Wishes for Christmas

by Fern Michaels

  “Good-byes are sad. The answer is, no, I didn’t. I didn’t want to move. Miss Roland was the best teacher I had ever had. God, how I loved that woman. That year was her first year teaching full-time. She wasn’t pretty or anything. Actually, she was very plain, but she was always neat. Funny how, as a kid of ten, I could tell that. She had a clubfoot. She wore this ugly built-up shoe and had to drag her foot along. The boys in class used to make fun of her. I never did. I swear to God, I never did.”

  “I would never think that for a nanosecond, Maggie.” Bing Crosby was now crooning “Silent Night.” Nikki wished she could turn the stereo off, but every instinct in her body warned her not to move or do anything that would interfere with Maggie’s pouring her heart out. “We all know children can be cruel sometimes.”

  “Even adults. As young as I was, I knew that even the janitors made fun of her. I told my mother, and she told me to mind my own business, because I was just a kid, and she didn’t want to be called into school. She had more important things to do, like play cards and drink wine with the other military wives. I never really got along with my mother. Did I ever tell you that, Nikki?”

  “I kind of suspected it when you never talked about your parents. But you weathered it all.”

  “No, I didn’t. I’m just a good actress.”

  Nikki blinked. “Talk to me, Maggie. Get it off your chest. Whatever it is that is torturing you, it’s time to lay it to rest. I’ll keep your confidence. You know that. Sometimes, if you tell just one person, it feels like you’ve taken a load of bricks off your shoulders. I won’t judge you, Maggie. I promise.”

  Maggie raised her head to stare into Nikki’s eyes. Nikki thought she’d never seen a more tortured, miserable human being in her life.

  “You see, that’s the problem. I should be judged.”

  “For what, Maggie? What happened to make you think and say that?”

  Maggie sat up straighter, squared her shoulders, and took a deep breath.

  Dean Martin replaced Bing Crosby and was warbling about being home for Christmas as Nikki waited for whatever it was that Maggie was going to say next.

  “It was the last day before Christmas break. We’d finished our Santas that very morning. We’d started on them after Thanksgiving. We’d worked in shifts, with dyeing the balls and setting them out to dry, then fluffing them out and finally gluing them. There were thirty kids in my class. That’s why it took so long to finish them. I don’t know why I was so excited or what it was about this, but I was,” she said, holding up the toilet-roll Santa. “And, of course, Christmas was just around the corner, and we were going to be moving. Again.

  “I don’t know what it was about Miss Roland, but I adored her. It was her first year teaching full-time. I remember she used to sub a day or so a week. Over the years, I tried to figure out how old she was that year, and I decided she was two or three years out of college. I hated looking at her foot. I really did. And I tried not to, but I was a kid. Anyway, it was about two forty-five, and class was about to be dismissed. I had a bus to catch, like all the rest of the kids. My bus left at three-oh-five, so I thought I had time, but I started feeling sick the minute the bell rang. I had a Timex watch, and I knew how to tell time, so I waved to Miss Roland and ran to the bathroom, not sure if I was going to be sick or not.

  “I was sick. I cleaned myself up and left the bathroom. Everyone was gone, and it was real quiet. I looked at my watch, and I could see my bus moving up the line. Then I heard this noise, this sound, like someone crying or moaning. It was coming from the supply room two doors up from the girls’ bathroom. I looked in and saw Miss Roland lying on the floor. Her clubfoot looked real funny, the way it was positioned. I asked her if she had fallen, and she asked me to help her. I didn’t know what to do. I started to holler and shout for someone, and one of the janitors, the son of the older one, came out into the hall. I said, ‘Miss Roland fell and needs help.’ I saw my bus move up to the number one spot, so I had to run. I knew if I missed the bus, I would have a five-mile walk, because my mother would be too drunk to come pick me up. I ran out to get the bus.

  “That night I told my dad what happened, and he said he would check to see if Miss Roland was okay. She wasn’t okay, he told me the next day. She was in the hospital. Then he said she wouldn’t be teaching anymore. It took me years to figure it all out. I tried to find her, Nikki, not when I was a kid, but later in life. I never did. It was like she had dropped off the face of the earth. I should have stayed with her, even if I missed my bus. The office was closed and locked, and that’s where the phone was. I left her there and ran out. I left her there!”

