Mattie shivered and turned up the collar of her coat as she made her way through the
jostling crowd. Where was everyone going this Christmas Eve, she wondered. Most of
them probably had friends and family to share it with. Mattie knew where she'd be
spending Christmas -- alone in her room . . . again.
This year was no different than the last. Oh, the place was different. Miles City was
a bustling town full of nameless, faceless people. "Scuse me, Miss," one of them said
as he bumped into her on the crowded walk. His hat had been knocked from his head,
and he bent to retrieve it before it could be trampled by the many stamping feet. Mattie watched him jam it back on his head and continue on his way without even glancing at
her. Am I invisible, she wondered. No one ever really looks at me. They just don't
seem to see me.
Mattie stepped to the edge of the boardwalk and looked up into the early evening sky
where the stars were just beginning to wink out. One. Two. Five. Softly in the distance, church bells began to chime, and she glanced absently at the queue of people winding
their way toward the simple brick structure at the edge of town: a man in a top hat striding briskly, a mother pulling a reluctant five-year-old, a man in tattered clothing, blowing on
his hands to keep warm.
Mattie supposed she might as well join them. She certainly had nothing better to do
tonight. Taking a deep breath, she blew it out slowly, gathering her nerve. Then she
stepped down off the boardwalk, and joined the late stragglers heading for Christmas
Eve services.
As the last bell chimed, Mattie entered the church and felt her small measure of courage leave her. The sanctuary was full, and she quaked at the thought of making her way up
the aisle alone while everyone stared. Just when she was thinking about turning around
and high-tailing it out of there, she spied a vacant spot on the back pew and quickly made
her way to it.
It had been years since she'd been inside a church, and Mattie felt uneasy at the press
of so many people, but she tried to concentrate on the service that was beginning.
Two boys in blue robes were lighting candles at the front of the church. The sanctuary
glowed with the soft light, and Mattie thought she's never seen anything so beautiful.
How she wished Unbob could see it.
Mattie's heart sank a little at the thought of the simple handyman. Of all the people
he'd left behind in Curtis Wells, she missed him the most. With his sweet and loving
nature, he was the very spirit of Christmas. Mattie smiled. He was probably hanging
up his stocking right about now. The man firmly believed In Santa Claus.
The sweet strains of Silent Night wafted over the congregation as a guitar played the introduction to the familiar song. And as she sang along, Mattie felt a sort of peace
steal over her. It was her favorite carol. She remembered her mother singing it every Christmas Eve.
Softly, Christmas memories of long ago washed over her: her father holding her on his
knee while they all sang carols around the Christmas tree. Mother baking cookies: gingerbread, Mattie's favorite, and thumbprint cookies with jam in the middle. Mattie's
mouth watered at the memory, and she could almost smell them baking. And Christmas morning. No matter how poor they were, her Father had always managed some kind of Christmas for her and her brothers, often carving toys for them: horses, sleighs, tiny
wagons with wheels that really turned. Mattie's thoughts turned to Unbob again and
the toys he had whittled last Christmas for the kids back home in CW.
Back home? Curtis Wells? Sad memories mingled with some happy ones. Maybe it
had been home once. Not anymore.
Mattie lent her soft alto to the remaining carols and listened to the Christmas story,
read by children dressed as angels. Their sweet, bright faces shone with excitement
as they told the ageless tale of Christ's birth.
Outside after the service, no one spoke to her, but it didn't matter anymore. There was
a simple crèche nestled in some pines on the church lawn, and she stood gazing at it
for some time. The donkey, lambs, and camel turned her thoughts once more to Unbob,
and she had to smile. Unbob believed that all the beasts talked on Christmas Eve, and
she could imagine him bedding down in the livery tonight to test his theory.
As Mattie turned to go, she gazed up into the heavens, now blanketed with stars, and
she thought about Call. Where was he tonight? She hoped he was somewhere warm.
he sighed as she pushed her bittersweet memories aside. One star on the eastern
horizon burned brighter than the rest, and Mattie watched it twinkle for a moment
before starting home.
And on a barren hilltop outside CW, his mare ghostly in the moonlight, Call looked up
at the same star and thought about someone he missed very much. Merry Christmas, Mattie, he said in his heart.
The End
12/05
