Destiny of my Heart!
By Sharon Holtz
Chapter Twenty-Nine
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Catherine then continued to say, “All the Christmas traditions
and customs you have begun here…are all so rich and meaningful.
I am just so happy my Dad and I were invited to share them with
Vincent and everyone here.”
Jacob smiled at this dear girl he had grown so fond of, and
with an affectionate fatherly squench, he told her, “We are
pleased to have both you and your Dad with us on this Christmas
Eve…it is always a most special night for us.”
To which Catherine replied, “Yes…it is special…I always felt
Christmas Eve had such a magical quality about it…and it has
always been my most favorite night of all…”
Rebecca thoughtfully agreed, saying, “Yes! All the
anticipation and wonder of what’s to come on Christmas
morning…well, on Christmas Eve…its all still before us…”
Rebecca giggled as she admitted, “I guess it’s the child in me
talking.”
Vincent looked to Rebecca and affectionately recalled, “Ahh
yes…you were always so eager for morning to come…it was hard
for you to sleep. Back then we had the dorm chamber, and there
were about 10 of us bunking together, it seemed as if every ten
minutes or so you would ask, if it was morning yet.”
Rebecca smiled as she said, “The hours seemed to just drip
by…”
Devin too added, “We would try reading to you, or tell you
some stories…nothing seemed to help. You were just too excited
to nod off…”
Guiltily Rebecca said, “I know…and I ended up keeping
everyone else awake in the process. I just couldn’t help myself
from wondering what kind of treat or surprise awaited us.”
To which Pascal admitted, “I think we all felt that way…it was
difficult for any of us to sleep.”
“After all, Christmas Eve…” Said Vincent, “… IS the night
which hosts all the wonderment and magic of the Season.”
Jacob softly chuckled as he noted, “And at times…the
wonderment and magic can be quite a driving force! I recall one
Christmas Eve, when let’s see it was Vincent, Devin of course..."
Jacob looked toward his son Devin, and teasingly accused, "...
who was the ring leader I suspect."
To which Devin nodded guiltily, and replied, "If this is the story
I think you are gonna tell, then yes...I was the ring leader."
Jacob laughed, as he continued, "...ah let's see where was I,
yes, ok we have Vincent, Devin, and I believe Winslow too, oh my
they were all quite young…when they decided to trek through the
tunnels at midnight, and head here from the tunnel main to this
Great hall! Those lads had pillows and quilts, all prepared to camp
out here by the Christmas tree, intending to catch St. Nicholas.”
Wanting credit for being there as well, Pascal spoke up and
said, “Hey I was one of those young lads too Father!”
As Jacob thought back, he corrected himself, by saying, “Ahh
yes… so you were Pascal…so you were.”
And so Jacob continued, “Well luckily they were spotted by the
sentry on duty, and he of course alerted me to their where abouts.
Needless to say, I was half asleep trudging here to fetch them,
intending to send them all directly back to bed! However…when I
arrived here at the Great Hall, I found them, hunched together
under the light of the flickering night torch, all wide eyed, and
determined to catch St. Nick in the act…well, I didn’t have the
heart to end their quest…”
Feeling a little melancholy, Devin warmly recalled, “I
remember thinking you were gonna yell at us, but instead...you
told us to move over, and make room, cuz you were gonna join us
in our endeavor.”
Smiling at his Father, Devin said, "I will never forget that
feeling when you sat down to wait with us..."
Pascal then laughed as he also admitted, “Yeah well I
remember thinking I was never so happy to see Father in my life! I
was scared to death in this big dark empty hall.”
To which both Vincent and Devin laughed as they also
admitted to being very frightened too.
Pascal then recalled, “I remember waking up all disappointed
because Father was the only one who got to see St. Nick!”
Vincent raised a brow as he looked at his father and knowingly
relayed, “Yes that’s right. Cleverly, Father told us he would take
the first watch, and of course once the four of us fell asleep, this
gave Father free rein to invent any story he wished.”
Looking downward as he chuckled once more, Jacob
confessed, “Yes…its all true…and what a story I told!”
Devin laughed as he agreed, saying, “Yes…it was a good one
all right, and it sustained us for many years.”
