Hey guys! I hope you liked that last chapter! Because here's chapter 4! I
was working on it in study hall today! Ha!
Chapter 4: A Very Merry Christmas............Or not...
"Did you hear anything we were saying???" "No. Well, yes, but I didn't understand one word. It was all in French!" "Oh." "Right." "So...I'm gonna go for a walk. Just need some alone time."
And Cecile got her coat and went to take a walk.
About 5 minutes after she left, she saw a pile of ashes and something glinting in the sunlight. She retrieved the thing, which was a golden pocket watch. She gasped. When she read the inscription, her eyes started to well with tears.:
"JAMES,
WE LOVE YOU AND WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS.
LOVE,
MOTHER AND FATHER"
"That's so sad!" she thought. "Wait a minute," she said aloud. It's December! It's almost Christmas! I can give it to him then!" She pocketed the watch and went home right away.
"Wake up! Père Noel got us presents!" Henri shouted on December 25. "Huh?" Cecile said groggily. "Presents?! Well, what are you waiting for! I have stuff for you guys too!"
"James, Sarah, Henri, I got you gifts for Christmas. Since it's sort of hard to buy them nowadays, I got things from my own collection. Here, Sarah. Treat it well." She undid the wrapping paper and took off the lid......inside there was a golden ring with embedded diamonds that said "SARAH". Sarah was speechless. "...It's beautiful," she said softly. Henri got golden buttons for his shirt.
"How did you afford all this?" James asked. Cecile shifted uneasily on her feet. "Well...there's something I didn't tell you." She looked like she had just committed a murder. "Um...well...when I was four years old, my parents took me on a fishing trip. And my father caught this really big fish." She was turning pale as a ghost. "And the boat tipped over and..." she wrung her hands. "...They drowned. One of the nearby fishers heard me screaming and saved me from dying. After they died, they left me 900 francs. I spent some of it on your gifts. I already had the ring from a long time ago, so I only spent it on the buttons and the diamonds."
She turned to James. "Here, now, you haven't opened your gift. Go ahead." And she gave him the plainly wrapped box. He read the tag aloud,
"James,
I hope you like this gift, as I didn't buy it or make it. I found it.
Merry Christmas,
Cecile".
James looked up, perplexed. "What???"
"Just open the box and you'll see."
He undid the wrapping, opened the lid and found............a golden pocket watch. "How...?" was all he managed to say. "So where did you get the money for THAT?" Sarah asked triumphantly. "Read the inscription," Cecile suggested, with a small smile on her face. "All right." "James, you have to open the watch, like this." And she opened the watch with the push of a button.
And he began to read aloud:
"JAMES,
WE LOVE YOU AND WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS.
LOVE,
MOTHER AND FATHER."
Tears were now forming in his eyes, and there was no way to hide them. He kneeled down to Cecile's height and whispered in her ear, "Thank you." "But," Henri began, "how did you know that James was an orphan?" There was obviously a lump in his throat, because his accent was thicker.
"Sarah," Cecile said automatically. "She told me that day we were making the stew."
FLASHBACK
"Sarah, why do you keep touching your locket? Is it that important to you?" Cecile asked as she started to cut up vegetables and measure the water for the stew. "There is a long story behind this locket," Sarah replied. And her story went like this:
"I arrived in Boston three years ago under the care of my mother's friend, Benjamin Franklin. She said I was to live there until my father could unite with me, and my mother, my sister Lissie, and my brother Samuel, could all live here in America. "My father gave me a locket before he left for the Ohio River Valley. When I arrived in Boston, a Redcoat came right at me, and grabbed my locket. It was then lost and sunk to the bottom of the harbor. "James, being the 'gentleman' he is, knew how I felt. See, when he was a tiny baby, his house caught on fire during a storm. His parents didn't have a lightning rod. His parents died in the fire, but a nearby neighbor rescued James. His only keepsake was a golden ring that used to be his mother's. "When I saved them from some British 'Tories', he expressed his gratitude by making me a locket that looked exactly like my father's. I couldn't possibly imagine where he got the gold, until I realized that his mother's ring wasn't on his finger. It was the best gift I'd ever received."
