(advent) Day 14 – Caroling…

[vg_ford]

Wednesday, December 14

“I love snow days,” Gideon announced, leaning back against Jack’s side in the pile of children, dog, and CrossCat. They were in Schrodinger’s extra-large cat bed, cuddled up next to the wood stove, in the snug tea room at CrossWinds Books. Outside, there was a steady snowfall going on, and school had been canceled, which is why there was a Lily with them, currently reading a book on sharks. Kaylee was watching a video on her tablet, her eyes half-closed and her favorite doll held close. Gideon had been watching with her, but now he looked around the room.

In the three months since they had moved to Carter’s Cove from Austin, Texas, Gideon had been by terms enchanted, excited, and homesick. The snowy Maine coast was about as far from the desert town he’d been born in, but it was a new adventure. He missed his cousins, but his mother had promised they could come up in the spring, maybe for their school break. And in Austin, there hadn’t been a CrossCat to hang around with.

Or a magic Advent castle.

“Let’s see if you’re still saying that in March,” Lily said, without looking up. “It’s pretty now, but you’ll be sick of it.”

I don’t know. I was pretty excited all winter my first winter here, Schrodinger said, shifting just a little to put his paws under his chin. And there’s something cool about snow in Carter’s Cove.

I think part of it is the fact that there are more sleighs than cars in the winter, Jack added. Because there’s just something cool about sleigh rides.

“I never had a sleigh ride before here,” Gideon agreed. “But I got to ride in a wagon! We had a friend who had a ranch, and he had a pony cart that we could use.”

“That’s cool!” Kaylee said, looking up. “Maybe Pavel will take us out again in his sleigh.”

“I really liked the ram,” Gideon said. He looked over at the rest of them. “Hey, do you think that we could do the Advent calendar now? Molly said we could after it quieted down, and we’re the only ones here right now.”

It was true. The tea room was uncharacteristically empty, especially since it was only a week until Christmas Eve. Earlier in the day, there had been people in and out, but now, it was just them, and Molly making gingerbread in the kitchen.

They’d offered to help, but Molly had told them that this was the boring part. “I’m just mixing and baking,” she’d said, shooing them out into the tea room. “I promise you can help me decorate, though. Right now, I just have to make all the pieces.”

Lily looked up from her book and then checked her watch. “Yes, I think so,” she said, putting a bookmark in her place before stowing the book in her bag. She always had at least three books plus her tablet with her. Gideon was awed by the amount Lily read. Then again, her aunt DID own a bookstore, so he supposed that reading was in her blood.

They trooped into the kitchen, where Molly was leaning back against the island, a cup of tea in her hand. There were piles and piles of neatly stacked gingerbread on the far counter, and Gideon’s eyes widened. “What are you going to do with all those?” he asked.

“Make gingerbread houses,” Molly said, smiling at them. “They’re all due to be delivered early next week, so I need to put them together tomorrow and Friday. We’ll decorate them Sunday.”

“What about Saturday?” he said. “Are we doing that too?”

“No, Saturday all the grownups are busy getting ready to go to the Snow Queen’s Ball,” Kaylee told him. “We’ll probably be babysat.”

“I don’t know,” Lily said. “Remember the last calendar? We got to go.”

“No, I was a baby, and I didn’t get to go,” Kaylee said, pouting a little.

But now you aren’t, Schrodinger said, and nosed her. I’ll bet that even if you don’t get to go to the Ball, the calendar will have something cool for us to do.

That cheered her up, but Gideon frowned. “The Snow Queen’s Ball?”

“Oh yeah, you don’t know!” Lily said. “The Snow Queen and Jack throw a ball the last Saturday before Christmas! Everyone in the Cove gets dressed in fancy outfits and goes to the magical grove outside of town and dances all night!”

“Mom and Molly always look like princesses,” Kaylee added. “I hope we get to go!”

“Wow. A magic grove?” Gideon said. “I’d love to see that.”

“Molly got married there,” Lily said. “It’s outside, but it’s warm, and you can see the sky! And there are trees!” She turned to Molly. “Maybe if we aren’t going to the ball, we could go out there one day and show him?”

“I don’t think that would be a problem,” Molly said. “We can definitely ask, if you aren’t at the Ball. But let’s see.” She put her tea mug down. “Did you want to do the Advent calendar now?”

Please! Schrodinger said. Since it’s quiet!

