Chapter 38 Jacob
Jacob
By the time Jacob had got down to the original festival site in Sycamore Park, he had missed most of the action. A grinning Pete filled him in on the details over a cup of hot chocolate.
‘Old Dan Rathbone did a great job as Father Christmas,’ Pete said.
‘He stuck a pair of reindeer horns on his dog Milady and they both came wandering up the path there. James’s helicopter dropped down this sheet over the top of him, then he showed up in a pretty scary old costume.
When all these goblins came running out of the trees they had the scare of their lives when Barbara and her mates pulled off their coats.
I’ve never seen goblins running from old ladies before. Oh, I wish I’d filmed it.’
‘Thanks for doing this, Pete,’ Jacob said. ‘Missing the real festival. It went really well, and the party’s still going on if you have time to go up there.’
‘Will do,’ Pete said. ‘All’s well, and all that.’ He nodded at a young man with particularly wild hair standing outside the Evans’ Carpets stall, sipping a hot chocolate. ‘Had a chat with Chad over there and just ordered the missus a nice new living room carpet. She’ll be delighted, I’m sure.’
Jacob left Pete by his stall and wandered over to the stage.
It was deserted now, with everyone who had been in attendance now having gone to the real festival up by the church.
Sycamore Park, however, looked beautiful in the snow and with the fairy lights strung up through the trees.
Jacob leaned against the edge of the stage and took a deep breath, feeling the weight lift off his shoulders.
‘There you are.’
Jacob turned around. James was standing near the end of the stage, and slowly walked over. He wore a simple hat and jacket over jeans, and were it not for the gleam in his eye, he could have been any man on the street, rather than a world famous magician.
‘An illusion to fool the illusionist,’ Jacob said.
James stopped beside Jacob and leaned against the stage. ‘Objectively, I was impressed,’ James said.
‘You know, you can let this go,’ Jacob said. ‘You don’t need to hate … you don’t need to hurt anymore.’
James said nothing.
‘Tomorrow is Christmas Day,’ Jacob continued. ‘I’m going to lunch at my mother’s place. I know you know her address. I’ll be there, Charlotte, my aunt, a couple of family friends. If you want to join us … you’d be very welcome.’
James cocked his head and looked up at the sky. He let out a slow breath. ‘It’s a nice night, isn’t it?’
Jacob nodded. ‘Yes, it is.’
James let out a long sigh again, then pushed himself away from the stage, turned, and walked away into the dark.
‘If I let you near the cooking, you’ll put cinnamon in everything,’ Julie said with a smirk to Daphne, who was fussing around the kitchen, trying to make herself useful. ‘You’re in charge of the music.’
Aunt Marjorie, standing by the kitchen table where she was tossing salad with one hand, lowered her phone from her ear.
‘That was Clarice,’ she said, looking at Daphne. ‘Billy was absolutely made up by his signed Exeter City shirt. How did you manage it?’
‘Just pulled a few strings,’ Daphne said. ‘My grandad is still pretty well known around the club.’
‘And he can’t wait to be the ball boy for tomorrow’s Boxing Day fixture,’ Aunt Marjorie continued. ‘It’s a home game against Rotherham. There’s a good chance they might actually win.’
‘Charlotte, dear, can you grab that box of cheap sherry? Us old timers need to get this party underway. Oh, these new slippers are so warm.’
Charlotte grinned at Jacob, who squeezed her hand as she walked past. He was about to head into the living room, to get out of the way of things, when the doorbell rang.
‘Oh, who could that be?’ Julie asked.
‘I’ll get it,’ Jacob said.
He hurried to the door, Charlotte behind him. He looked through the frosted glass, but there was no sign of anyone outside. He opened the door onto a snowy path, no sign even of footprints in the snow. He stepped outside, and nearly tripped over a large shoebox sitting on the mat.
‘What’s that?’ Charlotte said.
Jacob lifted it up. ‘It’s pretty heavy. Oh, something’s moving about inside.’
‘Do you think it could be a snake?’ Julie asked from over his shoulder.
‘I hope it’s kittens,’ Charlotte said.
Jacob tentatively lifted the lid, then let out a little gasp.
‘Oh, is that a pigeon?’ Daphne said, craning her neck to see.
‘It’s a dove,’ Aunt Marjorie said. ‘I wonder who on earth would put a dove on your doorstep on Christmas Day?’
Jacob looked down at the little bird bobbing about in the box. It seemed completely tame, appearing to have no desire to fly away at all. It had been sitting on a little piece of twig with pale green leaves.
‘An olive branch,’ Charlotte said, picking it up.
‘Who would do….’ Julie began, then shared a look with Jacob, and smiled. ‘Well, well. It’s a pretty little thing,’ she said. ‘We’ll have to name it, won’t we?’
‘How about Rosemary?’ Charlotte said with a breezy laugh. ‘That was my grandmother’s name.’
‘Perfect.’ Julie clapped her hands together. ‘Right, everyone, let’s get this little guy inside and figure out how we’re going to feed him, or her. And we have a Christmas dinner to prepare.’
As they all filed back inside, Jacob paused for a moment. As soon as he was alone, he walked out along the path, the snow crunching under his feet. By the gate he stopped, looking up the road.
At the far end of the street, a lone figure walked slowly away.
With the sun shining off the snow, it was difficult to make out any details other than the wide-brimmed hat.
As Jacob watched, the figure turned, and in silhouette a hand rose and appeared to touch the tip of the hat.
The figure gave a slight nod, then turned and walked out of sight.
Jacob watched the empty street. From somewhere came the crinkle of settling snow, the light tinkle of Christmas music. He glanced back at the house and saw Charlotte standing there in the doorway, watching him. She smiled, and lifted a hand.
‘Are you all right?’ she called.
He smiled back at her. ‘I am now,’ he said.
The End