The Christmas Present: The Pocket Watch Chronicles

by Ceci Giltenan

  Anita nodded.

  “Logan, my love, Grandmother is tired. Will ye help me get her upstairs?”

  “Of course, sweetling.” His smile was as broad as ever, but there was sadness in his eyes. He adored Agnes. Losing her someday was inevitable but Maggie knew it didn’t make facing the loss any easier. He gently lifted the tiny body of his wizened grandmother in his arms and carried her up the stairs.

  Several serving women made to follow them, but Davina put up a hand. “Stay and enjoy the celebration. Maggie and I will help Lady Agnes to bed.”

  Logan laid his grandmother on her bed before kissing her cheek. “I love ye very much, Grandmother. Sleep well.”

  Anita smiled and squeezed his hand.

  Logan turned to Maggie. “Are ye sure ye don’t need me?”

  Davina answered. “Nay son, we can manage this.”

  “Good night, then.” He squeezed his grandmother’s hand again and left.

  When he was gone, Maggie said, “Anita, ye can feel free to speak English if ye wish. I’ll continue to speak Gaelic so Davina can understand.”

  Anita smiled with the right side of her face. “Thank you so much, Maggie. This day has truly been extraordinary.”

  “’Tis rather different than modern Christmases. Agnes’s stroke has sorely limited your ability to truly enjoy the festivities. I wish ye’d been able to experience our celebration more fully.”

  “Oh my precious girl, as odd as it sounds, I think it might have been perfect. Exactly what I needed.”

  “Ye’re kidding me.”

  “I’m not kidding. It’s all in one’s perspective. Gertrude reminded me of that when she gave me the watch. Had I not been in Agnes’s body I’d have seen it just the same as you. How could this,” she motioned to her limp left side, “be a blessing?”

  “A fair question, if ye ask me.”

  “But, from this perspective, I learned something. Being in this frail body meant that I had to be still and simply experience everything going on around me. I realized that at home, I am so focused on doing that I forget life is happening all around me. As a result, I sometimes miss what is truly important. Today I had no choice and I wouldn’t have traded a single precious moment.”

  Maggie smiled and explained what Anita had said to Davina.

  A look of wonder crossed Davina’s face. “Oh my, that’s…that’s…”

  Maggie laughed. “That’s Gertrude.”

  Anita nodded. “My thoughts exactly. I suppose my mission has been accomplished.”

  “I suppose it has been.” Maggie’s brow drew together. “I’m sure ye’re ready to return home and I know how very difficult it is for ye to be trapped in Agnes’s failing body. The remainder of the celebration will be subdued, but it’s more than enough that ye were here for Christmas Day.”

  Anita frowned. “The rest of the celebration?”

  “Aye. Unlike Christmas in our time, where everyone rushes out to take advantage of sales on the day after Christmas, here we celebrate the entire twelve days, right through to Epiphany.”

  Anita sighed. “I knew that, I guess I’d forgotten. I thought I’d only be here for a couple days.”

  “And so ye were. Ye’ve given us a great gift as it is. I won’t ask for more.”

  “No, Maggie. Now that I think about it, Gertrude asked me to stay for the ‘Christmas Season’ and I agreed. I won’t break my promise. It’s fairly clear Gertrude has a plan and maybe the mission isn’t accomplished yet. I’ll see it through. It’s just a little less than two weeks. I can do this.”

  “Are ye sure?”

  “I’m sure.”

  Maggie wasn’t sure why, but she felt a great sense of relief at that and it was more than just having Agnes present for the benefit of her family. Agnes was gone and she had accepted that and soon the family would as well. Maggie knew this wasn’t about Agnes at all. Maggie had to admit, if only to herself, she wasn’t ready for Anita to go, but she wasn’t sure why.

  Normally, it would be her inclination to try to spare someone from unnecessary suffering if she could. Anita was locked in Agnes’s failing body with all the pain and indignities that came with that. For Anita to stay twelve more days was a huge sacrifice. Maggie would never have asked it of her. Still, the fact remained that she wanted Anita to stay—just a little longer. She couldn’t exactly put her finger on why this was so important to her yet, but she was tired. She’d worry about it tomorrow.