Molly went and got the castle, and they all clustered around it, looking for the number 14. Gideon was looking at it, and then he realized that there was a smaller building that he hadn’t seen before. It was tucked up beside the inner wall, a round building that looked as if it had once been the top of a tower, but some giant hand had cut it off and then placed it on the ground.

And then he leaned in further. “Hey, guys, I found it!”

The 14 was almost hidden by the overhanging eaves but it was there. He reached out and touched it, and instead of a window, the front door opened.

The room expanded, and they saw a group of people with instruments, practicing. There was someone playing the clarinet, someone with a flute, someone with a viola, and, in the center, a man playing an immense floor harp. There were snowflakes in the air, dancing around in time to the Christmas carols the quartet was playing.

One of them whirled out of the front door and into the kitchen, spinning madly and shedding, not sparkles, but musical notes.

“Ooh!” Gideon said, watching the snowflake. “What does it mean?”

The snowflake gave one final spin and then drifted down to him. As it touched his outstretched palm, it turned into a piece of paper. “Music is important, as it binds us together,” he read out loud. “And it’s written weird. Look!”

He showed them how the words were on a kind of grid.

“That’s a musical score,” Molly said. “Pretty neat, huh?”

“Yeah,” Gideon said, staring at it. “So are we playing music?”

“Not exactly.”

This was a new voice, and Gideon turned to see a tall, slender man with a plaid shirt and blue jeans coming in. The tips of his pointed ears peeked through his braided hair, and his hazel eyes were kind. Behind him stood the lovely Mareesh girl Starsha.

“Are you playing, Darien?” Lily asked.

“I am, and I was hoping you guys would come with me,” Darien said. “Pavel has been nice enough to offer to bring us to the harbor, and we were going to play at the Seaman’s Hall.”

“What’s that?” Kaylee said. “I’ve never heard of that!”

“That’s because you aren’t a seaman, Kaylee,” Molly said, laughing a little at the indignation in the little girl’s voice. “There’s no reason for you to have heard of it.”

“The Seaman’s Hall is where the older sailors congregate,” Starsha said kindly. “Last year, Master Darien and I went there and sang for them at Christmas, and we’ve been invited back. We thought you might like to join us.”

“Can we?” Lily asked, turning to Molly. “Please?”

Molly nodded. “I know Pavel’s going, and so yes, you can. Go get your coats and hats, and I’ll pack up a basket of goodies for you.”

Pavel had his big sleigh, and there were two sheep hitched to it. “I like these two,” he said, when Gideon asked him why. “They’re much steadier than the horses. I think I might ask my friend Whitebeard if I can have them.”

They were different from the ram he had used the other day. These were all white, except for their noses and their knees, which were black as coal. One had curling horns nestled close to his head, and they reached out eagerly to the children who clustered around them.

“Oh, their noses are so soft!” Lily said, stroking the right one’s face. “Like velvet! Pavel, what are their names?”

“That one is Corsica, and his sister is Adelaide,” he told her, and handed each of them a small block of what looked like pressed grass. “Hold out your hand like you would for a horse, and they’ll take these.”

Indeed, as soon as they held out their hands, Corsica and Adelaide gobbled the treats up as if they were candy.

“Can I help you drive?” Gideon asked, as they climbed in. “Please?”

“Sure!” Pavel gave him a hand up to the driver’s seat, and said, “Let me get them started, and once we’re moving, you can drive, okay?”

“Okay!”

Once everyone else was settled in the back (and Gideon saw with delight that his mother had joined them, rather than writing) and Goldie had said, “We’re all good, capt’n!” Pavel slapped the reins lightly on the sheep’s backs and they were off.

True to his word, Pavel handed over the reins and Gideon felt the thrill of actually driving the sleigh. “Nice and slow, lad,” Pavel said, leaning back. “No joyrides today, or Master Darien will have our heads.”

“Only if you break my harp,” the minstrel called from the back. “That’s the important thing. It’s impossible to replace.”

“I’ll be careful!” Gideon promised. “No joyriding!”

The street was wide and smooth; with the snow falling, there weren’t very many people out, and most of them were in either sleighs or on snowmobiles, although there were a few Jeeps and trucks around. The sheep plodded steadily through the snow, and once they had crested the hill and started down to the harbor, Pavel took the reins back.

Gideon at that point was happy to let him. He’d never been down to the harbor before, and he was too busy looking around him to pay attention to driving.