Pascal smiled as he expressed, “Yeah sure did! Ahh the
stories of our escapades are endless…”
Catherine smiled warmly all around, and said, “I love hearing
all these stories when you were kids growing up here…kinda
makes me feel as if I missed out on something very special…”
Feeling so thankful for knowing the tales being told by the
children who had grown up there, were happy ones, Jacob felt
taken aback and a bit humbled as he expressed, “We may not
have had much in the way of material goods, but we elders always
tried to instill in the young, that the key to life is learning to
appreciate and enjoy what we do have.”
Mary who had been listening to Vincent, Devin, Pascal and
Rebecca speak so fondly of their childhood, sincerely conveyed,
“It appears you have been successful Father…”
She the noted, “Oh listen…William and the children are singing
again.”
As they all stopped to listen to the Christmas Carols, it was
then, Sam and Mouse cheerfully walked up and joined the group.
And because Vincent had just bent down to pick up the hankie
Mary had dropped, Sam didn’t know Vincent was also there! And
so Sam openly asked Catherine, “Did you get Vincent’s snow
globe back from the repair shop in time for Christmas?”
Just then Vincent stood up with hankie in hand, and knew he
just heard something perhaps he wasn’t supposed to hear!
And so in trying to cover up the awkward moment, Vincent
acted as if he hadn’t heard, and as he turned to Mary, he offered,
“I believe this is yours.”
In the quake of this “Uh Oh” moment, Sam was wondering
what to do now that he had just given Catherine’s surprise away!
And so poor Sam tried to cover up, by saying, “What I meant to
say was…”
Catherine also was in shock for a moment, but she then
started to laugh, and said, “Its all right don’t worry about it Sam, I
was trying to figure out the right time to give Vincent his gift
tonight anyway, and so you actually helped me to decide that right
now…would be the perfect time.”
And so Catherine went over to the end of the table to retrieve
Vincent’s gift, and as she gave it to him, she smiled and said,
“Merry Christmas Vincent.”
Now that everyone else got the gist of what had just occurred,
they began to laugh at Sam’s faux pas too, and though Jacob
himself chuckled a bit, he privately admired the way Catherine
handled the situation, good naturedly, and so very kind to Sam.
And Vincent himself found a bit of humor in the situation,
thinking back on how upset he was getting when he couldn’t find
his treasure, and of how he really put his Father on the spot, nearly
causing him to give Catherine’s surprise away.
Vincent then referred to his gift he was holding, and
thoughtfully asked Catherine, “Shall I open?”
Excited to see his reaction, Catherine smiled as she nodded,
and said, “Yes Vincent…please open…”
As Vincent took the repaired globe from its wrapping, he
shook it and watched the magical crystals fall once more. Looking
back at Catherine, he tipped his head in wonder and with a look so
sweet it took her breath away, he said, “Thank you Catherine, to
have my snow globe restored to perfection…is the best Christmas
present you could have given me.”
He looked firstly to his Father, and then to Devin, and with
relief said, “The missing snow globe…it is safe…it appears that
tonight, the mystery is solved…”
To which Devin happily noted, “Yeah, looks like you can stop
looking little brother.”
Pascal looked to Mouse and laughed as he said, “And we can
too!”
Now realizing she had caused Vincent and a few others so much
concern, Catherine apologized, saying, “I am sorry everyone, I
guess I should have just came out and told Vincent what I was up
to.”
As the crew assured Catherine it wall right, and well worth any
inconvenience seeing Vincent so happily surprised, well it was
then Catherine answered questions, filling in the blanks for
everyone about her story of snow globe espionage. She next
explained all this took place on the day Peter was doing the
physicals for the tunnel community.
She then said, “Sam was actually key to the whole operation.”
Kindly she looked toward Sam, and conveyed her gratitude by
saying, “Your giving Peter my note asking him to retrieve the
snow globe was vital, otherwise…I never would have gotten the
globe in time to be repaired for Christmas.”
Feeling so humble for the credit Catherine was giving him, and
also a little relieved she wasn’t ticked at him for spoiling the
surprise; he smiled as he told her, “Anytime.”
