“Here!” she called to her parents. “We’re here!” She stumbled up the steps.
Her parents caught up with her on the porch. “It’s a house!” her father cried. “How did you see it?”
“I saw the light,” she said. “I told you.”
They found the door together.
Dad knocked. They waited. He knocked again.
Wasn’t anyone home?
Kaye shivered. The wind seemed to blow right through her. There must be icicles hanging from her bones.
Dad took off his glove and knocked again with his bare knuckles.
A hand pulled back a curtain in the door’s window. A face appeared on the other side.
It wasn’t a lighted face, though. Just a face.
At last the door cracked open. A grandmotherly woman appeared in the crack. Her hair stood in white corkscrews all over her head.
“My goodness!” she exclaimed. “Where did you folks come from?” She opened the door wider. “Come in! Come in! You must be frozen stiff!”
They all clumped in and stopped just inside the door. Kaye looked at her parents. They looked like snow people. She looked down at herself. She was a snow person, too.
Snow clung to her coat. It had burrowed inside her collar. It had sifted down inside her boots.
Her nose was numb. Her fingers and toes were, too. The warm kitchen air stung her cheeks.
Weren’t they lucky, though, that she had seen the light?
Kaye’s father told the woman about their car being in the ditch. He told her about the way the wind had bumped them off the road. “We’re going to need a tow,” he said.
“What a thing!” she cried. “And on such a night! Now, you folks just take off your coats. We’ll get you warm. Then we’ll see what we can do.”
She bustled around, taking their coats. “I’m Elsa,” she told them. She hung the coats on wooden pegs by the door. “That’s what everybody around here calls me—just Elsa.”
She was short and round. Kaye’s own grandma was tall and skinny. But Elsa reminded Kaye of her grandma, anyway. Gran was cheerful in the same bustling way.
When Elsa smiled, her face bloomed into friendly wrinkles. She was clearly happy to have a strange family in her kitchen.
And they were certainly happy to be inside a warm house.
They were happy for the wild-rice-and-chicken soup Elsa warmed for them, too. And for the buttered toast she made to go with the soup. The toast filled the kitchen with a rich, nutty smell.
While they ate, Elsa talked. She told them about the farm. It had been in her family for generations, she said. She told them how she and her brother, Isaac, had farmed it together. But Isaac had died, she said, and now the land was rented out.
She didn’t say she was lonely, but Kaye could tell she was.
She did say that it was surely an angel who had brought them to her on this stormy night.
When she said that, about the angel, Kaye thought about the face outside her car window. But no, that hadn’t been a face. It was just the light shining from the house. That had to be what it was.
When Elsa finally paused for breath, Dad mentioned their stuck car again.
Elsa nodded. “I can get one of my neighbors to bring a tractor and pull you out. That’s no trouble,” she said. “But I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
Dad’s eyebrows went up.
“This storm is a bad one,” she explained. “And until it blows itself out, they won’t plow the roads. So even if somebody got you out, you’d be right back in the ditch again. Or worse.”
When she said “Or worse,” Mom and Dad looked at one another across the table. Kaye could tell they were thinking about what the “worse” might be.
“Now, I think you should call your family,” Elsa said. “Let them know you’re safe. Tell them you’ll be here with me until you can travel again. That’s going to take a bit of time. So tomorrow we’ll all have Christmas right here.”
Christmas! Kaye hadn’t thought about Christmas once since the car had started spinning.
Christmas! They were going to spend Christmas here?
For the first time, she looked around. Really looked. The kitchen was plain and neat and bright.
A teakettle hummed softly on the stove. A red-and-white-checked cloth covered the table. The good smell of toast still hung in the air. Everything was friendly the way Elsa was friendly.
But still, they couldn’t have Christmas here!
It wasn’t just that Elsa wasn’t Kaye’s grandma. What about the gifts Gran bought all year long and stashed away in a closet waiting for Christmas? What about the ham? What about the pickle ornament?