Carter’s Cove was situated on the Atlantic Ocean, and the harbor had been an important part of its development. In addition to the regular trade from around the world that had come in, there was a Sea Road that came through, so there were all kinds of ships that docked at its piers. As they went down along the docks, Gideon saw everything from ships with massive sails to what looked like tugboats and fishing boats, to a big ship that might have been an ocean liner. There were more people on the streets as well, because the shipping season didn’t stop for snow. The air was full of salt and the babble of hundreds of languages. It was intoxicating, and slightly overwhelming.

“Are we going by the Desire, Pavel?” Lily asked.

“Not today, love,” he replied. “The Seaman’s Hall is over on the other side of the cove, in the shelter of the cliffs, and Desire is too big to berth there. But perhaps after Christmas, I’ll be able to take you all for a ride.”

“On a REAL PIRATE SHIP?” The sheer awesomeness of that idea made Gideon’s heart sing. Wouldn’t that be something to tell his cousins?

The sleigh turned and stopped in front of a long, low building that looked like it might have been carved from the stone cliffs that towered above it. It was solid, with large windows and a big front door of iron and oak. Two massive anchors were on either side of the door, and someone had twined colored lights around them. A big wooden sign above the door said “Seaman’s Hall” in golden letters, and there were more Christmas lights twined around it.

Pavel pulled the sheep to a stop, and they all tumbled out of the sleigh. From a special compartment in the back, Darien pulled out a large wrapped package, and led them into the Hall.

Warmth pooled out from the open doorway, coming not only from the massive fireplaces at both ends of the hall (which had logs in them that must have been whole trees, they were so big), but from all the people that were gathered inside the great room. It was one big room, with a bunch of round tables, that reminded him a little of the big room they’d gone to at the nursing home. Instead of a soft carpet and a large piano in one corner, though, there was a hard wooden floor and a long bar set up against one wall, with two men standing behind it polishing glasses and wearing white aprons. Older men and women sat around with large mugs of coffee, tea, and what he suspected was beer, talking and working on small projects. Some were knitting, some were carving wood or stones, and some were playing checkers, chess, or other board games that he didn’t recognize.

It was an amazing place.

“Ho, Captain Chekhov!” A loud voice cut through the hubbub and a man wearing faded jeans and a striped shirt pushed his way towards them. He had a Santa hat perched rakishly atop his white hair. “Did you bring us some new recruits, then?”

“Hardly, Smitty,” Pavel said, laughing and slapping the man on the back. “These fine souls are Molly’s nieces and friends, and if I were to come back without them…” He let the words trail off, and held up the basket Molly had given him. “Let’s just say that you’ll probably never see any of this again.”

“Molly’s nieces? Bless my soul! We are honored!” Smitty said, sweeping off his hat and bowing to Lily, who was trying not to giggle, and Kaylee, who was staring wide-eyed at him. “And who is this handsome young fellow?” he said, turning to Gideon.

“I’m Gideon, and I’m Molly’s friend,” he said, shrinking back a little against his mother. “So you can’t take me either. Right, Mom?”

“Right,” Kiaya said. “We have things that we still have to do.”

“Welcome to the Seaman’s Hall, Gideon!” Smitty said, bowing to him as well. “And to Mother, as well!”

Then he looked at Jack and Schrodinger. “And you fine gentlemen are back! Did you have a good time last time?”

Always, Schrodinger said. Then again, I’m always up for beating you at backgammon.

Smitty winked at him before turning to Darien. “And Master Darien! Mistress Starsha!”

“Not Mistress yet,” Starsha corrected him. “I’m still an apprentice.”

Smitty waved an airy hand. “Technically, yes, I suppose, but is there any doubt that you will be given the title?”

“Until I have earned it, I do not assume anything,” she said, smiling to take the sting from her words. “But you are most kind.”

“Are you here to sing for us, then?” Smitty asked, looking at the package in Darien’s arms.

“We are indeed,” the minstrel replied, and his words sparked a cheer from the assembled crowd.

“Then follow me!”

Smitty led them all through the crowd of sailors, who parted for them eagerly. There was a small raised stage by one of the fireplaces, and a table that Smitty pointed to them.

Darien and Starsha got up on the stage, and while Starsha took off her coat, he unwrapped the package he was carrying. The harp he took out from its protective coatings and set on his lap glowed in the light from the lanterns that hung from the ceilings, its strings bright silver against the dark wood.

The notes that he coaxed from the harp meshed with Starsha’s voice, rising above the dying murmurs of the crowd. Gideon listened, spellbound, as the two musicians began to sing.

>Activity: Caroling is fun! Share some carols with your family and friends!

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