Sugar Plums for Dry Creek & At Home in Dry Creek

by Janet Tronstad

  Lizette had changed into her Clara costume—with Amanda choosing the Sugar Plum Fairy part and no other young girls clamoring for the role, Lizette had decided to adapt it for her self. For the first time today, she felt as if she was the teacher and had everything under control. Generally, Clara had several different costumes during the performance, but Lizette had decided to keep her costume simple. It was a yellow dress with a short skirt. Clara was a young girl, so Lizette had braided her hair into a single braid down her back and tied the end with a big yellow rib bon.

  “Let me get the narrator’s book and we’ll begin,” Lizette said.

  Madame Aprele said the book she’d sent was a condensed story of the Nutcracker that she had used for one of her own productions years ago when she was first starting her school. She’d eliminated some of the scenes and changed others. She’d promised Lizette that it was a very simple rendition of the classic ballet. Lizette had briefly re viewed the narration and was ready to begin.

  “Everyone take your places,” Lizette said as she gave Mrs. Hargrove the audiocassette tape to put into the small stereo system Lizette had set up earlier.

  Judd knew ballerinas were supposed to glide, but seeing Lizette dance the first dance left him breathless. She was dip ping and bowing and soaring all over the practice floor. And while Lizette was moving, Charley kept reading from the narration about a young girl and her brother who were given special gifts at Christmas time.

  The sun was starting to set, and Charley asked Mrs. Hargrove to bring him a lamp that was along the side of the room.

  Once the lamp was there, Lizette danced in the circle of light it gave.

  Judd was watching Lizette so closely that he didn’t notice when his cue came.

  “The Nutcracker,” Charley cleared his throat and repeated a little louder. “When Clara opened her present, she saw the Nutcracker.”

  “Just walk into the circle of light,” Lizette directed. “You’re not alive at this point, so no one will expect you to move.”

  Judd moved into the circle of light.

  “You mean I’m your present?” Judd whispered to Lizette in dismay. “Your Christmas present?”

  Judd had got ten Amanda a doll for Christmas with eyes that lit up depending on what kind of eye makeup the girl put on the doll. Judd didn’t pre tend to know much about little girls, but he was willing to bet that very few of them would be excited about get ting a nut cracker for a Christmas present. “Do I at least come with a few walnuts or something?”

  “Way to go, Nutcracker,” Pete said as he stood by the fire place holding his rat-king head. “I’d at least bring her some cheese.”

  “Clara was very excited to open her present and see the Nutcracker,” Charley read from the book.

  Lizette danced some more, and Judd would swear that the movements of her arms and legs did re mind him of an excited little girl. The back ground music for this part of the ballet was very light and fanciful.

  Maybe it wasn’t so bad being Lizette’s present, Judd thought as he looked over at Pete. The cow boy was still leaning against the wall, only now he was frowning.

  “Clara’s brother was also given a gift—some toy soldiers,” Charley read as Bobby marched for ward in a toy soldier costume. “But, even though he liked the toy soldiers, he was jealous of Clara’s nut cracker and broke it just when it was time for every one to go to bed.”

  Lizette danced into the shadows as the narrator said, “every one went to bed,” leaving the Nutcracker and the toy soldiers in the living room.

  “That night after every one was asleep,” Charley kept reading. “Clara and her brother went back downstairs.”

  “Mice gather over by the fire place,” Lizette whispered, and the Curtis twins hurried over to the fireplace.

  “Clara and her brother start playing with the mice,” Charley read. Then he reached into the prop bag and pulled out a large wind-up alarm clock. “But then the clock strikes mid night.”

  Charley pulled a but ton so the alarm clock would ring.

  “When the clock strikes mid night, the mice stop playing. The room be comes darker and is no longer a friendly place. The mice start attacking Clara and her brother. The toy soldiers try to fight back, but they are outnumbered.”

  The Curtis twins ran up and started flinging their arms around Bobby, who was the toy soldier.

  In the middle of the action, Lizette danced around the stage like a wounded bird.

  “Seeing that Clara is in trouble, the Nutcracker comes to life and starts to de fend her from the mice.”

