“Christmas crackers.” Miss Harriet replied cheerfully, holding one end out towards Katherine. “Pull your end, sharply, as I pull mine. Ready? One, two, three, Go!”
There was a sudden loud snap, and a smell of fireworks as Katherine’s end came off the cracker and the contents flew out of the cylinder. Miss Harriet gathered them up and handed them to her. There was a colorful wad of tissue paper, which unfolded into a flimsy crown, a folded piece of paper with an incredibly corny joke on it, and miniature game of horseshoes.
They repeated the process with the other cracker, and the two giggled as they put the crowns on their heads and read their jokes to each other. Then, Miss Harriet poured the tea, explaining how her family always had crackers at Christmas.
“They’re generally meant to be done at the table before dinner, but I couldn’t imagine the captain would be any too willing to wear a paper crown, so I decided not to press my luck.”
Katherine took the cup and saucer Miss Harriet handed her. “I think we may have witnessed a miracle today with the captain,” she said, curling her legs under her and settling deeper into her chair.
“Yes, it certainly was unprecedented. I’ve never known of him accepting an invitation to anywhere, and I’ve certainly never seen him get along so well with people.”
“I’m glad he did, though.” Katherine said, staring into the fire as she sipped her tea. “It must be so lonely for him, with all his family gone, but with the memories of their Christmases together so alive.”
“Yes. Particularly living in that great old house up on the cliffs all by himself, surrounded with so much tradition and history. I mean, history is all well and good, but when it’s your own history, and there’s no one to enjoy it with, it seems it would be more of a burden than a blessing.”
“I suppose so.” Katherine said thoughtfully.
The two sat silent for a while, listening to the sound of the raindrops pelting the windows as the wind blew in off the harbor and enjoying the warmth of the fire, until Katherine suddenly set her cup down and asked, “By the way, who was on the phone?”
“Oh, it was just Harold. He called to wish us Merry Christmas. He’s with his sister in New York, of all places.”
“That’s nice,” Katherine said, trying not to smirk. They returned to their companionable silence, but Katherine couldn’t help but notice that Miss Harriet was blushing.
23 Quiet Beginnings
The week between Christmas and the New Year passed quietly at Miss Harriet’s, with the Luncheon Club disbanded until its leader’s return and many of the other regular customers out of town as well.
Mr. James was to stay with his sister until New Year’s Day, and even Katherine had to acknowledge that the place didn’t seem the same without him. Still, she was glad for Rosie’s absence, for she would certainly have noticed how many times a day Miss Harriet remarked with a soft sigh and a glance at the empty table, “this place is so quiet these days.” Katherine had never known Miss Harriet to complain before, especially about things being quiet.
There were two of the dailies, however, who had not gone out of town. The day after Christmas, Mrs. Penelope arrived at her regular time, carrying a book as usual. There was a quiet gladness in her nut-brown eyes as she greeted Katherine.
“Good morning, Mrs. Penelope. How are you today?” Katherine asked cheerfully.
“Oh, very well indeed!”
“Good! Scones and tea as usual?”
“Yes, dear. Thank you.”
Katherine went to the kitchen to fetch Mrs. Penelope’s order, which had been carefully timed to be ready when she arrived. When she came out again, she saw Miss Harriet standing at Mrs. Penelope’s table. As she walked up, Miss Harriet asked,
“And how was your Christmas, Mrs. Penelope?”
Katherine was a little shocked at this because, last anyone knew, Mrs. Penelope had planned to spend her Christmas miserably alone. Miss Harriet always seemed to know the right questions to ask people, though, so she set the tray quietly down and waited for Mrs. Penelope’s reply.
“Oh, it was wonderful, just wonderful!” Mrs. Penelope said with more enthusiasm than Katherine had ever seen her display.
“Really?” Katherine burst out before she could stop herself.
“Oh, yes. You see, someone (I don’t know who) heard about my children not coming for Christmas. They must also have heard about how I couldn’t go to them because a train ticket would have been so expensive, and I don’t fly anymore, you know. Anyway, some kind soul left a round trip ticket in my mailbox that very night after I talked with you, Katherine.”
“How extraordinary!” Miss Harriet exclaimed.
“So you got to spend Christmas with your family after all!” Katherine said, eyes shining.
“Yes, and they were so pleased! I wasn’t sure if they would be, with me just showing up like that, but they really were! They said that they had been wishing they could have come and gotten me to spend Christmas with them, and as it happened, it was the very best Christmas I’ve ever had!”
“Oh, I am glad!” Katherine exclaimed, with a silent guess at who the mystery purchaser of the ticket might be.
A little later, while Mrs. Penelope was still savoring her scones and reading at her table, Mr. Patten came in. After a quick glance at the quiet lady immersed in her book, he took his usual place at the front.
“Good morning, Mr. Patten. You’re a bit earlier than usual today.”
“Yes, well, I… I thought since I had the day off, I might see if an earlier lunch agreed with me. It’s hard to change routines while I’m working, so I thought I should try to vary things a little when I have time off.”
“That’s nice.” Katherine replied, trying not to smirk as she caught another glance in Mrs. Penelope’s direction.
“Are we varying your lunch order as well?” she asked.
“Pardon? Oh, no. I think the earlier time is quite enough variety for today.”
“Right. I’ll be back in a minute or two, then.”
Katherine walked back to the kitchen, where Miss Harriet was already preparing Mr. Patten’s tea and Cornish pasty.
“Miss Harriet,” Katherine said in a hushed voice
