The Angel Tree

by Daphne Benedis-Grab

  The last thing Cami felt like doing was heading out to the crowded market, but she knew her grandmother needed help with the heavy bags of food. Maybe she could finally get something right this weekend. So she headed downstairs, put on her boots, and got into her grandmother’s ancient Honda.

  “You’re awfully quiet,” her grandmother said as she backed the car down their driveway. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah,” Cami said. “I just have a lot of homework.”

  “Still taking that break from the violin?” her grandmother asked.

  Cami’s chest tightened. “Um, yeah,” she said. She never lied to her grandmother and you could maybe argue that this wasn’t a complete lie. Still, it was stretching the truth till it felt like something else entirely. But Cami wanted to tell her grandmother the big change she had made when it was actually worth talking about — when she had used her new free time to do something truly Willa-worthy. And so far that had not happened.

  Her grandmother glanced at her for a moment and Cami steeled herself for more questions. But her grandmother stayed quiet.

  She wouldn’t have believed it was possible, but now Cami felt even worse. Her grandmother had said nothing about missing hearing her play or how Cami needed to prepare for the Christmas Gala. It was almost as though she were glad Cami wasn’t playing. Which shouldn’t have been a surprise considering the conversation she had had with Willa’s mom, but still hit Cami like a sharp jab at the soft part of her belly.

  The grocery store was crowded and the lights felt harsh. Cami steered the cart as her grandmother filled it up with pasta, juice, and bread. There was a long line at the meat counter and Cami leaned on the cart as her grandmother chatted with a church friend waiting in front of them. But then she saw something that made her stand up straight: Mrs. VonWolf, the tiny old lady huffing as she pushed a cart filled to the brim with food. Behind her came her husband, barely an inch taller and pushing a cart piled even higher, if that was possible.

  There was no way they were going to eat all that food. They had to be buying it for someone else. Possibly someone who had made a wish on the Angel Tree.

  Cami crept up behind them to see what was in their carts. Both were piled high with Fruity Frosted Crunch cereal, chocolate granola bars, boxes of macaroni and cheese, and several big bottles of fruit punch. All food a ten-year-old would like, not an elderly couple.

  “So we’ll just box this up and get it to the Naylors’ house when Ed Pink delivers their tree at seven,” Mr. VonWolf was saying, running a hand through his sparse white hair.

  The Naylors lived on the edge of town and Mr. Naylor had been out of work for almost a year. Cami knew the only way they could afford Christmas for their three young kids was with a little help from the Angel Tree.

  “Perfect,” his wife said. “We just need to grab some staples for the parents and I think we’re set.”

  “And you said Alma Sanchez is taking care of the gifts?” Mr. VonWolf asked as they headed down the aisle.

  Cami wasn’t tired or low anymore. This was a clue, and a fantastic one at that! The VonWolfs were helping out with an important wish and they were also obviously the ones organizing it. After all, how else could they know that Mr. Pink was delivering the tree and Alma Sanchez was taking care of the gifts?

  Cami couldn’t wait to call Joe, Lucy, and Max the second she got home and tell them they had new prime candidates for GB!

  Max was walking home from a hockey game when Cami called, giving him the lowdown on her trip to Ms. Sanchez’s and her intel on the VonWolfs.

  “The note is a great clue,” Max said, feeling pumped up by the game and now the new lead on GB. “And that was some good spying on the VonWolfs.”

  “The VonWolfs are definitely on the top of the list,” Cami said, ignoring his spy comment. “Mrs. VonWolf could easily be the person who writes out all the notes. I was thinking we should go talk to them tomorrow after school.”

  “Sounds good,” Max said. “I’ll be there.” His skate bag was starting to slide off his shoulder, so he hitched it up.

  “Great,” Cami said. “Now I just have to figure out how to tell Joe. I don’t have his phone number.”

  Max sighed. It was time to hear Cami say, I told you so.

  “I’ll tell Joe,” Max said.

  “Wait, what?” Cami asked, her shock like an electric current through the phone.

  “I wouldn’t go so far as to say you were right, but he’s not a bad guy,” Max said. He held the phone away from his ear so that he wouldn’t have to hear Cami shout, I told you so. When he brought it back a moment later, she was still talking.