  “Oh, Maggie, how awful for you. I am so sorry that happened. You were just a child at the time. There was nothing you could have done. You do know that, right? And you told the janitor’s son. There was nothing else you could have done. Don’t you see that?”

  “What I see now is that this son is the one who did whatever happened to her. I asked her attacker to help her. That’s what I did. No one else was in the building. I was just a kid, and no one was going to believe anything I said. I guess I instinctively knew that somehow.”

  “Oh, Maggie, you can’t know that for certain. Did you ever hear what happened to the janitors?”

  “At that time? I don’t know. Christmas was just two days away, and then, two days after Christmas, we moved to California. When I finally, years later, started looking into it, the little school had closed. There was no way for me to get hold of any records to find out what the janitor’s son’s name was or his father’s name. I wasn’t a reporter then. Didn’t know the first thing about how to find out information. Now, when I do know how, I come up blank.”

  “You’re blaming yourself for all of this, aren’t you?”

  Maggie nodded. “Wouldn’t you if you were in my place?”

  Nikki nodded. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do, Maggie.”

  “What?”

  “We’re going to find your Miss Roland. Tomorrow we’ll present this to the Sisters and the boys, and we’ll get right on it. How does that sound?”

  The stereo suddenly went silent.

  Nikki sighed with relief. “I think you should hang up your ornament. And may I say, it is one beautiful ornament, made by a very caring ten-year-old little girl who grew up to be one of my very best friends in the whole world. Now, run upstairs and wash your face and get ready to go to brunch with Ted. You are now in good hands. Oh, this is going to be the very best Christmas in your whole life. I guarantee it!”

  The two women hugged one another. A promise was a promise.

  “See ya tomorrow. Keep your eye on my house now.”

  Maggie smiled through her tears as she gave Nikki a thumbs-up as she walked out the front door.

  Maggie stared through her tears at the colored lights twinkling on her Christmas tree. She continued to smile as Hero investigated the lower branches by swatting at them. When one of them bounced back and smacked him in the snoot, he scurried to Maggie and leapt into her arms. She laughed out loud.

  Fingering the red satin ribbon attached to the Santa hat, Maggie looked for just the right branch, then nestled her treasured ornament perfectly front and center. She stood back to look at it. “I think it’s perfect, Hero. Just perfect. I think I might have a good day, after all. Nikki’s right. I’m in good hands now.”

  Maggie reached out to touch the cotton-ball Santa. “I’m going to find you, Miss Roland. And I’m going to give you the best Christmas of your life, and that’s a promise from me to you. My gift to you. Merry Christmas, Miss Roland.” She was glad there was no one in the room but Hero to hear the sob that caught in her throat. She crossed her fingers the way she had when she was ten years old that she could make good on her promise.

  Thirty minutes later, Maggie had changed into a pair of warm gray flannel slacks and a cherry-red turtleneck sweater. She was drinking coffee while she waited for Ted to arrive. She’d banked the fire, filled Hero’s
water bowl, and set down a small bowl with some dry cat food in case she stayed out for more than a few hours. With Ted, you never knew. Ted’s idea of a shopping Saturday was walking through hardware stores, looking for the newest and latest gadget to make owning a home easier. She didn’t get it, since Ted lived in an apartment, but she didn’t say anything, because eventually all the gadgets found their way into her garage.

  Maggie was singing “Jingle Bells” for the tenth time when Ted bounded through the kitchen door. “I could see from the street that you put your tree up already. What got into you to do it this early?” he asked curiously as he stared at the woman he loved more than life itself.

  “You know what, Ted? It’s a long story, and tomorrow out at the farm, I’ll go through it all for everyone. Right now, I just want to go outside and walk in the fresh air. Where are we going, by the way?”

  “I made a reservation at the Mellow Mushroom, that new café everyone is talking about. Don’t you remember? Then I thought we’d take a spin through Finnegan’s Hardware Store. We should get some rock salt. You have only half a bag left over from last year. They deliver, so we won’t have to lug it around. And didn’t you say you needed some glue sticks for your glue gun?”

