Karen's Angel Page 4

  Before we knew it we had reached the little house. It was all dressed up for Christmas. Lights twinkled and a wreath hung on the door. I could see the Christmas tree through the window. It was smaller than the big-house tree, but very pretty.

  “We waited for you and Andrew to trim the tree with us,” said Mommy.

  I knew we would not have to worry about an angel. We had bought a beautiful star for the top of the tree the year before.

  When I ran inside, I saw presents under the tree. Some of the tags had my name on them!

  Then I saw Granny and Grandad. They came out of their room with their arms open wide. Andrew and I ran to them for a fourway hug.

  “Merry Christmas!” said Granny.

  “Santa delivered my best present one day early,” said Grandad.

  “What present is that?” I asked.

  “My grandchildren!” Grandad replied.

  Just then Seth walked into the kitchen carrying a bag of groceries.

  “Hi, kids,” he said. “I am so happy you are here. I just bought chestnuts, popcorn, and eggnog for us.”

  We gave Seth hugs.

  “Let’s trim the tree with popcorn,” I said.

  “Good idea,” said Seth.

  Ding-dong. I looked out the window. Nancy was standing on the stoop. She was holding a silver cookie tin and a package wrapped with red paper and green ribbon.

  “Merry Christmas,” said Nancy when I opened the door.

  “Come in,” I said.

  “The cookies are for your whole family,” said Nancy. “The present is for you. Do you want to open it now?”

  “Sure!” I replied.

  I tore off the ribbon and paper. Inside was a beautiful book. The book was like a photo album with pockets to keep pictures in.

  “This is so cool!” I said. “Thank you.”

  “Hello, Nancy,” said Mommy. “Would you like to stay and help us trim the tree?”

  “Yes,” replied Nancy. “I just have to call my house to see if it is okay.”

  Nancy’s mommy said she could stay. So we spent the afternoon eating chestnuts, drinking eggnog, and trimming the tree. We strung some of the popcorn and hung it on the branches. We ate the rest.

  We hung almost all the ornaments. We saved the star for last. Seth stepped on a ladder and put it at the top.

  “Everyone stand in front of the tree so I can take your picture,” he said.

  The six of us stood together and said, “Cheese!”

  “I will put this picture in my new book,” I said.

  The afternoon was so much fun. But it went too fast. Before I knew it, we were saying our good-byes and heading back to the big house.

  “Merry Christmas, kids,” said Mommy when she dropped us off. “I love you!”

  Christmas Eve

  When we walked into the big house, it was nice and warm. I smelled turkey and sweet potatoes cooking. Mmm.

  “Did you have fun at the little house?” asked Kristy.

  “We had a very good time. I got presents, too,” I said. “I am going to wear some of them tonight.”

  “It is time to wash up, everyone,” said Nannie. “I would like help getting dinner on the table.”

  I ran upstairs and put on the new red sweater and matching socks Mommy had given me for Christmas. Seth had given me a very pretty bracelet made of beads. I put that on, too. Then I ran downstairs again.

  Everyone had a job to do. Even Emily. She was putting a spoon at each place.

  By the time we finished setting out the food, our big dining-room table was filled up. We were going to have turkey, gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans, bread, and salad. For dessert, there were three kinds of pie. It was a feast!

  “I hope no one is too tired to trim the tree,” said Daddy when we finished eating.

  “No way!” I replied.

  “Ready or not, tree, here we come!” said Andrew.

  It was a good thing the tree was big and strong. We hung a lot of ornaments on it. We added lights and tinsel, too.

  “It is time to put the angel on top,” said Elizabeth. “Sam, will you do that, please?”

  Sam climbed up the stepladder and we passed the angel to him.

  “Be careful,” I said. “She bends easily.”

  He set the angel gently at the top of the tree.

  “She does not look so bad up there,” whispered Andrew.

  He was right. She was so little we could hardly see her.

  “Next year we will get a better angel,” I whispered back.

  “Let’s see how the tree looks all lit up,” said Daddy.

  He turned off the lights in the room. Then he lit the tree.

  “Wow! It is the most beautiful tree we have ever had!” I said.

  Everyone agreed. No one seemed to mind our little pipe cleaner angel at the top.

  “Come, gather around,” said Nannie. “I will read you the story of Christmas.”

  Nannie read to us from the Bible. My favorite part was when the angel says to the shepherds, “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” (I knew that line by heart from the pageant.)

  When Nannie finished, Daddy and Elizabeth took turns reading from A Christmas Carol. Then we all took turns reading “The Night Before Christmas.” (Emily does not read yet. But we taught her to say, “Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”)

  We left a delicious snack of milk and cookies for Santa. We hung our stockings. Soon it was time for bed. I closed my eyes. The words to “The Night Before Christmas” were still floating in my head.

  ’Twas the night before Christmas,

  when all through the house

  Not a creature was stirring,

  not even a mouse;

  The stockings were hung

  by the chimney with care,

  In hopes that St. Nicholas

  soon would be there.

