CHAPTER 11 - THE GIFT
Buffy made her way up the narrow stairs, looking at old photographs along stairway, until she got the second floor. There was a somewhat small, but densely packed, room - the antique shop. She made her way to the far end of the room, used the restroom, and fixed herself up, somewhat.
She left the restroom and decided she'd have a look around before going to meet Spike at the front door. The room had the general collection of antique accoutrements from eras gone by. At least there wasn't any kitsch from the 70's, like so many other shops. This was the real deal. As she was about to leave, she saw a little sign that said, "BOOKS," and a sign leading up to another floor.
Deciding it wouldn't hurt to have a quick look, she ascended the second staircase. "Maybe I'll find something to read this weekend. Suppose to relax, right? Even find one of those philosophy books," she mused to herself.
However, after looking for a few minutes, she decided there wasn't anything she really felt like she could get into. Just as she was about to go back downstairs, she gave the nearest shelf one final look. There on the top shelf, was a book pushed almost to the back. Something made her curious to find out what it was. She pulled an empty milk crate that was nearby, towards the shelf and stood up on it.
She pulled the old book off of the shelf and blew off the dust. It was bound in a heavy brown leather, with red writing, "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare," it said.
Buffy looked inside for a date, but could only manage to find something in Roman numerals, "Stupid Roman numerals!" she thought to herself, then smiled. "Well, if it's old, maybe Spike will like it."
She took the book and headed back downstairs to pay for it.
On the second floor again, she saw Edna standing behind a counter with an old fashioned cash register.
"Thought you might be needing my assistance, Miss Elizabeth," Edna said.
"Thanks, I'd like to purchase this," Buffy said, laying down the book.
"Oh, this is very nice. I didn't know we still even had this, I haven't seen it for years," Edna said.
"It was high up, I had to stand on the milk crate in order to reach it; hope that was alright," Buffy said.
"Oh, perfectly fine, Elizabeth, perfectly fine," Edna said, then added, "I think Master William will really like it."
"How did you know I'm buying it for him?" Buffy asked, "I could be buying it for myself," she said, slightly defensive.
"Of course you could, dear," Edna said, "But Master William has a lovely English accent, just thought you'd want to have him read it to you."
Buffy smiled, "It is for him, you were right. That's a nice idea, maybe he'll read it aloud. Do you think he'll like Shakespeare?" she asked.
"I think that Master William is bound to, let me explain. As long as I've known him, and I don't profess to really know him well, not even after all these years; not well at all, I've thought of him, as being like a deep, dark well. And in there, in that dark, deep well, I think he has many secrets, many different parts of himself, so I would suspect that a Shakespeare-reading self, might just be in there, too. Don't you?" Edna asked.
"He's not just dark," Buffy had blurted out, before she could stop herself.
"Oh, I didn't mean that at all, not at all. I've just always sensed a great sadness, a great yearning in Master William. In his father and grandfather, as well. Guess it's a family thing, though I'd swear they are all most alike, only difference is the clothes and mannerisms that come with each age," Edna said, looking at Buffy.
Buffy didn't know what to say, so she just asked, "How much is the book?"
"Let's see here," Edna said, opening the front cover, "Oh, good, it's good that nobody ever wrote in this. I'd say it's $3.00."
"Is that all? You sure?"
Edna nodded.
Buffy paid her, then seeing the little pad of paper with faint pink hearts on them, she decided to do something. She took out her pen and wrote a note, then folded it. On the outside, it simply said, "To William, From Elizabeth."
"Edna, can I ask you a favor? A special favor?" Buffy asked.
"Of course, what is it?"
"If Sp, if you see William again, sometime, anytime in the future, it doesn't matter how long from now; if you see him and I'm not with him, would you please, please give him this? From me?" Buffy handed her the note, knowing that Edna would see to it, no matter when that might be.
Edna sensed, somehow this might be the only time she would see Elizabeth. She hoped not, with all her heart, but she nodded, "I'll see that he gets it, if you're not here to give it to him yourself," she said solemnly.
"Thank you. It was nice meeting you, I hope, I hope I see you again," Buffy said, putting the book into her purse and heading toward the stairs.
"I do too, dear, I do, too," Edna said softly, to Buffy's retreating figure.
When Buffy had gone upstairs, Spike had gone to the front door of the restaurant to wait. As he was standing there waiting for Buffy, he saw a slightly opened door with a light coming from within it. He walked over and looked in and saw a small room full of yet, more antiques; these being more of the girly type things, jewelry, hairbrushes, mirrors, little frames, etc. He pushed the door and walked in. He looked around for a few minutes, until something caught his eye, under glass at the jewelry counter.
