It Happened at Christmas

by Christen Krumm

  Following suit, Murphy put the pipe between her lips. This had to be the strangest game of cards she had ever played—and she loved it.

  “You gotta be careful with this one,” Eloise whispered from behind her fan of cards, pointing at Grandpa Jack with her pipe while he went through the rules of the game. “He cheats.”

  “Dang right I do.” Grandpa Jack proudly proclaimed, thumping the table. “Watch and learn, children, watch and learn.”

  Murphy completely lost track of time—which seemed to be a theme when she hung out with the Harringtons. After losing three games of rummy (two to Grandpa Jack and one to Eloise—Hank was as bad at cards as she was) she realized it had already started getting dark. She prepared for the cold walk across the grounds back to Iverson, when Grandpa Jack all but demanded Hank give her a ride home.

  “Don’t worry, Grandpa Jack,” Hank said helping Murphy into her coat. “I wasn’t planning on letting her walk.”

  “Glad to see there are still gentlemen in the world.” Grandpa Jack mumbled. Arm around Eloise, the two headed back down the hall. Murphy could hear their plans of a Christmas movie (was Die Hard considered a Christmas movie?) and popcorn.

  Hank pulled on a hoodie and wrapped a scarf around his neck before opening the door. He tossed Murphy the keys. “Wanna drive home, Cain?”

  Murphy tossed the keys right back at him. “That’s real funny, Harrington.”

  “Harrington?” Hank stood up a little straighter. “I feel like I’m getting into trouble.”

  “I have a feeling you stay in trouble,” Murphy laughed.

  They were silent on the way back to Iverson. Murphy thought it strange how comfortable she and Hank were in each other’s presence. They had just met last week, and under less than ideal circumstances. Still, Murphy was glad she had found a friend. She’d probably need a new one since Emmaline had decided to stop talking to her. Murphy’s heart sunk when she remembered why they weren’t talking. When everything was said and done, Hank shouldn’t be talking to her either. She bit her lip until it stung. She looked at Hank’s profile, face glowing green from the dashboard lights. She should tell him who she really was.

  No, she wasn’t going to do it. No one believed she could fit in. What—because she scrubbed toilets, she couldn’t be someone that hung out with them? That was a load of crap, and she’d prove everyone wrong. She liked the Harringtons and it seemed they liked her back.

  “Why the long face, Cain?” Hank reached over and squeezed her hand. “You did good today.”

  Murphy had the smallest pinch in the back of her brain to tell him, exactly what was on her mind, but she pushed the thought aside and instead replied, “Just tired, I guess. My best friend and I got into an argument last night.”

  “Want to talk about it?” Out of the corner of her eye, Murphy could see Hank’s head moving between looking at her and the road.

  Did she want to talk about it? She’d rather watch polish on Claire’s nails dry. “Not really.”

  “Ok, then, how about you tell me why you don’t want to ever drive again. It wasn’t that bad, and besides, you graduate in what? A couple of months? What are you going to do then?”

  She wasn’t going to correct him about when she was graduating. Thanks to being held back, she still had a year left. No matter how hard she worked. “There is such thing as Uber, genius. And I want to move around. Not stay anywhere for too long. A car would just be an inconvenience.” Her teeth chattered and she wasn’t sure if it was from being cold or her nerves that were constantly on edge.

  “Running from the law huh?” Hank joked. He turned the heat on high, warming more than just Murphy’s chill.

  “Nope. I just want to see the world. I want to see it all.” Murphy wasn’t sure how much she could share without sharing too much, but her head and heart had two different ideas. “When I was little, my dad and I had this map on the wall. It was huge. During the week, I would go to the library after school while he was working and get stacks of books on different locations around the world. On the weekend, after a breakfast of all-we-could eat pancakes, Dad’s specialty, I would give him a report on the places I’d researched and we would add push pins to the places we wanted to travel to.”

  “That sounds amazing. But, hey, Tripp’s favorite thing is globe hopping. And, last time I checked, he can drive, so maybe you wouldn’t have to Uber around all that much.”

  “True.” Murphy swallowed. Right. Tripp. Her boyfriend.

