Notes from the Past

by Tanya Reed

Here is my latest offering, which was written as my Nanowrimo project this year. For those of you that don't know, Nanowrimo is a challenge to write a fifty thousand word story in 30 days (namely, the month of November). This story is written in two distinct parts. Anyway, I should get on to the story. I do want to throw out a thank you to those that helped me not give up on this story by either offering suggestions, giving support, kicking my muse, or just telling me they really liked the excerpts.

Disclaimer: I do not own Relic Hunter.

Part 1, Chapter 1

Sydney Fox hummed as she went around the room hanging red and green and gold garland. She also watched Karen out of the corner of her eye. Both of them had step stools, but Karen seemed a little more unsteady as she stretched to reach the top of one of the doorways. Sydney was worried she might have to race over and catch her administrative assistant before the pretty blond hit the floor.

Sydney stopped humming and turned to look at Karen when she suddenly belted out the chorus to "Meet me under the Mistletoe on Midnight Christmas Eve". She raised one elegant eyebrow because the song she was humming and the one coming out of her speakers was "Oh Come all ye Faithful".

Karen grinned at her boss unselfconsciously and said, "Thank you so much, Sydney, for inviting me to spend the holidays with you. When Cory told me he wanted to spend Christmas vacation in Denver, I didn't know what I was going to do with myself."

"This is the kind of house that should be full of friends and family on Christmas."

The house Sydney spoke of was a new acquisition on her part. It was a big, rambling number she had bought just that past summer. It had three bedrooms, a wonderful study, and loads of nooks and crannies in which to stick ancient artifacts without a home. Nigel might have liked modern in his personal life, but Sydney loved to surround herself with whispers of the past.

Her new house was so homey that Sydney wanted her first Christmas in it to be special. Her first thought had been to invite her father and Jenny, but they had already promised their Christmas to Jenny's parents. Undeterred, Sydney had invited Nigel, who didn't want to spend Christmas with Preston—he rarely did. When they found out that Karen would also be alone for Christmas, it seemed like fate. It had actually been Nigel's idea to call up Claudia and make it a quartet.

That's where Nigel was at the moment. The night before, he and Karen had arrived and helped Sydney

put up the tree. Now, he was at the airport fetching Claudia while Sydney and Karen finished decorating the house. It was Christmas Eve, and the four of them would be spending the next three days together.

Sydney critically eyed Karen's spring of mistletoe. "Don't you think that's a little much?"

"With only one man in the house, we really want him to be able to see it."

Sydney had a sudden flash of her, Claudia, and Karen all ganging up to kiss Nigel at the same time. She could just imagine her poor teaching assistant's face. This thought caused her to laugh as she went back to her Christmas decoration box..

It was hard to believe she'd bought so much stuff. There were things she'd probably never use in a million years. She did, however, take out the stuffed Santa and Rudolf to place strategically across the room. One, she put on the fireplace between two of her favorite pictures—one of she and Nigel and one of Randall and Jenny. The other, she put in a chair that had been draped with a pretty Christmas afghan. It seemed that her secretary could crochet as well as all the other wonderful things she could do.

"Karen, speaking of thanks, I wanted to thank you for offering to take charge of the meal tomorrow. I have a feeling that without you, Nigel, Claudia, and I in the kitchen would create a horrible whirlpool of chaos."

"No problem, Syd. I'm just glad you trust me to do it."

"I've trusted you with my reputation for the past year and a half, I think I can trust you with dinner."

This got a beaming smile from Karen, but all she said was, "Is there any more mistletoe?"

"I think you've already got pieces on every doorway in the house."

"I was thinking about putting one by the Christmas tree."

"That might just be overkill."

"I guess you're right."

