Chapter 11
Lillian and Paul
turned off the lamps and went to their room. As Lillian brushed out
her strawberry blonde hair, the two spoke about upcoming
Christmas. Ever since they had adopted the girls, they had been carefully
saving up funds (and Lillian's parents helped chip in a little) to buy each of the girls a nice Christmas gift.
“I already got
their gifts,” Lillian told Paul. “Belle, Cassandra, Danielle, Faith, and Elsie
each have a store bought gown. Hannah, Jinger, Lynn, Megan, and Nadia each will
get a piece of candy and brand new shoes. And I bought Oakley a new toy.”
Good. Just two
days left. Tomorrow is Sunday and then the day after is Christ’s
birthday.”
“My favorite time
of year.”
~~~
Christmas day came
and brought snow with it. Everyone woke up with the excitement of sharing their
first Christmas with the O’Neals. The youngest girls came down in
just their white nightgowns and the older ones with their robes. Paul and
Lillian walked into the parlor where the Christmas tree stood.
“Time to decorate
it!” Paul boomed.
Everyone scrambled
over to the box beside the tree. It contained dozens of ornaments for the tree.
Everyone reached in and began decorating the tree. With all ten girls and
Lillian and Paul, the tree was decorated quickly. After that was complete, Paul
read the Christmas story for everyone. Once that was finished, Paul and Lillian
handed out gifts. Excited girls opened them with delight.
“Oh look at this
dress!”
“Look how shiny
the shoes are!”
“A store bought
dress!”
“The gown is yellow!”
“Candy!”
Excited shouts
echoed through the house along with many thanks. Paul and Lillian watched
happily. Cassandra and Danielle scooted over beside them. Each held out a
small bundle.
“Merry Christmas!”
the girls said.
Lillian and Paul
thanked them and opened their gifts.
“A new apron!”
Lillian exclaimed looking over the cream colored apron.
“A new shirt!”
Paul grinned, examining the nice green shirt.
~~~
The day was
wonderful. The Hansen sisters couldn’t remember the last time they had had such
a happy day. Everyone pitched in with breakfast—except Paul. He didn’t know
what he was doing so he set the table instead. A huge batch of pancakes
and oatmeal were put together and devoured quickly. Everyone had a
wonderful time talking and laughing. Lillian presented Paul with a brand new
axe. It was a good quality axe and Paul looked over it with care.
“Wow…I had no
idea,” Paul said.
Everyone really
enjoyed watching Paul receive his gift, but the best part was the gift Paul
bought for Lillian. It was right after dinner when Paul said he was going to
reveal what was under the large cover in the parlor. Lillian believed it was
something for the girls but Belle, Cassandra, and Danielle knew who it was
really for. Paul dramatically swept the cover off the object to reveal a
piano.
“Merry Christmas,
Lillian,” he said leaning over and hugging her.
Lillian’s face was
shocked. “Paul!” she exclaimed running her hands over the beautiful
piano.
“I knew you loved
playing on your mother’s piano.”
“But it’s been so
long,” Lillian sat down on the bench and gazed over the ivory keys.
“Not too long,”
Paul said leaning over her. “Look out girls,” he cautioned with a laugh.
All the girls
turned away as Paul and Lillian kissed.
“Thanks for the warning,”
Danielle laughed.
~~~
The day after
Christmas, Hannah and Jinger asked Paul if they could go riding. Paul readily
granted them permission to take the horses for a ride. The two sisters raced
along on the horses. The cold air lashed against their faces. Their hair
flew back behind them as they cantered along.
“Let’s slow down,”
Jinger called to Hannah.
“Okay,” Hannah
responded. “Whoa, Esther.”
The sisters
slowed the horses down to a walk and enjoyed the white landscape.
Cardinals flew in front of them and an owl soared above them.
“Look at the
chickadees,” Jinger squealed.
Hannah turned to
look and together they laughed as the little chickadees chattered with each
other. As the ride continued, both girls stopped at an unusual sight. Three
long curls of smoke puffed high in the cloudless sky.
“I didn’t know
there were any people living up here,” Hannah commented.
“Let’s go see
how many people there are,” Jinger proposed.
The horses were
urged to a trot and they hurried towards the smoke. After a couple minutes,
they stumbled upon where the smoke was coming. Five crudely built houses stood
in a cleared out area. Three of the houses had smoke rising out of holes in the
roof but two did not. A young woman was hanging up clothing in the middle of
the houses. Hannah and Jinger rode up to her. The woman was about Belle’s
age.