  “… So I was right, wasn’t I? And it turns out my idea for you guys to go to the Barristers’ was a good one, wasn’t it? I knew it!” She paused. “What happened there, anyway? Did you find anything?”

  Max sobered as he told Cami about the shrine. He had just come into the main square and seeing the Angel Tree, so filled with hope, somehow made the sad Barrister house feel even more awful.

  “Maybe we can do something for them,” Cami said.

  Max could practically hear the wheels in her head spinning away on a new project. “Yeah, we could …” he said. “But I still wonder if they’re GB. Maybe after they lost their son they decided to do something good like he did, and they started the Angel Tree. I know the VonWolfs look like they’re the prime suspects but I don’t think we can eliminate the Barristers.”

  “They’re not suspects,” Cami said with an eye roll Max could hear in her voice. “But you’re right that we should still consider them. Go tell your new best friend, Joe, that we’re meeting up to check on the VonWolfs tomorrow.”

  After signing off, Max shoved his phone in his pocket. He realized he didn’t actually have Joe’s number but he remembered that Joe had mentioned living over the Lost Sock Laundromat, and that was only a few blocks away so Max figured he’d just drop by. He stopped on the corner of Montgomery and Main while Mr. Pink drove by, honking and waving as he went. As Max waved back, he noticed a bunch of new basketball supplies piled in the back of Mr. Pink’s pickup truck. It was probably another Angel Tree wish. The VonWolfs and the Barristers were definitely top suspects but Mr. Pink was still in the race.

  The Lost Sock Laundromat had a lone dryer spinning on the back wall when Max walked in and began searching for a way to get to the second floor. He finally found it outside, a small door on the side of the building, and headed up the narrow staircase, noticing that the steps were coated with dust and the paint on the walls was chipped. The excitement he felt at Cami’s news began to curdle into something that felt more like worry as he knocked on the door. A few moments later, he heard footsteps and then Joe opened the door.

  “Hey,” Joe said, smiling when he realized it was Max. “I think this is the first time anyone’s knocked on the door since I moved in here. Come on in.”

  Max walked into the apartment. “We’re going to investigate the VonWolfs tomorrow,” he said. His voice trailed off as he looked around at the place where his friend lived. There was a sagging leather sofa, an ancient Barcalounger, and a rickety table off to one side. The carpet was stained, the walls were bare, and the only thing that looked truly clean was the large television standing on a flimsy black plastic stand. As he took it all in, Max noticed a mass under the table and for a moment thought it was some kind of body bag. But then reality checked in and he realized it was a sleeping bag. “You camp out?” he asked.

  Joe cleared his throat. “My uncle doesn’t have another bedroom, so I sleep in here.”

  “But why can’t you sleep on the sofa?” Max asked. He had a vague sense that he was being rude, but his shock at seeing how Joe lived had robbed him of his manners.

  “My uncle watches TV pretty late sometimes,” Joe said quietly. “It’s easier to block it out and get to sleep if I’m over here.”

  “That’s just wrong,” Max blurted out.

  “It’s fine,” Joe said in the same quiet
voice. “Can I get you anything to drink? I was going to make some cocoa.”

  “Sure,” Max said, still not able to understand why Joe had to sleep under a table.

  He followed his friend into the kitchen, where there was a half-size fridge and some shelves that were empty save for a few packs of ramen, some cans of soup, and a big box of saltines. A microwave took up most of the scratched counter and when he looked around, Max noticed a big patch of mold on one wall. He wouldn’t have believed it possible but he had actually stumbled into a place that made his family’s current apartment seem like a palace.

  Max looked at his friend, who was carefully scrubbing out two mugs, and something twisted in his chest. “I can’t believe this is where you live,” he said.

  Joe’s shoulders stiffened but when he turned to face Max he didn’t look angry or sad or anything that Max knew he would be feeling if he stood in Joe’s shoes. “Leon was the only one who could take me in while my mom served,” he said simply. “And dealing with this is nothing compared to what she’s dealing with over there.”

