Lasted • Tuck Everlasting

The Ways of Others

I rolled my head back as my eyes softly closed. Miles continued driving down the quiet roads of Treegap as trees and old buildings past us. The familiar tune of music suddenly filled my ears as I turned to look out at a large graveyard. "Miles, pull over." I insisted as the car came to a stop. My husband turned to look at me with a confused face as I turned down the sound of our classical radio. "Do you hear that?" Miles' brows raised as he heard the familiar tune. We both jumped out of the car and walked hastily towards the sound. 

A young boy around the age of 9 sat and listened to a music box. The same music box that Mae gave to Winnie. He had wispy brown hair and light blue eyes as he sat in between 2 graves. The place felt familiar to the Tucks as they approached the young boy. He looked up and quickly closed the music box and held it close to his chest. "Hi." The boy greeted as he waved a small hand up.

"Hi there." Charlie greeted softly as she crouched to the ground so she could look at the boy. He resembled someone familiar, but she couldn't place her finger on it. "What's your name?" Charlie asked as the boy looked down at the grass, almost unsure of what to say. That's when she remembered that things weren't like they used to be, and kids weren't super comfortable with adult strangers. "My name is Charlie." Charlie smiled as she gestured to herself, and then to Miles. "This is my husband, Miles. We heard your music and wanted to see where it was coming from. It sounded beautiful."

The boy smiled as he loosened up a bit and gave a curt wave to Miles as if to acknowledge his presence. "My name is Joseph Jackson." The young boy smiled as Charlie's eyes widened in familiarity. Hugo Jackson. That's who he reminded her of! It was almost as though she had gone back in time to when Hugo was just a boy and was running around Constable Joe and asking him questions all the time.

"Why are you in the graveyard?" Miles asked as Joseph stood up from his spot in the grass. He had round glasses and was wearing a long-sleeved shirt with a bee on it, shorts, and bright yellow rain boots. 

Joseph pushed his glasses up his nose and clutched onto the music box with one arm, and held a journal in the other. "I'm trying to make a family tree for a school project. My teacher said that she'll give me extra credit if I can talk about the 1700s!" Joseph exclaimed as he presented his journal to Miles. Miles hesitantly grabbed it and looked through the numerous pages of research. The kid could've said he was a historian and Miles would've believed him. "I'm here trying to collect everyone's names and figure out what happened in the 1900s."

Charlie stood up and started to study the graves more closely. Susan Foster-Jackson. Leonardo Jackson. Louise Foster. Maria Jackson-Foster. Hugo Jackson. Winifred Foster-Jackson. This was a graveyard dedicated to Charlie's family. They had helped to build up Treegap to be the town it was today. Charlie felt as though she was going to be sick when she saw Winnie's grave again. The woman took a few steps towards the grave and sat down on her knees and lowered her head. Joseph was confused as Miles tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans and held a look of sympathy on his face.

"Who was she?" Joseph asked as he looked up at Miles. Miles didn't know how to say "Yeah they were sisters but one of them is immortal the other one died," so he rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to think of a response.

"Winnie was, special, to Charlotte." Miles simply stated as Charlie pressed a hand the headstone and picked herself back up. Miles actually looked down at the music box, and then back to Joseph who looked concerned. "What's wrong?" The man asked as Joseph scuffed his heel against the green grass.

Joseph slowly walked up to Charlie and held the music box to her. "This was Winifred-I mean, Winnie's Music Box. You can tell because in old pictures and paintings of her she has it with her in all of them. Her initials are engraved at the bottom too." Joseph explained as he gestured to the two small letters on the bottom on the music box that were clearly starting to fade away. "I was going to use it for the show and tell part of the project, but I want you to have it. You clearly need it more than I do."

Charlie smiled as she took the music box from Joseph's small hands and held it close to her heart. "Thank you. This means a lot." Charlie held her arms out for a hug as the boy jumped into them and cuddled into her blue sweater. "Wow, you're definitely a hugger." Miles laughed as he watched Charlie struggle to get words out of her mouth from how intense the hug was. 

The young boy eventually pulled away as he had a big toothy grin on his face. "Will you guys come back tomorrow and help me with my project?" Joseph asked as Charlie looked up to Miles for confirmation if they could. Miles simply nodded as Joseph smiled and ran to give Miles a hug as well. Charlie clutched her stomach in laughter as Miles almost got knocked over by the young boy. The couple eventually walked off as the young boy ran to his tricycle and rushed home to tell his parents the good news.

When they got back into the car, Miles grabbed Charlie's hand and kissed it softly. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?" Miles asked as his wife's eyes widened in surprise. "Because I feel like I should more often."

"Geez, take me out to dinner first." Charlie laughed as she placed her hands onto the steering wheel and started the car. The two drove off while listening to one of their favorite podcasts about history conspiracies, which they always laughed at since it was always wrong.

Kerena sat in a tree and looked through all of the pictures she had taken during the meeting that had just taken place at the graveyard. Miles seemed pretty normal, but there was definitely something off about Charlie. Someone was bound to have more information on the immortal family of Treegap, and she was going to figure out who. Starting with the best place in town at the moment. The County Fair.