It was the most unusual necklace he'd ever seen. The necklace had a delicate chain, which came down on either side to two little pieces of lavender glass, connected by a little brass shell. Under the shell was a couple of little links, and finally there was the main piece: a brass heart holding two lovebirds. Above and below the heart were two other pieces of the little lavender glass, one above and almost between their heads, the other between their tails. The heart dissected the birds, right at their tails. There was a sort of half rectangle of brass that had two tiny, white cloisonné flowers on both ends. The half rectangle sort of dissected the heart (or would have, if it had gone all the way through) and it also served as the bird's perch.
Edna had come in and watched, as Spike stared at the necklace, "Would you like to see that, Master William?" she asked him.
He nodded, "Yes, please."
She handed the necklace to him and watched as his fine hands caressed the birds within the heart. She could almost see him putting it on Elizabeth's pretty neck; see the delight in his face as she opened the box; saw it for the first time, lovingly held it in her hands, looked at William with eyes that spoke of love...
She remembered how she felt when Lawrence had first put it around her neck, the night he asked her to become his wife, to come to California with him.
"How much for this?" William asked her.
She wanted to just give it to him, but knew he wouldn't accept it, "Oh, let's see, hmmmm, how much was that? Oh, I remember now. Ten dollars," Edna told him.
"That all? You sure? Okay, I'll take it," Spike said, handing her the money, "do you have a box, by any chance?"
She nodded, and reached down, getting out a purple, heart-shaped box. She put the necklace inside, looking at it one last time; she closed the lid, smiling. She put the $10.00 in her pocket and handed William the box, which he carefully placed in his inner jacket pocket.
"She'll love it," Edna said to him.
"Thanks, I think so, too," he said, happy to have found this little beautiful thing for her.
Edna had gone upstairs afterwards, and taken care of Elizabeth's purchase. It was so cute, how they had each thought to buy the other one something, secretly.
She walked downstairs as they were leaving, "Come back soon Master William, Miss Elizabeth," Edna said.
"We will. And thank you for the lovely dinner," William said.
Elizabeth echoed his sentiments.
She watched them as they walked out the door, then turned and picked up the little sign that had fallen off of the door to the room where William had found the necklace; it said, "The Rittenhouse Museum Antiques Room."
END OF CHAPTER 11
Buffy made her way up the narrow stairs, looking at old photographs along stairway, until she got the second floor. There was a somewhat small, but densely packed, room - the antique shop. She made her way to the far end of the room, used the restroom, and fixed herself up, somewhat.
She left the restroom and decided she'd have a look around before going to meet Spike at the front door. The room had the general collection of antique accoutrements from eras gone by. At least there wasn't any kitsch from the 70's, like so many other shops. This was the real deal. As she was about to leave, she saw a little sign that said, "BOOKS," and a sign leading up to another floor.
Deciding it wouldn't hurt to have a quick look, she ascended the second staircase. "Maybe I'll find something to read this weekend. Suppose to relax, right? Even find one of those philosophy books," she mused to herself.
However, after looking for a few minutes, she decided there wasn't anything she really felt like she could get into. Just as she was about to go back downstairs, she gave the nearest shelf one final look. There on the top shelf, was a book pushed almost to the back. Something made her curious to find out what it was. She pulled an empty milk crate that was nearby, towards the shelf and stood up on it.
She pulled the old book off of the shelf and blew off the dust. It was bound in a heavy brown leather, with red writing, "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare," it said.
Buffy looked inside for a date, but could only manage to find something in Roman numerals, "Stupid Roman numerals!" she thought to herself, then smiled. "Well, if it's old, maybe Spike will like it."
She took the book and headed back downstairs to pay for it.
On the second floor again, she saw Edna standing behind a counter with an old fashioned cash register.
"Thought you might be needing my assistance, Miss Elizabeth," Edna said.
"Thanks, I'd like to purchase this," Buffy said, laying down the book.
"Oh, this is very nice. I didn't know we still even had this, I haven't seen it for years," Edna said.
"It was high up, I had to stand on the milk crate in order to reach it; hope that was alright," Buffy said.
"Oh, perfectly fine, Elizabeth, perfectly fine," Edna said, then added, "I think Master William will really like it."
"How did you know I'm buying it for him?" Buffy asked, "I could be buying it for myself," she said, slightly defensive.
"Of course you could, dear," Edna said, "But Master William has a lovely English accent, just thought you'd want to have him read it to you."
Buffy smiled, "It is for him, you were right. That's a nice idea, maybe he'll read it aloud. Do you think he'll like Shakespeare?" she asked.
