Noelle

by Greg Kincaid

  —

  When Link agreed to take the children to see Anna Claus, he had no way of knowing just how long the line would be. After more than thirty minutes of waiting, both children were growing impatient. Link found himself growing frustrated, too. “I don’t remember waiting this long for Santa Claus. I wonder if Anna Claus talks too much.”

  Emily pulled on Link’s shirtsleeve. “Daddy, Santa Claus doesn’t really talk at all. You just tell him what you want. Then he says, ‘Merry Christmas. Next in line.’ ”

  Link looked down to Keenan for affirmation.

  Keenan agreed. “Yes, that’s about it.”

  Link tried another approach. “Well, maybe with both Mr. and Mrs. Claus here today, they should each take half of the kids. That way the line would go twice as fast.”

  Emily again corrected her father. “Daddy, then you wouldn’t get to see them both. I like this better.”

  After fifteen more minutes, Link finally found himself first in line. He watched his daughter approach Anna Claus. She stopped about a foot away and petted Elle, whom she didn’t seem to recognize. Elle’s canine Christmas costume was a good enough disguise for a little girl who was waiting anxiously to see Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Emily climbed onto Anna Claus’s lap, and the two of them spoke quite intently for a few moments before Emily hopped down and moved to the bearded gentleman sitting in the next chair, only a few feet away. Santa reached out with his arms and assisted Emily up onto his lap.

  Link looked at Anna Claus. He tried to find the eyes behind the cap and rouge. He wanted to thank her. The look on his daughter’s face was well worth the wait. When Anna Claus’s eyes met his, he realized that though she was smiling, she had tears in her eyes. Why was that? Link wondered. Had Emily said something that upset her? It seemed that Anna took her role seriously. There was nothing perfunctory about it.

  After Emily, Anna Claus motioned Keenan to join her. He, too, ran toward Anna Claus and the small dog. This time, however, the dog’s patience did not hold. She pulled so hard on the leash that her little collar slipped right off her neck. She ran out toward Keenan. Anna Claus yelled, “No! Elle!”

  It was too late. The small dog scooted straight past Keenan. Apparently she wasn’t quite ready to be captured. Link bent over, and then Elle was right up in his arms. Her best friend was back in town. She snuggled into his chest and whimpered. Her little lips curled into a giant smile. He looked at the dog. “Another lottery win! Just in time for Christmas.”

  Link carried Elle over to Anna Claus. As Elle continued to snuggle and whimper with joy, he handed her the dog and asked, “Does this fine creature belong to you, Mrs. Claus?”

  “Good help is hard to come by. I’ll take her!”

  Keenan was confused. “Why is Elle helping Anna Claus?”

  Link didn’t hesitate. “I don’t know. I guess Elle just likes to help.”

  —

  “What did the Robinson children tell Anna Claus?” George asked later that day, once they were home and ready to enjoy a quiet Christmas Eve together.

  “Well, it’s confidential, but I can tell you that they have very definite ideas about what they want to give their father. Something that will keep him home. That’s on their minds.”

  “I’m sure they’d like that,” George said, “but it’s a pretty tall order—even for Anna Claus.”

  She shrugged. “Yes, but remember, she doesn’t have to do everything by herself. Now she has a partner.”

  “Sounds like Anna Claus has an idea up her little red sleeve,” George observed.

  “Well, she does, but first there’s something that Mary Ann McCray needs to talk to George about.”

  “What?” he asked.

  “You know we haven’t done a good job talking about us getting older. We’ve tried a dozen times, but you and I have been floating down the River of DeNial.”

  George leaped at the opportunity to have the discussion he’d been putting off himself. “You’re right. It’s getting harder and harder for me to keep up with all the work. We need to prepare for the future. I’ve got some ideas, too.”

  “We’re not quite in the grave yet. Are we?” she asked.

  “No, but I do think we need to make some changes.”

  “George, I called Lane Evans. He’s ready to take Lady Luck and write us a check for twelve thousand dollars.”

  “She’s worth that much? Really? I’m surprised.”

  “He wants her. In another couple of years, she won’t be worth anything.”

  “Kind of like us?”

