Calico Christmas at Dry Creek

by Janet Tronstad

  “I suppose it isn’t.”

  Virginia nodded unhappily. “I wish it was.”

  “I know,” Elizabeth put her hand on her friend’s arm.

  Just then they both heard a woman’s shriek.

  “What was that?” Elizabeth said as she started down the steps with Virginia following right behind her.

  The two women were at the bottom of the steps and walking toward the street when they saw Mrs. Barker coming straight toward them, waving a small piece of paper in her hand.

  “This is terrible,” she shouted from the street as she marched her way toward them.

  “What did we do now?” Virginia asked.

  “Nothing,” Elizabeth said. She hoped that was true. “We’ve done nothing she can object to.”

  Mrs. Barker’s face was red and her breath was coming fast when she got to the schoolhouse steps. Her hat was a little crooked and her eyes were panicked.

  “Oh, dear.” Elizabeth took an instinctive step forward. “What’s wrong?”

  Mrs. Barker took a deep breath and then wailed, “He’s coming.”

  Elizabeth looked at Virginia, but the other woman was of no help.

  “Mr. Barker?” Elizabeth asked. She couldn’t think of any other man who would get this reaction from Mrs. Barker.

  The older woman shook her head. “No, the railroad man. I just got a telegraph from my cousin. The railroad man will be here Friday night. Somehow he heard about our Christmas pageant and he decided it would be a good time to visit.”

  “He heard about our Christmas pageant?” Virginia said, looking pleased. “Well, isn’t that nice?”

  Mrs. Barker glared at her. “It’s a disaster is what it is.”

  With that Mrs. Barker started marching toward the schoolhouse door.

  “Wait,” Elizabeth called after her, trying to stop the woman. “School is in—”

  It was too late; Mrs. Barker had opened the schoolhouse door.

  Jake was walking back from the mercantile, his Christmas present for Elizabeth securely tucked away in his shirt pocket, when he heard the commotion over at the schoolhouse.

  The schoolhouse door was open and Jake walked right inside.

  “We’re ruined, just ruined,” Mrs. Barker said, wringing her hands at the front of the classroom. “Just look at this—we’ve got paint all over and we don’t even have a proper Christmas tree. That railroad man is going to take one look at us and decide not to come near us.”

  “Surely he knows it’s a children’s pageant,” the reverend said. “He can’t expect it to be perfect.”

  “He’ll at least expect a proper Christmas tree,” Mrs. Barker wailed. “I had such high hopes for the railroad coming.”

  Elizabeth stepped over to put her arm around Mrs. Barker. “There. There. It will be fine.”

  “What do you know?” Mrs. Barker pulled back. “Your husband is here. You don’t have to make this a better place so he’ll come home.”

  “I’m sure the railroad man will understand,” Elizabeth repeated quietly. “We’ll just do what we can to make him comfortable. And I’ve already planned to make a big batch of my fried apple doughnuts. I’ve never known a man to turn one of those down. And I promised Wells I’d make some pecan pies. And maybe some fruit bread for everyone.”

  “See, it’ll be a feast,” the reverend said as he patted Mrs. Barker on the back. “He probably won’t even notice the tree.”

  With that, Mrs. Barker let out a sob and ran from the schoolroom.

  There was silence when she slammed the door behind her.

  “Now I don’t want any of you children to worry,” the reverend finally said. “We’re not doing this pageant to impress the railroad man. We’re doing it to the glory of God and that’s all we need to worry about.”

  Jake could see right then that the children weren’t as worried about the glory of God as they were about pleasing Mrs. Barker. Well, he couldn’t blame them. He’d never been inclined to do battle with the woman, either. She could sure take the joy out of Christmas.

  That afternoon, Virginia stayed at school to help the children practice and Elizabeth went home to begin her baking. She stopped by the mercantile to pick up the baby, of course, but she also wanted to get a bottle of vanilla to use in her doughnuts.

  “What’s happening over there?” Annabelle asked when Elizabeth walked into the store. “Mrs. Barker was just here and she bought every one of those Christmas ornaments we had—the imported ones. All two dozen of them. They cost a small fortune.”

