Plundered Christmas (7 page)

As he stood there, staring out at the rest of the island, not making a move to follow me or find Miss Margo, I left. What else could I do?

When I returned to the manor, I could see lights twinkling as soon as I walked in the front door.

Justin and Josie ran up to me. “Miss Margo's daughter, Mary, just walked up to the extension cord, picked it up and plugged it in. Then she walked away. She didn't do anything Christmas-y about it. In fact, she acted more like it and we, were a major pain.”

James tried to mollify them. “It wasn't quite as bad as all that, kids. And, at least now the lights are on.” He pulled us into a family hug. “And isn't it a beautiful tree?”

We looked at it in camaraderie and silence. The only place I had ever seen a tree that compared was in the mall. But as perfect as it was to look at, it had no heart, no character. I guess that was because no one here really cared if it was up or not. They had an immense evergreen grown for them and brought to the island year after year. Yet it seemed they did it all more out of tradition than a love of the season and what it represented.

Dad called us over to the couch that faced the tree. The flashing lights colored his face. I could see his well-worn Bible in his hand.

“I don't know where Margo is, or any of her family, for that matter. But we are together and the tree here before us reminds us of why we celebrate this night.”

We knew what was coming.

Thus began the Christmas tradition year after year.

In fact, both kids moved close to him. They knew what came next.

Josie made it to his side first and received the first question. “Can you tell me about it, Josie?”

Of course, she could. This had been part of Christmas with Papa since she was a baby.

“Legend says that Christians in Europe chose the evergreen to decorate and honor because it is like God in that it never changes. He is eternally the same. The evergreen never appears to die as the seasons change. It doesn't lose its leaves like the other trees. Also, the tree has a natural shape like an arrow that points to heaven.”

“That's beautiful,” Aimee said. “I wish I'd learned that at your age. I just thought it was something people did at Christmas.” She and Frank had joined us, coming up from the dining room, while Josie had been talking. “I never thought of the meaning behind it.”

“Well,” Justin said, not wanting to be outdone. “It is tradition for a lot of people. I don't think most people ever think about why they put up a tree. They just do because it's Christmas and it looks nice.”

Aimee leaned into Frank. “I really think I'm going to like being a part of this family.”

My father bounced off the couch faster than I could. “Does this mean?”

Aimee shyly held out her left hand. A ring sat securely on her ring finger. An iridescent opal, sat in the center of the setting. By the deep rich glow of the stone, I could tell its quality. Surrounding the opal were a dozen or more little diamond chips making the petals of the flower.

“Oh, it's stunning! You have great taste, brother of mine.”

He looked at Aimee instead of the ring in response to my outburst. “That I know.”

I hugged my soon-to-be sister-in-law. “Welcome to the Jensen clan, Aimee.”

She hugged me back. “Thank you.”

Josie snuggled up, not wanting to be left out. “Didn't I tell you, Aimee? Didn't I tell you right off the bat?”

Aimee crouched down to Josie's level. “You are absolutely right. You told me on the boat that I would love your family. And that you would love me.” She whispered the last couple of words.

“Does that mean I call you Aunt Aimee?” Justin asked.

She smiled. “I guess so.”

“Then, Aunt Aimee, get comfortable and have a seat so we can do the rest of the Christmas Eve tradition.”

“There's more?” She feigned surprise well.

I think Frank had briefed her on our routine before they came over. We made room on the couch; it wasn't hard because I think it could seat thirty in a pinch, and resumed the Jensen tales of the night.

Frank took up the next part, perhaps to impress his new fiancée. “The tree, as we've said, points to God and his changeless, eternal nature. But what was the first thing we put on the tree?”

“The lights?”

“Exactly. Because as it says in the book of John, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him, all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.' The lights on the tree remind us of the true light, the light of the world, Jesus Christ.”

I liked the next part. It always gave me goose bumps, so I decided I would tell it. “Next on every tree are the ornaments. What do the ornaments represent? What makes the tree of God beautiful?”

“We do!” shouted Josie and Justin.

“Yes,” I agreed. “As it says in Zechariah, ‘The Lord their God will save his people on that day as a shepherd saves his flock. They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown.' Also, it looks like fruit on the tree and reminds us to be fruitful for Him in the coming year.”

“Now,” said my father. “It is time for us to remember how our Savior came into this world.” He opened his well-worn Bible to the Gospel of Luke. “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.'

“‘So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.'”

Dad would have kept reading. I know this, because he did every year.

But at this moment, Charlie burst in. “Help! Help!” He waved to all of us. “Miss Margo is hurt! Come quickly! Down by the docks!”

For once, I thought logically instead of just racing off. “Should I gather some supplies?”

Charlie looked stunned at the question. “Yes.” He looked desperate. “Whatever you have that can wrap a wound and stop bleeding. And blankets or towels to keep her warm. Mary and I just pulled her out of the water.”

He ran out.

Dad dropped his Bible on the couch, pulled up the comforter that was draped over one armrest, and ran after him. My father had distanced himself from Margo since he got here, but he had considered marrying her. You did not get that close to someone without wanting to help at any cost.

I ran to the room assigned to us in the west wing and grabbed some of Jelly's extra accident pads we'd brought on this journey. He'd been such a well-behaved dog, we hadn't needed them. At least not for their intended purpose.

Blood. Water. And the dock. It had to be the sharks. But why? And where was everyone else? For at least an hour, it had only been the Talbott-Jensen clan inside the great house, unless the rest were huddled in their rooms.