Sydney glanced at the tree in question and warmth filled her as she remembered its decorating. She didn't think she'd had as much fun decorating a tree since she was a child, before her mother died. Plus, it had turned out great. She and Karen had put on the mother of pearl garland because Nigel had insisted on putting on the lights. Apparently, he considered this "the man's job". Afterwards, the three of them took out Sydney's bulbs, as well as some new ones Nigel had bought and some Karen had brought from home. With Christmas music playing in the background, the three of them had decorated with abandon, reverting to children and squabbling, teasing, and laughing as they hung the ornaments on the tree. Sydney had found it interesting that their decorating methods were akin to their personalities. She hung things wherever it felt right, relying on intuition. Nigel, on the other hand, approached the task logically, carefully studying the tree for holes before applying each bulb. Karen also decorated carefully, starting from one side of the tree and making her way around, putting decorations the same distance apart. It should have made the tree look funny, but it didn't. It looked great. Much like the three of them, it came together to make a pleasing whole.

"It turned out well, didn't it?" Karen asked, as if reading her mind.

"Definitely."

"Do you think Mafdet would like a bow on her head?" Karen reached into Sydney's Christmas box and hauled out a bag of multicolored bows.

"The last time someone tried something cute on her, they got bloody fingers, but you're welcome to try."

"I think I'll pass."

"Good idea."

Sydney came to stand beside Karen and looked in the box as well. "I think we've pretty much done all we can to decorate—unless we decide to wear the garland ourselves."

"That could be fun."

"Nigel would think we'd been drinking while he was away."

Karen laughed. "Which could also be fun."

Sydney winked. "Especially when you get him under the mistletoe?"

She blushed but wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. Sydney just shook her head and started closing the box.

"Wait!"

"What?"

Karen fished in the box and came out with a round sleigh bell on a string. With just a little bit of trouble, she tied the string around her wrist. She moved her wrist experimentally and looked extremely pleased at the little tinkles it made.

After the box was closed, Sydney headed upstairs to put it in her attic. The attic was one of her favorite things about her new house. She had never had an attic before, and her apartments had always been full of clutter—neat clutter, but clutter nonetheless. Now, she could tuck away all the things she wanted to keep but had never had room for before.

A lot of her mother's things were up there, her grandmother's trunk, and things her father played with as a boy. There were also relics and antiques that her house was already too full to find a place for.

Sydney couldn't resist opening Isabelle's trunk before leaving. Some of the things were missing, secreted away in Sydney's own room, but the dresses were still there. Sydney felt very close to her grandmother with the material of Isabelle's gowns slipping through her fingers.

"Sydney!" She heard Karen call up the stairs. "They're here."

Sydney gently closed Isabelle's trunk and went to the attic window. She saw her jeep just pulling into her driveway, and she hoped Nigel was driving and not Claudia.

As she made her way out of the attic and down the stairs, she realized that she was excited to see Claudia again. Sydney had only seen her twice since the tiny blond had moved away to follow her dreams. It was actually amusing to her how much she missed Claudia. As her secretary, Claudia had made her way into Sydney's heart, probably more because of her bizarre, off-the-wall behavior than despite it. Nigel had never given any indication that he felt the same, but Sydney remembered his reaction when he thought Claudia might be dead.

She reached the entryway just as the door opened, and she could hear Claudia and Nigel bickering good naturedly.

"...there's not a lot of luggage. I packed as li..."

Claudia trailed off as she saw Sydney and dropped the suitcase in her hand.

"Syd!"

Her body hit Sydney's with such enthusiasm that both of them almost fell over onto the floor.

"Hey, Claudia."

Over Claudia's shoulder, Sydney saw Karen rush over to help Nigel, who was completely obscured by an armload of luggage.

"Do you think you have enough for three days?"

"Funny, Syd," Claudia said, pulling away with a serious face, but her blue eyes twinkled mischievously.

Sydney made a face to show she was kidding before she too went over to help Nigel. As his face appeared underneath the baggage, she could see it was flushed with strain.

"Come on, Claudia," Sydney said, "We'll show you up to your room. You'll be sharing with Karen. I hope that's all right."

Claudia turned to face Karen and the two blonds eyed each other. They had gotten on well the one time they'd met, and Sydney hoped the trend would continue.

"Hi."

"Hi."

After bringing Claudia's things upstairs, the four of them went into the living room. Claudia oohed and ahhed over the decorations, then joyfully asked if the big black cat sleeping in the recliner was one of them.

"Why don't you touch her to see if she's real?" Nigel asked, no doubt thinking about the scratch he'd received when he'd displaced Mafdet from her favorite sleeping place earlier that morning.

