Eighth Day
of Christmas
At
three o’clock in the multi-purpose room, Timmy helped the other carolers put
away the chairs they pulled out from under the stage. They had been practicing since noon. Assistant
Reverend Roger directed.
Timmy
was excited. He had turned twelve and
graduated from the little kid Sunday school program to the bigger kid program. That made him eligible to join the choir and
be a caroler for the first time. And to
add to the excitement they were going to drive out and sing to his neighborhood
first.
Reverend
Roger handed each of them vests like the road guards wore around the school
only the vests were red and green and trimmed in garland sown next to reflective
strips. Half the carolers had Santa
Claus caps to top off the presentation.
After they donned the vests, they took their folders with the sheet
music for a dozen carols they had been practicing.
Timmy
had a folder too and held it up with rest for the uniform appearance they gave
but he didn’t need it because he had memorized them all. They were ready to go. The setting couldn’t have been better. A light snow fall fell on the sun warmed streets
melting off instantly. Only the temperature
was starting to drop. Black ice was in
the cards and Reverend Roger warned about stepping carefully crossing the
streets.
The
carolers piled out of the church van at the top of Timmy’s street. They formed up in a crescent in front of the
first house on the street while Reverend Roger walked up to the door and
knocked on the door.
A woman
answered, listened to the Reverend and went back in. In a minute, she returned with a man and
three kids. She had a cell phone
raised. Reverend stood to one side and gave
the count. They sang Deck the Halls, followed
by Silent Night, and three more songs, finishing the set with Wish You a Merry
Christmas.
The
troop of carolers worked their way down the street. Timmy sang for his mom and dad, and Sally
from his own front lawn. Mom had her
digital camera out. There was little
doubt in Timmy’s mind that the singers had been well documented with pictures
and video.
Leaving
Timmy’s house, they turned the corner and sang their way down the street. Three houses in a row didn’t answer the door
and one told them to go away. Timmy was
puzzled by that and chocked it up to something to talk to dad about later. Finally, they came to Mrs. Davenport’s home.
The
Reverend knocked and Mrs. Davenport appeared immediately. She went back in and came back out with her
coat and put it on. Timmy and his fellow
singers started their set. Mrs.
Davenport grinned and bobbed her head to the voices. Timmy couldn’t have hardly felt better except
for the annoying warbling sirens just a few blocks away.
“Please
wait a second.” Mrs. Davenport
said. She went back in the house and returned
with the keeper of cookies Timmy had left her a few days ago. The top row of the sugar cookies was
gone. Prying the top off she offered
each of the carolers a cookie. Timmy
didn’t want to take one. He wanted for
her to have them but knew she wanted to share and would feel bad if he didn’t
take a cookie. Reaching in he selected
the smallest one in the layer.
“Thank
you, Mrs. Davenport,” Timmy said. The
others echoed his appreciation.
Mrs.
Davenport just shook her head and waved her other hand. “No, no.
My pleasure. Your singing is divine.” On that note, she retreated back into the house.
Timmy followed
the rest out of the yard and closed the gate.
They headed to the next house that stood on the corner of the main
road. Timmy heard the screeching of
metal and the sirens were louder than ever.
He saw blue and red flashes of light on the snow banked by the plow as a
car careened around the corner and slid across the street the carolers were
walking on.
The
silver projectile hit the curb broadside and flipped over once, spun and slide
on it’s top into the yard on the corner.
Reverend Roger and Mrs. Jamieson were walking side by side as they lead the
rest on the sidewalk. The pair was
clipped by the spin of the car and thrown clear across the street. The police car, and two more hit their brakes
hard. Another police car came down from
the direction of Timmy’s home.
They
skidded to a stop as their studded tires dug into the pavement and as on cue
five officers descended on the silver car with guns drawn. No one came out of the car that was chased
into the yard. One of the officers, pulled
a baton and busted out the driver’s window, reached in and grabbed an arm. In the span of a breath, two more officers helped
him to drag the man out the window. They
forced the man’s head into the snow. The
driver thrashed about and the officers told him to lie still or they would taz
him. Then he howled and Timmy heard a
crackling sound.
The
carolers dispersed. Some were tending to
Reverend Roger and some to Mrs. Jamieson.
One of the decans shed his jacket and put it under her head. Two of the officers peeled off from the
silver car and helped with the fallen carolers.
Timmy heard more sirens growing louder in the distance.
Within
a minute the paramedics were on the scene.
“We’re
needing another EMT unit at this location.”
Timmy
spun to see another policeman that had just pulled up talk into a microphone on
his lapel.
People
were pouring out of the houses up the street.
They stood in their yards to gawk.
He turned again and him mom and dad were headed his way. Timmy looked at Reverend Roger and he was trying
to sit up but the paramedic wouldn’t let him.
Mrs. Jamieson just laid there.
Almost
as though it appeared out of nothing, another EMT unit arrived and was loading
Mrs. Jamieson, slammed all the doors and left with sirens and lights. That
isn’t good. Timmy remembered what his dad had told him. Tim looked over at where Reverend Roger had
been and the EMT’s were rounding the corner with lights only. Timmy sighed.
“Timmy,
you alright?” mom asked as she came to a
sliding stop with her feet flying out from under her. His dad caught her and righted her.
“Tim, you
okay?”
“Yeah,
I’m fine.” He looked around at all the
activity. What just happened?
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