This story is a part of Martin & Sylvia's Twelve Days of Christmas Story Collection.

In these stories, Martin and Sylvia explore what it means to celebrate the traditional "Twelve Days of Christmas," inspired by twelve delightful tales from 18th century Maine. Each story contains a "story-within-the-story" - about the colonial town of Tullyport as the founding families create Christmas traditions and celebrations that are unique, delightful and rich with community connection.

This story is Day Six: The Kings Keys.

On the 6th day of Christmas, Daddy finds a picture book that his father gave him when he was little. He shows it to brother and sister, and they all marvel that Daddy’s father seemed to know that one day Daddy would be a painter. This inspires Martin to look at the gifts given to him — do they have clues about his future?

From “Twelve Tales of a Tullyport Christmas”: “The King’s Keys”

Burke Varde comes to Tullyport from Denmark, bringing a most delightful tradition: “the king’s keys”.In this tradition, children are presented with the gift of a key on their 6th birthday, along with the promise that it will someday unlock a part of their path.Burke arrives in Tullyport looking for work as a blacksmith, but has yet to find the lock that fits the key that hangs around his neck. That is, until he goes to help Francis and Alistair build the Tullyport lighthouse….

This story illuminates the courage it takes to follow your own path, and trust that it will be revealed.