Destiny of my Heart!
By Sharon Holtz
Chapter Twenty-Two
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Meanwhile, Catherine made her rounds on her lunch hour,
and picking up the much coveted snow globe for Vincent from the
repair shop, was first on her list.
She had no sooner walked through the door, when she spotted
the globe up on the shelf, tagged for pickup.
Thrilled to see Vincent’s snow globe was repaired and waiting
for her, she told the gentleman behind the counter she was the one
who had requested the snow globe repair via the proprietor of the
Christmas Cottage. Happily she pointed out, “I see it is right up
there and it looks perfect!”
She then added, “Dr. Alcott, who had dropped it off for me
yesterday, told me when I pick it up, I am to ask for Mr. Heibel.
May I speak with him?”
Putting out his hand, the man behind the counter said, “I am
he. And yes I wanted to talk to the person who was picking up this
rare commodity.”
Catherine put out her hand to greet him in kind, and said, “I
am very pleased to meet you Mr. Heibel. I am Catherine
Chandler.”
As Mr. Heibel reached up to retrieve the globe from the shelf,
he explained, “I was able to restore it…”
And as he handed it to Catherine, he explained all he had
done, saying, “I filed down the cracked lip on the glass globe, and
changed out the old gasket before refilling the liquid.”
With tears of joy glistening in her eyes, Catherine inspected
and shook the globe, and when she saw the magical crystallized
snowflakes falling about like they had before, she attempted to
express her gratitude to this talented man, saying, “You just
cannot know what this means to have had this globe repaired.”
He smiled as he replied, “Ya know I hear that a lot. I guess its
cuz snow globes are usually tied to a cherished childhood memory,
or…may have been a gift from someone special.”
He then inquisitively asked, so which is it? Which reason is
yours?”
Thinking on the man’s question, Catherine considerately
determined, well, since it was a gift from her Great-Grandmother,
who was so very special to her, and the fact she and Vincent each
loved their own versions since childhood, it had also provided
some cherished childhood memories as well! So…Catherine
smiled as she thoughtfully said, “Both reasons actually.”
But then Catherine turned thoughtful as something Mr. Heibel
had said, was bugging her, and so she asked, “You mentioned you
wanted to see me because of this globe being rare?”
With a raised brow, Mr. Heibel said, “Yes…that’s right.”
He then explained, “When I removed the damaged glass globe
from the base, I noticed it wasn’t just glass…it is actually lead
crystal which was rarely used here in America then, but was in
Europe for such crafts, England specifically around the 30’s and
40’s. Oh and yes, allow me to tell you about the snowflakes!”
Totally immersed in the info the man was providing her,
Catherine eagerly asked, “Yes?”
Thoughtfully Mr. Heibel excitedly continued, “Well…the
snowflakes are actually diamond crystals! That’s why they glitter
like no other flaking I had ever seen.”
To which Catherine expounded, “Diamond crystals? Oh my! I
always loved the way they glittered…kinda like each one was a
little prism, but I had no idea they were diamond crystals!”
With a nod, Mr. Heibel concluded, “Yes, yes…quite an
extravagant snow globe you have here and rare.”
He went on to explain, “From my research, I can tell you the
artisan was the renowned Jacob Holmes, and hmmm, I would
estimate it to have cost maybe a grand or so back then.”
With awe, Catherine told him, “I’ve heard of him, and to
think Great-Grandmother would have given me such an expensive
gift! Imagine that! I mean I was just a young girl. And she never
cautioned me to handle with care or anything like that. Nor had
she ever told my Dad anything about its value.”
She then raised her brows with angst when she thought back
on the way she handled her own replica through the years, and
though she was not careless, she certainly did not handle her snow
globe with kid gloves!
With a giggle she relayed, “When I think of how I would
shake my own replica, its amazing I never dropped it or anything.”
With confusion, Mr. Heibel asked, “Well isn’t this yours?”
So as she explained the whole story, and relayed to him this
globe was a duplicate gift, given her by her aged Great-
Grandmother, and of how she gave her extra one to Toys for Tots,
and all these years later, she became friends with the recipient.
And this repair is a Christmas gift to her friend.
Stunned, he asked, “You mean you once owned two?
Amazing! I mean there were only 4 of this style made, and
curiously they were never sold. They remain a part of the late
Jacob Homes personal collection, where in fact two remain on
display at his birth home…which is now a type of museum I guess
you might say a local haunt.”