Claudia ignored this and eyed the mistletoe over the door instead. With a sly smile, she said, "You'd better watch out, honeybun."

"What?"

She gestured with her hand. Nigel's gaze followed the gesture and his eyes widened. "Sydney!"

"Don't look at me. It was all Karen's doing."

His face flamed as his eyes darted from Sydney to Karen and back again.

"Don't you like mistletoe, Nigel?" Karen asked guilelessly.

"It's...it's fine."

Claudia shot Sydney a look of pure joy, and Sydney had the feeling that Nigel might be tortured just a little over the next few days. She hoped it wouldn't make him regret his decision to spend the holidays with them.

She was wondering if she should save him from his embarrassment when the phone rang. Deciding to answer the one in the hall, she said, "I'll be right back. Go easy on him, girls."

Both Claudia and Karen gave her almost identical innocent looks. Sydney found she was grinning by the time she got to the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Scootchie."

"Dad!" She thought he wouldn't be calling until Christmas day. Hearing his voice earlier made her so happy that she didn't bother to admonish him for the childhood nickname.

"Good news. Jenny's got an aunt who lives an hour away from you, and her Mom wants everyone to go visit. That means Jenny and I will be able to drop in for a bit tomorrow night."

"Really? That's great!"

"I'm really happy about this. Christmas just isn't Christmas without my Scootchie."

Okay, so she couldn't let that one go. "Dad..."

He laughed and said, "See you tomorrow."

"I'll be here. Love you...and love to Jenny."

"Backatcha. Bye."

"Bye, Dad."

Sydney made her way back to the living room. She could hear Karen and Claudia laughing and was glad the two of them were getting along without jealousy.

"Who was that, Syd?" Nigel asked, looking up from the chair he was sharing with both Mafdet and the reindeer.

"It was Dad. He's going to be able to make it for a little while tomorrow after all."

"That's great!"

"Yeah."

"You're lucky," Claudia commented wistfully. "My parents are skiing in Aspen for Christmas this year. Some sort of second honeymoon."

"You turned down Aspen to spend Christmas with us?" Nigel asked, surprised.

"Well, I didn't have the feeling that I was invited...Besides, I love you guys!"

They spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with Claudia. Once dark set in, they all piled in Sydney's jeep and went for a drive through the suburbs to look at the Christmas lights. It was something Sydney had enjoyed as a child, and she wanted to share this with her friends.

Afterwards, they ordered Chinese food for supper before disappearing to get their gifts for under the tree.

Sydney curiously eyed each package with her name on it as it went under the tree, wondering what was inside. She had to fight the urge to sit on the floor and shake them to see if they rattled.

Claudia had no such compunction and, as soon as everyone had regathered, she was under the tree poking and feeling. She even seemed to be prodding presents that weren't hers.

"Sydney, I think your cousin Katy gave you a sweater."

"Really?" Sydney asked with a straight face. "What color?"

"Green," she answered without hesitation.

Karen drew her brows together in a frown. "Are you sure it's not blue?"

"No. Definitely green."

For not the first time that day, Sydney found herself shaking her head.

"I'm going in the kitchen to get some hot chocolate. Anyone else up for some?"

Everyone answered in the affirmative, so Nigel offered to come help carry. As they left the room, Sydney heard Karen and Claudia whispering and giggling.

"I wonder if it was such a good idea to introduce those two," she commented.

"I keep getting the feeling they have something horrible planned for me," Nigel agreed.

The hot chocolate was instant so it took only minutes to make. Sydney heated up the water in her kettle, and Nigel searched for the marshmallows. As he did, he happened to glance out the window.

"Hey, look, Syd, it's snowing!"

Sydney followed his gaze, pleased to see big fat flakes falling out of the sky. So far, the season had been pretty "green", but she had been hoping for a white Christmas.

She came up behind him, placing her hand on his shoulder, to watch the snow fall in thick and gentle flakes. He turned his head and grinned at her, a genuine, little boy, delighted, I can't believe it's Christmas grin. She returned it--how could she not?--and squeezed his shoulder.

"This is going to be a good Christmas."

