Dave, dear, give our love to Tracey and tell her we are thrilled with the prospect of becoming grandparents.
Jerri, darting, if you are happy with Rob, we are happy for you. We hope we can meet him someday.
I must close now. You know, we were just last night saying what would we do if we were your age and in your place? Would Ray go into his father's supermarket business? Would I settle on being a housewife and champion bridge player? I wonder; we both do.
Much love,
Mother
"Can you believe it?" Dave asked, closing the letter.
"My God," Jerri said, sitting back in a chair.
Dave sat down on the couch. "It's working, it really is," Dave said, confident that even more would come of it.
"What was all the yelling about?" Tracey asked, entering the room.
"Mom wrote-here, read it!" Dave said, handing the letter to his wife.
Tracey took the letter and read it. Her face lighted up and she looked down to her husband and smiled. "That's amazing," she said.
"Sure gives us hope," Jerri said.
"You know," Tracey added," I don't think you could have asked for a better Christmas present!"
"Right on!" Dave exclaimed.
Late that night, the tribe drove into Santa Fe to stop at the little church where they left gifts for children of the orphanage in the city. Then they stopped at "Father's" commune and wished their friends a peaceful Christmas.
Back home, they sat in front of the fire and sang songs-Christmas carols and other favorites-and relaxed, ready to spend all Christmas day delivering the many gifts they had made for the children.
In the preceding weeks, Russell and Carol had begun to take a liking to each other which superseded their normal relationship as members of the tribe. And now they sat, paired off on the floor-Carol and Russell, Dave and Tracey, Jerri and Rob-as they watched the fire burn itself to nothing.
When the coals were no more than glowing ashes, they went to bed. It was a beautiful winter night, with light snow falling outside the farmhouse, and each pair felt warm and safe in each other's arms.
The tribe was up bright and early on Christmas to get an early start on their deliveries. They packed the station wagon and the van they had borrowed from" Father" and drove off into the hills, stopping at every cabin, village, farm, and city where there were poor people.
At one little house in the mountains, Jerri handed a homemade doll to a little girl. The girl took the gift in her hands and cuddled it to her breast. She looked up at her mother, and then to Jerri, her wide little eyes exploding with happiness. Then she turned to her mother again.
"She cannot speak; God did not bless her with a voice," the dark-haired woman said. "But she says thank you with her eyes."
Jerri picked the girl off the ground and hugged her to her body. Then the little girl kissed her and Jerri turned around and walked away, feeling sad and happy at the same time.
It was typical of the day. All over the county, children's Christmas wishes were coming true. And it gave each member of the tribe a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment.
It was early evening when all the gifts had finally been delivered. The tribe was tired, eager to return to the ranch and sleep. It had been a good Christmas, and Carol's food and a nice night's sleep would make it complete.
Rob was driving the van-Russell followed with the station wagon-as they neared the dirt road that led into Snow Canyon. Everyone was slumped in their seats, resting after the arduous day. Suddenly Rob applied the brakes and shouted, "LOOK!"
They were at the side of the hill, just around the corner from the drive leading to the house and barn. From the top of the hill came an orange glow, like the crater of an erupting volcano, and smoke billowed into the air.
"By God, smoke!" Jerri said, looking out the window as Rob pointed.
Suddenly Rob stepped on the gas pedal, and pressed it to the floor as the van slid on the wet ground and careened around the corner of the hillside. The station wagon followed.
Rob couldn't believe his eyes as the entire main barn stood burning in front of the van. He slammed on the brakes again as Jerri jumped out, running near the fire, trying to do something.
"The horses!" she screamed, realizing there was nothing anyone could do.
Russell brought the station wagon to a halt and jumped out. Carol and Dave and Tracey joined Jerri and Rob close to the barn and they felt the roaring heat of the flames against their faces.
Suddenly, they all heard a horse cry-a shuddering, animal cry that echoed in the canyon-as a beam at the roof of the barn crashed to the ground. Then, immediately after, a chicken ran from the burning building, its feathers burning, singed, black, and it screeched until it dropped dead in the middle of the yard.
Jerri began to cry as Rob pulled her away, turning her away from the fire, holding her tightly in his arms.
"Why? Why, Rob?" Jerry sobbed.
"Shhh, it's okay, honey," Rob said, trying to comfort her.
The others stared in stunned disbelief as the barn disintegrated before their eyes, A pungent odor filled the canyon as the flesh of their dead animals burned in the flames. There was nothing to do. The nearest fire station was in Taos, but it would have taken hours to get help to the canyon, and on top of that it was Christmas. There was no danger of the house catching on fire-it was a good distance from the barn and the wind was carrying the flames and burning embers away from the wooden structure. They could only stand and watch futilely.
Carol couldn't stand it any longer. She turned away and looked at the sky and then brought her eyes to the top of the hill, in the direction of the wooded area. There, standing on top of the hill, on the edge of the Circle-T land, was the figure of a boy. The flames were strong enough to outline his features, and though he must not have realized that he could be seen, he stood there looking at the fire, Carol knew that figure-she would know it anywhere-and she nudged Russell and directed his gaze to the hillside.
"Jim," she said softly. In a second the figure of the boy disappeared.
They watched as the fire died down and then stared in shock as the final walls of the barn came crashing to the cold earth.
"Come on, everyone," Rob said sadly," we've got work to do."
They began to move toward the pile of burning wood that had been their barn.
Hours later, after they had poured buckets of water on the last of the burning embers, they gathered in the living room, washing their arms and faces in pans of soapy water.
"We'll get Father to help us in the morning with the animals," Rob said, drying his face in a towel.
"Dirty motherfucker!" Dave said, throwing his wet shirt to the floor. "I'd like to burn his fucking HOUSE down with him in it!"
"Okay, okay, take it easy," Rob warned.
"Oh, shit, take it easy! We just lost our horses, chickens, feed, vegetables, equipment…" Dave was blustering now, walking around the room like an animal in a cage. "How the fuck can they do that?"
"Look, man, they're fucked-up people. But doing the same to them isn't going to prove anything. That will just cause a war," Rob said intelligently.
"I'd love to slice that kid's balls off," Carol said.
"It couldn't have been him alone," Russell added," there was kerosene poured around the entire building. Anyway, even if he acted alone, it was the hatred of all of them that did it, that caused him to do it."