In today’s episode we read Chapter 26 – Happy Holidays - in which Magpie celebrates the season with the Sarcelles and is in for a heartwarming surprise, but not before an unsettling experience threatens to put a damper on the festivities!
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This week's Boopod Network podcast partner is Paranormal Exposed: https://rss.com/podcasts/paranormalexposed
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
Things with Wings Productions presents: Episode 26 of The Skylark Bell, Wingspan. I am your host, Melissa Oliveri.
In our previous episode, Lucas proposed to Farfalla in the apple orchard behind Meadow Lane.
In today’s episode we read Chapter 26 – Happy Holidays - in which Magpie celebrates the season with the Sarcelles and is in for a heartwarming surprise
Be sure to listen through to the end of the episode for a preview of a podcast I quite enjoy called Paranormal Exposed.
Also of note, you can now find The Skylark Bell custom merchandise! Everything from clothing, to mugs, notebooks, postcards, stickers, magnets and more! Just visit my website, melissaoliveri.com/store - The link is also available in the shownotes for this episode.
Now, it’s time to settle in… grab a blanket, and a warm drink… and let’s get started.
“Brrr, it’s freezing out there!” says Julien, pulling off his boots by the front door.
“Well, it’s nice and warm in here,” counters Magie, smiling at him from one of the chairs by the fireplace.
Julien walks to the fireplace and stretches his hands out in front of the flames. “Have you spoken to your mom today?” he asks.
“Yes, we wished each other happy holidays. She’s planning on celebrating at Meadow Lane, her current guests are repeat customers and they’ve become quite good friends,” she answers. In the months since Magpie’s return to Scotland she has struggled with leaving her mother behind in Pocket, but recently has come to terms with the fact that her mother has built a life there, and is happy.
“My mom and dad are very excited to be celebrating with us,” says Julien, turning toward Magpie. “I’m so excited, I can hardly handle it,” he adds, a boyish grin on his face.
“Once you thaw out, we can decorate the tree,” she says, looking at the bare tree that Alfred had surprised them with the day before, “then I’ll get started on the cookies,” she says, his contagious childlike excitement infecting her.
“Oh, I’m all warmed up,” he says, clapping his hands, “let’s do it!”
They head up to the attic to the decorations stored there, then manoeuvre the stairs awkwardly, their arms loaded with boxes.
“I’m excited to see what’s in here!” says Magpie. Some of the boxes look quite old and appear to contain things that may have belonged to the original Carnifex family. Magpie opens the first box and finds loads of vintage glass ornaments in all different shapes and colours carefully stored in their original packaging.
“Fantastique!” says Julien, “I love that mid-century modern style!”
“Why don’t you put these on the tree, and I’ll open the next box,” says Magpie.
The next two boxes contain more glass ornaments, followed by a box with some small wooden ornaments painted in bright colours. Together they go through boxes of lights and garland, which they string along the beams on the ceiling and across the fireplace mantle.
“The house looks great!” says Manon, walking in the front door and stomping the snow off her feet.
“We found some pretty amazing decorations up in the attic!” says Magpie.
“Wait, you forgot a box,” says Julien , slipping a smaller box out from under the couch.
Magpie sits on the couch with the box on her lap. She carefully lifts the flaps and gasps when she sees the contents. Inside are several handmade ornaments, they appear to be decades, maybe even a hundred years old. Magpie pulls one out and holds it up. It is a small hand-sewn doll wearing a beige dress and brown boots, hair made of long dark yarn springing from its head. Magpie feels a pang of sadness as she realizes the doll looks very similar to the little girl who went missing in the woods. She pulls out several other dolls, presumably the rest of the family: a woman, a man, a small boy, and a dog. “I think these belonged to the Carnifex family, a very long time ago,” says Magpie, handing the ornaments to Julien who hangs them on the tree.
Magpie is about to put the box away when she spots one last ornament in the bottom, partially hidden by the crumpled paper that serves as a buffer to protect the ornaments from being damaged. Magpie gingerly reaches in and pulls the ornament out. Her hand starts shaking as she holds it up. The ornament is different than the others, it has been whittled out of wood, and is hand-painted. It is a siren, her tail curling behind her, her long red hair streaming over her shoulders, face upturned with her mouth open, a silver crown of twigs and branches on her head. Where her eyes should be are two holes, like someone gouged the wood in anger. Magpie shudders and places the ornament back in the box. She looks up and she and Manon lock eyes, Manon is clearly in agreement with Magpie’s decision to put the ornament back where it came from.
Magpie gets up from her chair. “Who wants to help me bake some cookies?” she asks, knowing full well Manon is an avid baker. They laugh and make their way toward the kitchen.
“I’m going to walk down to the cottage and help my dad finish preparing dinner, see you in a bit!” says Julien, planting a kiss on Magpie’s cheek as he walks out the door.
“He loves you very much,” says Manon warmly, after Julien has left.
“I love him too,” whispers Magpie. It has taken her a long time to give in to her feelings for Julien. For so long, she felt guilt about moving on, about giving up hope that Lucas would return, but a few months ago when she saw Julien’s face as he opened the door to welcome her back from her trip to Pocket, she felt a warm glow inside, and realized that over the years she had fallen in love with him.
Magpie and Manon spend the next few hours baking a variety of cookies, some from Manon’s traditional French recipes, and some from the book of Carnifex Family Recipes that Magpie had found stashed at the back of a cupboard when she first moved in. They plan on packing up the extra cookies and handing them out to their neighbours and people in the village as gifts.