  “Well, I’m not surprised,” Elizabeth said as she stood in front of the counter. “The railroad man is apparently coming to see the children’s pageant and Mrs. Barker is convinced we’ll look so bad the railroad will never come.”

  “I doubt the railroad is worried about whether or not the children can sing,” Annabelle said.

  Elizabeth smiled. “I think we’ll do all right in the singing. Virginia is singing along with the children and she has the voice of an angel. No, it’s the tree and probably the children’s costumes that are upsetting Mrs. Barker most.”

  Annabelle grinned. “Well, I suppose angels don’t really wear union suits.”

  Elizabeth chuckled. “Neither do the stars. Shepherds might, though.”

  “Well, it will all work out fine,” Annabelle said. “Especially now that you have Higgins up on stage to make sure the boys behave.”

  Elizabeth nodded. “I’m thinking the look of awe in the shepherds’ faces will have more to do with Higgins than the devotion the boys have for the Christ child.”

  Annabelle laughed. “Clarence does enjoy going to school with the boys.”

  “Clarence, is it now?”

  Annabelle blushed. “He’s asked me to marry him.”

  “Oh, I’m so happy for you. He’s a good man.”

  Annabelle nodded. “I know.”

  Elizabeth took the happiness of her conversation with Annabelle home with her. Her friend and Higgins hadn’t publicly announced their plans yet so Elizabeth didn’t tell Jake. He’d let Higgins tell his friend. Once Jake did know she planned to ask him if they could shivaree the couple just like Higgins and Wells had done with the two of them.

  Elizabeth made enough fried apple doughnuts that afternoon so that she could take some to the children. The pageant was coming tomorrow and she wanted them to relax and concentrate on pleasing their parents with the performance. She realized this would be the first time the adults of Miles City and Dry Creek would sit together since they’d parted over that black line down the middle of the floor. None of the parents would refuse to come to the pageant because of where they might have to sit.

  Surely, the parents were more important than some railroad man.

  Before she went to bed that night, she baked some ginger cookies, too. She was determined to do whatever she could to make sure the pageant was a success. If that meant she had to stay up late baking, then so be it. She’d cooked for enough people in her life to know that people were more civilized with each other when they were well fed.

  She’d have to take a basket of cookies to the school, as well as the doughnuts. Food worked on children just as it did on their parents.

  She was slipping the last cookies from the oven when it occurred to her that maybe she had a tendency to rely on her cooking too much. She’d spent so much of her life taking care of herself that she never had found it natural to turn to God with her troubles. And then, after Matthew and Rose, it was even harder.

  She’d been seeing God a little differently of late. Maybe if He believed in dyeing people the way she believed in renewing cloth, then maybe He was worried about people getting along as much as she was. Maybe He wasn’t just up there with the stars. Maybe He was down here with her, as well.

  But, of course, she thought to herself with a rueful smile, that was what Christmas was about, after all. Even Spotted Fawn had been asking more questions about how to make Elias her friend instead of her enemy.

&
nbsp; Now, if only the adults in Miles City could ask the same questions, this Christmas would really be a time of love and goodwill.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Friday morning was overcast. The sky had been getting a darker gray for the past few days and Jake was predicting a snowstorm before Sunday, which was Christmas Day. As long as the snow waited until then to fall, she would welcome it, Elizabeth told herself as she sat by the fire, rocking the baby. The baby had finished nursing and Elizabeth snuggled her closer. The thought of being snowed in with her little family for the holiday sounded very pleasant.

  But first, all of the families needed to go to the pageant and, for that, bare ground would be helpful. Elizabeth put the baby in the crib. She had heard enough about the snowstorms that came to this area to realize no one wanted to travel during them. Virginia said the snow could be five feet tall around the fort some winter days.

  Elizabeth didn’t want to think about any snowbanks that were as high as that. She did make Spotted Fawn take a blanket with her when she rode her pony to school, though. Elizabeth and Jake would be taking the wagon in later so they would bring Spotted Fawn home after school or Elizabeth wouldn’t have even let the girl ride this morning.