  I tried to stay awake. I wanted to listen for the sound of sleigh bells ringing. But I could not do it. I fell asleep dreaming that Santa was on his way.

  Christmas Mystery

  “Merry Christmas, Moosie! Merry Christmas, Emily. Merry Christmas, everyone!” I called.

  I jumped out of bed on Christmas morning and ran to Andrew’s room.

  “Merry Christmas, Andrew,” I said. “Let’s go find Kristy.”

  Kristy was awake and playing with Emily in Emily’s room. David Michael came into the room. Then Sam and Charlie joined us.

  “Let’s all go downstairs,” I said.

  “We can’t. The grown-ups want us to wait,” said Kristy. “They want to light a fire and make coffee and stuff.”

  “Nannie will announce when we can come down,” said Charlie.

  “I smell the coffee,” I said. “So we may not have to wait too long.”

  We did not have to wait even one more minute.

  “All right, kids. You can come down now,” called Nannie.

  We raced down the stairs together.

  “Merry Christmas!” said Daddy, Elizabeth, and Nannie together.

  They had lit a fire so the room was glowing. Santa’s midnight snack was gone. Just a little milk was left in his glass and a few cookie crumbs on his plate. Our stockings were stuffed.

  I was about to make a run for my stocking when I noticed that something was different about our tree. It was the angel on top. It was not the one we had put there the night before. It was not the one Andrew and I had tried to buy, either. But she was just as pretty as that one.

  “Ooh,” I said. “Where did that angel come from?”

  Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared up at the tree. They looked just as surprised as I did. Even Sam. He had said there are no such things as angels. But he did not look so sure anymore.

  “Where did it come from?” asked Kristy.

  No one seemed to know. Maybe there really are angels. Maybe a real angel brought this one for our tree.

  I looked at the angel a
nd smiled. You know what? I think she smiled back.

  Angels Everywhere

  I took down my stocking and unwrapped the goodies inside. I found a little book of puzzles, a pencil with a silly head for an eraser, a pair of mittens with reindeer on them, and two candy canes and a chocolate Santa.

  Ting-a-ling. Nannie was standing in the doorway, ringing a silver bell.

  “Breakfast is served,” she said.

  She was wearing a white apron and a Santa hat. Daddy and Elizabeth came out of the kitchen dressed the same way.

  “You are not allowed to help with breakfast this morning,” said Elizabeth. “The grown-ups are going to serve you.”

  “All right!” said David Michael.

  Another feast was on the table. Fancy napkins and juice glasses had been set out. All we had to do was eat and have fun.

  When breakfast was over, Daddy said we were allowed to help again. So we cleaned up together.

  Ring, ring. Mommy and Seth called to wish us a merry Christmas.

  When we hung up, the phone rang again. It was Neena. She is Daddy’s mother. We took turns talking to her. Then Daddy said, “It is time to open the presents under the tree.”

  Oh, boy! I started reading gift tags, untying ribbons, and tearing paper off packages. I got the best, most thoughtful gifts. I got books and games and clothes. Some of my presents were store-bought. Some were homemade. I got some envelopes from relatives with cards and money, too.

  I thanked everyone and they thanked me. I was happy they liked the gifts I gave them.

  Ding-dong. Hannie and Linny were at the door. They visited for awhile. Then Andrew, David Michael, and I went to their house.

  We spent the day eating, visiting, and talking on the phone. Just before dinner, it started to snow again. I ran outside and made a snow angel again. Then another. And another. By the time I finished, there were angels all over the yard. I thought they would be good company for the angel on our Christmas tree.

  I got wet making all those angels. So I went inside to change my clothes. It was almost time for dinner anyway.

  We ate some very delicious leftovers. Then we sat around the fire and talked and read until it was time for bed.

  Before I went to sleep, I lined up my gifts to look at them. I counted the money I had received. There was a lot. I knew one important thing I would do with the money. I went to Andrew’s room. He was still awake.

  “How much money did you get for Christmas?” I asked.

  “I do not know,” he replied. “I could not count it.”

  I counted it for him. He had a lot.

  “We have enough to pay Daddy back and still have some left over,” I said.

  We agreed we would give the money to Daddy first thing in the morning. Then I went back to my room.

  “It was a perfect Christmas, Moosie,” I said. “And a mysterious one, too.”

  I thought about the angels in the yard. And I thought about the angel on top of the tree. There were angels everywhere.

  I guess I would never know where the angel on the tree came from. But I was glad she was there to watch over me.

  About the Author

  ANN M. MARTIN is the acclaimed and bestselling author of a number of novels and series, including Belle Teal, A Corner of the Universe (a Newbery Honor book), A Dog’s Life, Here Today, P.S. Longer Letter Later (written with Paula Danziger), the Family Tree series, the Doll People series (written with Laura Godwin), the Main Street series, and the generation-defining series The Baby-sitters Club. She lives in New York.

  Copyright © 1995 by Ann M. Martin

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  First edition, 1995

  e-ISBN 978-1-338-05893-2