“Voila!” says Manon, pulling the last sheet of cookies out of the oven. As if on cue, the back door opens, letting in a rush of cold air as Alfred and Julien step into the kitchen.
“Great timing!” says Magpie, grabbing a large pot from Alfred’s hands so he can take off his jacket and boots. “Oh Alfred, this smells divine!” she says, peeking under the lid.
“It’s my grandmother’s secret recipe, I will never share it, don’t even try!” he says in jest, “although if you were to offer one of those cookies, I may reconsider,” he adds with a wink.
Julien sets the table, adding a bright red tablecloth and tapered candles as a centerpiece. Magpie and Manon take their seats at the table as Alfred brings out plates of wonderfully fragrant food. They eat and drink merrily, enjoying the warmth and comfort of spending the holidays as a family. Alfred and Manon take the empty plates to the kitchen and start washing up as Magpie and Julien make their way to the living room. Julien adds a log to the fire and puts a holiday album on the record player.
“Is It time to exchange gifts?” asks Manon, walking back into the room.
“Yes!” says Julien, the boyish twinkle back in his eye. Alfred brings two dining chairs and sets them up so the four of them are sitting in a semi-circle around the fireplace.
“I would like to go first,” says Magpie, grabbing two brightly wrapped packages from beneath the tree. She hands one to Manon and one to Alfred, and watches their faces as they unpack the beautiful tartan scarves she chose for them at the gift shop in town. In return they hand Magpie a package. She unwraps it carefully, savouring the moment.
“You know you can just rip it off!” says Julien, unable to contain his enthusiasm.
Magpie laughs and continues to gently unfold the paper from the box. Inside she finds a beautiful hand-carved figurine of a deer, its head held high, its coat painted a deep auburn shade. “Alfred, did you make this?!” she asks, enamoured with the craftsmanship. Alfred nods humbly. Magpie gets up and gives them both a warm hug before placing the figurine on the mantel.
Next, Manon hands a box to Julien, who rips off the paper voraciously. Within seconds he is holding up a collection of classic French cookbooks, his smile stretching from ear to ear. “You expect me to cook for you every day now, I suppose!” he kids, getting up to embrace his parents.
Magpie takes the last box from under the tree and hands it to Julien. “This is for you, from me,” she says, shyly. It took her a long time to find the perfect give for him, and she hopes she chose well. Julien unwraps the gift with surprising grace. He gently opens the box and lifts off the protective layer of tissue paper inside. He takes a moment to drink in the contents of the box before looking up and giving Magpie a meaningful look.
“What is it?” asks Manon, her curiosity getting the better of her.
“It’s us,” replies Julien, holding up a custom painting of Carnifex House, the four of them standing in a row by the front door. Magpie smiles, happy and relieved that Julien seems genuinely touched by her gift.
“This has been an absolutely perfect day,” says Magpie as she crouches down to collect the bits of wrapping paper from the floor.
“Wait, there’s still one gift left to open,” says Julien, holding his hand out to help her up. Magpie looks up at him, a confused look on her face. “I have a gift for you as well,” he says, walking over to the tree. He reaches in and pulls a small box out from between the branches. Magpie’s heart starts beating at the sight of it. Julien pulls the small blue ribbon from the box, then kneels before Magpie as he pries it open. Inside is a beautiful, simple gold ring with a blue stone set in the center of it. “Magpie, will you marry me?” he asks, looking up at her expectantly.
Magpie’s heart feels like it’s going to pop right out of her chest. Thoughts and feelings swirl through her mind. She thinks back to Farfalla and Marius in the apple orchard, is this how she felt? She thinks of her father and mother, who loved each other but were never able to make it work. Finally, she thinks of Lucas. “Where are you?” the thought echoes in her mind. She lets the echo fade away before holding her hand out to Julien to help him up. Standing face to face she looks deeply in his eyes. “Lucas is my past. Julien is my future” she tells herself.
“Yes, I would be honoured to be your wife,” she says. Julien lets out a sigh of relief as Manon and Alfred jump to their feet with joy. Julien pulls the ring out of the box and places it on Magpie’s finger, then grabs her by the waist and spins her around.
“And now, we celebrate!” says Alfred, popping the top off a bottle of champagne as Manon turns up the volume on the record player. They dance and sing into the wee hours of the night. Finally, Manon and Alfred head back to the cottage and Magpie and Julien go up to bed.
Long after Julien has fallen asleep, Magpie lays in bed looking out the small window at the moon outside, running the events of the last few years through her mind. She focuses on the foreign feeling of the ring on her finger, and finally feels her eyes getting heavy. “Goodbye, Lucas,” she says softly, then rolls over to face Julien as she gives in to sleep.
Thank you so much for listening. Join me next week for Wingspan chapter 27, Mirror Pond, where Lucas experiences the terrible winter of 1925 first hand.
The Skylark Bell is brought to you by Phaeton Starling Publishing and features original music by Cannelle. If you are enjoying this story, please consider leaving a rating on Spotify or a review on Apple Podcasts, they help give the podcast visibility so others can find and enjoy the story. You can also support my work by subscribing to my Patreon where you get early access to episodes as well as MP3 downloads of the music, artwork, behind the scenes videos and more! Just check the show notes for links to Patreon, my website, and social media accounts.
Before I go, I’d like to share this reel for a podcast I quite enjoy called Paranormal Exposed. Listen to the skeptic host’s take on paranormal stories. If you enjoy the the more ghostly side of The Skylark Bell you’ll want to check out paranormal exposed
Thank you, again, for listening. I’m Melissa Oliveri, and this is The Skylark Bell podcast.