With a quizzical look, Catherine thoughtfully asked, “Hmm, if
they were never sold, I cannot imagine how Great-Grandmother
managed to get the other two, of which she gave to me?”
She then smiled at Mr. Heibel, and covertly said, “I think
there may be a story here somewhere.”
He nodded as he said, “If there is, you’ll let me know, won’t
you?”
As Catherine assured him she would, she thanked him once
more, and they wished each other a Merry Christmas.
Upon Catherine’s return to the office, Joe eagerly approached
her, and when he saw her full shopping bag, he hopefully asked,
“Mission accomplished?”
As Catherine held his eye contact, she carefully un-wrapped a
globe from the packing paper, and as she held it up for him to see,
she guardedly asked, “Well, you tell me…what do you think?”
Joe smiled as he took the snow globe in his hands and after
giving it a shake, expounded, “That’s what I’m talkin’ about!
Perfect Cathy!”
He then cautiously asked, “Ya got 4 of them right?”
In reply, Catherine assuredly said, “I got 4 of them.”
As Joe shook the globe once more, he asked, “And they are
all the same? They all have this little snowman?”
Once again Catherine confirmed, “They are all the same.”
Happily Joe said, “Good!” He then explained, “They all gotta
be the same, or else they will be comparin’ and tradin’ and asking
why did I give this one to this aunt, and not to that aunt, just
believe me…it will be best, if they are all the same.”
Then with a look of gratitude, he told Catherine, who was
laughing by now, “Thanks kid…”
With a smile and a bit of laughter to her voice, Catherine said,
“You are welcome Joe.”
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Meanwhile, as the tunnel community entered the Great Hall,
to prepare for Christmas Eve, Vincent had a sense of disarray!
With an astute sense of heightened alert, Vincent stopped in his
tracks as he assessed the hall’s layout, and aloud he noted,
“Something is amiss.”
With concern, Jacob curiously asked, “Amiss? As in what
way Vincent?”
Tipping his head, Vincent thoughtfully said, “I’m not sure
Father…however…something…”
Mouse looked around, and since he himself didn’t notice
anything, he shrugged his shoulders as he matter-of-factly said,
“Looks ok, looks fine to me. What do you say is wrong?”
Everyone else too, curiously leant an ear to await Vincent’s
calculated assessment.
Being the ever caring vigilant guardian to his tunnel family,
Vincent could not precisely answer either his Father or Mouse’s
question. So since he could not quite put a finger on what he was
sensing, Vincent, wanting to put everyone at ease said, “I did not
mean to alarm everyone. It is probably nothing.”
Cheerfully, he then rallied, “Let us get back to why we came
here this afternoon, and prepare for Christmas Eve.”
As the levity returned, everyone chatted and got right to
work, but since Devin had not been inside the Great Hall for
years, he looked around, and in an awestruck manner he said,
“Look at those tapestries would ya? They are still here!”
While Jacob walked over to discuss the tapestries with Devin,
Pascal came up behind Vincent and suspiciously said, “You can’t
fool all the people all the time my friend…tell me what is wrong.”
For a mere instant, Vincent held his façade before he
crumbled, not surprised really it would be Pascal who saw through
him. Putting his arm around his old friend, they both amusedly
shared an acknowledged camaraderie, and so he told Pascal, “See
the tapestries there, where Father and Devin are standing?”
In a questioning manner, Pascal answered, “Yes…”
“Well…” continued Vincent, “… the floor there aside of
them is scuffed, and the table nearest there seems to be a bit
akimbo…”
Acknowledging and concurring with Vincent’s clues, Pascal
then asked, “Do you suppose someone was here to steal the
tapestries?”
“Perhaps…however it prompts me to recall last evening…and
the sounds Mouse heard coming from this area which he told you
about.”
Quick to respond, Pascal reminded Vincent, “But the sentry
said….”
With a raised brow, Vincent inserted, “The sentries have been
wrong before…or it could be perhaps they thwarted a possible
assault on our great hall.”
Thinking the latter was the most probable scenario, Pascal
with wonder and worry said, “Yeah…wow! We must be extra
vigilante my friend!”
In agreement, Vincent replied, “And so we shall.”
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Meanwhile above, the D.A.'s office party was in full force.
To be continued
Chapter Twenty-Three
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