Christmas at Grey Sage

by Phyllis Clark Nichols

Gordy looked out to the side-view mirror to see the outside temperature on the gauge there. “Eleven degrees.”

  Kent turned to Lily. “You can raise your window now, and put the whistle away.” He looked at the colonel. “I see my mom got you fixed up, colonel. I gave her plenty of practice when I was growing up. She would have made a fantastic nurse. You feeling all right?”

  “You bet. In great shape. Haven’t had this kind of adventure in years.”

  Kent spoke to the group. “Any new injuries or reports?”

  No one spoke up.

  “That’s good news. Seems the vehicle that caused our accident went on his merry way and left us here to take care of ourselves.” Kent looked at his watch. “It’s close to noon, and it may be a few hours before the transport vehicle gets here. Roads in and out of Taos are closed, so help is coming from Santa Fe. Gordy will keep the motor running as long as he can so we’ll have heat. I’d suggest you get comfortable, find yourself some snacks or something to read, and just enjoy yourself. We’ll keep you posted.”

  Beatrice spoke up. “I have candy, lots of candy, and it’s supposed to make you happy.”

  Kent smiled at her. “Well, we may just need an extra bag or two of happy. So glad you thought about bringing it, Miss Beatrice.” He walked to the back of the van and took a seat. It was only a matter of seconds before Reba stood and offered him the seat next to Emily.

  “Thanks, Mrs. Parker.”

  “No need to thank me. We should all be thanking you. I’ve never seen anyone take charge so quickly and make us all feel safe. And thank you for taking care of Emily.”

  He smiled. “My pleasure, ma’am.” He sat down, put his arm around Emily, and pulled her closer to him.

  A quiet calm settled in the van. The wind blew relentlessly. Gordy made periodic announcements, mostly to say help was on the way without any details about time. Little to no traffic passed by, but three drivers stopped. One offered help, the other two were just curious.

  The passengers were amazingly content. Kent imagined they were all silently grateful to be alive, to be out of the weather, and to be together, much like his troops in Iraq after a skirmish.

  Time passed. The gray turned almost black. The motor finally stopped running, and the cold settled in. Kent, calm and comfortable and sure that help was on the way, didn’t mind the passing of time. Emily was near him, and he heard a familiar voice—his mother’s bell-like soprano voice, the voice that had sung him lullabies. She started the carol “Silent Night,” and before long they were all singing. Melody. Harmony. Even Lily’s craggy voice with no sense of either. It didn’t matter, they were all joining in, finishing with a heartfelt, “Sleep in heavenly peace. Sleep in heavenly peace.”

  Only Gordy breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed the flashing red lights approaching.

  Silas, comfortably seated in his favorite chair in front of the fire in the keeping room, read the daily newspaper. The pendulum clock on the mantel struck two.

  Maude sat on the bar stool at the kitchen counter. She hung up the phone and scribbled something on her notepad before swiveling around to Silas. “Well, my dear, sounds like we may not be boarding our plane in the morning, which means we won’t be boarding the ship either.”

  Silas barely moved. “And what’s so bad about that?”

  She joined him, sitting on the stone hearth right in front of him. “I suppose nothing, except there’ll be no holiday in Curaçao. Of course, the weather could break. The travel agent said that if we miss embarkation, we could fly to one of the ports and catch the ship to finish the cruise.”

  He lowered the paper slightly and looked at Maude. “And why would we want to do that?”

  “At least we’d have a holiday, and I could check Curaçao off my list.”

  He folded the paper and put it on the foot-high stack of reading material on the floor beside his chair before picking up his cup. “And would it disappoint you too much if we checked that off your list on another holiday?”

  Sensing his reluctance, she confronted him. “Silas, did you not want to make this trip? You seem not the least bit disappointed.”

  He took a sip of coffee. “Not so much.”

  “What do you mean, ‘not so much’? You didn’t want so much to take the trip from the beginning? Or you’re not so much disappointed now?”

