The Christmas Portrait (11 page)

Daddy didn't say a word 'til we got home. He hadn't slept all night and all day, and he had been out in the cold too. He looked like he used to look when Mama was real sick and he was taking care of her, only his face was red from the cold. After building a fire he headed straight for the shower. “Kate, you and Chesler take care of Uncle Luke if he gets here before I get cleaned up.”

Daddy was coming back down the stairs when Uncle Luke barreled through the front door. He looked like a younger version of Daddy, tall and lanky with straight, brown hair and brown eyes. Daddy hugged him and snatched off his cap. “When in the world are you getting a haircut? We don't want any shaggy-haired doctors in this family.”

Uncle Luke hugged him again. “Maybe I'll get my haircut when I smell chili cooking. All I smell around here are Chesler's stinky feet.” Then he grabbed Chesler and swung him over his shoulders. Chesler screamed and giggled.

“No chili tonight. I gotta make good on my promise to Chesler and Kate. I promised them waffles for breakfast, but I was called out to work in the middle of the night.”

With Uncle Luke helping, we had hot eggs and hot waffles at the same time. Daddy didn't say a word about Laramie and what he had been doing all day.

After supper Uncle Luke helped me with the dishes. It was too dark to see the redbird even if she was in the cedar tree. When we all got to the den, Daddy stoked the fire, and Chesler put on a show like he always did when Uncle Luke came home, singing everything he knew and telling him all about his Christmas list.

Then Uncle Luke told Daddy about all the stuff he was learning in medical school. That's when Chesler fell asleep on his blanket in front of the fire. I listened for a little while, and then I pretended to be asleep. Grown-ups talked different when they thought children were asleep.

Daddy asked, “So are you going to see Lisa Applegate while you're home?”

“Yes, I do plan to see her. We've been talking almost every day since I was home for Diana Joy's funeral.”

“Sounds serious,” Daddy joked.

But he didn't ask any more questions or tease, so Uncle Luke said, “Okay, big brother, cough it up. What's on your mind?”

“We got a little girl missing, Laramie Fields.” Daddy told him about Laramie and her dad and what happened the night before. “We searched the area all around the house and into the woods but didn't find anything. The snow covered up all the clues. The police are bringing in some dogs to help with the hunt tonight.”

Uncle Luke got up. “You go get some sleep. I'll join the search.”

“But you just got home. You must be tired.”

“I'm used to pulling all-nighters. I'll be fine.”

Daddy didn't even try to talk him out of it. “Okay, if you're up to it, I know the guys will appreciate the help. I'll sleep for a few hours and get Grace to take the kids. I'll take your place in the search at daybreak.”

Uncle Luke left, and Daddy fell asleep on the sofa. So I just stayed quiet 'til the fire went out. Chesler would get cold on the floor without the fire, so I woke him up and told him we were going to bed. I covered Daddy up with Chesler's blanket and took Chesler to his room. Another night without brushing his teeth.

Good. It was quiet. Daddy was downstairs, Chesler was asleep, and I could finally pull out my sketchbook. I turned on my desk light and took my pencils out and started to draw. I was thinking about Mama and Laramie's mama. Mama loved us and wanted to stay, and she told me about faith and family and forever. I knew Mama wasn't coming back no matter how much I wanted her to, but I knew I'd see her again. But Laramie's mom? I wondered why she never told Laramie where she was going and why she didn't take Laramie with her if she could.

I didn't have my mama very long, but I was glad I got to say good-bye to her. I began to sketch her face, and just as I was drawing her eyelashes something tapped against the window. I looked up. Probably the tree limb tapping again. I looked at the clock. Nearly midnight. I had been drawing for a long time.

I closed my eyes, trying to remember how Mama's eyelashes really looked. Her picture was too small to tell. Tap, tap again. This time I got up to look, and something hit the window right in front of my face. I jumped back, then I stepped to the window again to see. There on the ground underneath the elm tree, I thought I saw someone waving at me. My breath had already fogged up the window, so I rubbed the windowpane with my pajama sleeve before I peered out.

It was a person. Somebody was standing in the snow waving at me. I knew it couldn't be, but I hoped it was Mama.

