A Letter to the Giftmaker - Chapter 23

Harriet's throat was tight as she waded through the thick snow. It was above her knee and fresh flakes were falling fast. Her fingers itched to grab the lantern from Jo and control the light herself, but she restrained herself. Instead, she held onto her hat, which threatened to blow off with each gust of wind.

"We should have found him by now." Her throat was dry and tight, and it hurt to shout against the wailing of the wind.

"He must've gone this way." Jo was pointing to something ahead of him. It looked like the faintest impression of a divot in the snow, but it could also be a trick of the light.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded confidently, but his pursed lips told another story. They had been looking for a quarter of an hour and the storm was getting worse. She wasn't even certain which way it was back to the gate. Better to stick close to Jo, so they were together as least.

They trudged through the snow and shouted Edwin's name into the maelstrom. She had to find him and apologize. It had been a terrible mistake to steal his letter, on top of everything else that she had caused, and she was terrified something would happen to him before she had the chance to beg for forgiveness and atone for her mistakes.

Jo stopped and held up a hand.

"What is it?" she shouted into his ear." The land seemed to end in a sudden descent.

"A drop, I think." He was squinting at the wall of rocks as flakes rushed past his head.

"Careful!" The voice was nearby, but muffled by the storm.

She looked around as her mind tripped over itself. That was his voice. Was he near? He had to be, but the storm was so strong she couldn't see. Where was he? She squinted into the distance.

Edwin trudged out of the murkiness. He looked cold, but uninjured. She felt the smile, unable to hold it back. They could still fix all of this.

"Over here! Edwin!" She waved her arms, despite him only being twenty feet away and her being lit by the lantern.

"Watch out for the cliff." Edwin pointed. "I think it leads down to a river."

Despite being several paces from the edge, she still shuffled away a few steps. "Edwin, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

"I–"

"No, let me apologize." She took a few deep breaths, but afterwards still felt short of breath. "I was going to say I ought to have told you the truth in the city. But really, I ought not to have been pretending to be an apprentice at all. I was being childish, playing at a job I did not have."

He nodded. "I know the feeling. I–"

"Never-the-less, I did pretend and it's my fault your letter didn't get picked up. If I'd been honest, perhaps the situation could have been changed. But I wasn't, and now we've gone through all this, and I made it worse by stealing your letter.

"I was so afraid that I wouldn't get my dream job. That everything I had hoped for would be gone. But Jo helped me see that all I was doing was taking your dreams and wishes away. This is not an excuse, but just an explanation. I completely, sincerely apologize." She held out the letter. "Here, take it."

There was a moment of silence as Edwin stared at the letter. Then he shook his head. "No, let's deliver it together."

"What?" Her head jerked back and she almost lost her hat to the wind.

"You're not the only one that made mistakes." He rubbed his fingers together. "The coin that I used to pay for the train? I stole it."

Jo gasped. "You're a thief?"

"No, I... Well, yeah, I guess I am." Edwin looked between the two of them. "I've never stolen anything before, but I had nothing. When I saw the coin..." His voice catches.

Harriet reached out and took his hand. "Who did you steal it from?"

He shrugged. "Some rich guy. I told myself I'd find out who and repay him, but I honestly have no idea how I'd do that."

Jo nodded. "While it was wrong to steal, everyone makes mistakes."

"It's not just the coin." Edwin looked at the letter she still had clutched in her hand. "The wishpaper isn't mine either."

"You stole this?" She held it up. What had once seemed glossy and beautiful was not worn and cut apart.

"No, not exactly. I found it in the street. I waited for almost an hour, but no one came looking for it. I decided it was fate giving me what I wanted, so I quickly rushed home, wrote a letter, and raced to the post box."

"Which is where we met." Harriet's mind raced as she rubbed a finger on the letter. This wasn't his. It wasn't really anyone's. "I forgive you, and I'll hope you'll forgive me?"

Edwin nodded. The three of them hugged one another. Amidst the swirling snow and rushing wind, there was a moment of warmth and friendship. She felt a tear slide down her cheek.

"We should get out of the cold," Jo said after a minute of silence.

"Yes, and deliver this." She held out the letter to Edwin.

"I told you, it's not–"

"Take it!" She waved it around. "You found it, you wrote the letter, you put all this effort into getting it to the Giftmaker. Take it and we'll make the delivery together."

He grabbed the far end just as a blast of wind hit. The slick parchment slid from her fingers and his as well. Just like it had when they'd first met, the letter somersaulted away, this time over the edge of the cliff and into the swirling black vortex of snow.