  “Means about the same thing in the end, doesn’t it?” Silas put down his cup and slid to the edge of his chair, closer to Maude. “Now, look, Maude. You may find this a bit surprising, but I don’t mind ‘so much’ being here at Christmas this year. Oh, I’d still take the cruise if we can get out tomorrow, but our recent guests brought a little Christmas back to Grey Sage, and to be honest, I rather enjoyed it.”

  Maude took both his hands. “Really, Silas? I mean, really, you enjoyed it?”

  “I did. Reminded me of some mighty sweet times. And it was good.”

  Maude felt relief. “You don’t know how happy that makes me. That’s how I felt too, but I didn’t want to say it. And when we were packing this morning, I found myself feeling dread about our leaving for this trip. Leaving this beautiful snow for sand and the pine branches for palm trees and the fireplace for some beachside bonfire.”

  Silas grinned. “So, would I be correct in assuming that neither of us is disappointed about being marooned here at Grey Sage at Christmas instead of on some tropical island?”

  They both stood and hugged. The moment was both exciting and bittersweet.

  With a pat and a smile, she motioned to Silas. “Let’s go unpack our bags, and help me think of something to scramble up for dinner later.”

  Silas, checking Maude’s decision one more time, asked, “But what if the travel agent calls and has the details worked out for us to join the cruise? We’ll have to pack again.”

  “Oh, she won’t be calling.”

  “How do you know? That’s her job—to work out the details and iron out the wrinkles.”

  “I know because I’m calling her first to cancel this trip so she won’t waste her time. We have trip insurance just for times like this.”

  Maude’s calm sigh was one of purest satisfaction.

  Maude stopped to make the call before unpacking. It was surprisingly easy to cancel everything. “Thank you so much,” she finished up. “We’ll be calling again soon to schedule another voyage, but for now, Merry Christmas.”

  She was hanging up the phone when Lita stormed through the door, tears streaming down her face. “Lita, my goodness, what on earth is wrong?”

  Lita sniveled. “They’re not coming.”

  “What? Who’s not coming?”

  “My little bluebird and her family. Their flight is canceled, and they can’t get here.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry. I know how much you wanted to see Doli and her family and to see her face when she opened the gift you made for her. What about driving?”

  “Not possible—not enough time off work to make the long trip. That’s why they chose to fly in the first place. I told them just to stay home, and we’ll have a big family Christmas later.” Lita wiped her eyes.

  “What about Catori’s family?”

  “I haven’t spoken with her. More than likely it means they won’t be able to make it either. I think she’s delaying her call to me. She knows how disappointed I’ll be.” Lita sobbed. “This Christmas will be a quiet one, just Alo and me, and that howling wolf that’s been keeping me up at night.”

  Maude put her arm around Lita. “You won’t be quite that lonely. Silas and I will be here too. Doli and Catori can’t get in, and we can’t get out.”

  Lita quickly turned to look at Maude. “Your trip? You’re not going?”

  “No, we’re not going. Our flight’s canceled, and no way to get there in time to embark and set sail.”

  Lita wiped her eyes and her facial muscles relaxed. “But you’re not planning to drive somewhere else or visit family in Texas?”

  “No, we just decided to stay home. We
thought we’d spend Christmas with you and Alo and your girls.” She smiled and shrugged. “So, now it’s just the four of us. It’ll certainly be a different kind of Christmas this year.” She paused. “Did you come up here just to tell me that or was there something else?”

  “I came because I needed your shoulder, my friend, but I’m done crying now. What would you say to a cup of hot chocolate, and we can talk about our Christmas plans? Where’s Silas?”

  “He’s unpacking his bags, but count him in for the hot chocolate. I’ll go and get him. We can unpack later.” On her way out of the kitchen, she called over her shoulder, “What about Alo?”

  “In the barn checking on the animals. I’ll call him to come on up.”

  Alo was there before Lita finished grating the Mexican chocolate, and the four sat at the pine table in the corner with their steaming cups of cocoa. Silas got up without saying a word, left the room, and came back with a bottle of Kahlúa. “What about a splash of this? After all, it’s Christmas.” They all lifted their cups.

  Without asking, Maude unfolded the Scrabble board, and play ensued. Old friends. Old habits. Old traditions. Another quiet afternoon around a familiar table. Talk of missing the girls and of Lily and her Unlikely Christmas Party trickled in and out of their conversation.