C
HAPTER
T
EN

I
PUSHED AND PUSHED
on the window. The cold wind blew right in my face when I finally got the window open enough to stick my head outside. I wasn't seeing things. There was a person, all bundled up and leaning against the tree. I couldn't tell who it was. But whoever it was knew my name and was calling me. It was kind of a hoarse whisper, sort of like the person couldn't talk any louder or maybe didn't want anybody else to hear. I still couldn't tell who it was, so I asked, “Who's there?”

“It's me. Laramie.” Then she slumped to the ground.

I flew out of my room and took the stairs three at a time 'til I got to the bottom. Laramie. Laramie was here, and she was alive. I ran out the front door and knelt beside her. She was a puddle of coat and blanket underneath that elm tree. When I tried to wake her up, she opened her eyes and closed them again. I tried to pull her arm to get her up. She was limp like my rag doll. She wouldn't wake up. She just didn't have enough strength.

I ran in the house hollering for Daddy. “Get up, get up, Daddy. It's Laramie. She's here.”

“You having a bad dream, little peep?” Then he really woke up and saw I was shivering because I had been outside.

“It's not a dream, Daddy. Laramie is outside in the front yard, but I can't get her up.”

Daddy's eyes widened, and he leaped off the couch. When we got to the front door, I pointed under the elm tree. Without even putting his shoes on, Daddy headed out the door. Moving fast was nothing new to Daddy. He was used to ambulances and emergencies and sirens, and I think his own siren was blaring inside.

In moments Daddy picked up that bundle, and had Laramie lying on the sofa before I could lock the door. “Go, Kate, go get all the blankets you can find, and don't waste time doing it.” Daddy was checking her pulse as I reached the bottom of the stairs.

I grabbed the comforter on Daddy's bed and the extra quilt in his closet. Daddy was talking to somebody on the phone when I got back downstairs. “Yeah, her pulse is slow but steady. I will.” He hung up.

“That was Uncle Luke. He's on his way back home.” Daddy put his fingers back on Laramie's neck and checked her pulse again. “Here, put the quilt down and help me.” Daddy lifted Laramie up and asked me to take off her coat. “Good, all her clothes are dry. That's a sign she's had shelter.”

Her lips were blue with cold, and her hair was bloody and matted to her head. “You want me to go run a hot tub of water?”

“No, it's too dangerous to heat the body that fast. I want Luke to take a look at her first.”

Daddy kept calling Laramie's name, and sometimes she would open her eyes and look at him, then close them again. I took off her shoes and socks so Daddy could look at her toes. He had already looked at her fingers. “No frostbite. That's good,” Daddy said.

I sat right beside her and rubbed her arm while Daddy went to the truck to get his medical bag. He was checking Laramie's temperature when Uncle Luke walked in with a police officer. “Kate, go to the kitchen and pour Laramie a glass of juice.”

Now how was Laramie supposed to drink juice if she was asleep? I think Daddy just wanted me to leave the room. As I opened the refrigerator and pulled out the pitcher of juice, I heard Daddy say to Uncle Luke and the officer, “She appears to have a mild case of hypothermia, and she's dehydrated, plus she's got a bad gash on her forehead. I think we'd better get her to the hospital. They'll give her some fluids and check out that cut on her head.”

“I think you're right,” Uncle Luke said. “Just take my truck. It's warm, and it'll be better than calling an ambulance this late. I'll stay with the kids.”

The policeman said, “She's in good hands, so I'll head back to the station to make a report and call off the search.” I heard his footsteps cross the floor and the front door close behind him.

Daddy was putting on his shoes when I came back with the juice. “Thanks, honey, but I think we'd better take Laramie to the hospital now.” Daddy grabbed his coat and picked Laramie up off the sofa. Uncle Luke held the door, and Daddy and Laramie disappeared into the night.

Since Laramie was gone, I gave Uncle Luke the juice, and he smiled at me a little and drank it down. “Thanks, Kate. I needed that.” He laid a warm hand on my shoulder. “You must be someone Laramie trusts for her to have come here like that. I'm proud of you.”

“Is she going to be okay?” I asked.

“She'll be fine. Your daddy wanted to be sure she had the very best care. Now, you'd better get back to bed. I just need a hot shower, and then I'm going to bed too.”