  “Well, perhaps you. Women last longer.”

  George shrugged. “Horses are your department. I hate to see you sell her. Is that all there is to it? Wanting to cut back on chores and costs?”

  “No, there’s more. A lot more. Anna Claus is concerned. She knows two kids who need a dad. Maybe a lot more than Mary Ann McCray needs a horse.”

  “What’s on Anna Claus’s mind?” George asked.

  “The other thing?”

  “Yes, the other thing.”

  “Anna Claus needs to talk to Santa. It might be a big commitment. A bold step in the right direction. It would take the entire Claus family to make this work. It might not be easy.”

  “Well, he’s around all day.”

  “You mean when he’s not napping?”

  George picked up a pillow and tossed it at his wife. “It’s about time for Anna Claus to go back on the road.”

  It was a strange request, but Link didn’t mind obliging. “Sure,” he said. “I’ll meet with you today. I know where to go. It’s just east of your house. Right?”

  Once his plans were firm, Link dropped the kids by Abbey’s parents. The children had been with him most of the day, and no matter how he tried to entertain them, they seemed a bit unsettled over being away from their mother on Christmas Eve. Abbey understood, fortunately. He kissed Keenan and Emily good-bye, told them he’d be back to visit more in a few hours, and then drove out of town, toward the McCray farm.

  It was a short and pleasant drive, just about ten minutes. The farms along the way were mostly decorated for the holidays, some better than others. Link assumed that the old abandoned cabin he was headed to would not be entered into the rural decorating competition, modest as it was. When he pulled up to Thorn’s Place, he was surprised. There was a jaunty-looking snowman in the small front yard. Someone had hung up a few strings of twinkling lights on the porch, and there was smoke coming from the chimney. Maybe he was wrong about where they were supposed to meet? Clearly someone lived here. There was even a Christmas wreath on the front door.

  It was hard to find a spot for the truck, still packed with all his belongings for the drive back to Texas, that had been cleared of snow. A few other cars were already parked in the small driveway, but he managed to squeeze in behind them. Link walked up to the front door and knocked.

  Mary Ann welcomed him. “Come in, Link. Thanks for coming out on Christmas Eve. Hope we didn’t take you away from the kids. Anna Claus sure enjoyed seeing them!” She smiled, hesitated, and added, “Or so I’m told.”

  Link stepped inside and looked around, surprised at what he saw. The inside of the cabin was a bit primitive but cozy, much better than anything he’d been in for the last several months. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to make it feel inviting. The cabin seemed occupied, full of furniture. There was a Christmas tree in the corner, decorated, and there were packages beneath it, neatly wrapped. He wondered, Who lives here?

  He looked around the room. Hank Fisher was sitting in his wheelchair. Link had done a few odd jobs at Fisher’s farm over the years. His place was particularly worn down. The old man nodded at him and said, “Merry Christmas, Link.”

  Doc Pelot sat in another chair, one of his hound dogs at his feet. He grinned. “Good afternoon, Link. Welcome to the Happy Valley Rest Home for the Aged and Decrepit.”

  Link looked about, confused. “Say, Doc, is this an intervention? Because I’ve decided to go
back to the meetings—”

  George laughed. “No.” Then he pointed to a chair. “Go and sit down, Link. As I said when I called, we have something we’d like to talk to you about.”

  Mary Ann took over. “As I guess you can tell, all of us here, we have something in common—Hank, Doc Pelot, George, and me. We’re getting older and are having a hard time keeping up with the work around our places. Still, none of us are ready to throw in the towel. We’re stubborn, don’t want to sell our farms and move into town.”

  “I can understand that,” Link said thoughtfully. “It’s great out here. Really beautiful.”

  Doc Pelot continued, barely able to conceal his excitement, “Our three families would like to hire you. We need the help, and we hear you need a job. Well, I mean, I know you just got that trash-hauling job in Texas, but we’re thinking you might like something a little closer to home and your family.”

  George added, “We kept this place up for our son, Todd, but he’s not that interested in it. You could stay here if you like. Rent’s cheap. Like free, if you’ll take good care of it.”