"That's so nice of him! Wait till he sees what I've got!" "What was that?" "Oh...it was nothing. You'll see."
END FLASHBACK
"So now you have something to remember your parents by," Cecile concluded, with her smile much wider. "But how did you know where I used to live?" James asked. "Well, that day that I went for a walk, I found a pile of ashes where there was a big square of land. Being the curious person that I am, I inched closer to the ashes. There was something glinting in the sunlight, so I picked it up. And that's how I found the pocket watch!" "I wonder," James began, "why it didn't melt along with everything else." "Probably because your parents' love was concealed in the watch, and love can't melt." "That," Henri said, "and M&Ms!" That got them all laughing James asked Cecile, "What keepsake of your parents do you have? Where is it?"
"It's on Sarah's finger."
"I feel bad because we didn't get anything for Cecile today," Sarah announced at their secret meeting in Henri's room. "Oui, Sarah. You are right," Henri piped up. "Let's go buy her some things, and meet back here in half an hour." "Good plan!" Sarah said.
Half an hour later, each one of them returned with a small bag. "All right, now let's put our gifts on the table and we'll label them and wrap them," James whispered (or, he tried to whisper).
As they went upstairs, they thought they heard some music. "Shh. I think I hear something. Sounds like a flute," Sarah whispered. They tiptoed (or at least tried to tiptoe, you try tiptoeing in shoes like the ones they're wearing) to Cecile's room. With each step, the music got louder and louder.
"Did you teach her how to play like that?" Henri asked Sarah. "No, I didn't. She must have made it up herself," she replied. "It sounds beautiful!" James whispered. He knocked on her door. "Cecile, it's us. Can we come in?" "May we come in," Sarah automatically corrected him. "No time for grammar. We need to give these to her."
"You can come in. I was just practicing this song I wrote. It's not very good, is it?" Cecile said gloomily. "What are you talking about?" Sarah said. "That was the most beautiful song I'd ever heard! What was it?"
"Oh, it's this song I made up. It's called 'Through My Own Eyes". Would you like to hear the whole thing?" "Sure!" "Of course!" "Why not?" So Cecile played "Through My Own Eyes" for them. "Maybe if you added words, it would sound better," James suggested. "But I can't sing and play the flute at the same time," Cecile protested. "Maybe I can sing them for you," Sarah said. "That's a great idea!" Cecile, James, and Henri said in unison. "Let's make up some lyrics."
And this is what they came up with (LK fans: it's the LK theme song!! haha!)
"I see a land, With liberty for all. Yet still I know, The truth will rise and fall.
That's just the way it goes. A word now to the wise: The world was made to change. Each day is a surprise.
I'm looking at life Through my own eyes. Searching for a hero To idolize. Feelin the pain As innocence dies. Looking at life Through my own eyes.
I'm hoping and praying For a brighter day. I listen to my heart And I obey. How can I see it Any other way? I'm looking at life (Looking at life)
Through my own eyes..."
"That was brilliant! Thank you!" Cecile said. "That's not all we came to give you," James continued. And he took out the little basket they made with their gifts.
Cecile had tears of joy in her eyes, and she opened each of the gifts, one by one. Sarah didn't buy anything. She handmade a friendship bracelet and wove in her name clearly: CECILE. James bought Cecile a decorated bowl full of little trinkets. Henri, who knew Cecile better than anyone else, got her a book: Shakespeare's Greatest Works.
"This is amazing! When did you do this?" "Just today. We were talking about it before we came to get you." "How can I ever repay you?" "You did; this morning."
(A/N this next scene is from the episode "Captain Molly" its not completely right. one part im missing. but its close enough.)
"Henri, would you like to come help me collect firewood? Moses says we need some more." "No thanks. I'm going to stay here."
A couple of hours later.........
