A Gift for Charity

Chapter 14-Charity

I sucked in my breath when I was forced to stare into that piercing emerald green gaze. Erik's face was contorted into a snarl of fury. Just when I thought that my own father was going to kill me, I heard a voice.

"Erik!" The voice said. "Put that young woman down this instant before I tie you up and force you to eat my porridge!" Erik obeyed immediately.

A young woman with short blond hair and blue eyes came up to me. She was heavily pregnant, and I realized with a start that this woman was my mother. Why, she didn't look much older than I was when I had traveled back in time.

"You mean sludge," Erik grumbled.

In reply, the young woman smacked his rump with a wooden spoon. I couldn't help it. It was too funny. I started to laugh hysterically. I was holding my side and had trouble breathing.

"See?" The young woman said. "She agrees with me."

"Rebecca, she was spying on us," Erik protested. He sounded like a little child. I forced myself to stop laughing, as I knew that it might mean my identity revealed. I stood up and brushed myself off.

The Rebecca turned to me. "Were you spying on us?" She asked.

"No, ma'am," I said, shaking my head. "I was only admiring the flowers." I was very nervous, and I knew that it showed.

"Well, Erik," Rebecca said. "There you have it. You're a regular old grump."

Erik looked at her in confusion. "Huh?"

"You know," Rebecca said. "You're one of those old men who yells at kids to 'get off of my lawn, ya whippersnappers!'" She smiled at him.

"First of all," Erik growled, wrapping his arm around Rebecca's waist and pulling her closer to him. "I am not old. And second of all, what the heck is a whippersnapper?"

Rebecca threw back her head then and laughed. Her laugh was a merry, tinkling sound that echoed throughout the garden.

"Of course you're not that old, Erik," She said with a merry twinkle in her eye. "But you are older than me." She smiled and kissed him on the mouth before he could say anything more. "And I love you despite the fact that you're an old grump," she said with her lips still partially pressed against his mouth.

Just then, a little girl ran from the house and jumped onto Erik's back. She had black hair like Erik, and blue-green eyes…like me.

"Horsey ride! Horsey ride!" She declared.

Erik growled at her and grabbed her arms, which were wound tightly around his neck. "I'll tie your nose in double and triple knots if you don't let go of me, Charity," he threatened.

Charity laughed. "How can you tie my nose in knots if I've got my arms around your neck?" She asked and laughed again.

I realized then that I would have to think of a fake name to use. I quickly picked the first one that came to my head.

"Hey!" Charity cried then. "Who's the lady in the pretty dress?"

"I'm Dominique," I said without thinking.

"I'm Rebecca," Rebecca said. "And this is my husband, Erik, and our daughter, Charity." Charity smiled at me, revealing a row of pearly whites.

"Pleased to meet you," I said, forcing myself not to cry for joy.

"Erik, take Charity to help you with the gardens, please," Rebecca said pointedly.

"Women," Erik muttered and left with Charity hanging from the back of his neck.

"Come with me," Rebecca said as soon as they had left. "You look hungry."

"Oh, no, I'm fine," I said. I held up the basket that I had brought with me. "I have something to eat with me."

"Rebecca raised and eyebrow, but didn't say anything. She just walked off. After a moment, she turned around and said, "Are you coming, or what?" I ran after her. She had a strange way of talking.

I stepped inside the little house, and everything in it was immediately comforting. This felt like home. There was a little table to my left, and a coat rack to my right. A small stove was right across from the door, and near the table was a door that I knew went into Rebecca and Erik's bedroom. There was also another door on the right side of the stove that I knew led to Charity's bedroom.

"This is cozy," I said, trying to control my voice.

"Sit down," Rebecca said. "I may not be able to make porridge, but I sure can make some bread with jam." She smiled at me, and went up to the stove, where there was a little shelf right above it.

She opened the little cupboard, and took out a loaf of bread. She cut twp thick slices of bread and put the rest of the loaf back in the cupboard. Then she pulled open the ice box and pulled out a jar of jam. She took a knife and stabbed it into the frozen preservative. She yanked the knife out and stabbed it again. This process was repeated several times before she pulled out a hunk of jam and plopped it onto one of the pieces of bread. She spread a thick layer of jam onto the bread, and the rest she put onto the other slice. Then she closed the container of jam and stuck it back in the icebox.

"Here you go," she said, handing me one of the slices of bread. I stared at it stupidly. The bread itself had been mutilated in the process of spreading the jam. Rebecca had already taken a big hunk of her bread and stuffed it into her mouth.

"When I taste this, I can almost imagine a slurpee in my hands," she murmured, while staring at the kitchen tabletop.

"What's a slurpee?" I asked.

"If I told you that, I'd have to kill you," she said with a twinkle in her eye.

The following ten minutes passed in silence. Then, when Rebecca had finished her slice of bread, she brushed the crumbs off of the table, swallowed the last bit of food in her mouth and faced me. Her expression was so serious, that I stopped with the final piece of bread halfway to my mouth.

"What?" I asked warily.

Rebecca leaned forward and I put the remaining piece of bread down on the table. "Who are you, really," she asked me in a whisper.

The sound of singing could be heard coming from outside. It was Charity singing a song that Rebecca had taught her. It was me singing a song that my mother had taught me.

In a soft voice, I started singing along:

"Well, the sun is slowly sinking down

But the moon is slowly rising.

And this old world must still be spinning round

And I still love you

So close your eyes.

You can close your eyes, it's alright.

I don't know no love songs,

And I can't sing the blues anymore

But I can sing this song,

And you can sing this song when I'm gone.

"It won't be long before another day.

We're gonna have a good time.

And no one's gonna take that time away.

You can stay as long as you like.

So close your eyes.

You can close your eyes, it's alright.

I don't know no love songs,

And I can't sing the blues anymore

But I can sing this song,

And you can sing this song when I'm gone."

"You can sing this song when I'm gone," I whispered softly. I had had my eyes closed. I opened them now to see Rebecca face turned white. Too late, I realized that I probably shouldn't have sung that song.

"Who are you?" Rebecca asked in a frightened voice.

Silently, I removed the belt from around my waist and set it on the table. I knew I was taking a great risk, but I hadn't seen my mother in ten years. What would you do in my place?

As soon as Rebecca saw the belt, she covered her mouth and bit her lip, presumably to keep herself from screaming. She pointed to the belt. "W-where did you get that?" She asked in a deathly quiet voice.

"I found it," I replied.

"You did not find that," she said, shaking her head at me.

"Yes I did," I replied. "I found it. In ten years."

Rebecca looked at me in horror. "Who are you?" She asked.