  “You remember my saying that?” Maggie asked in surprise. Ted had a memory like an elephant.

  “C’mon, let’s hit the road. By the way, how many ornaments did you put on the tree this year?”

  “Just one. But you know what, Ted? One is just enough.”

  Ted laughed. Outside, in the brisk November air, the couple held hands as they walked down the street.

  Maybe it was going to turn out to be a good day, after all.

  Chapter 4

  Maggie Spritzer felt like she was on top of the world. Her very own private world, that is. The reporter instincts that she always relied on were telling her that her long-held secret was now out in the open and that only good things would follow. Her gut also told her that her Sisters never failed on a mission. Throw in the Christmas season, and she was as good as home free.

  Already her shoulders felt lighter now that she’d unburdened her secret to Nikki, who had then informed the entire gang that for the first time since they had banded together as the Vigilantes, they had a Christmas mission, and had said, “You all know how much we all love Christmas.”

  Humming “Jingle Bells,” her favorite upbeat holiday tune, Maggie tripped her way to the war room, where the others awaited her. She was late today because Hero had had a hair ball stuck in his throat, and she’d had to run him to the twenty-four-hour emergency clinic. All was well now, and Hero was out for the count and sleeping peacefully on her pillow. She’d called Nikki and explained and told the others to start without her.

  Her peers looked at her, questions in their eyes because each and every one of them was an animal lover. She assured them Hero was fine and was sleeping soundly when she left.

  “We’ll bring you up to date, dear,” Myra said. “Actually, there isn’t much to bring you up to date on, but here is what we have at the moment. Your teacher, one Miss Alma Roland, obviously doesn’t believe in social media. She is nowhere to be found. Abner is scouring colleges and universities, but he has had no luck to this point in time. Charles is looking into alumni reunions. Even if Miss Roland gave up teaching, there would still be a record of her somewhere. People simply do not drop off the face of the earth, unless they are those the Vigilantes have made arrangements for. Someone, somewhere, has to know her. Or know of her.”

  Annie doodled on a yellow pad in front of her. “It is possible she got married and has a new name. Abner is trying to hack into the Social Security database but so far has not come up with anything. We will find her, Maggie. It just might not be today or tomorrow,” Annie said.

  “Think, Maggie. Is there anything you might have forgotten to mention to Nikki? Even if you think it’s not important or silly. Any little thing might help us,” Isabelle said.

  Maggie’s face scrunched up. “It was so long ago. I was only ten. Actually, I had just turned ten. Miss Roland told the best stories. Instead of circle time, she would tell us a story. Then, just when the story was getting good, she’d stop and make us come up with an ending. The kids liked that better than hearing a story being read from a book. We would all come up with a different ending. She said one time she was going to write a children’s book. I remember that.”

  “Where did she live? Do you know?” Yoko asked.

  Maggie shook her head. “I took the bus to school, and she was always in the room when I got there. I don’t even know if she had a car. But how would she have driven with a clubfoot? It was her right foot, too. I do remember that.”

  “Wait a minute! We should be looking into that. She would have had to wear a special kind of built-up shoe. We need to look into places that do that sort of thing,” Kathryn said.

  “I’m on it,” Charles shouted from the dais. “I can check every orthopedic manufacturer out there.”

  “Maggie, I know you were just a kid, but did you get the feeling your teacher came from that area or from somewhere else? Like, did she talk about growing up there, anything like that?” Jack asked.

  Maggie shook her head no.

  “What about orthopedic doctors?” Dennis asked. “We could start in the town where Maggie went to school, then broaden our search. I can do that.”

  “Do it, then, young man,” Charles shouted again from the dais. Everyone smiled. It was good to have Charles back in the fold. He had been gone too long.

  “Hospitals,” Espinosa said. “I say that because I’m thinking about the way she would walk. It would put pressure on her hips. I’m no doctor, but I’ve seen people like your teacher and the way they walk, tilted to the side, for want of a better explanation. She had to have a doctor.”

