The Valley of the Christmas Trees
by
David Rucker
Illustrations by Brenda Laster
Smashwords Edition
Link to author page at Smashwords is: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/DavidRucker
Copyright 2007 David Rucker
All rights reserved
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Chapter One: Father Calls A Family Meeting
“Children! Gather around please.”
It was the night before Christmas. Father’s voice was strong and energetic as he called us to the parlor.
“Come now! I have a most profound matter to discuss,” continued father. “I will require your assistance. Everyone now, come. Yes, even you Maethius. And Mother, you too. I need you all.”
That gathering of our family in the parlor occurred ninety-two years ago tonight. I remember it as clearly today as if it had occurred five minutes ago.
The celebrations of the Christmas season were at hand. Everyone was busy, and jolly. The house was very very festive. It shown with the decorations of the season. The decorated tree radiated grandly from the center of the parlor.
Lights decorated all the windows. Electric decorations were a recent invention. Father had purchased some.
We had tied a red bow to the collar of our family cat.
It was evening. One hour past supper. Mother had been in the kitchen tending to chores. There was a fire in the fireplace. It was snowing outside. We children had been playing games together near the warm hearth. The magic of the holiday season filled our hearts.
Father seemed so serious when he spoke. We all noticed. His manner was in conflict with the moment. That is why I remember his words so clearly.
When he was serious his forehead kind of wrinkled up. My older brothers and sisters had grown to understand my father’s moods better than I. They were older, and, more experienced.
“Father is so serious tonight,” whispered Jaemil, my oldest sister. She was twelve at that time. “I do hope everything is OK.”
“Gather around,” repeated my father.
When father spoke, it was clearly understood in our house, that everyone was to pay attention. Across the street lived a family very different from ourselves. No one seemed to be in charge there. In our family, father was in charge. That’s the way it had always been, and that’s how it always would be.
We promptly gathered around, even mother. She sat on the arm of father’s chair.
Chapter Two: Planning Our Strategy
“Family.” began father, “something very strange has occurred within the walls of this house the past two Christmases. Unexplainably strange. Maybe the event occurred in earlier years and I didn’t notice, but I mustn’t speculate. Observable facts are what we must depend upon.
“We have lived in this house fourteen years this coming March. In all those fourteen years, nothing else, of which I am aware, has occurred that did not carry an explanation. The occurrences I have observed these past two Christmases are without explanation. That is, without explanation so far. I intend to change that. Everything has an explanation. It is discovering the explanation that can often prove difficult. And I have gathered you here to ask your assistance.”
“Oh boy, a mystery,” blurted Saiginaw, my next older brother, “I love mysteries. Will we be scared?”
“Shush now!” interrupted Mother, “let your father finish.”
“The occurrences come at night,” father continued, “when everyone is asleep, and, so far as I can determine, only on the night of Christmas Eve. I don’t mean about Santa Claus coming, or anything like that. Something else.”
“What? What else?” asked Feylee anxiously. “What have you seen that is strange?” Feylee was third oldest.
“I will get to that,” replied father. “Be patient.”
“At first I thought,” father explained, “maybe I was losing my vision, or perhaps my very ability to perceive things clearly. But no other events in my life have given me the slightest reason to suspect my faculties are failing.
“It is the trees about which I am speaking. Our Christmas trees. The ones we decorate in our parlor each year. That is what brings us together.
“The Trees?” we all asked in unison.
“Let me say no more”, answered my father. “If I were to do so, I may give your observations preconceived notions. Here’s how I need your help. I would like you to help me by taking turns observing. We need to observe all night long. Starting at bedtime on Christmas Eve. Then in the morning we can compare what we have seen.”
“We don’t want to keep Santa Claus from coming!” we all said with concern.
“No, no, I’ll take the midnight shift. I was thinking about that. That will solve that problem. But I won’t be able to stay awake all night. I know for sure I will fall asleep at some point. So, I need your help. We will need to take turns coming to the living room here, curling up quietly in this chair, and watching for anything unusual. Then, when you have finished your shift, go wake up the person who will replace you.”
“Will it be scary?” asked Feylee. “Will you keep a candle burning?”
“No, it won’t be scary, it will be an adventure,” said Jorgan, the oldest.
But he was never afraid of anything. “Besides, Rufus our basset hound and Fritz our cat will be with us. The moaning howl of Rufus, and the feistiness of Fritz, would be more than enough protection from even dragons, should some of them appear,” Jorgan added confidently.
“Dragons?” reacted Feylee, “You didn’t say there will be dragons Father.”