  ~ * ~

  When Anita awoke the next day, snow was falling. Logan tried valiantly to convince his grandmother to stay in bed and rest today.

  “Naaay,” was all Anita could manage to say. She’d once read about St. Stephen’s day in a book once and knew that animals were blessed as part of the celebration. She wanted to see that. And she wanted to see the snow falling.

  Maggie laid a hand on Logan’s arm. “Logan, this is important to Grandmother. I swear, I’ll see that she takes a long rest this afternoon before tonight’s feast.”

  So once again, Anita was bundled up on her litter and carried to the church. The snow fell heavily. She had never experienced a snowfall and was surprised at the way it sounded. Noises were muted and that made sense when she thought about it. But she hadn’t expected to hear the snow falling. There was the faintest tick, tick, tick, as the tiny icy flakes landed.

  During Mass the priest blessed hay, salt and oats. Anita would have to ask Maggie about this later. After Mass, the priest led a procession to the stables, where he blessed the horses.

  Anita smiled to herself as she watched. Maggie seemed to love the great beasts. She remembered how much Katy had loved horses as a teenager and suspected Maggie had been no different.

  When the ceremonies were over, just as she’d promised, Maggie insisted that Grandmother return to bed. “I’ll sit with ye while ye rest. ’Twill be another late night.”

  She shooed everyone else out of the room, then sat beside Anita. “I hope you don’t mind. We’ve had no time alone and I want to hear about your life and how Gertrude came to offer you the pocket watch.”

  “I’ve wondered about your story as well. But first I have a question. I gather that St. Stephen is a patron of animals.”

  “That’s right. And the blessed hay, salt and oats will be distributed to our farmers and given to sick animal through the year.”

  “I always think of St. Francis as the patron of animals.”

  Maggie laughed. “I do too, but here, St Francis is still a relatively new saint. It’s only been a little over fifty years since he died and was canonized. How crazy is that? St. Francis was eighteen when Agnes was born. And St Catherine of Siena hasn’t even been born yet. When I stop and think about things like that, it amazes me even after all these years.”

  “Tell me about yourself, I mean who you were.”

  “My name was Magdalena Mitchell. I lived near Trenton, New Jersey with my dad. He was a physics professor at Princeton.”

  “And how did you meet Gertrude?”

  “It’s a long story, but she found me sobbing in a sculpture garden on a beautiful June day.”

  “Why were you crying?”

  “The man I thought I loved had just married someone else.”

  “Oh dear. How did that happen?”

  “I won’t bore you with all the details, but I’d delayed going to school and pursuing my dreams because my mother was diagnosed with cancer when I was a senior in high school. I stayed home to help her and my family and he went on without me.”

  “Your poor mother. Were they able to treat the cancer? Did she recover?”

  A shadow of loss crossed Maggie’s face. “No. It was too advanced when she was diagnosed.”

  “I’m so very sorry, sweetheart.”

  “Thank you. I miss her. I always will.” Maggie looked pensive for a moment before continuing. “Anyway, Gertrude gave me the watch when I said I wished I could have someone else’s life. Boy was I surprised when I arrived over seven hundred years in t
he past.”

  “Gertrude didn’t tell you where you were coming?”

  “No. I gather she told you, because you knew about Agnes and the stroke.”

  “Yes she did. I can’t imagine the shock of landing here with no clue where or when you were.”

  “That’s putting it mildly. But it didn’t take me long to realize this is where my destiny was. I belonged here.”

  “And ye’ve been here for eleven years?”

  Maggie nodded.

  Eleven years? But Maggie said she enjoyed the Harry Potter books—plural—and only the first one had been released eleven years ago. How can that be?

  Before Anita could sort it out, Maggie said, “Tell me about yourself. Where are you from?”

  “I live in southwest Florida with my husband and I was a teacher. I used to teach sixth grade.”

  “Used to?”

  “I’m fifty-eight and I retired a couple years ago.”

