(advent) Day 10: Cookies are always welcome in the Cove!

[vg_ford]

Saturday, December 10

“Molly, Schrodinger, are you here?” Gideon called out as soon as he pushed open the door to CrossWinds Books. “You didn’t leave without us, did you?”

“We’re not that late, Gideon, I promise!” Kiaya said, sharing a rueful look with DC as they passed the counter. “They won’t have left!”

As if to prove those words, both Jack and Schrodinger came bounding out of the kitchen. You’re here! The CrossCat said, his tail whipping excitedly. We were waiting so we could do the castle before we left with you!

“See, I told you!” Kiaya said. “Go on!”

Gideon ran into the kitchen, where Molly had the castle out on the island, and hopped up on to one of the stools. Lily and Kaylee were already looking hard for the 10, and he joined them.

“Here it is!” Kaylee said excitedly, poking her finger at the 10, which was floating next to a window on the west side of the main castle. The window opened, and they saw the kitchen again, with more cookies being made. This time, instead of stars, there were all sorts of sugar cookies, with jeweled cutouts of spun sugar that gleamed in the lights. Cooks in white aprons and tall white hats were busy painting the cookies with bright colors, and others were placing them on bright silver trays.

“They’re doing a bake sale too?” Lily whispered, awed.

I doubt it, Jack said. I’ll bet it’s for a party the Snow Queen and Jack are throwing.

One of the bakers looked up, waved at them, and then tossed up a cookie towards them. As it came through the window, it shimmered, and when it fell into Kaylee’s open hand, it was still a cookie, but now it said, “There’s lots of things that are sweet today! Make sure you share the wealth!”

“What does that mean?” Gideon asked them, and they all looked at each other, puzzled. “I mean, aren’t we selling cookies today?”

“Yes,” Lily said. “Today’s the bake sale at the school. Of course, there will be more there than just cookies – it’s more like a craft fair. And everyone loves to buy Christmas presents there.”

Kaylee broke the cookie into five pieces and handed them out. “Maybe there will be someone there that we can share with, just like we shared this cookie?” she said.

That could be, Schrodinger said thoughtfully. Or perhaps there is something else the castle has planned for us.

“Did you find it?” Molly asked, coming back in from the alley behind the bookstore, where her Jeep was currently parked. “We’re almost ready to go!”

“We did, and it was a cookie!” Kaylee said. “It said we were going to share the wealth. So I shared the cookie with everyone!”

“Share the wealth, huh?” Molly smiled at her. “Good! That’s part of what Christmas is about, after all! Now, are you guys ready to go?”

What about the castle? Schrodinger asked, as she hustled them out the back door. Are we just leaving it there?

“DC said she’d put it away for us,” Molly told him, as she held open the door to the Jeep. “Sue and Lai are already setting up at the school, and we just need to bring these last boxes over.”

They all piled in, careful not to jostle anything, and Molly set off towards the Daughter of Stars Middle School, which hosted the annual Carter’s Cove Christmas Bake Sale. The school got a portion of the proceeds, and it was now a traditional place to get many of the goodies that would be served on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Molly’s cookies, scones, and candies were big hits, of course, but there were all sorts of things available, from all sorts of people.

“Molly, what did you do for a centerpiece this year?” Lily asked, looking at her aunt. She had scrambled into the front seat before anyone else, and as a prize, she got to hold the basket containing sandwiches, tea, and hot chocolate for them during the day.

“Do you remember the skating pond I had a few years ago?” Molly said. “I decided to bring that back out.”

Ooh, I loved that! Schrodinger said from the back seat. Did you bring the lights too?

“Of course!” Molly said. “And I have the figurines too.”

“Too bad you missed last year,” Kaylee told Gideon. “Molly built a pirate ship out of gingerbread.”

His eyes got wide. “A real pirate ship?”

“Yep. It looked exactly like Pavel’s ship.”

“What happened to it?” Gideon asked. “Why aren’t you using it this year, Molly?”

“Because I gave it to Pavel,” Molly told him. “He keeps it aboard his ship – he says it’s a good luck charm.”

“But won’t it rot?” he said, a worried frown on his face.

“No, that’s part of my magic,” Molly said, grinning as they turned into the school’s parking lot. “It won’t ever decay.”

The inside of the gymnasium was controlled chaos. Molly led them to the corner tables she had been given, where Sue and Lai were busy setting up the trays, vases, and boxes of various goodies she’d made. There were snowflake cookies, elegantly decorated with silver balls and icing that had a subtle glittering effect, that Molly had made into lollipops and were clustered into a tall vase. Another vase held her peppermint candy cane cookies, tied with bright red and green ribbons. Silver trays along the front of the tables held an assortment of scones in plastic bags, perfect for a snack as someone was walking around.

And then, in the corner, up on a box, was the spot for the centerpiece that Molly was carrying. As they watched, she walked around the tables and opened the box in her hands.

Out first came the base, which was a painted piece of wood that looked like the small cove that Indi hosted the skating in. The paint for the ice shimmered, just like the real thing, and Gideon wondered how Molly had gotten it like that. There were a great many things about the kitchen witch and her magic that he wondered about, but hadn’t been bold enough to ask her. Maybe Schrodinger would be willing to tell him at some point.

Then those thoughts vanished from his mind as he watched her set up the rest of the centerpiece. There was a tower of what looked like rocks and twigs that had bits and pieces of red sticking out of it, and when she sat it on the center of the ice, it flared to life, the red becoming fabric flames that danced and swayed. Around the edge of the ice, Molly set trees, made of gingerbread and iced dark green, and a little hut that was an almost perfect rendition of Indi’s skate shop, where she sold hot drinks, snacks, and rented ice skates if you’d forgotten them. Gideon hadn’t been out to the skate shop yet, but his mother had promised that they would go out soon.