I saw Aimee in the great room, looking at the tree, but holding her phone in front of her as I raced out. Was she going to take a picture? When she made no move to follow me, I assumed that she thought her aunt would neither want her nor need her.

I couldn't get over how un-Christmas it all was as I raced out with the absorbent pads to see to our injured hostess.

 

****

 

Outside, the wind was whipping up. It didn't feel like snow, of course, but it definitely wasn't as warm as it had been this morning. With the sun down, the temperature had to be in the lower sixties or upper fifties. After the sun and eighties earlier in the day, it felt really cold. I ran, not just because of the emergency, but because I hoped I would warm up.

When I reached the dock, the winds were so high that they threw the surf over the boards. I couldn't even see Margo at first; so many people were huddled around her.

James was not right up with the crowd, but he had Josie and Justin off to the side.

“I could help, Neenie, with my training, but I didn't want them to see this.”

I handed him the pads. “Go forth and do good, my hero.” I had no medical training beyond motherhood. I didn't figure it would do anything for massive quantities of blood. In fact, with my weak stomach, I knew it wouldn't. At the doctor's, a technician only needed to get a needle close to one of my veins for me to feel woozy.

“Why don't we pray for Miss Margo?” I said to the kids. I wanted to keep them busy and keep their imaginations off of what might have happened to the woman and what it might look like.

“Can we kneel?” asked Josie. “I've seen people do that. It seems like it makes it more serious.”

She was such a darling girl. I felt overwhelmingly grateful and blessed to have her. “Of course we can, sweetie.”

So we knelt down on the sandy grass above the beach. Much to Justin's dismay, his sister wanted to hold hands, too. As we prayed, our eyes were closed, but I could hear the activity bustling behind us.

All those tending to her were frightened, I could tell. She must have lost a lot of blood.

I started, and then Josie, and Justin last of all summed it up. “Lord God, help Miss Margo get better. And not just from this, God. Something is hard in her heart. I'm not even sure if she knows you, God. So help her work it all out and get better in every way. Amen.”

As he said ‘Amen' and we joined him, I could hear people moving behind us. I looked, as we stood, and saw James and Frank carrying a still form quickly to the house while Dad held onto her hand and Charlie walked on the other side.

Mary was crying as she stood and looked out to sea.

I went to her. No one should lose a mother around Christmas. It was bad enough to lose a mother at all. “I'm sorry about Miss Margo,” I said to her.

“Why, thank you,” she said in gulps.

“We just prayed for her. I thought you should know.”

“You and your kids prayed for my mother?”

I nodded.

“I don't think my mom had any clue what she was getting into when she decided to find a good Christian man,” she said. “You might just change us all.” She didn't say anything more. She followed the crowd to the house.

But what she said turned over and over inside me. “
You might just change us all
.” Was this why we were here?
God, did you want us here so that we might change the Banet family?
Here, I had been looking at this whole week as a time away from real Christmas. A time to get to know a potential stepmother and enjoy some time in the sun, but did God have a higher purpose? I felt ashamed of myself. I kept thinking about my own enjoyment, my Christmas, and our traditions. I hadn't thought anything about these people around us, or about their souls.

When we got back to the house, as if in answer to the turmoil in my mind and heart, the wind began to spin around us even more. It imitated a rocket at takeoff.

Dad looked concerned when I asked him about Margo. “We called emergency services, but it will be at least an hour, maybe two before they can get here. A nor'easter is bearing down on us. And even if they get here, they might not be able to get out again to take her to the nearest medical facility in Florida. It all depends on the strength of the storm.”

“But how's she doing?”

“Well,” Dad admitted, “James got the bleeding to stop, but her shoulder is still a mess.” He ran a hand through his silver hair. “I can't for the life of me figure out how or why she got in that water. She's been on this island her entire adult life. She knows the hazards. There's no way she would go into the water willingly over there. And fully dressed? It makes no sense.”

I had to agree. Something wasn't adding up. In addition, since Margo was still unconscious, we couldn't ask her why she was down at the docks or who might have seen or caused what happened.

Rather than carry her upstairs to her room, they had laid her on the largest of the three couches in the living room. It happened to be the one that sat directly under the tree. The lights flashed on her pale face.

Mary knelt next to her mother and held her hand. Concern filled the young woman's face.

Charlie came up behind me and cleared his throat. “Ma'am?”

I turned around. The all-around servant looked so tired. “Yes, Charlie?”

“The Coast Guard just called, ma'am. The storm is blowing in faster than they forecasted and they can't get here. They did want to make certain the mistress was stabilized.”

This wasn't good. “Is there anyone we can talk to? Even if we could get some real medical advice on how to treat her…”

“Yes, ma'am, they did leave a number. Also, if we still have Internet, they gave us a web address in which a doctor on call can view her.” He handed me the piece of paper with the number and website on it. “In the meantime, we have been instructed to stay inside and do what we can to stay safe. It's supposed to come in nearly as hard as a hurricane.”

What were the odds? I thought. Hurricane season ended over a month ago, so I thought it would be safe and warm out here. And instead, we have an injured woman and a dangerous storm on the way.

God, what are you trying to teach me?

 

 

 

 

6

 

After I passed on the news of what Charlie had said to everyone present, Dad said we should get everyone into the living room so that we would stay safe and accountable. He also asked Charlie to do what he could about starting a fire.

The great room we were in had one fireplace on the west end now displaying Dad's handiwork above the mantel. Next to the great hearth sat a pile of logs and kindling cut to various sizes.

Margo had told me that they traditionally lit a fire on Christmas night and sang carols. Well, this year, the fire would happen a day early.