What about the tree?
Kaye leapt from the table and moved to look through the living room doorway.
She had been afraid Elsa wouldn’t have a tree at all. But there it stood in the corner of the living room. A Christmas tree. If it could be called a Christmas tree.
It was small and scraggly. It was more gray than green. And Kaye could tell, even from the doorway, that it didn’t have that good evergreen smell.
The next words popped out before she even knew she was going to say them.
“What an ugly tree!” she said.
“Kaye!” her mother cried. “That’s—”
But before Mom could say “rude,” Elsa interrupted. She laughed. She just tipped her head back and laughed and laughed.
“Never mind,” she said. “Kaye’s right! It’s a family tradition … an ugly tree for Christmas. They’re junipers. They grow out behind the barn.”
“I’m sorry,” Kaye said. “I didn’t mean—”
Though, of course, she had meant it. Even with the lights and the glass balls, it was just about the ugliest tree she had ever seen. And what kind of a family tradition was that, anyway … to have an ugly tree for Christmas?
Elsa waved her apology away. Still, Kaye was sorry she’d said it. She was especially sorry because Elsa didn’t fool her. Beneath the laughter, Kaye could see sadness in the old woman’s eyes.
But that was nothing compared to the sadness Kaye felt. She’d worried all year about what kind of tree Gran was going to have. Would she really have an artificial one? It would spoil Christmas if she did.
But nothing could spoil Christmas more than being stuck here with no gifts and no Gran and this dumb old juniper from behind the barn.
Nothing!
Chapter 6
The Perfect Tree
1938
They walked and walked. Lillian knew she should turn around, but she didn’t. As soon as she found the right tree, they would go back.
Elsa’s feet dragged. Lillian was getting tired, too. But her sister didn’t complain, so she kept going.
“We’ll find it very soon,” she promised.
“Soon,” Elsa agreed. But she sighed. She lifted her tiny shoulders almost to her ears and let them fall again.
At last they broke out of a dense stand of trees into a clearing. And there it was—exactly what Lillian had been looking for.
It was the most beautiful tree she had ever seen! Even nicer than the one at church.
It was a white pine. The needles were long. Lillian could tell they were soft before she even touched them. The whole tree was a rich, deep green that shaded into silver. It was full and beautifully shaped, too. No other tree had crowded close or risen higher to cut off the sun.
“This is the one.” Lillian dropped Elsa’s hand. “This is the very one!”
Elsa tipped her head back and gazed up and up at the tree. “It’s so tall,” she said.
“I know,” Lillian said. “That’s what makes it so wonderful!”
Elsa said nothing more. She just plopped down in the snow to wait. And Lillian set to work. She had to take off a few of the lower limbs first. Once she could reach in easily, she began sawing at the trunk.
At first the saw kept slipping. It wouldn’t bite through the bark. But Lillian didn’t stop trying until
it took hold.
“You’re coming home with us,” she told the tree. “Our family’s going to have the most beautiful Christmas tree in the whole valley.” And she set to pulling and pushing at the saw.
Lillian worked for a while. Then she stopped to catch her breath. She stepped back to gaze up at the tree again. It was tall. It must be twice as tall as Papa. Maybe more.
Was that too tall? Would it be too heavy to bring home? Would it even fit in their farmhouse?
Lillian checked Elsa. She sat in the snow, her arms wrapped around her knees. “Are you all right?” Lillian asked. “C-c-cold,” Elsa said.
“Oh, Elsa, I’m sorry.” Lillian dropped the saw and went to her little sister. Lillian gathered Elsa into her arms. She tipped Elsa’s chin up so she could see her face.
Elsa’s cheeks and nose had been cheerfully red a few minutes ago. Now they were white.
“I shouldn’t have brought you so far,” Lillian said.
Elsa snuggled into her arms. “It’s a b-b-beautiful tree,” she whispered.
