“Hi, Jess, how do you like it?” asked Jacob.
“I don’t rightly know,” he replied scratching his stubbly chin. “What’s the paint for?”
Woodson climbed down from the stool. “I painted the outside of the glass with a very thin coat of paint so that at night, when they’re lit, they’ll glow green and red instead of just yellow,” he explained.
“Will people be able to see good enough?” queried Jess.
“Yes, which is why I only put a very thin coat of paint on the glass,” he replied. “I promise you it will look nicer, especially during Christmas.”
“All right,” agreed Jess. “Tony and I are going to take the wagons to the town hall and unload everything since we’ll need them to go out and bring people to the supper on Christmas.”
“All right, and we’ll have the rest of these lamps painted before dark,” said Woodson.
Jess stabled his horses and Tony helped him hitch up the two wagons. They walked the horses to the town hall and stopped outside the front porch. Jim and Sara walked out to see what the commotion was all about.
“We’re gonna need some help unloading these wagons,” Jess told him.
“I’m so excited to see what you have,” Sara said gleefully. Jim waved at some men, who came over and helped them unload all the things in the wagons. Once they had everything inside, Jim and Sara looked at all the toys.
“Oh my, there’s going to be a gift for every child,” she said as she moved to the trunks and began opening them. When she saw all the clothing, shoes and boots, she put her hand over her mouth.
“Jim, look at all these things,” she told him as she pulled out a jacket that would fit a child. Jim pulled out a pair of boots that would fit a small boy. He turned to see Jess smiling at them.
“You’re really going to make a lot of people very happy,” said Jim with excitement coursing through him. “We collected some things from my two stores, but nothing compared to all this. That was some luck you had running into those people who made all these things.” Jess looked at Jim strangely.
“I don’t think luck had much to do with it,” he said. “I think this was meant to be.”
“You know, maybe someone bigger than all of us had a hand in this,” suggested Sara. Jim and Jess exchanged glances and then smiled at Sara.
“Maybe,” they said in unison. Sara looked through the trunks some more.
“I’ll get some of the women from town to help me put these things out on tables according to size,” she said utterly excited. “This is going to be wonderful, just wonderful.”
Jim put his hand on Jess’s shoulder. “I haven’t seen her this excited in years,” said Jim, with a twinkle in his eyes.
“Well, living with you every day might explain that,” teased Jess as he smiled at him.
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing. I have to take a walk around town,” Jess told him. He turned to leave when he saw four older men sitting on a bench across the street. Three of them were reading books and one was just sitting there looking around.
“Jim, who are those men?”
Jim peeked around him and smiled. “Oh, those four knuckleheads? They moved into town a few weeks back. They read books all the time and they’ve started a reading room over there in that office. I had shelves installed for them. They have a large collection of books along with every dime novel written about you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, you want to see?”
“I suppose so,” said Jess.
Jim took him to the reading room and opened the door. Jess looked around at all the books on the shelves. Eventually, his eyes settled on the row of dime novels written about him. He looked them over and smiled.
“I didn’t know there were so many,” muttered Jess as he put one of them back on the shelf.
“Yeah, and your novels are their favorite part of the collection.”
“So, how does this work?”
“They’re going to open it on Christmas Day,” he explained. “Anyone who wants to take a book can do so, but they have to return it before they can take another one.”
“I guess that’s a good idea,” admitted Jess.
“They want to meet you in person,” Jim told him.
“Why?”
“Because they think you’re famous.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, they’re brothers and they’ve been reading about your life ever since the first dime novel was written about you,” explained Jim. “They read anything they can get their hands on. They just bought five more at the small general store in town and I believe one of them was the latest dime novel about you.”
“Who are they?”
“Homer, Roy, Don and Russ.”
“Well, let’s go and meet them,” said Jess.
Jim headed out the door with Jess right behind him. They started to cross the street and Russ was the first to notice since he wasn’t reading. He elbowed Roy who looked at him. Russ pointed to Jess and the other two brothers removed their noses from the books they were reading to see Jess and the mayor heading their way.
“That’s him,” said Russ excitedly.
“Yeah, it really is,” admitted Roy. The four men stood up and waited.
Jess smiled at them. “The mayor showed me your reading room. It’s a great idea,” he said.
“Thanks,” said Don, as he stuck his hand out. Jess shook his hand, followed by the others one at a time. Don showed Jess the latest dime novel written about him.
“Do you think you could sign this book for us?” asked Don.
“Sure, do you have a pencil?”
Don produced one quickly and handed it to him. He signed it and gave it back to him. “Welcome to Black Creek,” Jess told them as he noticed that the one called Russ didn’t have a book in his hand.
“You don’t like to read as much?” Jess asked him.
Russ looked at Don. “I’m waiting for Don to give me the new dime novel on you when he’s done reading it,” he said sheepishly. “He’s sure taking his time though.”
“I’m enjoying it and trying to make it last,” Don said defensively.
