Katherine gingerly set the boxes on the counter. “Which do we open first?” she asked, her eyes wide and sparkling with anticipation.
Captain Braddock chuckled, “Whichever one you want, Missy. They’re decorations, not Christmas presents!” Then, he added with a bit of his old seriousness, “we just have to make sure we don’t get carried away. It’s only an hour till we open.”
Katherine nodded, then eagerly took the lid off the smaller box. “Oh, what beautiful bows! Where do these go?” She asked, untangling a large bow from the jumble of velvet ribbon.
“They hang from the gaslights. I’ll get started on them; you open the other box.”
Katherine opened the larger hatbox and found it was full of glass ornaments nestled together in a bed of ancient tissue paper, crumpled up around them.
“Will there be a Christmas tree?” she asked.
“Just a small one. It’ll be here later today. I figured we could set it up tonight.”
“I’m glad. I love Christmas trees.” She was about to put the lid on the box when she noticed the corner of a fabric pouch sticking out from between the crumpled papers. Inside were some large but delicate silver hooks, with tiny sprigs of holly worked all over them.
“Those are to hang the garlands with.”
“What garlands?”
“The garlands we’re going to make while we wait for customers today.” Captain Braddock replied, casting a sidelong glance at Katherine to catch her reaction.
“We’re going to make them?”
“Yes. It’s a Harborside tradition. We have to have real fir garlands in the window, shelves, and counter.”
“Oh, that will be lovely!” Katherine said.
“The ornaments are only in the top of the box. There’s a tray you can lift out,” Captain Braddock said, turning to attach another bow.
Katherine lifted the tray from the top of the hatbox. There was another layer of crumpled tissue, with some mysterious shapes scattered throughout. Katherine lifted one gently and carefully removed its tissue paper covering. In her hand was an exquisite porcelain shepherd. She reached in again and unwrapped a wise man, then a camel, then Mary and Joseph, a donkey, and a delicate little sheep. Finally, she fished around among the tissue paper and found a manger, with a tiny baby to lay inside it.
“Where is this nativity from?” Katherine asked as the captain walked up to the counter.
“Great-Uncle Charles, that was Isaac’s brother, you know, bought it in Italy. He was a great traveler, and always brought back presents for everyone. This was bought as a gift for Lizzy originally, but she put it out at the Harborside the first Christmas she had it, and here it’s belonged ever since. She said it was too pretty to keep at home where no one would see it.”
Captain Braddock pointed at the intricate detail of the tiny manger. “They’re hand-painted, see, and worth quite a bit, so I’ve always been told. They go up there, on that shelf on the wall behind the counter.” Captain Braddock picked up the shepherd, with a sad sort of smile. “Serena had such a way of arranging it. Somehow, when the pieces are all placed just so, it sort of draws you in. Makes you feel like you’re really there.”
Katherine looked down at the pieces, wondering if she could figure out how to place them “just so.” The captain set the shepherd down and looked back over at the box.
“There should be an angel somewhere, too. Was it in the box with the other pieces?”
“No. I haven’t seen an angel yet. Maybe I missed it somehow.” She looked through the tissue papers one more time. “There’s nothing left in the box but paper. Could it have gotten put away somewhere else?”
Captain Braddock shrugged. “I suppose so. I haven’t helped with the decorations since before I went to sea. Can’t imagine Serena mislaying anything, though. She was always so careful.”
Katherine sifted through the papers again. “Maybe we’ll find it later.” She said, hopefully, thrilled that the captain was talking more freely about his sister.
“Likely so. Anyway, it’s time to open up. Put the boxes back in the trunk for me while I unlock the door, will you?”
“Yes, sir.” Katherine said, putting the lids back on the boxes.
* * * *
Back in the storeroom, she knelt on the floor in front of the open trunk. An aroma of ancient pine needles and cinnamon drifted out of the trunk as she gently set the boxes in their place. As she reached up to close the lid, she noticed something shiny wedged between the other boxes in the trunk. She moved them over and pulled out an antique picture frame.
Turning towards the light, she saw it was a black and white picture of two small children: a boy and a girl, sitting on the floor in front of a Christmas tree, engrossed in watching a small train wind its way around the tree.
Something about the scene seemed familiar to Katherine, but she couldn’t quite figure out what it was. I wonder who they were, she thought. In a sudden fit of boldness, she decided to go back upstairs and ask.
* * * *
When Captain Braddock saw what she was holding, he reached out to take it with a look on his face she had never seen before.
“Well, now. I haven’t seen this in ages,” he said softly.
“I was wondering who the children in the picture were,” Katherine asked cautiously.
“You’d never know it now, but that little tyke is me, and that’s my sister Serena next to me.” The captain smiled and sighed. “Them were good days, when we were young. This was taken for my grandparents as a Christmas present. They set it on that shelf over there every Christmas. We were their only grandchildren, you see, and they doted on us.”
Katherine gently took the picture from Captain Braddock. “I think we should keep it out.” She said, walking over to the shelves. “Is this where it goes?” she asked, gently moving a tea bowl to one side to make room.