“Yes, it is.” Lillian looked up to the very top. The sky beyond was no longer a bright blue. The color seemed to have drained from it the way it had from Elsa’s face.
But still … the tree was perfect. Even Papa would love it! “Do you think you could wait a little longer?” she asked Elsa. “Just until I can get it cut?”
Elsa nodded.
“Here,” Lillian said. “I’ll keep myself warm with sawing.” She took off her coat and wrapped it around her sister. If only she had that green cloak. That would have kept Elsa warmer still.
Elsa snuggled into the extra coat. Lillian leapt up and went back to her work. She sawed and sawed. The blade bit deeper. But when she stood and pushed on the trunk, the tree didn’t even sway.
Lillian pulled harder on the saw. She pushed back hard, too. On the next pull, the saw caught. She tugged, but she couldn’t budge it.
She tried to pull it out so she could start again on the other side. But that didn’t work, either. The blade was firmly stuck in the trunk.
Lillian shivered. She was cold now, too. She should stop and take Elsa home. She could bring Papa back tomorrow to get the tree.
If she could find it again tomorrow.
That was the problem. She could find her way home easily enough. The wooded hills sloped down to the river and to their farm. So she had only to go down. But coming back to find one tree in the deep woods would be much harder.
No. If she was going to get this tree, it had to be now.
Lillian bent again to the saw.
Chapter 7
Into the Woods
When Kaye opened her eyes, a girl was sitting next to her on the bed.
“Oh!” Kaye said. She sat up.
At first she thought, I’ve seen this girl before. Then she knew she couldn’t have.
The girl smiled at her.
“Where did you—?” Kaye started to say.
But the girl interrupted her. “Are you ready?” she asked. Her pale face glowed softly from under the hood of a dark cloak.
It occurred to Kaye later that she should have been frightened. It was certainly odd to wake up in the middle of the night to find a strange girl sitting on her bed.
Kaye wasn’t scared, though. Maybe because the glowing face looked so friendly.
“Are you ready?” the girl asked again.
“Ready for what?” Kaye asked.
“To get a Christmas tree,” the girl said.
“A big one?” Kaye said.
“Of course,” the girl answered. “Big, and beautiful, too.”
Kaye’s feet were on the floor instantly.
But even as she stood, second thoughts flooded in. “Now?” she asked. “It’s the middle of the night!”
“The middle of Christmas Eve night,” the girl pointed out.
Kaye understood. What was the point of a tree if it wasn’t there on Christmas morning? “Okay,” she said. “Where are we going?”
This time the girl didn’t answer. She just floated out of the room. Well, no. She didn’t float. Not really. She must have walked. But she walked so smoothly, so silently, it seemed like floating.
Kaye pulled on her jeans and sweatshirt. Then she followed the girl. Kaye found her waiting downstairs in the kitchen.
“Get your coat,” the girl said. “You breathing folks get cold, don’t you?”
You breathing folks! What other kind of folks were there?
Still, Kaye pulled her jacket down from the peg where Elsa had hung it. She put on her hat and boots, too. Her boots were fleece-lined, so it didn’t matter that her feet were bare.
She looked for her scarf and then remembered. The wind had stolen it on the way to Elsa’s house.
And that made her think of the storm. Was it still raging out there? Did she want to go outside?
But the girl waited beside the door, so Kaye opened it. The girl moved out ahead and Kaye followed.
She stopped on the edge of the porch, amazed. The storm had blown itself out. The night was as still now as it had been blustery before. A round, creamy moon rode high in the sky. The world was sketched in shades of black and white.
Even the old barn across the way looked beautiful under its sparkling blanket of snow.
Kaye stepped down from the porch. The snow lay everywhere, deep and untouched.
“Where are we going?” she called to the girl, who had gone ahead.
“Not far,” the girl called back.
For the first time, Kaye hesitated. Should she go off with this strange girl? What if her parents woke and found her gone?
But she couldn’t let the girl get away.
