ee

But before the children left for bed, they wanted to say good night to Catherine,
Peter and Charles! And so after they made their rounds, and received hugs and
accolades from the three popular top-siders, the tunnel nannies escorted the
children to their chambers.

And so as the remains of the celebration were coming to a close, Vincent stood
with his hands behind his back, and warmly noted, "It has been quite a night."

To which Mary mentioned, "Yes, and it was nice to see so many helpers were
in attendance."

And because of Mary's comment, Catherine asked, "I noticed Lin, Henry, and
Dr. Wong, didn't come tonight, is everything all right?"

With a nod, Mary filled Catherine in by explaining, “They were planning on it,
but Lin had the flu this morning, and though she was feeling better, Dr. Wong
thought they better not come. They didn’t want to take the chance of bringing
the bug down below to us. Its that time of year you know.”

To which both Jacob and Peter expressed how much they appreciated their
discretion!

And so upon recalling the legal memorabilia he had recently come across, of
Charles' father, Jacob thoughtfully said to those around him, "If you will excuse
us, I have something to show Charles and Catherine. Please accompany me to
my chamber.”

Just as they were about to follow Jacob, Mouse came up and said, “We need
you Vincent! William says we have to get the heavy rigmarole out of his dining
area before tomorrow, or we can’t eat breakfast!”

And because Mouse did not sugar-coat William’s gruff toned request any in
front of their visitors, Jacob amusedly told his guests, “I assure you William’s
bark is much worse than his bite.”

Saying he would help, Vincent turned to Catherine, and apologetically said,
"Once again...duty calls."

With a smile, Catherine said she understood, and then Vincent promised he
would meet  her at his Father’s Chamber, as soon as he could.

And so they headed for Jacob’s chamber, and as they entered, Jacob explained
to Charles in particular, “What I wanted to share, are some notations I made
about your father, when he helped represent my case. And, I thought you and
Catherine may want to have these photos.”

Jacob then handed them the album containing the photos to look at, while he
then leafed through his journal, stopping to read a passage pertaining to the trial.
“Let’s see here, I wrote,


                                           Day 30,
                         Will this nonsense ever end?
                           Sitting here day after day,
           listening to lies I cannot respond to or defend
                  If it were not for Alan and James…
               well their encouragement and kindness
                    is the only thing keeping me sane.”


Jacob then took off his reading glasses, and with emotion in his voice shared,
“Your Father treated me with much respect in those days…He was a man who
never looked down on me or on anyone as far as I had seen. Oh yes, I observed
him for months as we prepared my case…He had many clients coming and
going, and he truly cared about each and every one. I shall never forget Alan
cautioning him, not to take work home, or to get too emotionally involved.”

To which Charles added some personal insight, by telling everyone, “Well I can
attest to the fact Dad didn't head Allen's advice! Dad would often bring some of
his indigent clients home to share dinner, or even a Holiday with us."

With amazement, Catherine asked, “Really Dad? Granddaddy would bring
clients home?”

Nodding, Charles said, “Oh yes…your Grandfather always impressed upon
Uncle Douglas, and myself, that there were many unfortunate people out there
in need of not only his legal help, but of his kindness as well.”

Proud to hear this about her Grandfather, Catherine thoughtfully smiled, as she
contemplated what a kind man he was. As Charles expanded on this line of
conversation, he continued, "Mother would always tease that she never knew
who would be sitting around our dinner table back when Dad worked at the D.
A., I will never forget this one Christmas; we shared our Christmas Goose with
a woman who was out on bail…along with her two children.”

Thinking aloud, Peter asked, “Hmmm. I have to wonder what the lady had been
accused of.”

Informatively correcting Peter, Charles said, “Convicted not accused…and the
crime was larceny.”

Seeing her Dad try to stifle a laugh, Catherine asked, “What’s so funny about
larceny?”

As he collected himself, Charles explained, “Well nothing is funny about
larceny, but it was her MO that was a little out of the ordinary. You see she was
spotted by a fellow shopper at Morty’s Meat Market concealing a couple of rib
roasts on her person, along with a Honey Baked Ham!”

Processing the thought of such large pieces of meat being hidden on a person,
Mary asked, “How in the world did she manage that?”

“Apparently…” began Charles, “...on the surveillance tapes, she left the store
looking about 9 months pregnant and was more fully endowed at the end of her
shopping trip, than she was when she began it!”

Everyone laughed, and Charles ended his story with, “Dad was a good kind
man, always ready to give people the benefit of a doubt.”

As the laughter died away, Jacob shared, “You know…I do recall hearing your
father and Alan having many a heated conversation over such matters of taking
people home, or setting bails for clients and such. Alan told him he would burn
out giving so much of himself.”

With a slight grin Jacob then continued, “Ah but you could tell he loved the
good fight. I remember as things were winding down, and veering toward a
verdict in my case…and mind you, it was not looking as if things were going in
my favor, well, your father only seemed to rev up and gain momentum as he
reminded me to have faith we would win. He told me although the system may
have flaws, more often than not…truth shall prevail…”

With a knowing nod, Jacob raised a brow and said, “He was right…we did
win…”

Noticing Jacob looked downcast, Mary asked, “You won! So why do you look
sad about that?”

Thoughtfully, Jacob explained, “It’s because I have regrets… I regret I never
properly thanked James for all he had done for me. After the verdict, I believe I
was a bit stunned, and then it was over and we went our separate ways. Alan
and James unto other hopeless cases to defend, and I, well frankly, I couldn't
get away from my old life quick enough...I never looked back...but I was wrong
not to seek James out to thank him...”