"I think that Master William is bound to, let me explain. As long as I've known him, and I don't profess to really know him well, not even after all these years; not well at all, I've thought of him, as being like a deep, dark well. And in there, in that dark, deep well, I think he has many secrets, many different parts of himself, so I would suspect that a Shakespeare-reading self, might just be in there, too. Don't you?" Edna asked.
"He's not just dark," Buffy had blurted out, before she could stop herself.
"Oh, I didn't mean that at all, not at all. I've just always sensed a great sadness, a great yearning in Master William. In his father and grandfather, as well. Guess it's a family thing, though I'd swear they are all most alike, only difference is the clothes and mannerisms that come with each age," Edna said, looking at Buffy.
Buffy didn't know what to say, so she just asked, "How much is the book?"
"Let's see here," Edna said, opening the front cover, "Oh, good, it's good that nobody ever wrote in this. I'd say it's $3.00."
"Is that all? You sure?"
Edna nodded.
Buffy paid her, then seeing the little pad of paper with faint pink hearts on them, she decided to do something. She took out her pen and wrote a note, then folded it. On the outside, it simply said, "To William, From Elizabeth."
"Edna, can I ask you a favor? A special favor?" Buffy asked.
"Of course, what is it?"
"If Sp, if you see William again, sometime, anytime in the future, it doesn't matter how long from now; if you see him and I'm not with him, would you please, please give him this? From me?" Buffy handed her the note, knowing that Edna would see to it, no matter when that might be.
Edna sensed, somehow this might be the only time she would see Elizabeth. She hoped not, with all her heart, but she nodded, "I'll see that he gets it, if you're not here to give it to him yourself," she said solemnly.
"Thank you. It was nice meeting you, I hope, I hope I see you again," Buffy said, putting the book into her purse and heading toward the stairs.
"I do too, dear, I do, too," Edna said softly, to Buffy's retreating figure.
When Buffy had gone upstairs, Spike had gone to the front door of the restaurant to wait. As he was standing there waiting for Buffy, he saw a slightly opened door with a light coming from within it. He walked over and looked in and saw a small room full of yet, more antiques; these being more of the girly type things, jewelry, hairbrushes, mirrors, little frames, etc. He pushed the door and walked in. He looked around for a few minutes, until something caught his eye, under glass at the jewelry counter.
It was the most unusual necklace he'd ever seen. The necklace had a delicate chain, which came down on either side to two little pieces of lavender glass, connected by a little brass shell. Under the shell was a couple of little links, and finally there was the main piece: a brass heart holding two lovebirds. Above and below the heart were two other pieces of the little lavender glass, one above and almost between their heads, the other between their tails. The heart dissected the birds, right at their tails. There was a sort of half rectangle of brass that had two tiny, white cloisonné flowers on both ends. The half rectangle sort of dissected the heart (or would have, if it had gone all the way through) and it also served as the bird's perch.
Edna had come in and watched, as Spike stared at the necklace, "Would you like to see that, Master William?" she asked him.
He nodded, "Yes, please."
She handed the necklace to him and watched as his fine hands caressed the birds within the heart. She could almost see him putting it on Elizabeth's pretty neck; see the delight in his face as she opened the box; saw it for the first time, lovingly held it in her hands, looked at William with eyes that spoke of love...
She remembered how she felt when Lawrence had first put it around her neck, the night he asked her to become his wife, to come to California with him.
"How much for this?" William asked her.
She wanted to just give it to him, but knew he wouldn't accept it, "Oh, let's see, hmmmm, how much was that? Oh, I remember now. Ten dollars," Edna told him.
"That all? You sure? Okay, I'll take it," Spike said, handing her the money, "do you have a box, by any chance?"
She nodded, and reached down, getting out a purple, heart-shaped box. She put the necklace inside, looking at it one last time; she closed the lid, smiling. She put the $10.00 in her pocket and handed William the box, which he carefully placed in his inner jacket pocket.
"She'll love it," Edna said to him.
"Thanks, I think so, too," he said, happy to have found this little beautiful thing for her.
Edna had gone upstairs afterwards, and taken care of Elizabeth's purchase. It was so cute, how they had each thought to buy the other one something, secretly.
She walked downstairs as they were leaving, "Come back soon Master William, Miss Elizabeth," Edna said.
"We will. And thank you for the lovely dinner," William said.
Elizabeth echoed his sentiments.
She watched them as they walked out the door, then turned and picked up the little sign that had fallen off of the door to the room where William had found the necklace; it said, "The Rittenhouse Museum Antiques Room."
END OF CHAPTER 11