  But Jake had assured them both that the storm was at least hours away and his horses could pull a wagon home through the snow if it came later.

  Still, Elizabeth worked quickly to finish baking the last batch of pies.

  Spotted Fawn had her angel costume with her in a pouch she carried on her pony. She’d also asked Elizabeth for some yarn to tie things and so she had a ball of yellow yarn as well as some hair ribbons. Elizabeth suspected the girl was putting together some kind of presents. Elizabeth even tucked a small ball of the red yarn in with the yellow in case the girl wanted anything to look like Christmas.

  Elizabeth hadn’t thought of a gift for Jake yet, so she needed to take some time today to visit the mercantile. She’d finished knitting the scarves for the girls and she’d had enough yarn left to also make some red socks for Jake, but that wasn’t going to be her real gift. She knew he’d have fun with the red socks, but she wanted to give him something that would show him what he was coming to mean to her.

  She’d held back several of the pies she’d made and planned to give a couple of them to Wells and Higgins. The rest would be for Jake and the girls. She had jars of her rhubarb jam set aside for Annabelle and Virginia.

  This was going to be a special Christmas, Elizabeth told herself, as she packed the basket full of the cookies she’d baked last night for the children.

  Miles City was busy when Jake drove the wagon down the street toward the mercantile. Annabelle was going to keep the baby for them again today. Elizabeth was looking forward to having the pageant over so she could spend more time at home with the little one.

  “I don’t see Spotted Fawn’s pony,” Jake mentioned as they pulled close to the schoolhouse. The children’s horses were always tethered on the left side of the schoolhouse, out of the way of the comings and goings from the schoolhouse. There were no horses there today.

  “Maybe they moved the horses somewhere because of the pageant,” Elizabeth said.

  Jake grunted. “They probably didn’t look good enough for Mrs. Barker. She’s probably got them hidden behind some bush someplace.”

  Elizabeth grinned. “You could be right. I hope, for her sake, that that railroad man doesn’t even come. Her cousin might have been all wrong about it.”

  “Well, someone from the railroad is going to show up sooner or later. I guess now is as good of a time as any.”

  Jake helped Elizabeth unload her pies and cookies. They could hear the shrieks of the children playing behind the schoolhouse so the room was empty.

  “It must be lunch,” Elizabeth said as she walked over to the teacher’s desk that had been pushed in a corner.

  Elizabeth and Virginia had decided to put the food there so it wouldn’t interfere with the performance space being used by the children. The red calico that had been left after all of the ornaments were made was lying there on the desk, ready to be spread over the food. The tree itself had been moved to the side, as well.

  Elizabeth had to admit as she surveyed the empty room that a taller tree would be nice. The tree they had lacked majesty. But, Elizabeth reminded herself, it had been decorated with love and that’s what the children would remember.

  Jake put the last of the pies on the top of the desk. “It’s a good thing you’re going to cover these up. Even Higgins won’t be able to keep those boys in line.”

  “I don’t think Higgins is going to be here today. Annabelle said he was going to be helping her with something at the mercantile.”

  “Well, then we better be sure everything’s covered before everyone gets back from lunch.”

  Elizabeth smiled. “Virginia keeps those boys in line almost as well as Higgins.”

  Jake nodded. “That’s because they’re all half in love with her.”

  Elizabeth felt her smile freeze. “I suppose all men would—”

  Jake didn’t even let her finish. He stepped over and gave her a hug that half lifted her off the floor.

  “Not all men,” he whispered when he finally put her back down.

  “Oh,” Elizabeth breathed. “Oh.”

  Elizabeth thought Jake would have kissed her if they hadn’t heard the pounding of little feet on the porch of the school.

  “I guess lunch is over,” Jake said. He didn’t move away from her, though.

  “Yes, I—” Elizabeth stepped back and smoothed down the folds in her dress. “I should get ready to help with the practice—for the pageant.”

  Jake nodded. “And there’s always more wood to chop.”