  “Is that when you moved to Florida?”

  Anita laughed. “No. We’ve actually always lived in Florida.”

  “Do you have children?”

  “We have a son and a daughter. Our son is thirty. He’s married and has two daughters—three year old Lucy, and Olivia who’s one.”

  “What’s your son’s name?”

  “John James Lewis. It’s my husband’s name and was his father’s name too. My father-in-law was always called ‘John’ and my husband was ‘James’ or ‘Jim’. So when we gave our son the name, we decided to call him Jack.”

  “And your daughter?”

  “She’s twenty-seven and her name is Katy. They both live in the Washington, DC area.”

  “Why so far from home?”

  “They went to school in the northeast and that’s where they found jobs. Jack is a patent attorney and works for the US patent and trademark office. Katy has a degree in computer science from Georgetown.”

  “You’re kidding. My old boyfriend, the one I was crying about when Gertrude gave me the watch, got his computer science degree from Georgetown.”

  “Really? When did he graduate?”

  “In twenty-twelve.”

  Anita was stunned. “What did you say?”

  “He graduated in twenty-twelve.”

  “But…wait, I don’t understand. When did Gertrude give you the pocket watch?”

  “In June of twenty-fourteen.”

  Anita couldn’t get her head around it. Maggie was from farther in the future than Anita herself was. That meant…that meant Maggie hadn’t left yet in her time.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Maggie.

  “Nothing. I just assumed, since you’ve been here for more than eleven years, you used the watch more than eleven years ago.”

  “I did.”

  Anita looked at her. “No you didn’t. You haven’t used it yet. Gertrude gave me the watch in December two thousand and eight. When I go back, you’ll still be there.”

  Maggie’s mouth fell open in shock. “Two thousand eight? I never imagined…but I’m not sure why I’m surprised. Gertrude said time is not linear and she seems to pop back and forth at will.”

  “When was your mother diagnosed with cancer?”

  “Two thousand and nine.”

  “Not until next year for me. Maggie, if I find her when I go back, maybe I can talk her into getting checked out sooner. Maybe they can find it earlier and it won’t take her life.”

  For a moment Maggie just stared at Anita, stunned. Then her face lit with excitement. “You’re right. You can warn her. They could catch the cancer a year earlier and maybe…maybe…”

  The joy which seemed to have filled Maggie, dissipated as quickly as it came. Maggie shook her head sadly. “No, you can’t.”

  “Of course I could. There is a way.”

  Maggie smiled at her. “I can’t imagine what my life would have been like if she hadn’t died. Those years were incredibly hard and I miss her so much. Part of me is sorely tempted, even if only for my dad and sister. But if I’ve learned nothing else, it’s that the universe unfolds as it should. My life happened as it did for a reason and I am blissfully happy here. I’m not even sure you even could change it if you tried. I know this may seem crazy to you, but my mother’s illness and everything surrounding it has already happened. Even though two thousand and nine is your future, it’s my past. And then there’s always the chance that attempting to change even the smallest thing could make the entire situation worse. As hard as those years were, I made it through them and landed here. This is my life now. I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

  Anita nodded. “I guess I understand. As a mother, it breaks my heart to know what’s ahead for your younger self. I wish I could do something for you, even if just to make things easier somehow, but I understand.”

  “Thank you, Anita.” Maggie took hold of Anita’s hands, giving her a thoughtful look. “But maybe there is something you can do to help me after all. I have a past that I can’t share with my present and a present that I can’t share with my past.”

  “I’m not sure I understand.”

  “As I told ye no one but Logan and Davina know I’m a time-traveler. I will never be able to tell my children about their grandparents or their Aunt Paige. I can’t tell them stories from my childhood or any fond memories.”

  “Ah, I understand, a past you can’t share with your present. And you can’t share your new family with your old one.”

  “Exactly. But maybe you can. I used the pocket watch on the twenty-first of June, two thousand fourteen. Maybe someday, after that date, you can look up my sister, Paige. I did tell her about the Pocket Watch before I left and she knows who Gertrude is. She’ll believe you. You can tell her all about my life here. Tell her about my children, my husband, Davina and Agnes, and my clan. Tell her how much I love and miss her but also how very happy I am.”