He and the others watched Molly string some tiny lights along the tops of the trees, and then she lifted out the skaters. The little figurines weren’t in gingerbread, although he assumed everything else was: they looked almost like porcelain, painted in subtle colors to look human. Well, mostly human; as she continued to pull them out, Gideon saw there were others too, including a CrossCat and a dog that looked like Jack in a little sled. Then Molly looked out at them. “Are you ready?” she asked.

“For what?” Gideon whispered to Kaylee.

“Watch!” she told him.

Molly had arranged all the figurines, and now, she leaned over and blew gently across the entire scene. Gideon’s eyes widened as the lights came on, twinkling even in the brightly-lit gymnasium, and the figures began to move across the ice.

“Wow,” he breathed, taking a step towards it. “That’s awesome.”

Isn’t it? Schrodinger said proudly. I’m so glad she brought it out again.

Tearing his gaze away from the skaters, Gideon looked up at Molly. “So what are we doing?” he asked. “Are we selling stuff?”

“Not exactly,” Molly said. “Are you guys ready to walk around for a bit?”

“Do we have samples, Molly?” Lily guessed. “Like Zoey and I did?”

“Yes, actually!” Molly pulled out two trays, put an assortment of cookies on each one, and said, “Gideon, why don’t you and Kaylee take Schrodinger with you, and Lily, you take Jack. Come back when you run out!”

“Can we taste them first?” Kaylee asked, already reaching for a cookie. “We have to make sure they’re really good!”

As if they wouldn’t be! Schrodinger said, but Gideon noticed he also snagged a cookie from the tray. There was a loud bell that rang out from above, and then the doors opened and a wave of people flooded in.

They set off, Gideon carrying the tray and Kaylee and Schrodinger on either side of him. The tray itself had straps that went around his neck, helping to steady the tray. He was half-afraid they’d be crushed, there were so many people, but to his surprise, it wasn’t crowded. People wandered around, talking to their friends and the vendors, buying gifts and catching up.

“Hey, guys, look over there.” Kaylee said, tugging on Gideon’s sleeve. “Who’s that?”

“That” was a younger man, standing in one of the little alcoves formed by all the tables, looking a little lost.

I don’t know, Schrodinger said, also looking at him. I’ve never seen him before.

Gideon, who was still getting used to everyone at the Cove, wasn’t surprised that he didn’t recognize him. The man was dressed in jeans and a parka that had definitely seen better days. And there was some dirt smudged on his face, although he’d obviously tried to wash it off. His beard was long and braided, and so was the hair that escaped from under the knit cap he wore.

“Let’s go find out,” Gideon said, and suited action to words.

The man watched them come over, and Gideon held up his tray. “Hi! I’m Gideon, and this is Kaylee, and this is Schrodinger! Would you like a cookie?”

“Thank you, but I don’t have any money to pay for them.” The man’s voice was low, and Gideon had to strain a bit to hear him. “I just wanted to warm up for a bit before I went on.”

“They’re free, so you don’t have to pay,” Kaylee said, and picked a few off the tray. “Please take them.”

Where are you going? Schrodinger asked, as the man accepted the cookies.

“I don’t know,” the man said. “Wherever will accept me.” He smiled at them. “Thank you.”

“What’s your name?” Gideon said, fascinated by the man.

“Robert,” he said, around a mouthful of cookie. “These are very good.”

Molly makes the best cookies, Schrodinger agreed, and looked around. Wait here, guys.

He vanished into the crowd, and Gideon and Kaylee turned back to Robert, who was finishing the cookies.

“Have some more,” Kaylee said encouragingly. “You look hungry.”

“I am,” he admitted. “I haven’t had much to eat since yesterday.”

“That’s so sad,” Gideon said. “Why don’t you just go home?”

“Because I don’t have one,” Robert said. He sat down with his back against the wall, to be closer to their height, and they joined him. Molly had said to share the samples, and Gideon was sure that she would want them to go to someone who truly needed them. “I’ve been on the road for so long that I don’t even remember where my home was.”

“That sounds lonely,” Kaylee told him. “I would miss my family and friends. Don’t you miss them?”

“Sometimes,” Robert said. “But I carry them here with me.” And he touched his hand to his heart.

Schrodinger came back, carrying a brown paper bag that he gave to Robert. This is from Molly, he said. It has some sandwiches and a thermos of tea, and she said to tell you that any time you come through the Cove, you’re welcome to a hot meal at CrossWinds Books.

Robert took the bag, and Gideon saw there were tears in his eyes. “But why would she do that?” he asked.

Because you need help, and she likes to help, the CrossCat said. Would you like to meet her?

“I wouldn’t want to embarrass her,” Robert said. “Most folks don’t want to be seen with a tramp.”

“Molly won’t mind,” Kaylee assured him. “She loves everyone.”

The tramp smiled down at her. “I’ll bet she does. But I won’t go over now. She’s got people wanting to buy from her.” He tucked the bag Schrodinger gave him into his knapsack and stood up. “Please tell her thank you, for everything. I’ll remember you all.”

They watched him go out the door and back into the cold, his woolen cap pulled down around his ears. “Schrodinger,” Gideon said, when the door had closed, “do you think that’s what the castle meant? That we were to share with someone like Robert?”

Maybe, the CrossCat said quietly. Sadly, there are always people like Robert, who have nowhere to go.

“That’s sad,” Kaylee said. “I can’t imagine having nowhere to go.”

>Activity: Bake and share cookies with someone you like!

Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.