Lantern
Page 22
“One night,” Carla said. “Tomorrow we discuss other options.”
Evelyn smiled at Graham over her mug. It wasn’t the best scenario she’d hoped for, but it could have been a lot worse.
“Thank you,” said Graham. “I’m sorry to cause trouble.”
“If you’ll excuse me,” said Carla, getting up. “I’ll get pillows and blankets to get you set up down here for the night.” The stairs to the upstairs rooms creaked after she’d left the room.
Graham sat there, with both Evelyn and Joyce staring at him. He began twiddling his thumbs. He looked around the room. Blinked, then smiled. His thumbs stopped moving.
He pointed to a stack of multicolored paper strips and pipe cleaners that glittered with foil. “What are those?”
Of all the things he could have asked about, he asks about those?
“They’re leftover supplies Carla bought for her students to make Halloween decorations. Just paper and wire covered in chenille and bits of tinsel,” she said. “They used them to make spiders or something.”
“What’ll she do with them now?”
Joyce shrugged. “Probably give them away or store them with our Halloween decorations. Why?”
“Might I take a closer look?” he said, his lips forming a slight grin.
She shrugged. “Help yourself.”
Evelyn watched with a furrowed brow as Graham quickly sorted the paper and pipe cleaners into piles. He twisted two pipe cleaners together to make a circle, then several more to form a larger circle. His fingers slid smoothly across the materials, forming precise bends and twists.
After connecting the ends of pipe cleaners all around, from the smaller circle to the larger circle, he held what looked like a cage with a wide brim.
“This is a frame,” he said. “To finish this, I’ll need to weave the paper through the spokes.”
Joyce’s eyes narrowed. “Go ahead.”
“He’s making a basket,” said Evelyn, suppressing an excited giggle.
She sat back and crossed her legs, sinking comfortably into the couch, while Graham wove a pattern much fancier than she thought possible with the simple materials.
“That’s amazing,” she breathed.
“What’s amazing?” Carla stepped into the room and paused, her arms filled with pillows and a blanket. Her eyes widened. “Well, isn’t that clever?”
“I’ve never used materials like these in Havenbrim,” Graham told her.
Carla dropped the blanket and pillows onto a chair and bent forward to inspect his work. “This is beautiful. Better than the ones at my sister, Amy’s, flower shop.”
Graham nodded. “Some of the baskets my father and I wove carried flowers, but mostly they were meant to carry water, food, and cloth.”
“No, not—” Carla’s mouth dropped open; she glanced at Evelyn. Everything in her expression registered understanding, that Graham was telling the truth about where he’d lived.
She cleared grit from her throat. “What I meant was that she’d love your baskets to fill with candies, fruits, and flowers; and to sell as decorations and gifts for special occasions.”
His eyes brightened. “Is your sister lookin’ for someone of my trade?”
Carla smiled. “We could go tomorrow and see if there’s a position available.”
“I’d be able to carry on my father’s trade.” His gaze was suddenly dreamy and far away. Until he frowned. “But what will I use for tools?”
“Amy would give you all the tools and materials you need, especially if the baskets are selling.”
He set the half-made basket on the table and turned. “Your shopkeeper would provide the tools?”
“Yes, but don’t get too excited. Like I said, we’ll need to make inquiries first. Hopefully, by the end of the week, you’ll be lined up for an interview.”
Evelyn reached out and hugged the next closest person, who happened to be Joyce. Her home and life in Erie, Pennsylvania was finally getting brighter.
Epilogue
Machin set down his tongs and wiped his forehead with the back of his gloved hand.
A twinkling of white light caught his eye, a glow distinct from the lanterns in the adjoining room, and lower than eye level.
He paced to the table where the oblong globe sat nestled inside its frame of dark metal. It had remained empty of light since Halloween, and yet it was still sealed, as if it had never been opened.
Something about the lantern was different. Its lid was in place and its globe was the same.
Except for one important detail.
Machin squinted at the burst of light radiating from the globe.
Instead of blue like Evelyn’s flame had been, the light was a pure, blazing white.
Machin lifted the lantern from the table; his eyebrows rose.
His knees creaked as he climbed the stool. Gently, carefully, he hung the lantern from a hook on a wooden beam that stretched across the ceiling.
No sooner than he’d done so, the lantern burned out.
“Once again, you surprise me, Graham Webb.” He chuckled.
“You are much like your mother was, though she was already growing ill by the time she met me, and I had to send her away. Which is why the torch I’d planned for her was eventually passed on to you.”
He removed the lantern from the ceiling and set it back upon the table. Then he pulled a hammer from his work belt and struck the glass.
The globe cracked and splintered. A breath later, the glass shattered and collapsed into a pile of shards.
With his gloved hand, Machin gathered the tiny pieces, guiding them softly to the edge of the table, and swept them inside a pouch.
And smiled.
Acknowledgments
Many thanks to Stephanie Parent who has edited each of the Lantern novellas. Also, a special thank you to readers who reviewed Lantern and Beacon, and who encouraged me to write more stories about Havenbrim and Machin’s lanterns. I hope you enjoyed this collection.
About the Author
Chess Desalls is the author of award-winning young adult fiction. Her nonfiction writing has been included in academic and industry publications, with a focus on law and technology. She's also a contributing editor for WritersTalk, South Bay Writers' monthly newsletter. When she's not reading or writing, she enjoys traveling and trying to stay in tune on her flute.
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