Destiny of my Heart!
By Sharon Holtz
Chapter Nine
Chestnuts Roasting on an open fire
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It was then Rebecca came and sat by Vincent and Catherine.
Excitedly she shared, “Father was wonderful…don’t you agree?”
In accord, they both said they thought so too, and then Vincent
confided, “I must admit he gave me pause when he didn’t come
out when Mary introduced him...”
To which Rebecca shared, “I thought sure we would find him
back in the pantry, resuming his inventory task, and you would
have to shove him out!”
“If Vincent hadn’t told me about the problem…” Said Catherine,
“…I wouldn’t have ever guessed it. His manner and expression
was very entertaining.”
Rebecca acknowledged Catherine’s comment, by saying,
“Yes…he did not let us down.”
She then smiled appreciatively at Vincent and whispered, “Well
all I can say is cheers to you and Mary for this night. I have never
seen Father more pleased with himself.”
With that said, Catherine looked over and saw Jacob settling in
for the concert, next to Peter and her Dad. You could tell he was
accepting kudos from his two buddies, before turning his attention
to the children. She then saw as her Dad, shared one last nod with
Jacob, as if to let him know, he better understood the history here,
and all it took to develop this community.
With fondness, Catherine continued to watch as the light
illuminated off of Jacob’s face, and she thought it was just as
Rebecca said, he did look pleased. She then imagined as he sat
amongst this amiable gathering, and listened to these beautiful
children sing, he must be very proud of his world…
Then totally unexpectedly, Jacob turned and looked at her,
almost as if she had called out his name. For a moment, Catherine
shifted her eyes, not wanting Jacob to know she was watching him,
but then as she realized Jacob had a hint of a smile, she looked
back, and reciprocated in kind, with the warmest of smiles of her
own.
They both then turned to the children, but both…for a moment
felt the warmness as they reflected on their new found relationship.
Catherine thought back on how much she had shared with him,
before she knew he was Vincent’s Father, and Jacob thought how
dear this beautiful heartbroken girl was, when he met her not yet
knowing she was Catherine.
Oh yes they do share a history, albeit a short one…but in that
length of time they shared much, and now…they could both say,
their friendship, was a genuine one.
As Catherine listened, she felt Vincent tighten his interlinked
arm with hers, causing her to look up at him. Though he didn’t say
anything, she could tell by the look in his eye, he had witnessed the
sweet exchange between her and his father. So it was there,
enhanced by the warmth of the Christmas season, Catherine never
felt happier.
As the children finished their song, their emissary Kipper
stepped forward, to ask William to join them in singing the next
song.
“We want William to sing with us too…Hey will ya William?”
Although William felt extremely humbled by their invitation, he
declined, because of being caught so off guard. But after much
prodding by everyone, he finally walked forward to join the
children.
Looking around at all of them, he then asked, “Ok you got me
up here, now tell me what are we gonna sing?”
To which Rolley suggested, “The children rehearsed “Chestnuts
roasting on an open fire…is that all right?”
Taking advantage of his captive crowd, William jokingly said, “If
it has anything to do with food, you know you’re singing my song!”
Rolley allowed time for the laughter to die down, before he
poised himself, and directed them to begin.
Everyone sat spellbound, as they listened to them, because
William’s seasoned voice along with the children’s sweet sound,
was beautiful.
As one song blended into the next, the concert continued until the
repertoire had been exhausted. Mary then wrapped up the evening
by saying, “Thank you Rolley for directing the children, and
Children…thank you for sharing your voices with us, and oh
yes…also William too! Oh my! What an unexpected treat!”
She then cleared her throat as she continued, “And Father….
thank you for telling us the story of the Tunnels first Christmas. It
was so wonderfully vivid, and for those of us, who were not here
then…well, hearing you tell it, make us feel as if we were.”
Everyone clapped, and looked toward Jacob, and as he humbly
waved off the attention, he then ultimately bowed and said a
gracious thank you.
After the accolades died down, Mary added to the festiveness of
the night, by welcoming everyone to enjoy the refreshments.
As everyone had their mugs refilled, William had a chance to
accept more compliments on his pleasing singing voice.
When Charles, Jacob, and Peter walked up with their mugs in
hand, it was Peter who spoke first saying, “I had forgotten you
sang William. Good job ole’ man! Did you take singing lessons as a
kid?”