  “I’ll take that on,” Ted said. “I’ve got some sources I can call.”

  “Maggie, you said your dad told you Miss Roland was taken to the hospital that day. Maybe we can get some information from that particular hospital. Or from her insurance carrier,” Myra said. “By any chance, do you know the name of the hospital?”

  Maggie shook her head. “We lived in the town of Albright. It was small, and the military base was close by. We lived off base. The school was very small, K through sixth grade. Only military kids went there. There had to be a hospital there, or if not in the town of Albright, then close by.”

  “Okay. I can check that,” Alexis said as she tapped furiously on her laptop.

  Annie reached across the table for the grungy old shoe box that had held their secrets over the years. “Not to change the subject, but we need to put our checks in this box. We all voted before you got here, Maggie, that all the monies would go to your Christmas project. I want you all to think about that poor woman and what she has endured, and I hope you can all be generous. So, get out your checkbooks!”

  Ever practical, Dennis raised his hand. “What if she won’t take it? Some people are too proud to accept charity. Then what do we do?”

  Annie sniffed. She hated it when someone threw a wrench into a plan. “Look around, young man. Do you see how many of us there are here? Miss Roland is just one little lady. Maggie did say she was tiny. I think we can convince her that it isn’t charity and that she should accept our generosity.”

  “Okay,” Dennis said agreeably. “That makes sense. I guess,” he mumbled under his breath.

  “I heard that, Dennis. Of course it makes sense, because I’m the one who said it,” Annie snapped. Dennis grinned and went back to tapping the gizmo in front of him. Annie eyed it suspiciously. A techie she was not.

  Both Myra and Annie leaned back in their chairs as they watched their chicks write out their checks, fold them neatly, and slip them into the old shoe box. They didn’t know it then, but on the message line of each check the guys and girls all wrote, “Merry Christmas.”

  “I have a good feeling about this. What about you, Myra?” Annie said.

&
nbsp; “I do, too, Annie. I don’t know if I want us to succeed more for Maggie to take that burden off her chest or for the faceless Miss Roland and the life she’s had to lead since that awful day. Maggie will be devastated if we can’t find her.”

  “I hesitate to remind you that the word failure is not in our vocabulary.”

  “I know that, Annie. We all know that. Now, having said that, there is a first time for everything. Obviously, Miss Roland was severely traumatized. If she went off the grid, it is entirely possible that she changed her name and moved. She could have opted to do the kind of work where she didn’t have to produce her Social Security number. As you know, that happens a lot. Some people can hide forever. Sometimes in plain sight. Rest assured that we will leave no stone unturned in our quest to help Maggie.”

  “I think I have something!” Alexis said, waving her arms about. “There is a hospital in a town called St. Stephen’s. It’s nine miles from Albright and is a one-hundred-bed hospital. It serves the tricounty area where Maggie went to school.”

  Abner was off his stool in a nanosecond, peering over Alexis’s shoulder. “Good work, Alexis. I might be able to crack their firewall. Send that to me as an e-mail, okay?” He was back on his stool in a second, his fingers poised to pounce on the keyboard. All eyes turned to Abner and stayed there, transfixed on his fingers as they flew over the keyboard.

  Maggie was chewing her cuticles until Ted reached over and took her hand away from her mouth.

  No one noticed Charles stepping down off the dais. He leaned over and whispered to Myra that he and Fergus were going upstairs to start dinner. “There’s nothing more I can do for the moment. I’m waiting for responses to all my inquiries. Dinner will be ready in ninety minutes.” Myra nodded.

  Fergus squeezed Annie’s shoulder. She reached up and patted his hand.

  If there was one thing Jack Emery hated in life, it was being inactive and silent. One eye on Charles’s and Fergus’s backs, the other on Abner, Jack leaned toward Harry and whispered, “You guys ready for your trip to China tomorrow? Whatever you do, do not forget to take Lily’s presents out of my car. You have to Skype me the minute you give Lily Julie Wyatt’s gift. She took this great picture of Cooper rocking her granddaughter’s cradle. She even made the frame. Tell Lily the paw prints are Cooper’s, just for her.”