"Henri, where's Cecile?" "Oh, she went to collect some firewood." "All right. We're short anyway." And they carry on the conversation heard in "Captain Molly":
"English is not even my language," Henri protested. "They say I talk funny and I can't learn to read." "Who says this?" Moses demanded. Henri paused. "Other boys." Moses replied, "Well listen up, Henri. It's a credo I live by: Be what you want to be, not what other people tell you that you can be." "Well, then stop telling me I can be a reader!" Henri said. "What I want to be is...left alone." "You owe it to yourself to hone your reading, writing, and arithmetic," Moses reminded him. "I'm doing just fine without it!" Henri retorted. "Yes," Moses agreed. "You've learned a trade, and a second language. And I'd like to help you keep learning." He threw the last piece of wood into the fire. "Why?" Henri asked softly, a quizzical look on his face. Moses smiled. "For one thing, if you could improve your skills in estimation, we wouldn't be short logs for the fire and we wouldn't both be freezing our toes off." "At least we're not outside," Henri reminded him. "Speaking of which," Moses said, "where's Cecile? The storm's started up already; I would think that she would run home."
They heard a sound of bone on wood. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG BANG.
"What's the matter?" Sarah asked sleepily. "Yeah. We heard a banging and we woke up. What happened." They shuffled towards the door where the storm was.
"It's a surprise that the thunder and lightning didn't wake you up!" Moses said.
Bang.
bAng.
baNg.
banG.
BAng
BANg
BANG!
"W—wh-what's that?" Henri asked, trembling. "I d-don't know," Sarah said, because she was now more awake than ever. "Maybe it's ghost!" "Maybe it's Father!" "Maybe," James suggested, "you should open the door and find out for yourselves." "I was just about to do that," Moses said. And he opened the door.
"Oh. no!! La fille!!" Henri broke into sobs. "Oh, my goodness!" Moses and Henri looked down at the doorstep with mixed looks of surprise and horror.
"What?" "What's happened?"
The two teenagers shuffled to the door and shared the same look as Henri and Moses.
Thunder crashed and lightning lit up the sky.
Cecile was on the doorstep, lying unconscious with bruises on the cold, hard ground, her dress covered with warm, fresh blood.
Chapter 4: A Very Merry Christmas............Or not...
"Did you hear anything we were saying???" "No. Well, yes, but I didn't understand one word. It was all in French!" "Oh." "Right." "So...I'm gonna go for a walk. Just need some alone time."
And Cecile got her coat and went to take a walk.
About 5 minutes after she left, she saw a pile of ashes and something glinting in the sunlight. She retrieved the thing, which was a golden pocket watch. She gasped. When she read the inscription, her eyes started to well with tears.:
"JAMES,
WE LOVE YOU AND WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS.
LOVE,
MOTHER AND FATHER"
"That's so sad!" she thought. "Wait a minute," she said aloud. It's December! It's almost Christmas! I can give it to him then!" She pocketed the watch and went home right away.
"Wake up! Père Noel got us presents!" Henri shouted on December 25. "Huh?" Cecile said groggily. "Presents?! Well, what are you waiting for! I have stuff for you guys too!"
"James, Sarah, Henri, I got you gifts for Christmas. Since it's sort of hard to buy them nowadays, I got things from my own collection. Here, Sarah. Treat it well." She undid the wrapping paper and took off the lid......inside there was a golden ring with embedded diamonds that said "SARAH". Sarah was speechless. "...It's beautiful," she said softly. Henri got golden buttons for his shirt.
"How did you afford all this?" James asked. Cecile shifted uneasily on her feet. "Well...there's something I didn't tell you." She looked like she had just committed a murder. "Um...well...when I was four years old, my parents took me on a fishing trip. And my father caught this really big fish." She was turning pale as a ghost. "And the boat tipped over and..." she wrung her hands. "...They drowned. One of the nearby fishers heard me screaming and saved me from dying. After they died, they left me 900 francs. I spent some of it on your gifts. I already had the ring from a long time ago, so I only spent it on the buttons and the diamonds."
She turned to James. "Here, now, you haven't opened your gift. Go ahead." And she gave him the plainly wrapped box. He read the tag aloud,
"James,
I hope you like this gift, as I didn't buy it or make it. I found it.