  “So how old were you when you started going to Iverson?” Hank asked breaking into her thoughts.

  It had been so long ago and yet it still felt like yesterday. “Eleven.”

  Murphy had been one of the “in” crowd then, but all that changed when she moved downstairs.

  Hank pulled into the Iverson drive, the streetlamps marking the way to the school. Pulling through the round drive, he put the car in park at the bottom of the steps and turned to face her.

  “I had fun today.”

  “Me too, but,” she pointed a finger at Hank. “I’m still pretty sure I’m never going to drive again.”

  Hank nudged her shoulder. “Ah, come on, Cain. Maybe it’ll grow on you. With practice.” Murphy chuckled, shaking her head. “I have no desire to get back behind the wheel of a car. Thank you very much.”

  Rolling his eyes, Hank replied. “Whatever you say, Cain.”

  “But really. Thank you for today. It’s been a long time since I’ve had that much fun and thank you for introducing me to Grandpa Jack.”

  “He’s a hoot. Gotta love him.”

  “He was something else.” Murphy stuck her hands into her coat pockets, not really ready to leave the finally-warm car to dash inside. With a sigh, she relented. There was still the matter of checking in with Mrs. Potts. “Well, I’ll see ya.”

  “Murphy,” Hank grabbed her coat sleeve before she had time to push out of the car. She sank back into the seat.

  “Yeah?”

  “You busy tomorrow?”

  Tomorrow was Thursday. The day she was planning on going on the weekly shopping trip with Mrs. Potts. But if Hank had plans, she was sure she could fit everything in. “Not much. What’s up?”

  “Wheezy and I have some Christmas shopping to do. She wanted to know if you would tag along. We’d be going tomorrow afternoon, say 2ish?”

  “Cutting it a little close, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah, yeah, I do every year. I’m whatcha call, fashionably late.” Hank ran a hand through his hair.

  Murphy chewed on her bottom lip. She was throwing the promise to herself out the window. Forget that. She was lighting that promise on fire and dancing around the flames. No, she definitely shouldn’t go shopping. All the other times had just been accidents forced by Hank. But this would be all her. The answer had to be no. Didn’t it?

  “Yeah, I think I could do that.”

  Hank’s face lit up. “Great. We’ll swing by and pick you up. Now go on and get inside. It’s cold out here. I won’t leave until I see you’ve made it inside.”

  Whoever said chivalry was dead? Murphy tucked her head down against the cold and jogged up the stairs pulling the heavy oak door open. She turned and waved to Hank has he pulled back down the drive.

  Once inside she leaned up against the door. Heaven help her she was getting in over her head.

  Notification Center

  Message from Eloise Harrington (10:53 PM)

  Hank told me your going with us tomorrow! I am sooooooooooo excited!!!!

  Message from Eloise Harrington (10:57 PM)

  I totally forgot to ask how driving went! Hank said you did great. Yay! Go you.

  Chapter Ten

  Mrs. Potts had practically squealed when Murphy asked her about the Christmas shopping trip with Hank and Eloise. Murphy figured the excitement had something to do with the fact that, for the first time, Murphy actually had an interest outside of school, work, and the occasional video game crafted by the Taylor brothers.


  The older woman even tried to shove a couple of bills into Murphy’s hand, telling her that she needed to have fun and shouldn’t have to worry about something as silly as money. After a back and forth argument, Murphy accepted the gift, but when Mrs Potts’ back was turned, slipped it back into the jar where she kept her emergency funds.

  Since the weekly trip to the grocery store with Mrs. Potts was one of Murphy’s favorite tasks and she was generally in classes during the day, it was one chore she actually looked forward to during breaks. Thankfully, Mrs. Potts was eager to leave a little earlier than normal, especially since she wanted to be home to get her afternoon coffee and snack made before her soap opera came on.

  As they drove toward the store Mrs. Potts asked, “He actually taught you how to drive a standard?”

  Murphy regaled the woman with the entire ordeal— including getting stuck on the hill and her declaration of never wanting to get behind the wheel again, which had Mrs. Potts shaking with laughter.

