The Hands of a Carpenter - Ch. 2

Chapter 2
Of Birthday Presents and Secret Memories1


Dinner was eaten, cake was devoured (with much enthusiasm), and as the conversation slowed down they leaned back in their chairs and sighed in contentment.2

"Digory, please give my compliments to the chef whenever you get the chance," said Polly, patting her full stomach. "That was a dinner to remember."3

"I'm glad to see the food meets your approval," chuckled Digory. "And you'll be seeing a lot more meals like this, since you're visiting for a while." He reached into his pocket for his pipe and a few moments later he was contentedly puffing away at it. "Observe, my good Polly." He pulled it out of his mouth, blew a perfect smoke ring and sat back with a smug smile hiding behind his beard. Polly just rolled her eyes.4

"You always were a bit of a show-off."5

"I, Professor Kirke? A show-off?" said Digory, feigning a shocked expression. "Miss Plummer, I..."6

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "That reminds me..."7

"What?"8

"I'd almost forgotten your birthday present."9

She reached for her coat and pulled out something from its pocket. It was a sort of round-shaped little package and not wrapped very neatly, but when she handed it to him he didn't seem to notice. (Men generally don't care about how neat the present looks as long as it has something good inside.) He beamed at her as a dancing, mischievous twinkle came into his bright blue eyes, and for a moment you could clearly see that there was still an eager twelve-year-old boy inside him. He made a single tear in the bright red paper, revealing...a flash of silver? He tore the rest of it off, anxious to see what it really was. He gasped in wonder and his pipe was completely forgotten, for the object was something very special indeed.10

It was an apple made of silver, polished so bright that it shone like a great star resting in his hands. As he gently fingered the top, it opened to reveal a hollow inside for storing his tobacco in. He examined it more closely and saw the noble figure of a winged horse engraved on its side.11

"Your name is Fledge!"12

"Hold onto me tight, Polly..."13

Old memories of joys and hopes and fears that had once been safely tucked away came rushing back to him...14

"Come in by the gold gates or not at all..."15

"You have plucked the fruit of the garden yonder. You have it in your pocket now... It is the apple of youth, the apple of life... What about this mother of yours whom you pretend to love so? ...one bite of that apple would heal her..."16

"But I--I promised."17

It was only a tobacco-jar; but to him, it meant so much more.18

"...you didn't know what you were promising...no one need ever know..."19

"Why are you so precious fond of my mother all of a sudden?"20

"Good for you, Diggs. Quick! Get away now!"21

"Think of me, Boy, when you lie old and weak and dying, and remember how you threw away the chance of endless youth..."22

"I've brought you the apple you wanted, Sir..."23

"Happy Birthday, Digory," said Polly softly, a slow smile gracing her features. A long moment passed before he managed to tear his eyes away from it and find his voice.24

"Thank you, Polly," he said as his eyes met hers, his gaze misty and his voice thick with the sudden rush of emotions and memories that came with the gift. Precious, secret memories that no one else could hope to know. "It's...I...I don't know what to say..."25

"You don't have to say anything," said Polly, dropping her gaze self-consciously and tucking a strand of blond hair behind her ear. "I simply saw it and I knew you had to have it and...I'm just glad I found the right present for you."26

"It's not just 'right', Polly," he said, gently brushing his thumb across the silver, cherishing the feel of its cool, smooth surface against his skin. "It--it's perfect."27

She smiled up at him again. Suddenly he stood up, leaving his gift on the table, and made his way to a locked cupboard in the back of his workshop.28

"Digory?" She watched him fumble with the lock and grope around for something, and then he came back to the table and sat down, cupping something hidden in his hands.29

"Polly," he said, "I want you to have something. Actually, I've wanted to give it to you for a long time now; but I wanted to wait until the right moment."30

She raised her eyebrows questioningly.31

"Close your eyes."32

She did so, and Digory placed a small, slender object in her hands. She opened her eyes, and her breath caught in her throat.33