As William ladled, he explained where and when he honed his
talents by reflectively saying, “Lessons? Oh no….we couldn’t
afford lessons…but I lived next to St. Bartholomew's in
Elmhurst…and as a boy, I could hear the choir, and when they
practiced, the singing would draw me there. Finally after seeing me
lurking week after week, Sister Madesta invited me, this chubby
awkward shy boy to join. Well it took much to convince me, but
once I was able to set my self consciousness aside, singing with the
choir was the most rewarding time of my childhood…singing gave
me so much, and singing in the choir made me “A” someone.”
Intently listening to William, Jacob regretfully inquired, “Your
voice has brought a lot of joy to us in the years past. I wonder why
we let so much time pass in between?”
William shyly looked downward and shared, “You know how it is
Jacob, we get busy, and those kind of things take a back burner to
other things…things that must be done. There just isn’t any time!”
He then dreamily added, “But I gotta tell ya, tonight singing with
the kids under Rolley’s direction, brought it all back, all the fond
memories of my choir days.”
As if issuing a decree, Jacob said, “We must make a point
then…we WILL make time for these pleasurable talents you have
as well. You work far too hard around here William, not to have
some enjoyment too.”
Hearing those words of acknowledgement from the man he
admired most in the world, caused William to look back at him,
and with a heartfelt nod of gratitude, he said, “Thank you Jacob.”
Jacob gave him a nod in reply, and said, “No thank you is needed,
it is I, and all of the community, who wish to thank you.”
Peter then added, “Jacob is right, you should sing more. It’s not
only good for your soul, its good for your health too!”
With a hardy laugh, William said, “Ok Doc!” And he then went
back to his second best talent, serving the next person in line.
Meanwhile, Catherine and Vincent sat amongst the children,
while they all enjoyed a second go round at the refreshments. The
children all crowded around them, and told Catherine how happy
they were, she was there tonight.
She expressed how happy she was they invited her, and of how
there was no where else she would rather be.
As Natalie settled in on Vincent’s lap, he told her she did a good
job despite her injured knee, and then proudly, told all the children,
how wonderful they all sounded tonight.
In reply, Samantha stated, “Rolley said we sounded good too. He
said we were at our very best tonight.”
To which Catherine noted, “I really was impressed by your solo
Joseph.”
To which Joseph matter-of-factly said, “Yeh, well Rolley said I
had to do it, cuz since my voice hasn’t changed yet, I am able to
get the high note. Kipper’s voice squeaks now.”
As if on cue, Kipper did the do re mi, and when the high note
was unreachable for him, Kipper volunteered, “See?”
Catherine smiled at Vincent as she tried to stifle a giggle, when
Kipper continued to say, “Rolley says even though I can’t get the
girlie high note like Joseph, I have a much deeper tone now, and
that is good too.”
Hearing that comment about the girlie note, caused Joseph to
spout, “Rolley didn’t say it was girlie to sing high, he said it
showed I had range!”
Just as Kipper was about to respond, Rolley and Mouse entered
the group, and Rolley suspiciously asked, “Did I hear my name
being mentioned?”
In reply, Vincent relayed, “Indeed! It would seem as if your word
is held in very high esteem, and you are a much quoted man.”
With a widening of his eyes, he fearfully said, “Hmm, I better
watch myself then!”
In a more serious tone, Vincent told him, “Rolley, the joy music
brings to us here…is all due to your talents as a musician, and
director.”
To which Mouse made a face and said, “Rolley doesn’t sound
joyful to me.”
Everyone was perplexed by Mouse’s comment, and so Catherine
asked, “How so Mouse?”
Happy to share, he explained, “I hear Rolley swear when playing
the piano in his chamber sometimes. He says he is missing a note! I
told Rolley it wasn’t me who took it!”
Laughing at Mouse’s’ interpretation, Rolley explained, “No
Mouse…the note is not something that could be stolen, but I do
think when you brought the piano down to the tunnels, you missed
one of the brass strings. That’s all. But I can work around it. It’s
just that I am working on a song, and I wish I had that note!”
With a better understanding, Mouse happily offered, “I will get
you one!”
Not wanting to encourage any more pilfering, both Vincent and
Rolley urgently told Mouse not to worry about it, because he had
helped enough!
And with that said, Catherine discretely gathered information from
Rolley of what was missing exactly, and without saying anything
more, decided she would secretly look into getting him what he
needed.
As the evening died down, Jamie, Laura and Brook gathered the
children as it was time for them to retire, and not long after that, it
was time for the helpers to dissipate back up to their world too.
To be continued
Chapter Ten
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