  “I certainly can do that. I’ll find her. I promise. But over the next few days, you need to tell me everything you can about the last eleven years. So I’ll write down everything I can remember when I get home. Then I’ll have plenty to tell her.”

  For the next eleven days, through all of the celebrations, Anita and Maggie made time to be alone every day. Anita got a glimpse of medieval life unlike anything she could ever learn from a book as Maggie told her about her life. But they also talked about things from their lives in the twenty-first century.

  Maggie shared her past. She reminisced about Christmases when she was little. She laughed about school concerts, cookie baking disasters and Christmas pageants. “I don’t think this season ever passes that I don’t think about A Miracle on 34th Street, It’s a Wonderful Life or The Grinch. When I was little I always imagined watching them with my children the way my Mom and Dad did with me and Paige.”

  “Still, by everything I’ve seen, no one here has lost sight of the real meaning of Christmas.”

  Maggie smiled. “No. You are right in that. I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

  They also shared their mutual love of books—Harry Potter being a topic they both loved. “But I won’t tell you how it ends, so don’t bother asking,” Maggie had told her one afternoon.

  The days between Christmas and Epiphany fairly flew, even though Anita felt the strain of Agnes’s failing body more and more each day.

  The final feast, on Epiphany, was spectacular. This was the day the Carrs exchanged gifts and it felt very like Christmas Day in Anita’s own time. She wasn’t sure how it had happened, but in these few short days, she had come to love each of them as if they were her own and being with them gave her joy. She realized she would miss them. She’d miss them quite a lot.

  As Anita went to sleep that night it occurred to her that she didn’t have to leave yet. She could stay for the full time allowed by the pocket watch and still return home on Christmas Eve.

  Chapter 6

  Monday, January 7, 1282

  Castle Carr

  The day after Epiphany dawned gray and cold. The w
ind carried a damp chill and wet snow started falling before noon. This was the first morning since arriving in medieval Scotland that Anita could not face leaving Agnes’s bed.

  The fire in her hearth blazed, warming the chamber as much as possible, but leaving the bed to use the chamber pot had been a miserably cold experience. It took piles of blankets and furs to banish the chill. And nothing could stop her body from aching. Every single joint pained her and it was impossible to get comfortable.

  Maggie sat beside Anita, helping her eat warm, sweet porridge, but after a few bites, Anita shook her head. “Nooo. Nooo mohr.” Anita spoke Gaelic as Freya was still in the room.

  “It’s all right, Grandmother. Maybe ye’ll feel like more later. Freya, will ye take this tray back to the kitchen please?”

  “Aye, my lady. Shall I return then and sit with Lady Agnes for a while?”

  “No, I’ll stay with her.”

  When Freya had left and the sound of her retreating footsteps had died away, Maggie took Anita’s hand in hers. Tears filled her eyes. “It’s time, isn’t it?”

  “Time to go home? I…well…” Truthfully, in spite of last night’s thoughts of staying longer last night, Anita did want to go home. She had experienced wonderful things here, but she was so very weary this morning. Still, part of her wasn’t ready to leave quite yet. Maybe just a day or two more. “I could stay a little longer.”

  “I would love for you to stay longer. I know you aren’t Agnes. I know she is waiting peacefully to move on. You have given my family and this clan, not to mention Agnes herself, a wonderful gift. But of everyone, I think perhaps I was most blessed by your presence here. It’s as if I’ve had a visitor from home. I love my life here, but even though Davina and Logan know who I am, they cannot understand what life in our time was like. I loved being able to talk about books and movies and music with you. It was a priceless Christmas present which I shall never forget.”

  Anita understood this. Having no shared past must come with a certain amount of loneliness. Then too, Maggie was a lot like Katy. Anita had grown to love her and the realization that she would never see her or be able to talk to her again caused Anita’s heart to break. “I’m not sure I’m ready to leave you yet.”