  Alo glanced out the window. “Nearly dark out there, and it’s only four o’clock.” He rearranged his Scrabble tiles and studied the board. “It’s your turn, Lita.”

  Lita placed five tiles on the board. “Look at that. P-L-U-C-K, and thirteen points. Write it down, Maude, and that puts me ahead of you, Silas.”

  Silas’s lip curled into an impish grin. He added one letter to Lita’s word. “As she said, write it down, Maude. That’ll be seventeen points for me.”

  Lita knew Simon wasn’t above making up words. “That’s not a word.”

  “Of course it is.”

  “Plucky? I don’t believe it. I’ve never heard that word. Have you?” Lita looked at Maude.

  “Don’t look at me. I’m not Mr. Webster.” She reached for the paperback dictionary on the shelf. “You want to risk it? Double challenge rule, remember?”

  “Yes, I don’t believe it’s a word. If it’s a word, then what does it mean, Silas?”

  He leaned back in his chair. “It means bold or fearless.”

  “Plucky?” Lita retorted. “Just listen to the way it sounds. No way that’s a word. And if it is, it cannot mean bold or fearless.” She looked at Maude. “One of us is about to lose a turn. Look it up!”

  Maude thumbed through the dictionary, found it, and shook her head. “Looks like you’re the one losing your turn, Lita. The old bird is right. He pulled another one on you.”

  Play continued until Silas had another victory and only darkness poured through the kitchen windows. They ate bowls of leftover soup at the same table, then Maude and Lita shared kitchen cleanup while Alo and Silas settled in front of the fire.

  “The two girls I hired have Grey Sage and our casita all clean and ready for Christmas,” Lita commented. “They did such a good job. Nothing left for us to do except to enjoy the holiday.” She paused, unsure about how Maude would respond. “Why don’t we have Christmas Eve and Christmas dinners down at our casita? We have a tree and some wreaths on the windows, and of course all my Christmas angels are out.”

  Maude surprised her with a quick and positive answer. “Sounds lovely. I’ll help with the meals.”

  In the kitchen, Maude and Lita talked through plans for the next few days and how they’d spend this unusual Christmas that hadn’t turn out as either had planned. Alo and Silas discussed the pros and cons of the new wind farm ideas and how much wood they’d burn before the storm let up. When the mantel clock struck seven, Alo got up out of his chair.

  “We need to get out of here. Come along, Lita.”

  Silas followed them to the mudroom. “You shouldn’t be walking in that cold. I’ll drive you home.”

  “Thanks, but my truck’s out back.”

  As Alo helped Lita with her jacket, the phone rang. Maude answered.

  “Hi, Lily. Is your room in Taos as lovely as your suite here?” She paused. “What?” She listened some more. “Hang on, Lily.” She put her hand over the receiver. “Don’t leave yet. I have news.”

  Lita, Alo, and Silas waited at the counter, trying to make sense of Maude’s side of the conversation. After a few moments of back and forth, she appeared to be finishing up.

  “No, it will be fine. We’re not leaving tomorrow, and your rooms will be ready for your arrival. See you in a while.” Maude hung up the phone. “Seems we’re not the only ones with a change of plans this evening. Lily and her party will be back here in an hour or so.”

  “What?” Lita asked, voicing the surprise on all their faces. “What happened?”

  “They had an accident on the way to Taos and spent most of the day on the side of the road, waiting for a vehicle to pick them up and return them to Santa Fe. They couldn’t get into Taos.”

  Silas, always the doctor, asked, “Anyone injured?”

  “Nothing serious. Lily said the colonel had a nasty bump on his head and she has a bruised arm. That’s all.”

  Alo took off his jacket and hung it on the barstool. “Where are they now?”

  “Just outside Santa Fe. Lily called to ask for a hotel recommendation in town. She assumed we were still leaving tomorrow. I couldn’t send this party to a hotel, so I told them to return to Grey Sage.”

  Lita immediately headed toward the pantry. “We’ll stay and help get them fed and settled.”