  Max had always thought of himself as tough, able to laugh off accidental hits in football or fight hard for the puck in hockey. He’d broken his leg, gotten stitches twice, and hadn’t cried when the neighbor’s dog bit him so deep he had to go to the hospital. But standing next to Joe and his quiet pride, Max felt like a complete cream puff, a pampered, spoiled kid who had always been taken care of, no matter what.

  He wanted to tell Joe that what he was doing was pretty incredible, that if he were in Joe’s shoes he’d never handle it this well. But words like that didn’t come easily to Max. Instead he slapped Joe on the back and said, “So where’s that cocoa?”

  And Joe smiled as he dried off the mugs and began to prepare their drinks.

  When the final bell rang, Cami headed to her locker, taking the long way down the back hall so she wouldn’t pass the music room. She quickly dialed her locker combination. The four of them had plans to meet at the front door and head over to the VonWolfs and she was eager to get going.

  As she piled books into her backpack, Cami thought about how much Joe had changed. After she’d spoken to Max on Sunday, Cami had realized that her plan to help Joe make friends and find his place in Pine River was a success. But somehow when she went downstairs to tell her grandmother about it, the words wouldn’t come. Somewhere along the line, Joe had become a friend instead of a project. To boast about helping him felt wrong. Though of course that put the pressure on for finding GB, so Cami had fingers and toes crossed that they were going to uncover the truth today.

  She pulled on her coat and swung her heavy backpack over her shoulders.

  Max, Joe, Lucy, and Valentine were already waiting at the exit.

  “Ready?” Max asked, bouncing a little as he spoke. Clearly he was itching to get on with the investigation.

  Joe and Cami started toward the door but then Lucy cleared her throat.

  “You guys, I’m going to sit this one out,” she said quietly.

  “Why?” Cami demanded, her eyes narrowing.

  Lucy let out a long breath and bent down to rub Valentine’s head, as though that would help her answer. “You know why,” she said quietly. “I slow you guys down and make everything harder.”

  Cami’s eyes were blazing. “Not true,” she said, almost angrily.

  “It is,” Lucy said. “I take twice as long to walk anywhere we go and —”

  “But you have Valentine back,” Cami interrupted. “And even if you didn’t, no one cares if it takes us five extra minutes to get somewhere.”

  “And you have to take care of me,” Lucy said. Her lips trembled the tiniest bit after she spoke.

  “What happened at Hobby Horse was my fault,” Cami said, guilt from that day pricking at the back of her neck.

  “How could it have been your fault?” Lucy asked. “You were halfway across the store.” Her voice was sharp.

  “Because I left you somewhere that wasn’t safe,” Cami said, frustrated. “And I didn’t let you know what was around you.”

  “That’s the whole point!” Lucy exploded. “You have to take care of me.”

  “Whoa,” Max said, waving his arms. “Time-out. What is going on?”

  Both Cami and Lucy began to speak at once.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Joe said quickly. “What matters is that we want your help, Lucy.”

  “Joe’s right,” Max said. “Accidents happen. Believe me, I know. But you think of stuff the rest of us could never come up with. We need you.”

  Cami beamed at the boys, beyond grateful for their words. Then she turned to Lucy. “So please say you’ll come,” she said softly.

  Lucy sighed and Cami could see that she was torn. But finally she nodded. “Okay, I’ll come.”

  Cami sighed in relief as they finally headed out, all four of them, just like it should be.

  It was a gray afternoon with dusty clouds hanging low and thick; it was going to snow soon for sure.

  “So what are we telling the VonWolfs?” Max asked, pulling his blue wool hat down over his ears. “We need a reason for showing up at their door.”

  “Right,” Cami said, fishing around in her pockets for her gloves. She was worried she had left them back at school. “We thought we’d just say that our homework for the week is helping out neighbors, kind of a good Samaritan thing for the holidays. And we wanted to know if they need any help.”

  “Like with shoveling snow,” Joe said as the first flakes began to fall.

  “Exactly,” Cami said. Her gloves weren’t there and her hands were already starting to feel icy. She stuffed them deep in her pockets.