Jacob then chimed in, “And of course Peter had to tell me all
about his mission of confiscating the globe, because at the time it
was in my Chamber! Ahh, and here I am in the middle, as Vincent
kept coming in to look for it! I must admit, I was very close to
telling him the whole story, because he was becoming quite
concerned about its whereabouts!”
Vincent next chimed in with his side of the story, by adding, “I
was beginning to believe my snow globe had met a destructive
end, and Father didn’t wish to break the news to me.”
“Ahh but then…” Inserted Jacob, “…Vincent finally accepted
my assurances, and to just end the search for now.”
Vincent did admit to everyone, “It was then I perhaps
suspected a repair, or something of that nature was being done by
someone…however I didn’t know who to suspect….”
Looking at his brother, he confessed, “I must admit, I thought it
was Devin….”
Raising both hands up, Devin laughed as he said, “I wouldn’t
have been able to pull this one off little brother!”
Vincent then looked toward Mouse, and relayed, "And then I
thought maybe it was Mouse...who can fix most anything..."
Humbly Mouse looked downward, and said, "Wanted to, but
couldn't find it! Catherine thought of it first!"
As everyone else’ laughter died away, Vincent then looked
toward Catherine and with a smile in his eyes, he said,
“…however…as I now realize…I should have known…”
Catherine held his gaze for just a moment, before she replied,
“I just wanted you to have your snow globe back as it was. I am so
happy you are pleased.”
It was then Mouse suspiciously stepped up to better see how
the repair was done, and after determining he maybe couldn't have
repaired this fine of an item, his angst gave way to joy, and he was
just excited it was able to hold water again. Looking up at Vincent,
Mouse happily said, “Better than good…uh Vincent?”
Knowing this repair was as important to Mouse as it was to
him, he gave Mouse a hug about his shoulders, and as he turned
the key to play the music, he warmly replied, “Yes Mouse…better
than good.”
He then looked at Catherine and marveled, “I commend you
Catherine, to think you managed to find someone talented enough
to do the restoration...”
Catherine humbly nodded, but then explained it was really all
by accident that she did. She admitted she was actually looking for
a replacement for this broken one, but then the owner of the
Christmas Cottage told her of a specialist, by the name of Dick
Heibel.
With importance, she then noted, “Happily, Mr. Heibel was
able to restore it, and in fact…he was so excited by this unique
Snow Globe, he took time to look up its history, and told me all he
had learned about it.”
Having been in an art research department before, Devin
curiously asked, “Oh really…what did he find out?”
Thoughtfully, she replied, “Ah let’s see, he found out it was
made in the ‘40’s, the glass globe is made of lead crystal, and Oh
the snow…well the snow is actually made out of diamond chips!
That’s why the snow glistens so as it falls.”
Mouse asked Vincent to shake it again, and when he did, the
stirred up snow, swirled about and as the crystals caught flashes of
light, Mouse excitedly said, “Yep, must be diamonds! I see prisms!
Neat!”
Everyone agreed with Mouse about seeing the prisms, and this
feature spurred Rebecca to remark, “I believe that is what gives
this such a magical quality.”
Jacob also agreed, but because he had an uncle who was well
known for doing this sort of art form during the 40’s and 50’s, he
was anxious to hear if Catherine found out who made it. And so
curiously he asked, “Did he say who had fabricated it?”
Nodding, Catherine answered, “Yes, he did. The artisan was a
British man by the name of Jacob Holmes.”
At the immediate mention of this name, Jacob expounded, “I
had a hunch…Jacob Holmes you see was my uncle, on my mother’
s side! A most talented, talented man.”
Jacob then proudly added, “In fact, I was named after him.”
Everyone was astounded at this coincidence and so each one
there had a comment to make about this news… and because
Mary could hardly believe what she was hearing, had to ask once
more, “So you are saying your uncle made this snow globe, this
snow glove right here?”
Jacob nodded, declaring if Mr. Heibel found that a Jacob
Holmes was the British artisan who crafted this globe, then yes,
Jacob claimed, “Then it must have been my uncle who made this
very snow globe!”
To be continued
Chapter Thirty
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