Uncle Luke headed for the bathroom, and the house was quiet again. I went to my room. It was freezing 'cause the window was still open. So I closed it, turned out the light, and climbed into bed. With the blanket pulled up tight under my chin, I prayed, “Thank You, God, for taking care of Laramie and for bringing Daddy and Uncle Luke home safe. Oh, and thank You, God, for keeping Laramie warm enough to stay alive. Amen.”

Then I remembered I hadn't put a smiley-face on my calendar tonight. I didn't think long about who smiled because of me today. Today deserved the biggest smile ever, because Laramie was safe. I got up, turned on the light, and drew a huge smiley face on a yellow dot, then put it on December 19. Less than a week 'til Christmas and I still didn't know how to get a present to heaven, but Laramie was living proof God answered prayer. Maybe He would get Mama's Christmas present to her too.

When I woke up Tuesday morning, I heard talking in the kitchen. Daddy was home, and Uncle Luke was cooking breakfast. Uncle Luke was a better cook than Daddy because he never had a wife to cook for him. After their parents got killed in a car wreck, Uncle Luke, who was just seventeen, had to cook because Daddy was doing everything else to take care of things.

I dressed and went downstairs. I stood in the den and listened for a minute because I knew Daddy would stop talking if I went in the kitchen. Then I wouldn't know a thing.

“Guess the police chief was full of Christmas spirit because he brought Fields to the hospital last night for a supervised visit. Fields acted so grateful she had been found, and he kept telling her how everything was going to change. He told her that her mother was alive, and he hoped she would be coming home.”

“Where was she?” Uncle Luke asked.

“Staying with her sister in upstate New York. Apparently the marriage was on the rocks, and she left to clear her head and get some help with a drinking problem. She wrote to Laramie, but Fields never gave her the letters, for fear of losing his daughter too.”

“Unforgivable,” Uncle Luke muttered.

“Who knows why people do the crazy things they do?” Daddy said. “But Fields seems to have had a huge wake-up call. He couldn't stop shaking my hand, telling me how grateful he was for taking care of his daughter.”

I walked loud across the wood floor to the kitchen so they'd hear me coming, and they wouldn't think I was snooping around just to hear what they were saying.

After hugs and good mornings, Daddy made me a cup of hot chocolate and poured himself a cup of coffee. Then we sat down at the table while Uncle Luke sifted the flour. Daddy acted like I was a grown-up and just started talking. “Laramie's doing well.” Then he started asking me all these questions about how I knew Laramie was outside last night.

“Well, I was in my room, but I wasn't asleep good yet. She threw something at my window to get my attention.” I didn't tell them I was sitting at my desk drawing. I didn't figure that was important for them to know.

“Why did she come here of all places?” Daddy asked. “Were you especially nice to her at school?”

I shook my head. “Not really. But I have been talking to her more lately.” I didn't say why—that Laramie was the only kid in my class who knew what it felt like to not have a mama.

Uncle Luke just kept cooking while we talked. Nothing smelled better than bacon frying in the morning.

“Why did Laramie run away?” I asked.

“Well, she told the sheriff that she got scared because she saw her daddy's friends had drugs. And when she told her daddy to ask them to leave, they had a big argument. She was so scared and mad that she just ran away. Apparently she hid in a shed behind the school.”

“That must be the shed where the janitor keeps the bird food. She volunteers all the time to fill up the feeders.”

Daddy put his coffee cup down. “Thankfully she had mind enough to bring a snack and a bottle of water and a blanket with her. Said she planned to stay just long enough to get even with her dad and then go back home. But she was scared of how he'd react to her running away, so she came here instead.”

It didn't sound like the whole story to me. “But if she just ran away, how did she get hurt?”

Daddy shook his head. “She said she ran into a tree limb in the dark.”

Uncle Luke pointed the fork he was using to turn the bacon straight at Daddy. “And do you believe her or do you think she's covering for her dad?”

“I think she's telling the truth. She had a pretty good gash on her head that could have been made by a limb. She said she slept a lot, so she may have even had a slight concussion from it, which is why she didn't come to us sooner. Her dad has a pretty bad temper, but I don't think he'd hurt her like that.”