“Why? You’ll just read it again,” retorted Russ.
“And so will you, about a dozen times,” barked Don.
“It was nice meeting you,” Jess told them in an attempt to stop any argument. “Make sure you’re at the Christmas celebration at the town hall.”
“We wouldn’t miss it for anything,” said Homer. “We’re opening the reading room on the same day.” As Jess and Jim walked away, Jess listened to the back-and-forth banter between the men.
“Are they always like that?” Jess asked.
“No, I think they were just excited to meet someone they’ve read about in a novel,” replied Jim. “They’re very good people and a great addition to this town.”
Jess looked around at all the benches and lampposts and smiled. “I guess the town went all out setting up for Christmas,” he said as he pointed to everything.
“Oh, the town didn’t pay for any of it, you did.”
“I did?”
“Sure, you always told me if the town needed something to ask your banker for the money, so I did.”
“So, I paid for the lampposts, the oil lamps and all the benches?”
“Every last penny, including the shelving in the reading room.”
“Good, then you won’t have anything to say about the oil lamps,” said Jess.
Jim looked down the street at them. “Hey, who painted them?” he asked.
CHAPTER NINE
Jess followed Jim over to where Woodson and Jacob were installing the last of the painted lamps. Woodson stepped off his stool and admired his work.
“Who said you could paint these oil lamps?” demanded Jim.
“Well, Jess did, why?”
“Because I’m the mayor of this town and these lampposts were my idea.”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Mayor,” said
Woodson as he stuck his hand out. Jim shook it and smiled at Jacob. “This is my grandson, Jacob. We just moved to town with Jess’s help. I offered to do this as my way of giving back to the town.”
“But why did you paint them?”
“Because when they’re lit up, they’ll glow green and red and it’ll look merrier, I promise,” asserted Woodson.
“Well, I suppose we can see how they look tonight,” said Jim. “But if they’re not bright enough, you’ll need to scrape that paint off.”
“Mayor, they’ll be bright enough, I promise,” stated Woodson. “If you don’t like them, I’ll remove the paint.”
“Well, all right then,” he agreed. “And thank you both for your efforts.”
“I’m in charge of handing out the Christmas gifts,” blurted Jacob.
“But I was going to do that,” said Jim.
Jacob looked up at Jess through expectant eyes. “You paid for all the toys grandpa made,” advised Jacob. “And I told you then I wanted to be the one to hand them out and you said it was settled.”
“I suppose I did, in a roundabout way,” admitted Jess as he turned to Jim. “Mayor, why don’t you and Sara hand out all the clothes and Jacob and Woodson can hand out all the toys?”
Jim put his finger to his chin in thought and then he smiled. “I suppose that will work out just fine,” agreed Jim. “Especially after seeing all the toys you made. It would take too long to hand them all out, help with the clothes and do everything else I have to do.”
“Good, now that that’s settled, I’m taking a walk around town,” Jess told them as he left the mayor and Woodson talking about how they would coordinate things.
Jess walked along every street in town. He was surprised at how much it had changed. Two more streets had even been added and each of them had businesses and houses along them with some empty lots here and there. He noticed two boarding houses, several small businesses and dozens of new homes that hadn’t been there before. The town had definitely grown larger. He heard something behind him and when he turned around, he saw Dozer pushing himself in his wheelchair.
“Jess, they told me you was back in town,” said Dozer with an excited expression on his face.
Jess walked over to him, climbed the boardwalk and shook hands with Dozer. “Nice to see you, Dozer,” he said. “Are you coming to the Christmas celebration?”
“I sure am,” he said. “I heard about all the toys and clothes you brought with you and I’m hoping to get a new pair of gloves. These wheels get cold in the wintertime.”
“Aren’t you still working at the mayor’s second store?”
“Yeah, I do what I can from my chair and the other man takes care of everything else. Why?”
“You could ask Jim to let you take a pair of heavy gloves to use for the winter and take it out of your pay.”
“I could, but I wanted to see if I’d get a pair at Christmas first.”
“Well, if you don’t, I’m buying them for you.”
“Jess, you’ve always been so good to me, what with buying me this chair and letting me stay in Annie’s house for free,” said Dozer. “I hope you have a good Christmas. You sure deserve it.”
“Where were you headed anyway?”
“I just had lunch at home and was going back to the town hall when I saw you wandering around,” he replied. “Well, I better get back there to help some more.”
“All right then, I’ll see you at the supper at Jim and Sara’s on Christmas Eve.”
“I’ll be there for sure,” he said as he turned his wheelchair around.
Jess walked around some more and when he got to the house that Woodson and Jacob had picked out, he heard some pounding coming from inside. He walked to the front door and rapped on it. Woodson opened the door and walked outside, quickly closing the door behind him.
“If there’s something wrong with the house, I can have Tony come and fix it,” Jess told him. Woodson smiled cagily at him.
“That’s quite all right, but I just was building a few more toys for Christmas.”
“Don’t you think we have enough already?”