  “From the mice?” Judd said. “I thought I was going to fight that Rat King.”

  Judd figured he shouldn’t even have worried. The day he wasn’t equal to two little kids was the day he’d give up ballet.

  Judd spun around on his tip toes and pulled the card board sword out of the sheath on his belt. Then he tried to dance to the music while he fought back the mice. Of course, he was careful not to fight too hard. He didn’t want to discourage the Curtis twins in their mice roles.

  “Gradually, it looks like the toy soldiers and the nut cracker are pushing back the mice, and then a giant rat comes bursting out of the fire place.”

  Pete crawled out of the front of the fire place. Of course, the cow boy was on his knees and it took a moment for him to stand. It took an other second for him to roar.

  Judd took a deep breath so he wouldn’t laugh. Pete’s tail was twisted around his shoulders, and his ears were as lop sided as a rabbit’s.

  Pete put his rat head down and charged to ward Judd.

  “Stop,” Lizette commanded. “I have to show you how to stage a fight.”

  Judd figured it was too late to stage any thing. So he moved to the side and let Pete catch him on the shoulder.

  Charley kept reading. “The giant rat keeps fighting the Nutcracker until the Nutcracker is weary.”

  Judd didn’t feel the least tired. He rather liked the look of concern he saw on Lizette’s face. It might take a charging rat for her to worry about his well-being, but it was nice to know that she could do so with the proper encouragement.

  “But we need to stage the action,” Lizette said. “There shouldn’t be any physical contact.”

  “How am I going to hit him if I can’t touch him?” Pete said as he raised his head.

  “You pre tend. We all pre tend,” Lizette said.

  “It’s okay. He can touch me,” Judd said.

  Pete lowered his head. “Let the story continue—”

  Charley cleared his throat. “The Mouse King gets ready for one final attack. The toy soldier is lying on the floor. Only the Nutcracker is left, and he is wounded.”

  Pete pawed the floor like a bull would do be fore it charged.

  Judd figured this was the final act for him.

  “Clara sees the Mouse King get ready to attack and puts her self between the rat and the Nutcracker,” Charley reads.

  “What?” Judd said.

  “What?” the rat echoed.

  “I can fight my own battles,” Judd said. He’d thought there was nothing worse than dying in this battle. He was wrong. He’d never live it down if the Nutcracker hid be hind a woman’s skirts.

  “I’d never hit a lady,” the rat said.

  “You don’t have to hit me,” Lizette hissed. “Remember, there’s no physical contact. Everything is staged.”

  “B-but, still—” Pete stammered.

  “Besides, you don’t hit me in the story,” Lizette whispered. “I hit you.”

  Charley turned a page in the book and continued. “Clara takes off one of her shoes and throws it at the Mouse King.”

  Lizette threw her dance slipper at the rat.

  “The shoe hits the Mouse King and topples him,” Charley continued.

  Pete still stood in astonishment.

  “Lie down,” the Curtis twins whispered to him. They were both al ready lying on the floor where they had fallen in battle. “You’re dead.”
r />   “From a shoe?” Pete asked. “I get beat by a shoe?”

  Judd shook his head. He supposed he should be happy that the Mouse King was defeated, but he had to wish right along with Pete that it had happened an other way. It didn’t do Judd’s image any good either to be rescued by a woman and her shoe.

  Pete reluctantly slid to the floor. “Even if I’m dead, I’m not closing my eyes.”

  Charley was fumbling in the bag and the music was starting to soar.

  “Because of the bravery of Clara and the Nutcracker, the Nutcracker comes to life and be comes a man,” Charley read.

  Judd liked the sound of that.

  The music soared even further.

  “When Clara sees that her be loved Nutcracker is alive, she kisses him,” Charley read.

  “She what?” Lizette said.

  “She does?” Judd grinned.

  “Well, no body told me that,” the Mouse King said, and it looked like he was going to rise again.

  Charley looked up. “That’s what it says right here.”

  “Madame Aprele must have changed the text,” Lizette said as she walked over to Charley and looked at the book for her self.