Besides, they wouldn’t be at Elsa’s much longer. The storm had stopped. The plows would come through. A farmer would pull their car out. She and her parents could have Christmas breakfast with Elsa. And maybe the girl would be there, too? Then they could go on to Gran’s.
Wouldn’t it be nice, though, to leave Elsa with a beautiful tree? Family tradition or not, nobody needed a scraggly old juniper for Christmas.
Kaye hurried to catch up.
“What’s your name?” Kaye called after the girl. If she was going to follow this stranger, she should at least know her name.
“Lillian,” the girl called back.
Lillian, Kaye thought. I like that!
And lifting her feet high to make her way through the deep snow, she followed Lillian into the woods.
Chapter 8
The Tree
Lillian led the way. No matter how fast Kaye walked, the girl always stayed a short distance ahead.
Kaye followed her through the scrubby trees behind the barn. She followed her into the moon-shadowed forest.
Here the land sloped up sharply. Lillian didn’t slow her pace.
Kaye’s legs began to ache from walking in such deep snow. But she kept her eyes fastened on the dark cloak.
“Do you have a saw or ax?” she called to Lillian. “To cut the tree?”
“We don’t need one,” Lillian answered.
A shiver ran through Kaye. Not from the cold, exactly, just from … She wasn’t sure what it was from.
What did Lillian plan to do, pull a tree out by its roots?
Again Kaye quickened her pace, trying to catch up. Again the distance between her and the strange girl never seemed to shorten.
If the moon hadn’t been so bright, Kaye wouldn’t have been able to follow at all. With her back turned, Lillian’s glowing face was hidden. She became little more than a moving shadow.
“Could you slow down, please?” Kaye called. Her heart was beginning to pound. Her breath stuttered.
“Sure,” Lillian said.
But if she actually slowed, Kaye couldn’t tell.
What if this girl was playing a trick on her? What if she was trying to get Kaye lost in the woods? Could she find her way back to Elsa’s alone if she had to?
Just when Kaye was beginning to think the worst, Li
llian called cheerfully, “We’re here!” And she stopped walking.
Huffing, Kaye caught up. She stopped beside Lillian and looked around to see where “here” might be.
They had stepped through a thick line of trees and now stood in a clearing. At the center of the clearing rose a magnificent pine. It was, in fact, one of the most beautiful trees Kaye had ever seen. It had long, soft-looking needles. It had enormous pinecones decorated with snow. It was perfectly shaped, too. No other tree had grown close to spoil its shape.
The pine rose and rose and rose, perhaps a hundred feet into the air. Kaye had to tip her head back to see the top. The round moon seemed to have come to rest there.
“It’s … it’s beautiful,” she said.
“Yes,” Lillian said. “It’s always been beautiful.” And she touched the tip of a branch.
Kaye stared, first at Lillian’s glowing face, then at the tree. Then she looked back at Lillian again. Surely she didn’t think they could take a tree like this back to the house! If Gran’s trees had always been big, this one was humongous.
It was much too tall to fit inside any house. And it would be too heavy to carry, too.
Besides, as she had already pointed out, they didn’t have a saw or an ax. Lillian had said they didn’t need one.
But that was when Kaye noticed it for the first time. A rusty saw poked out from the tree’s trunk. Clearly, many years before, someone had tried to cut this tree. And clearly, too, the tree had won. It had simply grown around the tool.
Kaye knelt and touched the saw. She tugged on it once. It didn’t budge. She looked back into Lillian’s glowing face.
“It’s stuck,” Kaye said. “And anyway, the tree’s too big. Don’t you think it’s too big?” She spoke gently as though to someone much younger than she was, someone who might not understand.
“No,” Lillian said. “It’s just right. Elsa will love it.”
Kaye said it again: “But this tree’s too big. And the saw is stuck. See?” She tugged on it again to show Lillian just how stuck it was.
The Green Ghost Page 2