“Maybe, but I thought about a few other special gifts.”
“All right, but if you need any help, you let me know.”
“Thank you, but Jacob is all the help I need,” said Woodson, smiling through his white beard as he quickly went back inside the house, opening the door just enough to slip through before closing it quickly. Jess turned and left, heading for the town hall.
“I wonder what he’s making now,” he whispered to himself. Jess reached the town hall and when he went inside, the place was bustling with women stacking clothes, shoes and boots on tables. Jim was talking to Tony and Andy.
Jess walked over to Sara. “I see you’re getting everything in order,” he told her.
“Yes, I had some of the ladies from the church come to help,” she said as she took a break. “Tony and Andy set all the toys in a pile. That man sure can make some nice things. He was just here a little while ago and asked for a pair of boy’s boots.”
“Probably for Jacob,” acknowledged Jess. “His were quite worn out.”
“Well, he certainly deserved them,” she said. Jess pecked her on the cheek and headed in the direction of where Jim, Tony and Andy were discussing something. Jim saw him first and waved him over.
“We were just going over the plans for the big supper on Christmas Day,” explained Jim. “We’ve got smoked hams, turkeys and all the fixings. LeAnn will cook the roasts and steaks and Andy will deliver them here. We’ll be set up for at least fifty people or more. Most of the folks in town will have their own private suppers so this will be mostly for the poor ones who don’t have much.”
“This is turning out to be better than I thought,” admitted Jess.
“Especially with all the toys and clothes you brought to town,” chuckled Jim. “It’s like a Christmas miracle!”
“I’m not sure I believe in miracles,” cautioned Jess. “I think it was a little fate, destiny and luck all rolled up together.”
“Anyway, Tony and Andy are going out with the wagons on Christmas Day and collecting all the people in need who want to come,” continued Jim. “I’ve…well you bought plenty of new blankets for the people to use to keep them warm on the ride into town.”
“I paid for them?” Jess asked.
“Yes, I told you it was a special Christmas.”
“I suppose it is.”
“Well, I got to get back to the store,” said Jim as he headed for the door. Andy grinned at Jess amusingly.
“What are you smiling about?” Jess asked.
“I love it when he spends your money,” he chuckled.
“I’ll just bet you do,” he replied as he looked over at the reading room to see the four brothers sitting inside reading. “Listen, I’m going to ride out there with you and the wagons on Christmas.”
“All right,” said Andy. “But don’t forget that tomorrow night is Christmas Eve supper at the Smythes.”
“I’ll be there,” he said as he headed toward the reading room.
“Good. And remember to sit next to LeAnn.”
“All right, but that’s all that’s going to happen,” he told Andy. Jess knocked on the door of the reading room. Don waved him in and he opened the door. He saw Russ holding onto a book.
“I see you finally got a book to read,” he said.
“I convinced Don to let me read it as soon as he was done,” Russ said smiling.
“Only because we didn’t want him complaining any longer,” advised Homer.
“Just remember, I get it next,” Roy said snippily.
“You boys enjoy your books because you open up in two days,” he reminded them.
“All four of us will have this new dime novel about you finished before that,” asserted Don.
“Enjoy it,” he said as he closed the door and headed out to see Mr. Jameson before getting some supper at Ruth’s Café. When he walked i
n, Jameson was getting ready to leave.
“Jess, I was hoping you’d stop in to see me,” he said as he put his coat back down on his chair.
“I thought I’d make sure the mayor hasn’t spent all my money yet,” he laughed as he shook hands with him.
“No chance of that,” advised Jameson. “You have more money than he could possibly spend and I just got a wire from the Resch Bank and Trust in Dundee about some money that’s going to be coming here in your name on a regular basis.” Jess explained everything about Dundee and Jameson wasn’t surprised.
“Right now you’re collecting money on notes for eight houses and seven business, including the expansion of Ruth’s Café,” said Jameson. “I heard about the hotel you built in Dundee. You know, we could use a hotel like that here in Black Creek.”
“I was thinking the same thing when I was walking around today,” agreed Jess. “I’m thinking about having one started in the spring.”
“If you do, you have your first permanent renter,” he remarked wittily. “My house is too much for me anymore. I live alone and having a hotel with a restaurant in it would be perfect for me.”
“So, how is my money doing?”
“Very well,” he replied. “I think in another year or so, you might surpass two million in cash, investments and assets. What are you going to do with all that money when you quit the bounty hunting business?”
“I have no idea, but I won’t be quitting anytime soon,” he replied. “I’m used to living out on the trail most times. Maybe when it’s time for me to give it up, I’ll figure out something.”
“You’re still a young man, Jess, but keep in mind that making a living with a gun is a young man’s game,” caution Jameson. “Eventually, even with that special gun and holster, you’ll begin to slow down. You make sure you get to enjoy some of your money before that happens.”
A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE: Forty-Sixth in a Series of Jess Williams Westerns (A Jess Williams Western Book 46) Page 5