  Hank tried to seal the deal. “Doc and I will each pay you a thousand dollars a month. George and Mary Ann will let you stay in the place at no charge and kick in a little extra each month as well. You’d spread your time out evenly, or at least close to it. It would be a bargain for us and hopefully a fair deal for you.”

  Link didn’t know what to say. He tried not to be emotional. But he knew that his eyes were welling up, whether he liked it or not. Winning the lottery means nothing. It’s all about math and odds. This was far better. They cared about him. They wanted him in their lives. The generosity was stunning. This cabin was marvelous. He could stay near his kids, “closer to home,” as Doc said. I have a home, he marveled.

  It was as if he’d been plucked from the edge of the abyss, pulled back from the brink and installed in paradise. It simply didn’t seem possible that anything this nice could happen to Link Robinson. He stood up, hands in his pockets, head hanging—not in shame but in an effort to retain his composure. He looked up and with more sincerity than he had felt in ages said, “Thank you.”

  Doc Pelot cautioned Link. “You’re absolutely welcome. But before you take it, we have some conditions.”

  “Name them,” Link said.

  Doc Pelot went first. “For me it’s go to meetings.”

  Link nodded. “I’m already on it. I’ll give you a ride.”

  Hank Fisher shared his condition next. “Link, I want you to continue volunteering at the animal shelter. It’s good for you, and they really need your help.”

  That was easy, too. “Agreed,” Link said.

  “Mine’s not so easy,” Mary Ann observed. “It might be asking a lot of you.”

  After she made her request, he nodded again, in serious agreement. “You’re right, that is asking a lot. I’ll have to call Abbey. I can’t promise you that it would work.”

  George said, “Ask her and we’ll go from there.”

  After he left, Link waited for about ten minutes, ample time to get his thoughts together, before calling Abbey. He told her about the job. She was as happy and as excited as he’d heard her in months, if not years. “Link, that’s terrific!”

  “I know,” he said. “Isn’t it great news? I guess you won’t be getting rid of me after all.”

  “I was never trying to get rid of you. You know that.”

  “Either way. You’re stuck with me now.” He hesitated and told her, “But there are some conditions they put on the offer. Some were easy, but Mrs. McCray—Anna Claus—she drove a hard bargain.”

  After he explained, Abbey just sighed. “We’ll have to make it work, Link. I know what she’s up to. It’s called a transitional object. She explained it to me. It’s something that goes back and forth between our houses. It gives the children a sense of continuity.”

  “Abbey, we’ve failed at doing so much together. Do you really think we can do this?”

  “Of course we can. We will.”

  “All right, then. I have a few phone calls to make.”

  “Texas?” Abbey asked.

  “Yes, but I don’t know that I’ll reach anyone on Christmas Eve. Right now I need to call Todd McCray. He needs to know how much it meant. You know, him asking me to be his best man.” Link thought back to that night at the Econo Lodge. How close he’d been to letting everything go. “Maybe it was Todd who was standing up for me and not the other way around.”

  “We’ve had a little excitement of our own,” Abbey said. “Keenan and Emily just got phone calls from two very special people.” She looked down at her children, playing on the floor with the toys that were reserved for their grandparents’ home. She reached down and gently nudged Keenan. She put the phone on speaker. “Come tell your dad who called you.”

  Keenan spoke into Abbey’s phone. “Dad,” he said excitedly, “Santa and Anna Claus called us!”

  “Really?” Link said, a bit amazed himself. “I didn’t know that they made special phone calls. What did they say?”

  “They said that Emily and I need to stay at your new house tonight, because that’s where he and Mrs. Claus will be delivering Christmas presents.”

  Link laughed. “Well, I’m glad you two worked that out with Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Do you want to stay with me?”

  “I guess so. Is your new house gross like Sam’s apartment?” Keenan asked.

  “Not at all. It’s very nice. It has a tree. It’s a bit small. You and Emily have to share a room. Is that okay?”

  Emily thought that would be fun. She joined in the conversation. “It’s okay.”

  “So would you like to stay over?” Link asked them.

  There was a pause that seemed like an eternity to Link Robinson. Finally his son answered.