  “I wonder if there’s a way we can get a look at Mrs. VonWolf’s handwriting,” Joe said thoughtfully. “Then we could see if it matched the note you saw.”

  “Good idea,” Cami exclaimed. “Is there a way we could ask her to sign something?”

  “Or maybe we could do a little spying,” Max said eagerly. “Like make an excuse to go to the kitchen to see a grocery list on the fridge or something.”

  “Or Christmas cards on a desk …” Joe added, clearly as into the spying as Max, which made Cami roll her eyes. Still, unless she could think of something to ask Mrs. VonWolf to sign, it was probably their best bet.

  The VonWolfs lived in a big Victorian house on Fisher Lane. They had a large yard with flower beds, bushes, and a small fish pond that was frozen over. Most of the yard was piled high with snowdrifts, but the stone path leading up to the front porch was fully cleared. Cami headed up the stairs first, followed by Lucy with Valentine and then the boys.

  Cami was about to ring the bell when the door flew open.

  “Oh,” cried Mrs. VonWolf, putting a hand to her heart. “You scared me. I had no idea anyone was out here.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Cami said. This was off to a terrible start.

  But then Mrs. VonWolf began to laugh. “I fear I’m getting hard of hearing in my old age,” she said. “We were just going to run a few errands but it’s delightful to see all of you.” She smoothed a lock of silver hair that had fallen free of her bun.

  “Can we help with the errands at all?” Cami asked. “That’s actually why we’re here. This week the kids in our class are going around town seeing if there are ways we can help people.”

  “Well, isn’t that a lovely holiday activity,” Mrs. VonWolf said. “And as a matter of fact, you could help us load a few of these boxes if it isn’t too much trouble.” She stood back and gestured to a stack of cardboard boxes, each one carefully labeled.

  Cami immediately scanned the writing, to see if it looked like the writing on the note Alma Sanchez had shown her. But each box was scrawled with big block letters. It was impossible to tell what the handwriting would be on a note.

  But then Cami actually read what the labels said and her heart began to race. Christmas stockings for the Washington family. Football equipment for the Martin brothers. Year supply of cat food for Hel
en Zinn. These were Angel Tree wishes, she was sure of it!

  “We’d be happy to help with those, Mrs. VonWolf,” Max said, stepping forward. “And this is Joe. He’s new to town.”

  “Hello, Joe,” Mrs. VonWolf said as her husband came up behind her. He was completely bald but made up for it with a shaggy white beard. “Herman, these young people are going to help us load the boxes. And this fellow, Joe, is new to Pine River.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Mr. VonWolf said, pumping Joe’s hand.

  “Nice to meet you too, sir,” Joe said.

  “We sure do appreciate your help,” Mr. VonWolf said as Max grabbed the first box. “Let me just get the trunk of the car open.” He grabbed his coat from the rack in the entryway and then headed carefully down the stairs, Max and Joe following with boxes.

  “I’m sorry I can’t help with the boxes,” Lucy said in a small voice. Cami realized that Lucy still had no idea that the boxes were Angel Tree wishes but there was no way to tell her with Mrs. VonWolf standing right there. She hated seeing how left out her friend looked.

  “Oh, sweetie, not to worry,” Mrs. VonWolf said, putting an arm around Lucy. “Let the boys do the heavy lifting.”

  Lucy managed a small smile.

  “Good idea,” Cami said a little too forcefully. Being anxious always made her pushy and she took a breath before continuing. “I mean, I’m sure they can take care of it just fine.”

  “You girls come in and warm up for a moment,” Mrs. VonWolf said. “It’s really starting to come down out there.”

  Cami glanced back and saw that the snow was falling thick and fast now. “Thanks,” she said.

  They handed their coats to Mrs. VonWolf, who hung them up and then led the girls into a living room filled with velvet armchairs, several floral-printed love seats, and two plush sofas. There were several low side tables scattered around the large room and a thick carpet covered most of the floor. Best of all, there were two wide floor-to-ceiling bookcases crammed with books. Cami went through their checklist in her head. A reader, check. Someone with enough money, check. She could barely keep her excitement in — it was looking more and more like the VonWolfs were GB!