  The children were only starting to come back into the schoolroom when Mrs. Barker marched into the room. “Where’s my ornaments?”

  Elizabeth watched in fascination as the woman walked right up to the front. She should have been a drill sergeant. “I suppose you’re putting them on that pathetic excuse for a tree.”

  Mrs. Barker lifted the Christmas tree up by its top and spun it around in front of her nose so fast a few of the pine needles fell off.

  “I can assure you, the only ornaments we have are the ones the children made,” Elizabeth said as she walked up to the front, as well. If someone didn’t stop the woman, they wouldn’t have a tree left. “Maybe you misplaced them.”

  Mrs. Barker humphed, but at least she put the tree down. “No one misplaces ornaments that expensive.”

  “Well, then, maybe Elias knows where they are,” Elizabeth said as she turned around to look for the boy. The children were still coming into the room, but usually the boy was easy to find because of his red hair.

  She didn’t see Elias and eventually she noticed that what she did see was guilt spread across the face of every child as they came into the room.

  “What’s wrong?” Elizabeth asked as the reverend came inside the room with the last of the children. Elizabeth looked at him. “Where’s Elias?”

  “Surely, you don’t think my own son—” Mrs. Barker sputtered.

  “Elias didn’t come to school today,” the reverend said. “I thought he must be sick.”

  “Elias is never sick,” Mrs. Barker said and then her face started to change. Fear seemed to be struggling with annoyance. “He’s not off on one of those pranks of his, is he?”

  Jake was looking over the children, too.

  “Spotted Fawn isn’t here, either,” he finally said.

  Dear Lord, Elizabeth breathed. Have mercy on us. She was hoping she’d just overlooked the girl as the others came through the door.

  “Where are they?” Jake asked, facing the children.

  “Did Spotted Fawn do something to my boy?” Mrs. Barker demanded. “I always said we just can’t trust those people.”

  “Silence,” Jake roared.

  Mrs. Barker stopped, her mouth half-open.

  “You’re scaring the children,” Ja
ke said to her as he turned back to the students. “Now, who’s going to tell me what’s going on?”

  Anna Larson, the girl who had warmed up to Spotted Fawn the most in Elizabeth’s opinion, started to whimper. “Spotted Fawn hasn’t done anything. She’s only trying to—to help Elias.”

  “My son doesn’t need help—”

  Jake glared over at the woman until she stopped.

  “Now, what are Elias and Spotted Fawn doing?” Jake turned back to the girl and asked, his voice gentle this time.

  Anna gulped. “Elias said he was going to get that tree he’s seen. He wanted to surprise his mother. You know, like a Christmas present. He even took the ornaments so he could have it all decorated when he brought it back to town for the pageant tonight.”

  “He went to get a tree for me?” Mrs. Barker looked astounded.

  Anna nodded. “We weren’t supposed to tell. It’s a surprise.”

  “We understand,” Elizabeth said as she stepped forward. “But what about Spotted Fawn? Where’s Spotted Fawn?”

  “She tried to stop him from going. She said the snows are coming. But Elias wouldn’t stay—” Anna lifted her chin proudly “—so Spotted Fawn went after him to save his life like the Bible says she should—on account of him being her enemy and all.”

  “Well, surely, no one’s saving anyone’s life,” Mrs. Barker said as she looked up at Jake. “There’s no danger of him dying out there, is there? He’ll just get the tree and come back here.”

  All of the irritation drained out of Jake’s face and he looked at the woman with pity. “There is no tree around here, not like the one he thinks he’s seen. But I’ll go after them. The ground is bare so I should be able to track them with no problem. I don’t expect snow until tonight at the earliest.”

  “I’ll pack up some of the cookies,” Elizabeth said as she moved toward the table they’d set up with food. “They’ll be hungry.”

  Jake nodded.

  He looked back at the children. “I assume Elias is riding that big bay he has?”

  He got a dozen nods.

  “Well, that’s a blessing at least. That’s a fine horse and should do him some good if he does run into snow,” Jake said.