  “Oh, Murphy,” said Mrs. Potts when she could finally catch her breath. “I do hope one day you’ll be able to try again under less dramatic situations.”

  Murphy shook her head. “Not likely.”

  “Amos or I should have taken the time to teach you.” Her tone hinted at regret. “You should have told us that you had an interest in learning to drive. We would have somehow made it happen. Surely Sonora couldn’t have found fault with you learning that life skill.”

  “It’s ok, Mrs. P. Really,” Murphy shrugged. “I didn’t have a desire to learn how to drive. It just kind of happened. It was like Hank made it his life mission or something.”

  “That boy is good for you,” Mrs. Potts smiled turning into the box store parking lot. Save for three other cars, the parking lot was empty.

  Murphy could feel her face heat, as she buried deeper into her scarf and coat, wishing she would have remembered to grab her hat. No, it was Tripp that was good for her. Not Hank.

  Right?

  She shook her head as though that would knock Hank from her thoughts.

  The duo tromped across the parking lot basking in the warmth of the sun.

  “Oh, the twins missed you at breakfast.” Mrs. Potts mentioned. “Something about wanting you to swing by and check out Sir Siegfried 2.0?”

  Murphy laughed. “It’s the new game they are attempting to create. The first level was supposed to be a challenge, but I accidentally breezed right through it,” she explained. “Anyway, this morning I just couldn’t wake up. I’m sorry I missed helping with breakfast prep.”

  Mrs. Potts waved her arm. “Pish posh, dear. You’ve had a lot going on. You’ve had many early mornings. I’m glad you got some sleep.”

  She appreciated Mrs. P’s slack on the rules, but that wasn’t an excuse to be slacking on her job. Leaving her responsibilities for Mrs. Potts. It wasn’t right — never mind that if Headmistress Kingfisher found out Murphy would be in so much trouble.

  “Besides,” Mrs. Potts continued. “There’s only a few students to prep for. Hardly a challenge.”

  Frowning, she picked at a thread that had unraveled on her coat. It better not be falling apart — not that she wasn’t expecting it. The coat was older than she was.

  Since they had a weekly shopping date, or rather, Mrs. Potts had a weekly shopping date, most of the items were already pulled for the school, it simply had to be picked up.

  Before the final check out, Mrs. Potts pulled Murphy over to the bakery and made her choose a donut from the case. Frosted blueberry cake donut. Blueberry anything was always Murphy’s favorite. If she closed her eyes and thought hard enough, she could almost taste the blueberry pancakes her dad once made. Always an extra two blueberries for the eyes and six for the mouth and of course a spray of whipped cream for hair.

  Mumbling her thanks to the baker, Murphy took the paper wrapped donut and Styrofoam cup of steaming coffee. Mmmm coffee. Of course, she hadn’t gotten up early enough to drink a cup, even if Mrs. Potts had it sitting on the counter ready to go. That’s what she got for slacking.

  She had to figure out a way to juggle everything better.

  Mrs. Potts put the groceries on the school account and a bag boy followed them out to the van and loaded it up. They sat in the car, the heater on full blast, quiet while they both nibbled on their donuts and sipped coffee that was too hot.

  “Don’t forget about finishing the cleaning on the sixth floor. Should be a good week to get it done.” Mrs. Potts mused.

  The sixth floor. Emmaline and Claire’s floor. The sixth floor always needed the extra cleaning while the students were away. With the exception of Emmaline and a couple of boys from Spain, most of the students on that floor were slobs. She had already unintentionally started on Tripp’s room thanks to Fiona. Speaking of that pesky cat, she was running low on food and litter. She’d have to remember to grab some while she was out this afternoon.

  As soon as the Iverson van pulled around to the kitchen entrance, Floyd and Lloyd bounded out the door. They stood like two footmen from Downton waiting to assist the girls’ every need.

  “What are you two boys up to now, Mmm?” Mrs. Potts regarded them with raised eyebrows waiting for the prank to drop.

  The twins exchanged a glance making Murphy wonder. They were up to something.

  “The Royal Ms. Murphy Cain has a visitor in the front hall,” Floyd cleared his throat and announced.

  It was Murphy and Mrs. Potts turn to exchange a confused glance.