  “I think a kiss would be nice,” Mrs. Hargrove said from the side lines. “Everybody likes a little romance in a ballet.”

  “Well, I guess it could be a stage kiss,” Lizette said as she walked back to Judd.

  “And you need to take his hat off for when he turns into a prince,” Charley whispered. “Those are the directions.”

  Judd for got all about the room that was around them. He for got about the dead mice lying on the floor and the live rat looking ready to pounce. He for got about the Sugar Plum Fairy sitting on the sidelines watching him. All Judd could think about was the green eyes staring straight at him.

  Why, she’s nervous, Judd thought to him self. The woman who had been treating him all morning like he was a raw recruit and she was the drill sergeant was actually nervous to be this close to him.

  “It’ll be okay,” he said softly.

  “It’s just a stage kiss,” Lizette re minded him.

  Judd wasn’t even going to ask what a stage kiss was. He figured a raw recruit should be able to plead ignorance.

  Judd took the tall hat off his head and set it on the floor be side them. He’d never yet kissed a woman with his hat still on his head, and he wasn’t going to start now.

  The back ground music dipped, and the green in Lizette’s eyes deepened. She must have guessed his intent, because she gave a soft gasp and her mouth formed a perfect O.

  Judd kissed her. He’d meant to satisfy his curiosity with the kiss. He’d been wanting to kiss Lizette since he saw her hanging that sign in her window. When he kissed her, though, he for got all about the reasons he wanted to kiss her. He just needed to kiss her. That was all there was to it.

  Judd finally heard Charley clearing his throat. Judd wasn’t sure how long the man had been sitting there doing that, but he figured it must have been for some time. The others were looking at them in astonishment.

  Somehow Judd’s arms had got ten around Lizette and she was nestled in the curve of his shoulder. She still had her face turned into him, and Judd felt protective of her.

  “We were just doing this stage kiss,” Judd finally man aged to say. His voice sounded a little hoarse, but he was at least able to get the words out.

  “Uh-huh,” Pete said from where he lay by the fireplace. “You mean the one where there’s no actual contact?”

  “It’s the one the movie stars do,” Judd said as he felt Lizette move away from his shoulder a little.

  “Sometimes,” Lizette said as she took a steadying breath, “actors get very involved in their roles and for get who they really are.”

  “I’m not get ting that involved in being a rat,” Pete said as he stood up.

  Judd had to admit he wasn’t asking him self how a Nutcracker would feel about any thing, either. He had enough trouble just knowing how Judd Bowman felt.

  Lizette stepped out of his arms and Judd let her go. In that instant, he knew exactly how Judd Bowman felt. He felt as though a truck had run him over, and he wanted to beg it to come back and run him over again. He couldn’t breathe.

  “I think we’ve gone far enough in the story for today,” Lizette said as she stepped even farther away from Judd. “We’ll meet again tomorrow—”

  Charley cleared his throat. “But tomorrow is Thanksgiving.”

  “Oh, yes.” Lizette blushed. “I mean on Friday. We’ll meet to practice on Friday. And I hope all of you have a nice Thanksgiving.”

  Judd was starting to breathe normally again.

  “But we were going to ask you,” Amanda whispered as she came up be side Judd and put her hand in his.

  Judd let his fingers curl around the little hand.

  “We were going to ask her, weren’t we?” Amanda asked as she looked up at Judd.

  “Yes, pump kin,” Judd said as he tried to get himself to focus. He felt as though he’d been bucked off a stallion and hit his back hard coming down. He looked down to see what Amanda wanted.

  But Amanda was no longer there. She’d slipped her hand out of his and gone over to Lizette.

  “We want you to come eat Thanksgiving with us,” Amanda said loud and clear. “And I’m going to help make the potatoes. Cousin Judd said I could. Bobby gets to help with the vegetables.”

  “Oh, that’s very sweet,” Lizette said as she looked over at Judd with a question in her eyes. “But I’m sure you’ll be—”

  Judd could see the excitement start to dim in Amanda’s eyes. If he’d had his wits about him, he’d have given her some excuse about why they couldn’t invite Lizette. He knew it did a man like him no good to start dreaming about a woman like Lizette. He could never give her all that she de served. But he couldn’t put his comfort ahead of Amanda’s happiness, either.