"Digory, that's...it can't be..."34

In her hands lay a tiny three-inch miniature of a lamppost. The wood was rough and crudely shaped, and the color of it had lost the richness it used to have. But like the silver apple, it too was a special object...35

--36

"Do you think that bit of toffee we planted really will grow into a tree?"37

"I think so. It worked with the lamppost, so I don't see why it shouldn't work with toffee."38

Fledge, the flying Horse, was lying between them and they were sitting beneath his wings, one on each side of him, talking quietly about what had happened that day and watching the bright, young stars of Narnia come out from the veil of darkening sky. Polly turned around and put her elbows on Fledge's back so she could look over Digory's shoulder.39

"Oy! Careful, young un'," snorted Fledge. "Your elbows digging into my back aren't the most comfortable."40

"Sorry." She smiled apologetically and shifted her position. "Is that better, Fledge?"41

"Yes, thank you kindly."42

"Good." She rested her chin on her arms and breathed in the sweetness of the cool night air. She glanced down at Digory and caught sight of something in his hand that he seemed to be working on with his pocket knife.43

"What's that, Digory?"44

"Oh...nothing much. I just found a twig under that tree over there and thought I'd do something with it."45

"Can I see it?"46

"It's not very good..."47

"Please?"48

"Oh alright." He reluctantly handed it back to her. She smiled as she examined it, holding it in her slender fingers.49

"Oh, it's the lamppost! How clever of you! I didn't know you could carve things, Digory." She gave it back to him.50

"Well...I sort of can, but I'm still not very good at it. It's just a hobby, nothing much. Father showed me how, just before he left for India. I try and practice now and then, but if I want to get any better I'd need him to teach me more."51

"When is your father coming back?"52

"I don't know." His voice was flat, and after a few seconds he gave a harsh laugh. "Sometimes it feels like I haven't got any parents at all." A short, awkward silence followed, and was finally broken by the sound of Polly's quiet voice and halting words.53

"I'm...I'm sorry, Digory." Her heart ached for him, and she deeply wished that there was something, anything she could do.54

"It's alright. I just..." he trailed off and sighed, and his young voice was unsteady, burdened with a grief and disappointment that didn't belong to a 12-year-old boy. "I was hoping so desperately to get something for Mother, and instead we got sent on this...mission."55

"Don't worry," said Polly, trying to comfort and encourage him. "I'm sure Aslan will do something once we take that fruit back to Him."56

"I hope so, Polly," he whispered, staring out into the quiet darkness that enveloped them. "I hope so..."57

--58

"Digory, I...you...you can't..." Polly trailed off and swallowed hard, overwhelmed that Digory would even consider entrusting this treasure to her. She shook her head in a vain attempt to pull herself together. "You can't give this to me; it's yours! I can't accept..." But when she looked back up at him and saw the look in his face, she found she couldn't finish her sentence. The eager spark in his eyes was gone, replaced with immense disappointment. He sighed.59

"I thought you'd love it."60

"Oh Digory, it's not that--"61

"What's wrong?" he demanded, quiet desperation in his voice. Everything in his expression seemed to plead with her. "Don't you want it?"62

"It's not that I don't want it!" she repeated, glancing away for a moment. She pursed her lips together and blinked back the blurring heat rushing to her eyes. "It's just that..."63

"That what?"64

"I don't deserve it," she whispered.65

Digory stood taken aback by her words...and relief spread over his face as he shook his head in emphatic disagreement.66

"Polly, that's a very untrue statement! I can't think of anyone else in the world who deserves it more than you...or of anyone else who could love it and appreciate it the way you could."67

"But why? I mean...are you sure you want to give this up? You really want me to have it?" She held it out to him in an open hand, as if giving him a last chance to take it back. But he simply smiled at her, reached out and closed her fingers over it.68

"Consider it an un-birthday present."69

He gently pushed the closed hand back to her.70

"Keep it. Treasure it."71

And of course, she did.