Mrs. James reached over and gently tapped the page. “This. You need to get to know God’s love so that you can tell true from false. Then, when you are tempted to fear or jealousy or envy, you can recognize that love doesn’t envy, it isn’t jealous or self-seeking. It doesn’t doubt or fear, but believes and hopes.”
“That’s from 1 Corinthians, isn’t it?” Katherine kept her place with one finger while flipping back the pages.
“Yes, chapter 13.”
A faint clatter sounded from downstairs, and Mrs. James stood reluctantly to her feet. “I suppose I should go check how Sally’s getting on.” Squeezing Katherine’s hand, she said softly, “Don’t forget to eat your scones while they’re warm, Dearie.”
Katherine returned the squeeze, eyes shining with tears. As her motherly friend gently pulled the door shut, Katherine settled further into her nest of blankets and pillows and began to read about God’s love, and to talk to Him about how her own love had fallen short.
* * * *
“Why, Katherine, I didn’t expect a visit on yer day off.” Captain Braddock said as Katherine came through the door of the Harborside later that day. He helped her with her jacket, hanging it on the coatrack and saying with a wink, “Of course, I can’t say I’m at all displeased.”
Katherine smiled, and again felt how wrong she had been to be jealous the day before.
“I thought today might be a good day to look through some of the sea chests in the tower, like you had talked about the other day.”
“Ah, yes. It’s just the day for it. I’ll fetch the key from my desk and we’ll go up.” He stopped to check the thermometer and adjust the door of the wood stove on the way to his desk. “Mind bringing an empty box from the storeroom in case we want to bring anything down to sort where it’s warm?”
Katherine’s hand was on the door handle by the time he had finished his sentence. “Of course! I’ll be right back.”
The storeroom was dark and cold, the air filled with an odd combination of mustiness and fragrance. It had been used to house shipments of tea ever since the Harborside was expanded by an enterprising Braddock in the Victorian era.
In the old days, the tea business had occupied the whole block-long brick building, but over the years business had declined to the point that the family was forced to sell all but the three small rooms on one end. In more recent days, the decline had become so severe that the shop was almost lost altogether.
Katherine shuddered as she remembered how much Captain Braddock had been willing to give up in order to save the place. She was so thankful they had found a way to save both the shop and Captain Braddock’s retirement savings.
Katherine scanned the dark corners of the room. She had never seen the storeroom even close to full. She sighed and walked down the stairs. One day, she thought, perhaps the Harborside will need all this space, and even be able to gain back the rest of the building.
She shook her head at her own optimism. Even with the recent upturn in sales, that seemed too much to dream. She grabbed an empty box from a pile near the door and headed back up the stairs.
A thrill of excitement ran through her as she neared the spiral staircase. The room at the top had been kept a secret for so long, Katherine never lost the feeling of entering a hidden world when she walked through the doorway at the top of the stairs.
Today it seemed otherworldly, indeed, with a pale blue light flooding the space, dimly contrasting with the cozy glow of lamps in the shop below. She stood a moment on the threshold, the box dangling from one hand, gazing with anticipation at the sea trunks, resting securely beneath the rain-pelted windows.
The trunks had beckoned to her ever since that first day when Captain Braddock took her into the secret tower. Now, she surveyed them one by one, wondering which they would get to open today. Although the trunks were of similar shape and size, each one was unique in some way.
Katherine heard the captain’s footsteps on the stairs behind her and turned, saying, “Which trunk did you want to look through first?”
“I thought we’d look through this one.” He nodded towards the rectangular chest closest to the door. He stiffly maneuvered himself down onto his knees next to the trunk and reached for the lid. Katherine knelt beside him, eager-eyed and breathless with the thrill of new discovery.
The metal hinges gave a soft squeak as the lid was raised, and a faint smell of cedar wafted up from inside. A shuffled mass of papers filled the shallow tray on top, and Captain Braddock shook his head at the sight of them.
“I’m afraid these are all in quite a mess. Grandma Braddock was a wonderful woman, and loved this place dearly, but organization wasn’t her greatest quality. She had a habit of keeping the mundane all mixed together with the important. It’s left to us to sort out which is which.” He looked over at Katherine and asked, “You up for the job?”
Katherine grinned. “Of course!”
Captain Braddock struggled to his feet, leaning heavily on the edge of the trunk. “We could bring the whole tray down, but why don’t you grab a couple handfuls and we’ll look through them downstairs by the stove—just in case a customer comes in.” He winked and started down the stairs.
Katherine began gently gathering up some of the papers. She loved things like this, picking over little bits of history. That was why she had chosen to major in history at college. And with the way the Braddocks held on to tradition and family history, there was a good chance of finding something truly significant in amongst the ordinary details of life as a tea seller.
* * * *
“Receipt…receipt…grocery list…” Captain Braddock tossed several papers into the wooden crate which held kindling for the wood stove, and then opened the stove door to add another log. The flames licked over the new piece of wood and for a few moments the only sounds in the shop were the cozy crackling of flames and the rustling of papers.
“Recipe for beef stew…”
“I’ll take that one. I have a little pile of recipes over here.”
“Here you are, then.” He held the paper out to her without lifting his eyes. “Receipt…receipt…Ah, here’s our first treasure!” The captain’s eyes twinkled as he held out a faded photograph.
Katherine reached over to take the picture gingerly by its edges. A gangly boy and a petite girl stood side by side, dressed in the simple attire of pioneer children. “Is this you and Serena?”
Captain Braddock chuckled. “Yes, though you wouldn’t think it, the way I look now.”
“What were you dressed up for?”
“Harborhaven used to have a festival every year. I can’t think what they called it… But they had all the descendants of the founding families march in a parade down main street, and then down to the wharf, where they would have all manner of wooden ships moored. Sometimes, there was even a boat race!” He chuckled again and shook his head. “Those were the days.”
“I remember seeing pictures from something like that at the historical society’s museum. I wonder why they don’t have that festival anymore?”