“Hi,” Hannah said
shyly.
“Hello,” the woman
nodded quietly.
“I didn’t know
anyone lived back here,” Jinger said to her.
“No one will be
living up here soon,” another deep voice said.
Everyone turned to
see who had spoken. A hunched man was limping over and was coughing with a
brutal rasping sound.
“Matthew,” the
young woman said. “You should be inside!”
“Carl died,”
Matthew responded.
The young woman
drew a sharp breath and clapped her hand over her mouth. “Not Carl.” Her eyes
teared up and she fled into one of the near houses.
“What’s going on?”
Hannah asked Matthew.
The older man
coughed again then looked Hannah square in the eye. “I dunno ‘zactly what
is a’goin on. Sumpthin’ turrible hit us with a big ol’ punch.”
“Everyone is
sick?” Jinger deciphered.
“Yup. All of us ‘cept
little Laura and baby Brett.”
“Was that Laura?”
Hannah asked indicating the woman who was previously with them.
“Yeah. Carl
is—was—her husband. The babe is her sister’s.”
“Can we help at
all?” Jinger asked kindly.
Matthew glanced at
them with a funny look in his eye. “Y’all wanna come and help a group of poor
folks like us?”
“If you need help,
we ought to help.”
Hannah nodded
vigorously.
“I’ll show ya who
needs help,” Matthew limped off with the girls following. He led them into a
house. Two young men, one young woman, Laura, a little girl, and a baby boy
were in the one room house. The wind slipped through the cracks in the walls
and there was a dying fire in the fireplace. Hannah took quick action by
getting the fire roaring again. Jinger bravely went to help Matthew
and Laura bury the dead man, Carl. After a half hour, the three people returned
to the house. Hannah had a roaring fire and was tending to the young
woman.
Matthew spoke
quickly to Jinger. “Now remember this ‘cause I ain’t gonna tell ya this agin.” Matthew
made speedy introductions and explained where everyone was located.
Jinger mentally
reviewed the names and went to work. A young couple both had fevers
that needed to be cooled down. Laura silently cooked some food over the fire.
After the four people were fed in that house, Matthew and Laura took them to
another house. An old sickly man and woman were lying on quilts on the floor.
Hannah and Jinger tended to their needs while Laura returned to making some
supper.
All through the
day, Hannah and Jinger helped the people. Out of the eleven people, nine people
were sick. Two of the five small houses were empty because of deaths.
When night came,
Laura fixed a meal for the four of them and baby Brett. “Thank-you for
your help,” Laura said in her soft voice.
“We don’t mind,”
Hannah and Jinger said together.
Matthew laughed
and shook his head. “You girls are jest what we were prayin’ for.” His laughed
ended in a raspy cough.
“Matthew, you need
to go lay down,” Laura said turning to look at Matthew.
“Naw, there’s
stuff to be done.”
“You can help in
the morning. Hannah and Jinger said they’ll stay for the night and help
us.”
“No. I need to
help.”
“Mister,” Jinger
put in. “Please go rest. We will stay and help during the night and then when
morning comes, you can help out and we can rest.”
“Since ya put it
that way,” Matthew said drawing the words out. “I’ll go.” He limped off to one
of the houses.
Hannah and Jinger
finished their meal and helped Laura clean the dishes. They cleaned them in a
big bucket outside the cabin.
Laura smiled for
the first time that day, “I really appreciate this, girls. It means a
lot.”
~~~
Lynn and Megan
rambled eagerly told Lillian, Belle, Cassandra, and Nadia about their day.
Danielle and the twins had taken the two younger girls on a walk through the woods.
The walk had been exciting because the group stumble upon a group of big horn
sheep.
“You should have
been there!” Megan exclaimed.
“They were so
big!” Lynn added.
“I’m glad you
enjoyed your day,” Lillian smiled.
“Is supper ready?”
Paul said entering the house.
“Yes, just five
more minutes,” Cassandra replied. “Where’s Joe?”
“He went home
tonight.” Paul placed his hat on the rack. “Today was his last day.”
Cassandra nodded slowly,
“I almost forgot…”
“Are Hannah and
Jinger coming?” Belle asked as the women went back into the kitchen.
“Aren’t they in
here?” Paul looked around.
“No. I thought
they were in the barn putting the horses away. They went for a ride
late morning.”
For a horrible
second, silence reigned in the room. Everyone’s eyes turned to the clock in the
parlor.
“They probably
just got distracted and will be home later,” Faith broke the silence.
The family
reluctantly sat down and ate the food in silence.
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