WolfenM

Less than a fortnight after Ebenezer Scrooge passed into the next world, Emily Cratchit fell ill. She had not been well for months, but now she could barely leave her bed. The doctor said there was nothing that could be done but pray for a miracle. Threatened with the impending loss of his mother on the heels of the death of his dear friend, Tim Cratchit — now a fine young man, hale and healthy (save a slight limp he would forever walk with) — began to slip into despair. He spent less time at home, throwing himself into work (he was a ’prentice at the firm now run by his father and Fred). He was brief with his wife, cold to his son, and snapped at Fred when he gently suggested he take some time off to process his grief. Ebenezer was distraught. He remembered far too well how the death of his sister had shaped his own life, and he saw echoes of his past regrets in Tim’s behaviour. One day, he voiced an idea that had been growing in his mind to Jacob. “Couldn’t I visit him?”

Less than a fortnight after Ebenezer Scrooge passed into the next world, Emily Cratchit fell ill. She had not been well for months, but now she could barely leave her bed. The doctor said there was nothing that could be done but pray for a miracle. Threatened with the impending loss of his mother on the heels of the death of his dear friend, Tim Cratchit — now a fine young man, hale and healthy (save a slight limp he would forever walk with) — began to slip into despair. He spent less time at home, throwing himself into work (he was a ’prentice at the firm now run by his father and Fred). He was brief with his wife, cold to his son, and snapped at Fred when he gently suggested he take some time off to process his grief. Ebenezer was distraught. He remembered far too well how the death of his sister had shaped his own life, and he saw echoes of his past regrets in Tim’s behaviour. One day, he voiced an idea that had been growing in his mind to Jacob. “Couldn’t I visit him?”