  “Dad, can we come right now?”

  —

  “Are you ready?” Mary Ann asked Todd.

  “I’m never ready for this, Mom.”

  George stood up from the breakfast table and dug in his pocket for the car keys. “Should we go?”

  Todd picked up Elle and held her in his arms. “I guess.”

  George snapped the lead on the old Lab. “How about you, Christmas? You ready?”

  Mary Ann looked at her watch. It wasn’t quite eight. “Maybe it’s too early?” she wondered aloud.

  “Come on, Mrs. McCray. Father Time won’t wait on Mother Christmas. I’ll call Link and let him know that we’re on the way down the hill.”

  Mary Ann reached over and took Elle from Todd and held the small dog in her own arms. Elle seemed to be very happy to be part of the Christmas team. “You were so much better than any old reindeer,” Mary Ann told her.

  They grabbed their coats and a few small wrapped gifts and moved outside into the cold winter air. Their breath made little silver clouds that formed and quickly dissipated against a pink-and-blue morning sky. George had forgotten to unplug the white Christmas lights that followed the contour of the barn and the other outbuildings, and they flickered softly in the soft light. After the car doors were shut and enough of the windshield had cleared for him to see, George drove slowly down McCray’s Hill, with his wife in the passenger seat and with Todd and the two dogs in the back. The sun was barely above the eastern horizon, and the ice on the cedar trees that flanked the road glistened. Several turkeys made their way across the snow in an adjacent meadow. George looked out the window and cautioned the lead fowl, “Tom, you better be careful.”

  They turned into the driveway of the old cabin at the bottom of the hill and parked at the end of it, the snow crunching beneath their tires. When the engine was silenced, the car doors opened and the passengers exited, trudging over to the front door. George and Christmas lingered at the back of the group while Mary Ann, holding Elle in her arms, and Todd approached the door and gently knocked.

  Link was waiting. “Come on in. They’re just getting up.”

  Mary Ann noticed that Emily had hung more
decorations on the tree, and both kids had parked their little shoes neatly by the old wood-burning stove. On the mantel above the stove, there were a dozen wooden figurines that had been whittled into existence—bears, dogs, horses, and a tiny leaping salmon. Mary Ann wondered who’d made them. She knew that Link must have placed them there.

  Link politely excused himself, opened the door to the bedroom, and said, “The McCrays are here to see you. They’re my new neighbors. And they have some friends with them. Come out and see.”

  Todd had done it enough times to know that it wouldn’t be easy. This time wasn’t going to be any different. Maybe worse. He held Elle close to him and whispered into her ear, “You’re going to do a great job. I know you will. You’re going to prove everyone wrong. You’re going to be the best service dog ever.”

  Keenan and Emily came out of the bedroom holding hands, still a bit drowsy. Todd got down on the floor and put his left arm around Christmas, whom he could always count on for support, while he tried to keep Elle on his lap. He was going to miss this dog. He held her close to him for the last time. She was trying to bolt off to visit her buddy Link. Todd smiled. It was as if she’d known all along. She had tried to tell him so many times. It was his fault; he just wasn’t listening to her. Of course she had a purpose.

  Keenan and Emily, predictably, sat down with Todd and began to pet the two dogs. Emily said, “I like Noelle’s bow. It’s pretty.” She adjusted the bow so it was more prominent.

  When Todd was sure he had their attention, he asked, “Keenan, remember when I told you that dogs can be like good friends?”

  Keenan tried to take it all in as he woke up. “Yes, I remember.”

  “Anna Claus told me that you and Emily had someone in mind that maybe needed a good friend.”

  Todd released his grip, and a furry bundle of excess energy wiggled off Todd’s lap and bolted over to Link.

  Link picked up the little dog, and she whimpered excitedly. He held her in his arms. “Yes, I know, Elle. I’m glad to see you, too.”

  When Keenan looked up, he caught Mary Ann looking at him, and in her eyes he thought he saw something he recognized. Could it be? It all made sense. It was what they’d asked for: a friend for their daddy, so he wouldn’t be lonely. Keenan asked, “Anna Claus gave us Noelle for Daddy?”