  “You boys stop funning and tell us what’s going on,” Mrs. Potts scolded.

  Lloyd rolled his eyes. “Pretty boy Harrington is here to see Murph.”

  “What?” Murphy looked at her watch. He was an hour and a half early. She looked down at her grimy jeans and dirty shoes inwardly groaning. This double life was going to kill her.

  Mrs. Potts flew into action. “Boys, how long has he been waiting?”

  “Five minutes tops.”

  “Right. Murphy dear, you go change and use the back stairs so you can enter from the main staircase. Boys,” she tossed Lloyd the keys to the van — which Murphy wondered how smart that decision was. “I need you to unload the van. No driving.”

  Floyd snickered until Mrs. Potts threatened to give them only bread and water for the remaining time of the break. She was just kidding. At least Murphy thought she was. “And I’ll go and see if Mr. Harrington needs anything. Ready? Let’s go.”

  Everyone jumped into action. The twins, for whatever reason, ran in circles before running to the back of the van. Mrs. Potts spoofed her short grey hair and smoothed her sweater and skirt before squaring her shoulders and marching inside like a solider heading into battle.

  Murphy stood, frozen in place, blinking back tears. She was going to be leaving Mrs. Potts again with most of the housework. But oh, how she wanted to go. She wanted to not worry about cleaning and doing someone else’s laundry and the dozen other tasks Headmistress Kingfisher had assigned to her. She wanted to hang out with Hank and Wheezy on the town, Christmas shopping like a regular seventeen-year-old. She wanted to pretend that she belonged. Mrs. Potts, it seemed, wanted her to as much as she did, so why did Murphy feel so guilty?

  “Murph, get a move on! Can’t keep him waiting!” One twin shouted from behind an industrial sized box of toilet paper.

  Silly grin on her face, she scrambled inside stumbling into her room. Fire and ice pulsing in her veins.

  She kicked her shoes across the room and shimmied out of her jeans. She prayed her nicer pair were clean. Digging through her basket of clothes, she pulled out her favorite hunter-green long-sleeved tee-shirt and (yes!) her clean jeans. She pulled on a pair of socks (her lucky mismatched Doctor Who pair) and her grimy Cons — there was nothing she could do about that. Looking at herself in the mirror hanging on the back of the door, she grabbed a tube of lip gloss and dabbed it over her lips with her pinkie. She ran her fingers through her hair and tucked it behind her ears. She rolled her eyes at herself.
Seriously what was she doing?

  She wiped the lip gloss off and rubbed it on her jeans. She pulled her hair up into a messy pony and dared one last inspection in the mirror. Better.

  Tucking her coat over her arm, Murphy glanced one more time at the disaster she left behind. Her room was starting to look like it belonged on the sixth floor. She really needed to take time to clean it up before it started giving her a tick. The past week she had been so busy between keeping her double lives straight, that she hadn’t even had time to put away her clean clothes — one of her pet peeves. Sighing she gave Fiona’s ears a scratch and let the door close behind her. That was a mess for another day.

  She took the service stairs two at a time, pausing at the top to catch her breath and smooth down pieces of stubborn hair that wouldn’t stay in place.

  She could hear Mrs. Potts prattling on about something and Hank’s polite agreement. And then she heard other voices. Waffles and cheese! Floyd and Lloyd were chatting him up as well.

  “Murphy, did you know this guy has a room full of vintage arcade games?” Lloyd asked when she came into view at the stairs.

  “I did,” Murphy skipped down the last two steps. “And I’ve played on them. You’re super early.” She turned to Hank, praying that her “relationship” with Tripp hadn’t been discussed.

  Hank shrugged his shoulders. “Wheezy was chomping at the bit to get going. Ready?”

  “Sure,” Murphy said shifting her bag on her shoulder.

  There was an audible groan from both the twins and a hush from Mrs. Potts when Murphy and Hank turned to leave.

  “Goodbye, Mrs. P. Boys,” Murphy said practically pulling Hank toward the door.

  “Murph, you have to bring him over so we can show him our games! And—” Floyd yelled out, the rest of whatever he was going to say cut off by the door.