  “Thank you. But no need to cook. Maybe some more hot chocolate. They’ll have dinner in town before coming out here.”

  With a nod of understanding, Lita busied herself at the stove, wondering how weary their Unlikely Christmas Party must be. She could only imagine.

  “How long will they be staying this time, Maude?” Silas asked.

  “Not sure. Taos is off their itinerary, so the plan is to leave here and go directly to Colorado Springs.”

  “But when?”

  She looked at Alo. “Maybe the halo around the moon would give a better answer.”

  Alo shrugged his shoulders. “Too cloudy to see the moon tonight.”

  “Lily’s keeping their reservations for tomorrow night at the Broadmoor. Just depends on the weather as to when they can get away.” She turned to Lita. “Are we good for breakfast and maybe lunch tomorrow?”

  “We most certainly are. Have you seen the freezer and the pantry? We’re good for the whole tribe through the New Year.”

  In spite of the situation, Lita grinned. She was always happier with a hungry crowd to feed. “We may be having a real Christmas around here after all.”

  The members of the Unlikely Christmas Party piled through the front door at Grey Sage, each guest loaded with bags and a story to tell. Gordy and the new driver helped with luggage and, after a brief conversation with Lily, departed for their return to Santa Fe.

  Feeling a bit of déjà vu, Silas, along with Alo, returned their guests to the rooms they’d had before, while Maude put out a tray of cookies on the pine coffee table and Lita returned to the kitchen to make certain the pot of milk didn’t scorch. Only a few minutes passed before the party reassembled in the gathering room, each one anxious to tell his or her version of what happened.

  Lita entered with the first tray of steaming mugs of hot chocolate. “You sound like a gaggle of geese in here. I thought you might enjoy something to soothe your spirits and make you sleep like Baby Jesus tonight.” She looked toward Silas. “Silas, anymore of those secret spirits of yours you care to share?”

  Silas slipped away to the butler’s pantry and returned with the bottle of Kahlúa. “This just makes it extra special—just like you, our Christmas guests.”

  No one refused. The colonel was the last to raise his cup. “So glad to be here, Silas. Wasn’t sure I’d see you again on this side of heaven.”

  “Well, yo
u did, didn’t you?” Silas glanced at the bandage on Henry’s forehead. “When you finish your hot chocolate, what do you say we slip down the hall to my office and let me take a look at that bump on your head and dress it with a clean bandage?”

  Henry nodded and lifted his mug as though offering a toast. “I’m used to giving orders, but I always obey the doctor’s orders.”

  “Don’t do much doctoring anymore, but I haven’t forgotten how.”

  Silas made the same offer to all the guests in case anyone had an injury, even a slight one that needed to be checked. Henry and Lily were the only takers who followed him down the hall.

  Silas first cleaned up the cut and put a fresh dressing on Henry’s head. “Didn’t need stitches, and there’s nothing to worry about, except maybe a slight scar.” He went to the cabinet and retrieved a bottle of pills. “Here, take one of these before you retire. This and that cup of warm milk should take care of your discomfort. You should sleep well. I’ll check on you again in the morning.”

  He turned to Lily. “Okay, what’s ailing you, Lily?”

  “Oh, Silas. It was dreadful. The van spun around like a top on an ice rink and slammed into a tree. It’s true what they say about seeing your life pass before your eyes. I saw it, saw it all—my parents, my brother, all dead people except Maude and my students, all the paintings I’ve done, all the places I’ve visited.”

  “Sounds like you had a quick trip through a long life. So, tell me, where do you hurt?” He led her to a stool.

  “You’re still incorrigible, Silas. I’m dead serious. It was the most awful experience of my entire life.”

  “I’m sure it was, and you lived to tell about it. So, tell me, where do you hurt?”

  “It’s my right arm, mostly my elbow, right here.” She pulled up her sweater sleeve. “I think in all the spinning and sliding, which seemed like an eternity, I hit my elbow really hard against the metal window frame. And trust me, I didn’t laugh.”

  Silas saw the swelling and bruising immediately. “Okay, let me take a look.” He held her arm gently and poked around a bit before manipulating the joint. “Um-huh. Sore?”