Looking kindly at Charles and Catherine, Jacob asked, “Please, accept my
sincerest gratitude on your late Father's behalf.”

With warmth and compassion, Charles replied, “Of course I will Jacob.”

And with that, Charles and Catherine fondly closed the album containing the
photographs, and gratefully accepted what Jacob wanted to give them.

Just then they were rejoined by Vincent, along with Mouse, and curiously,
Mouse stood beaming, and seemed to be hiding something behind his back!

Noticing his pixilated look, Mary asked, “What’s going on young man?”

Looking up at Vincent, and then over at Catherine, Mouse excitedly answered,
“Vincent thought you would want to show your Father this!”

And then Mouse proudly presented the snow globe.

So because Catherine earlier told Vincent she hadn't had the chance to tell her
Dad about the snow globes, she thought it was so very thoughtful of Vincent to
think of it. So with appreciation, Catherine smiled at him, and then turned to
Mouse, and answered, “Oh yes Mouse. Vincent is right I sure would.”

And so Mouse handed over the snow globe to Catherine, and after she inspected
it, she asked,  “Look familiar Dad?"

Well, since he had just noticed the one Catherine had on her mantle, Charles
replied, “It looks an awful lot like the snow globe you have…the one your Great-
Granny gave you.”

Catherine nodded, and mentioned, "Yes, and earlier since we were running late,
I didn't have time to tell you and Peter THE intriguing story surrounding my
snow globe..."

And so then, Catherine asked her Dad, “I wonder if you remember Great-
Grandmother was getting forgetful, and actually gave me two matching snow
globes that Christmas...”

Scratching his chin, Charles recollected, “Why yes I do…and she did the same
for your cousins, and you three kids decided to give the extra ones away. You,
as I recall, wanted to give yours to Toys for Tots, and so I took you down there
to put it under their Christmas Tree in the square.”

Catherine then continued, “Yes, and do you remember that Great-Grandma had
written duplicate inscriptions on the bottom of each globe...”

Laughing a bit, Charles admitted, “Well now you got me there kiddo…I am
afraid I don’t remember anything about an inscription.”

Catherine laughed softly, and looking around at her captive audience she then
explained, “Well she did, my Great-Grandmother wrote the exact same thing on
the bottom of both snow globes. Now on mine at home it says, "Allow Your
Heart to Dream!" and on this one here, which is Vincent’s snow globe, it
says…”

Reading the verse aloud, Charles read, "Allow Your Heart to Dream!"

And then with wonder, Charles asked, "Could this be the other globe?”

To which Catherine hugged her Dad's arm, and said, "It has to be, especially
once you hear the rest of the story..."

And because Jacob knew the whole story, he filled in some of the blanks,
explaining, “Yes, well you see Charles, apparently the year Catherine donated
her extra snow globe, my elusive, and very audacious son Devin, stood in line,
along with the actual children from the Ridley Hall orphanage, and was gifted
this snow globe from the Toys for Tots charity…”

Mary knowing the story too, informed Charles, “Devin knew how much
Vincent loved the snow, oh my, he so loved the snow as a young boy.”

To which Mouse proudly corrected Mary, by inserting, “Still does!”

Annoyed by Mouse correcting her, Mary tried to mask her angst as she cleared
her voice and said, “Yes, you are right Mouse, Vincent still does, but anyway
the point being, is that Devin felt this snow globe would bring a piece of the
world up top here below, and by turning and shaking the globe, Vincent could
capture a snow fall right there in his hands.”

Vincent warmed by the memory of Devin giving him this gift, smiled to himself,
and then shared, “All the years past up till this Christmas it had been fine…”

Then Mouse added, “Waters gone now, but music still plays.”

Charles stunned by this story, said, “It appears our paths keep crossing and are
intertwined in many ways. What an astounding story Cathy…”

Peter too added, “Holy Cow! That is pretty freaky!”

And because Jacob felt annoyed by the term freaky, he sternly corrected Peter,
by saying, “Freaky isn’t how you would describe this wondrous coincidence
Peter! More like it would be a serendipitous happenstance or perhaps
providential concurrence would be a better suited way to speak of it.”

Shaking his head, Peter returned, “What ever Jacob, all I am saying is I think it
is one heck of a story! Wow, sure gives you a lot to think about uh?”

Looking at his watch, Peter then said, “Hey I hate to say, but I have to do
rounds in the morning before I come here to help Jacob do the annuals..."

So turning towards Charles and Catherine, Peter suggested, "...so we better get
going uh?”

And because it was getting late, both Charles and Catherine agreed, but before
they left, Jacob, with heartfelt gratitude said, "I thank you all for coming this
evening. Your presence helped make this a festive event indeed!"

And because they felt honored to be invited, Charles spoke up to say, "We
enjoyed hearing what it was like when you started this community...all I can say
it was stunning to hear you tell it."

To which Catherine added, "And...it seems there is so much more to learn about
those days too. Sometime I would like to hear more about John Pater, the man
you now call Paracelsus!"

In reply, Jacob sadly said, "Ah Dear girl, yes...one day I will tell you all about
him."

And with that said, Vincent offered to walk along with them, and they bade
Jacob a fond goodnight.

To be continued
Chapter Eleven
: }
...
Destiny of my Heart!
By Sharon Holtz
Chapter Ten
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Greensleeves
...