"It's already better than most of the Christmases I've had since becoming an adult before moving to the States," he said softly. Sydney thought she detected a touch of sadness in his voice.

Her hand moved from his shoulder to cup the back of his head gently. His hair was very soft. "Well, you're one of us now. You'll never get rid of us."

His smile came back. "Some sort of cult, are we? You're not going to ask me to eat snake heads or anything, are you?"

"No, not snake heads. Maybe a small toad."

She let him go and continued filling the mugs. Nigel brought over the mini marshmallows and plunked them in. Then, he picked up two of the mugs. Sydney picked up the other two and they headed in the direction of the girlish giggles.

Entering the living room, the first thing Sydney noticed was that the girls had changed into their pajamas. Karen was wearing a small nightdress decently covered by her pink robe. Claudia was wearing a pair of huge pajamas that were way too big for her slender frame. They had purple and pink stripes and hot pink buttons up the front.

"Getting ready for Santa already?" Sydney asked archly, handing one of the mugs to Karen. "It's only seven o'clock."

"Yes, but it's Christmas Eve!" Claudia announced. "Santa has to know your intent to go to bed early. Besides, what's more comfy than lounging around in your PJs, sipping hot chocolate, and watching the twinkling of the tree lights with the snow falling outside?"

"When I was little," Karen said, settling into Mafdet's favorite chair and tucking one leg beneath her, "our strings of lights were made up of regular and individually twinkling bulbs. They all twinkled at a different pace, making a very faint tinkling noise. If you listened closely, it sounded almost as if the tree were singing. I can't tell you how many times I fell asleep on the couch, lulled by the music of our tree."

Claudia curled up on the floor by the tree, thanking Nigel as he handed her her hot chocolate. She wrapped her arms around her legs and put her chin on her knees. Sydney thought she looked about ten years old.

"Every year, my mother would drag me around town, looking for the perfect tree. We never decorated our own; we always bought one already decorated. It was like a quest to her. It was our own special day, and the final decision on which tree we brought home was always mine. It made me feel important. My parents weren't around a lot, but they always made sure we were together for Christmas."

"Christmas was always Dad's favorite time of year," Sydney put in as she and Nigel settled close together on the couch. "He used to wear Santa hats and decorate the house even more crazily than Karen and I did today. He'd start in November telling me that Santa was coming, and by Christmas Eve, I was so wound up that Mom never knew what to do with me."

Nigel threw her a glance, and she could tell by the look in his eye that he was picturing her as a wriggly child too excited to go to sleep. As a matter of fact, it couldn't have been too hard for him since he'd often seen her as a pacing adult too excited to go to sleep.

"What about you, Nigel?" Karen asked. "What was one of your favorite things about Christmas?"

"We used to spend our Christmases in the country. I remember that we were always trying to be good so that Father Christmas would come. Preston and I actually got along. Sometimes, my father would hire a sleigh and we'd bundle in the back. It would be worth having to take my allergy medication to be sliding in the snow, smooshed between my mother and my brother, warm and cold at the same time."

"That's sweet Nigel," Karen said. "I always wanted to go on a sleigh ride, but we could never afford it."

"Only a handful of places I've lived actually had snow," Sydney admitted. "I've always loved snow."

Nigel protested, "But you hate being cold, Syd."

She shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a complex woman."

She noticed no one tried to argue with that.

"This is definitely a better Christmas than last," Nigel commented after a few minutes.

"It wasn't so bad."

Karen started to laugh.

"What happened?" Claudia demanded.

Karen laughed harder, and Sydney had to fight to keep her mouth from twitching.

"What?" Claudia asked again.

Nigel groaned. "You don't want to know."

"Oh, yes, I do."

"Karen," Sydney asked, "Do you want to do the honours?"

"I wasn't there, Syd. Would I really do it justice?"

"Do you want to tell the story, Nigel?"

He groaned again and snatched up the nearest cushion to put in front of his face.

"Then, I guess it's up to me."

"Can't we just let sleeping dogs lie?" came from under the cushion.

"No, we cannot!" Claudia exclaimed. "Spill it, Sydney."

"Well," she started, "We were on a hunt last Christmas, and, though I wanted to be done and gone before then, Christmas Eve found us still searching for the relic..."