  “Please come,” he finally said.

  “We’re going to have dinner and then go to the candle service at church. Bobby and I get to take the candles we made up front. Cousin Judd said we could,” Amanda added.

  “I’m sure you both have beautiful candles,” Lizette said as she put her hand on Amanda’s shoulder.

  “I made one for you, too,” Amanda said softly.

  “Oh,” Lizette said, and then she looked at Judd.

  Judd figured that was when she decided. He noticed she lifted her chin a little for courage.

  “I’d love to join you for dinner,” Lizette finally said. “And church, too.”

  Judd hadn’t realized he was holding his breath again until he let it out. So, they were having company for Thanksgiving dinner after all. And then they’d all be going to church.

  “I’m doing vegetables,” Bobby said as he stood up from the floor. “Mrs. Hargrove told me how.”

  “Green beans in mush room soup topped with fried onion rings,” Mrs. Hargrove said from the side lines. “It’s the simplest vegetable recipe I know, and it’s good.”

  “I could bring something,” Lizette offered.

  Judd noticed the color was coming back to her cheeks.

  “I think we have everything we need,” he said.

  “You’re sure? I could make a pie,” Lizette said.

  “You can?” Charley said as he stood up from his narrator chair. “What kind of pies can you make?”

  “Well, most kinds,” Lizette said.

  “If that don’t beat everything,” Charley said to no one in particular. “She can make pies.”

  “I like apple,” Bobby said. “Can you make apple?”

  Lizette smiled. “I’ll need to run over to Miles City to get some apples, but I need to go later today anyway to get some flyers printed for the Nutcracker. I want to post them around.”

  “You use real apples?” Charley asked. “It’s not that canned filling?”

  “Oh, no,” Lizette said. “There’s nothing like real apple pie.”

  “Hallelujah,” C
harley said.

  “I could make one for you while I’m making pies,” Lizette offered.

  Charley nodded and sighed. “I’d sure be happy if you did.”

  Judd figured Lizette had al ready made him happy even if she never made a pie.

  “I’ve heard an apple pie is the way to a man’s heart,” Mrs. Hargrove said softly as she stood next to Judd.

  Judd remembered Mrs. Hargrove was in a match-making mood. He wasn’t so sure he wanted the whole countryside to know his heart was taken by Lizette. When the word got out about the pies, Judd figured he’d be one of a long line of bro ken-hearted men hoping for a kind word from the ballet teacher.

  “Lemon’s more my pie,” Judd said.

  “Oh,” Mrs. Hargrove said in surprise. “I meant Bobby’s heart.”

  Judd smiled. “Of course.”

  Judd wondered how he’d made it to adult hood with out understanding women.

  “Although, now that you mention it,” Mrs. Hargrove said thought fully. She smiled at Judd. “That was a very un usual stage kiss.”

  “I’m new to the stage stuff.”

  Mrs. Hargrove smiled. “You’re learning fast.”

  Judd nodded. He was a marked man and Mrs. Hargrove knew it. His only consolation was that the older woman seemed to be kind. He hoped that she also knew how to keep a secret. Judd wasn’t sure he could stand for the state of his heart to be come a topic of common gossip around Dry Creek.

  Chapter Eleven

  Lizette put the lemon pie on the table. She could as well have laid a snake down in front of the man.

  “But you made apple pie,” Judd said.

  They’d al ready finished their dinner of roasted turkey and mashed potatoes and green been casserole, and it was time to have pie. Lizette had kept the lemon pie in a box in the refrigerator while they ate because it needed to stay cool. She hadn’t realized until now that Judd must have thought it was an other apple pie in the box.

  Lizette had made two apple pies for Bobby. She’d delivered the extra pie wrapped in tin foil so he could freeze it for a later meal. She’d also made an apple pie for Charley. Charley and Bobby had been de lighted with their pies. Judd, how ever, looked horrified.