Merry Christmas,
Cecile".
James looked up, perplexed. "What???"
"Just open the box and you'll see."
He undid the wrapping, opened the lid and found............a golden pocket watch. "How...?" was all he managed to say. "So where did you get the money for THAT?" Sarah asked triumphantly. "Read the inscription," Cecile suggested, with a small smile on her face. "All right." "James, you have to open the watch, like this." And she opened the watch with the push of a button.
And he began to read aloud:
"JAMES,
WE LOVE YOU AND WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS.
LOVE,
MOTHER AND FATHER."
Tears were now forming in his eyes, and there was no way to hide them. He kneeled down to Cecile's height and whispered in her ear, "Thank you." "But," Henri began, "how did you know that James was an orphan?" There was obviously a lump in his throat, because his accent was thicker.
"Sarah," Cecile said automatically. "She told me that day we were making the stew."
FLASHBACK
"Sarah, why do you keep touching your locket? Is it that important to you?" Cecile asked as she started to cut up vegetables and measure the water for the stew. "There is a long story behind this locket," Sarah replied. And her story went like this:
"I arrived in Boston three years ago under the care of my mother's friend, Benjamin Franklin. She said I was to live there until my father could unite with me, and my mother, my sister Lissie, and my brother Samuel, could all live here in America. "My father gave me a locket before he left for the Ohio River Valley. When I arrived in Boston, a Redcoat came right at me, and grabbed my locket. It was then lost and sunk to the bottom of the harbor. "James, being the 'gentleman' he is, knew how I felt. See, when he was a tiny baby, his house caught on fire during a storm. His parents didn't have a lightning rod. His parents died in the fire, but a nearby neighbor rescued James. His only keepsake was a golden ring that used to be his mother's. "When I saved them from some British 'Tories', he expressed his gratitude by making me a locket that looked exactly like my father's. I couldn't possibly imagine where he got the gold, until I realized that his mother's ring wasn't on his finger. It was the best gift I'd ever received."
"That's so nice of him! Wait till he sees what I've got!" "What was that?" "Oh...it was nothing. You'll see."
END FLASHBACK
"So now you have something to remember your parents by," Cecile concluded, with her smile much wider. "But how did you know where I used to live?" James asked. "Well, that day that I went for a walk, I found a pile of ashes where there was a big square of land. Being the curious person that I am, I inched closer to the ashes. There was something glinting in the sunlight, so I picked it up. And that's how I found the pocket watch!" "I wonder," James began, "why it didn't melt along with everything else." "Probably because your parents' love was concealed in the watch, and love can't melt." "That," Henri said, "and M&Ms!" That got them all laughing James asked Cecile, "What keepsake of your parents do you have? Where is it?"
"It's on Sarah's finger."
"I feel bad because we didn't get anything for Cecile today," Sarah announced at their secret meeting in Henri's room. "Oui, Sarah. You are right," Henri piped up. "Let's go buy her some things, and meet back here in half an hour." "Good plan!" Sarah said.
Half an hour later, each one of them returned with a small bag. "All right, now let's put our gifts on the table and we'll label them and wrap them," James whispered (or, he tried to whisper).
As they went upstairs, they thought they heard some music. "Shh. I think I hear something. Sounds like a flute," Sarah whispered. They tiptoed (or at least tried to tiptoe, you try tiptoeing in shoes like the ones they're wearing) to Cecile's room. With each step, the music got louder and louder.
"Did you teach her how to play like that?" Henri asked Sarah. "No, I didn't. She must have made it up herself," she replied. "It sounds beautiful!" James whispered. He knocked on her door. "Cecile, it's us. Can we come in?" "May we come in," Sarah automatically corrected him. "No time for grammar. We need to give these to her."
"You can come in. I was just practicing this song I wrote. It's not very good, is it?" Cecile said gloomily. "What are you talking about?" Sarah said. "That was the most beautiful song I'd ever heard! What was it?"
