“They’ve been feeding me chocolate pudding nonstop,” said Uncle Henry, waving his spoon. “Maybe I should extend my stay.”
Adam and his uncle had talked a bit the previous day, but Uncle Henry had been less than coherent. Now the baker looked and sounded much healthier.
“Tell me the news about M again,” said Uncle Henry.
“The police said he has a nasty bruise on his face and a broken nose. They’ve arrested him for breaking into our home, among other—stuff—” Adam’s voice broke. He looked away.
“I should’ve taken you seriously when you told me about M.” Uncle Henry touched his bandage and winced. “Experience is a tough teacher.”
“I get why he did it, though,” Adam said quietly. “He lost a lot. He wanted to change the past, like I did.”
Despite all the terrible damage M had done, Adam understood the villain’s motives, however misguided they’d been. In the end, they’d wanted similar things. But whereas Adam wanted to help others with the snow globe, M did not care if others were hurt in his quest.
Uncle Henry asked more about Adam’s music box, which led to questions about the snow globe. This time, he fully believed Adam’s tales.
“So M was trying to go back in time to stop the fire at the candle factory,” Uncle Henry murmured.
Adam nodded, thinking of Victor’s permutations. “I don’t think it would’ve worked,” he said. “What happens in the past can’t be changed. It’s like reading through a history textbook. Everything that’s already happened up to this point has already happened. The only thing we can do is move forward.”
“Yes, that makes sense.”
“Also, the snow globe doesn’t just take you where you want to go,” Adam added. “It’s really random.”
Both random and logical, he thought. All the people he met were connected like the intricate arms of a snowflake. He wondered where his parents had gotten the snow globe originally, and asked if his uncle knew.
“I recall hearing about it once,” answered Uncle Henry. “They brought it back with them from a trip overseas. Were adamant they protect it with their lives. They hinted they wanted to use it to change the world for good. At the time, I’d just thought they meant it was worth a lot of money.” He paused. “A time traveling snow globe. It doesn’t surprise me that your parents owned such an item.”
“The man in the raincoat who came into our bakery a few months ago—J.C. Walsh—he had one that looked identical to theirs,” said Adam. “He was the one who told me to find it in the attic.”
“He told you to find it?”
“Well, not exactly. He never told me what I was supposed to be looking for. Just told me to go to the attic, and that my adventures await.”
“Hm, that’s odd. Maybe he was friends with your parents.” Uncle Henry looked thoughtful. “I guess we’ll never know.”
They both fell quiet. Uncle Henry took a few more bites of pudding.
Adam remembered something. “The Hol—the homeless shelter is holding a memorial service for Victor next week. On Christmas Eve.”
“We’ll be there,” his uncle reassured him. “I’ll be right as rain by then. Victor will be missed.” Uncle Henry gingerly touched his bandages. “If he hadn’t been there to save us, we would’ve both been goners. Not to say you didn’t put up a good fight, from what I heard.”
“The music box helped. Turns out it was great for throwing at people.”
Adam studied the floor, thinking. The whole debacle had started with the music box, warning him of an impending death, which he had told Victor about in a panic. Which had sent Victor looking after them, which had led to his death.
Victor’s story about the orange peel came to Adam’s mind. All because of the piece of orange peel. What was the orange peel in this case? The music box? Candlewick? The snow globe?
In the end, Adam kept these questions to himself. Uncle Henry looked like he needed time to recover from all the stories, on top of his injuries.
The rest of the week passed. Adam had no classes, due to winter break. He helped his uncle with the Biscuit Basket’s reopening Friday. By then, news of the most recent break-in had spread, and the regulars that the bakery had amassed were waiting in droves. All day long, the place was full of friendly faces, welcome-back flower bouquets, and the pleasant smell of warm pastries.
When Adam went to bed that night, his stomach full of gingerbread, he thought of something else he hadn’t told Uncle Henry.
The day after M attacked, while Uncle Henry was recovering in the hospital, Adam had briefly gone back to their apartment to snatch his pajamas and a book for the overnight stay in the waiting room. The music box lay against the foot of his bed, not a scratch on the wood. The glistening pendulum lay next to it. It was then that he decided to check on the magical snow globe inside his drawer.
The inside of the snow globe had changed again, back to Candlewick Cemetery.
Adam had pondered for a solid ten minutes before he made his decision. Earlier, he wanted nothing to do with the snow globe or the music box ever again. But then he zipped up his jacket, picked up the snow globe, and gave it a good shake.
He found himself once more at the entrance to the cemetery. This time, the weather was clear. He saw a little girl in the distance, standing beside one of the gravestones. She wore a familiar white dress.
At first Adam felt nervous approaching this strange girl who hung out alone in a sea of headstones. But then he quickly realized it was none other than Daisy.
He was back in the 1920s. Above him, the sky was soft pink and
