‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
And all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, well except for:
It was very late on Christmas Eve; in fact it was already Christmas Day.
Adam Cartwright had just bedded down his horse for the night, and was now making his way, rather unsteadily, across the yard. He was hoping to gain entrance to the ranch house and make it to his bedroom, without disturbing the other occupants. The just eighteen year old knew that his father would be angry with him for returning so late, or should that be so early? And he would also be cross to discover that his young son was inebriated. Although he hoped that, if he was caught, Ben would be a bit more understanding than he normally would be. After all, it was Christmas, and the boy had been through a lot, recently.
It was only a few months since the family had been dealt a major blow, with the death of Marie. She was Ben’s third wife and the mother of his youngest son, Joseph. After she died, Ben withdrew from his work and his family, for a while, and Adam, who was then only seventeen, had to step up and try and fill his father’s shoes. He did a really good job, but everyone, including Adam, was very relieved when Ben was able to take up the reins, again. Hoss and Little Joe were delighted to have their father back with them. And Adam was happy to be able to go back to just being a big brother, not a second father. It also meant that he had more free time and could spend some of it with his friends. If Little Joe, who was only five years old, woke up with a nightmare, Ben was now there to take care of him.
However, Adam wasn’t sure if his father’s largesse would extend as far as Adam had stretched it, on this particular night.
All such thoughts were erased from Adam’s head, though, when he heard a strange noise. It sounded like someone, or something, was hissing at him. At first, he wasn’t sure if he was just hearing things.
‘The brain can play funny tricks on you when you’ve had a bit to drink,’ thought Adam, and he carried on walking towards the door.
But then he heard it again, and this time the hissing sounded like it included Adam’s name.
“Who’s there?” asked Adam, in what he hoped was a voice that was loud enough for the person to hear, but not loud enough to wake up his father.
“Adam, it’s me, Lickle Joe, help me, please,” said the voice. “I’s stuck.”
“Where are you?” said Adam, more urgently, this time, as his little brother sounded frightened.
“I’s on the roof,” said Joe. “Please help, I’s scared.”
“On the roof,” repeated Adam. “What the hell are you doing up there?”
“Don’t say that h word, Adam. Papa will be cross,” admonished Joe.
“Never mind about what I said,” said Adam, his voice rising. “Just answer my question. Why are you up on the roof?”
“I was looking for Santa and his reindeer,” explained Joe. “I fought I heard ‘em out here, so I comed outside to have a look. But I never sawed ‘em and now I’s stuck.”
“Well, just stay put and I will come and get you,” said Adam.
“I just done tolded you, Adam, I’s stuck, so I’s gotta stay put.”
“Okay, okay, I get it,” said Adam. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Adam opened the front door, relieved to see that there was still a lamp burning in the main room. He was able to navigate his way to the stairs, without bumping into anything, and was soon in his little brother’s bedroom. The window was open, bearing testimony to how Joe had gained access to the roof.
Adam lit the lamp on Joe’s nightstand and carried it over to the window.
“Joe, what are you stuck on? Can’t you crawl back to me?”
“My nightshirt is caughted on somefink and I can’t move. It’s too dark for me to see what it’s caughted on and I’s really cold, Adam,” and the little boy began to cry. “Santa won’t come, if he sees me out here, so I won’t get no gifts. Please help, Adam.”
At first, Adam’s reaction to Joe’s predicament had been to get cross with the little boy. However, as soon as Joe began to cry, all his anger melted away.
“Don’t cry, little buddy, Adam’ll get you free.”
The older boy climbed out of the window and soon joined his little brother. He sat down next to Joe and placed an arm round his shoulders. He could feel just how cold the little boy was.
“You are freezing, Joe,” said Adam. “Here, let’s put my coat around you, while I sort you out.”
Adam collected the lamp from where he had left it, by the window, and returned to Joe. He reached down and took hold of the boy’s nightshirt and tracked it to where it was caught.
“You’ve snagged it on the rose bush, buddy,” said Adam. “Won’t take a minute to set you free,” and true to his word, Joe was soon able to scramble into Adam’s lap, with his arms tightly wrapped around his brother’s neck.
“Fanks, Adam. I was so scared, I fought somefink nasty had got me.”
“You’re fine now, Joe, but we need to get you back inside,” said Adam, trying to get the boy to loosen his grip. “Come on, buddy, you’re going to strangle me, at this rate.”
“And I must get back to bed before Santa sees me,” added Joe.
Adam managed to slide Joe around, so that he was on Adam’s back and they made their way to the window. Adam then gently helped the little boy climb back into the house and then got in, himself.
Once inside, Adam could see that Joe’s nightshirt was quite badly torn and the boy was very grubby. He found a clean nightshirt and ran downstairs to heat up some water in order to give the boy a wash. As he went down the stairs, Adam was not aware that a figure, wearing a green* suit and with a large, bushy beard obscuring most of his face, was watching him from the shadows on the landing.
Adam returned to Joe’s room, still unaware that he was being observed. It didn’t take him long to get Joe cleaned up and back into bed.
“Now, Joe, please stay put and don’t try going out of that window, again, even if you do hear Santa,” said Adam, tucking the little boy in.
“Will you stay wiv me, Adam? I’s still cold,” said Joe.
Adam, by this time, was feeling very tired and his head was starting to ache; the result of too much alcohol and not enough sleep. So, rather than cause an argument with his little brother that would prolong the time before he could get some sleep, Adam agreed.
Once more, he went out onto the landing, in order to go and fetch a nightshirt from his room. As he came out of his bedroom, all ready for bed, the figure emerged from the shadows.
“Are you ever going to go to sleep?” asked the bearded man. “Some of us have work to do and until everyone is asleep, I can’t get on and do mine.”
“Sorry, Santa, I had to do some baby brother rescuing, cleaning up, and now cuddling. But I reckon we’ll be asleep, real soon.”
“Thank goodness for that, then,” replied ‘Santa’. “It’s not easy getting all around the world, in just one night, you know. I’ve been waiting on this landing for ages.”
“Well, I’m off to bed, now, Santa, and so you can go and do what you need to do, without fear of interruption. Good night,” and Adam headed off to Joe’s room.
“Goodnight, son,” said ‘Santa’, and soon there were presents piled up under the tree, and all the Cartwrights were asleep in their beds, with visions of sugar plums filling their heads.**
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL
Little Joe forever
Lynne
December 2011
*Until the early twentieth century, when Coca Cola adopted the figure of Santa for their Christmas ads, and dressed him in red, Santa was more often depicted wearing green or green and brown.
** With more than a nod to the poem ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas’ by Clement Clarke Moore