"Oh, it's this song I made up. It's called 'Through My Own Eyes". Would you like to hear the whole thing?" "Sure!" "Of course!" "Why not?" So Cecile played "Through My Own Eyes" for them. "Maybe if you added words, it would sound better," James suggested. "But I can't sing and play the flute at the same time," Cecile protested. "Maybe I can sing them for you," Sarah said. "That's a great idea!" Cecile, James, and Henri said in unison. "Let's make up some lyrics."
And this is what they came up with (LK fans: it's the LK theme song!! haha!)
"I see a land, With liberty for all. Yet still I know, The truth will rise and fall.
That's just the way it goes. A word now to the wise: The world was made to change. Each day is a surprise.
I'm looking at life Through my own eyes. Searching for a hero To idolize. Feelin the pain As innocence dies. Looking at life Through my own eyes.
I'm hoping and praying For a brighter day. I listen to my heart And I obey. How can I see it Any other way? I'm looking at life (Looking at life)
Through my own eyes..."
"That was brilliant! Thank you!" Cecile said. "That's not all we came to give you," James continued. And he took out the little basket they made with their gifts.
Cecile had tears of joy in her eyes, and she opened each of the gifts, one by one. Sarah didn't buy anything. She handmade a friendship bracelet and wove in her name clearly: CECILE. James bought Cecile a decorated bowl full of little trinkets. Henri, who knew Cecile better than anyone else, got her a book: Shakespeare's Greatest Works.
"This is amazing! When did you do this?" "Just today. We were talking about it before we came to get you." "How can I ever repay you?" "You did; this morning."
(A/N this next scene is from the episode "Captain Molly" its not completely right. one part im missing. but its close enough.)
"Henri, would you like to come help me collect firewood? Moses says we need some more." "No thanks. I'm going to stay here."
A couple of hours later.........
"Henri, where's Cecile?" "Oh, she went to collect some firewood." "All right. We're short anyway." And they carry on the conversation heard in "Captain Molly":
"English is not even my language," Henri protested. "They say I talk funny and I can't learn to read." "Who says this?" Moses demanded. Henri paused. "Other boys." Moses replied, "Well listen up, Henri. It's a credo I live by: Be what you want to be, not what other people tell you that you can be." "Well, then stop telling me I can be a reader!" Henri said. "What I want to be is...left alone." "You owe it to yourself to hone your reading, writing, and arithmetic," Moses reminded him. "I'm doing just fine without it!" Henri retorted. "Yes," Moses agreed. "You've learned a trade, and a second language. And I'd like to help you keep learning." He threw the last piece of wood into the fire. "Why?" Henri asked softly, a quizzical look on his face. Moses smiled. "For one thing, if you could improve your skills in estimation, we wouldn't be short logs for the fire and we wouldn't both be freezing our toes off." "At least we're not outside," Henri reminded him. "Speaking of which," Moses said, "where's Cecile? The storm's started up already; I would think that she would run home."
They heard a sound of bone on wood. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG BANG.
"What's the matter?" Sarah asked sleepily. "Yeah. We heard a banging and we woke up. What happened." They shuffled towards the door where the storm was.
"It's a surprise that the thunder and lightning didn't wake you up!" Moses said.
Bang.
bAng.
baNg.
banG.
BAng
BANg
BANG!
"W—wh-what's that?" Henri asked, trembling. "I d-don't know," Sarah said, because she was now more awake than ever. "Maybe it's ghost!" "Maybe it's Father!" "Maybe," James suggested, "you should open the door and find out for yourselves." "I was just about to do that," Moses said. And he opened the door.
"Oh. no!! La fille!!" Henri broke into sobs. "Oh, my goodness!" Moses and Henri looked down at the doorstep with mixed looks of surprise and horror.
"What?" "What's happened?"
The two teenagers shuffled to the door and shared the same look as Henri and Moses.
Thunder crashed and lightning lit up the sky.
Cecile was on the doorstep, lying unconscious with bruises on the cold, hard ground, her dress covered with warm, fresh blood.