tea from boilers.'

Melissa explains how he got the idea to make swords, apparently these were developed by a man who practises both smithing and swordwork.

That may be very interesting for Vincent, who often complains that obviously most smiths have no clue that a sword needs balance as well as a keen edge, for only one in a hundred sabers will suit his style of fighting.

Adison tells Melissa about her husband being an actor, but doing a lot of fencing in his spare time. Actually, she brags a tiny bit about his qualities as a fighter, and his unique style that needs a particular kind of weapon. She offers to suggest to her husband that he might try one, and if it pleases him, he can recommend it to all his friends. That might help Melissa's husband to find a market for his swords.

'How do you know we're married?' Melissa asks.

'It shows,' Adison says, 'I see things like that. The way you move as a group, communicate without words. And anyway, you wear the same rings, all three of you.'

And Adison is careful not to seem to offer an opinion on three people living together, she would have happily included Victor in their relationship permanently, if their friend hadn't found a love of his own. She sometimes misses the intimacy they used to share, but she accepts that his needs are totally fulfilled by Mina, and just enjoys the time they spend together at work.

When they arrive in the kitchen, Vincent is there, dressed his best, a sight that always fills Adison with pride and joy. He looks so smart in his finery, and he carries himself so well. Adison knows he probably still doubts his own looks, but as he said, that is kind of normal.

Melissa takes a good look at him but rather as if he answers her expectations of an actor, than that she finds his looks disconcerting.

Vincent clearly likes what he sees, Melissa is very beautiful in an unusual way, she is nearly as pale as Vincent is, and that is something he doesn't see very often.

He doesn't comment on it though, he merely gets up to shake her hand and introduce himself, and he starts a friendly and interested conversation.

As Adison busies herself making coffee and tea, she can hear him tell Melissa he is dressed for work, starting late and sleeping late, as most people in the business of entertaining others do. He asks their guest whether she has an interesting job, and Melissa tells him she is an engineer, which is actually very interesting indeed.

She adds, 'I work for the council inspecting building sites, and I check my husband's inventions against the laws of physics.'

Vincent is as impressed as Adison herself, and he observes, that that sounds like very important work.

Then the girl shows she is not only beautiful and intelligent, but funny as well, for she says cheekily, 'I see it as my sworn duty to protect the world from my husbands inventions, yes,' and both Vincent and Adison laugh heartily, though Melissa clearly thinks that was too much joking at her husband's expense and corrects herself.

'But his boilers are very safe, and very fuel efficient.'

And Adison finds this the perfect moment to add, 'And is it true they can heat the whole house, and send hot water to the kitchen?'

'It is, we have it ourselves and it is very convenient,' Melissa replies, 'especially in winter, with Lukas used to heat. He's from Greece originally.'

'I'd like to see that,' Adison observes, coffee nearly finished, 'your boiler, I mean, not Greece, that's a bit far away for me. It would be very helpful to have hot water in the kitchen. Maybe Vincent can try out one of those steel swords and we can have a look at your boiler? To see if we want the extension?'

They strike a deal, Vincent and herself will visit their place to try out the swords and see the boiler system, and Adison will give Melissa a tour of the practice, she wants to see a real practice because the smaller of her men has an interest in starting one himself, to provide the poor with medical service. How a metal-smith heals people is a bit of a mystery, but showing her the practice will be fun, Adison is very proud of the design.

Vincent is planning to drop by the bathroom for a few minutes before he leaves, so Adison hands Melissa two cups and picks up two herself, and they bring the coffe and tea to the two men working. Work is progressing well, and the men feel free to take a short break and have some coffee.

'We've got the piping all ready, to the showers as well, now we're going to hook up the boiler to your water-supply and to the pipes. It'll be ready to fire up in an hour or so,' Paul says.

That seems very quick to Adison, but she supposes he knows.

As they stop working for a while to drink their coffee, the smaller guy, who is apprently from Greece and heals poor people, suddenly addresses Adison, the first thing he has said to her excepting a polite greeting.

'Adison, do you realize your daughter has a rather impressive mage talent that anyone with the same talent can see, even though it is still dormant?'

Whát did he say? Mage talent? Dormant?

Adison realizes she must look like an ass, but it has been clear all along that there must be something in Catherine that the enemy wants.

Surprise makes her say the first thing that comes into her mind, which is, 'She's not actually my own daughter, she's Vincent's, with his late wife. I never met her. But I don't understand, what's a mage talent?'

Melissa explains very simply.

'You told me you often see things, like us being together. That is a form of talent, too. It means you can do things that cannot be explained with physics.'

Though still a bit shocked, Adison can appreciate the love between these people as Paul teases his lady.

'Trust an engineer to explain magic, in just one sentence.'

Thinking quicker than lightning, Adison realizes, 'I have freed someone from possession.'

Paul looks very serious all of a sudden, and very much impressed.

'That is a very powerful form of magic, especially if you can do it without knowing about the existence of magic, intuitively if you please.'

Then Vincent comes in and seeing her shock, he jokes about it, but still he wants to know what is going on. Lukas repeats what he told her, and Vincent shows even clearer than herself that though he doesn't understand the term magic, there is something to his daughter that needs explaining.

He is almost desperate to know more, though of course he needs to leave almost immediately.

Adison promises him to learn as much as she can from their guests, and then Vincent asks them whether he has magic himself.

They all gaze at him with that blank look, a few seconds only, then they all look confused and almost shocked, and Paul, who seems to be the leader in matters of magic as well as boilers, answers.