A Magical Christmas Present by Eugenia Riley & Lisa Cach & Victoria Alexander

Author:Eugenia Riley & Lisa Cach & Victoria Alexander [Riley, Eugenia & Cach, Lisa & Alexander, Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Anthologies (Multiple Authors), Romance, Paranormal, General
ISBN: 9780505527899
Google: Q536SBAqByAC
Publisher: Dorchester Publishing Company, Incorporated
Published: 2008-09-15T10:41:38.457000+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

Catherine shoved the needle through a cranberry, then carefully pulled the dark red berry along the string until it nestled up against its twin. She reached into the bowl for another, shoving aside those that had black soft spots or were half white. Papa was hunched on a stool next to the fire, shaking the long handle of the popcorn popper, the seeds rattling across the bottom of the black mesh container. Amy sat with her on the floor, sewing small lace pouches that would hold candies for the tree.

“How late will Mama be?” Catherine asked her father.

“I’m to fetch her at nine, and none too soon, I’m sure. That drama club causes her more grief than joy.”

“I think she enjoys complaining about them,” Catherine said.

“It’s worse this year. You know she and Maggie Walsch have written their own adaptation of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol for the stage, don’t you?”

“Dear me, no. Mama did not mention that part of it.”

“Well. You can imagine the state she gets in when our local thespians question their lines.”

Catherine pursed her lips and raised her brows, imagining the scene very well indeed. Mama was a lamb in the general course of things, but on the occasions that a creative project was put into her direct control, she became a field marshal who brooked no opposition. Those who questioned orders or threatened desertion were put to the firing squad. “Is Mr. Goodman in the play?”

“Mr. Goodman?” her father asked, eyes on the kernels that had just begun to pop. “Of course. He’s Scrooge.”

“Scrooge?” Catherine cried. “You cannot be serious.”

Papa looked over his shoulder at her. “Who better than a shopkeeper? They’re notorious for being tight-fisted.”

“But Mr. Goodman! Or does Mama see it as a joke?”

Papa frowned at her. “I don’t quite see what you’re getting at, Catherine. He’s an astute businessman, and living alone like he does in that new house of his, I think he fits the part rather well. It’s easier to imagine him in the role than, say, Mr. Tobias, who has a wife and six children and is on the library board.”

“Do people think him a miser, then?”

“I doubt that they think of him much at all. He’s a bit of a cipher, our Mr. Goodman, and keeps himself to himself,” her father said approvingly.

“Papa!” Amy cried, pointing at the fire.

“What? Oh, damn me,” Papa said, turning back to his task and finding the popper full of flaming popcorn. He used the long handle to open the lid, and dumped the lot into the fire. “That’s the third batch.”

Catherine and Amy both giggled. Papa gave them a glare.

“Why are you asking so many questions about Mr. Goodman?” Amy asked her, as Papa refilled the popper.

“Who says I am asking ’so many’? I was curious, is all,” she said primly.

Oh yes, she was curious, curious because at the second farmhouse where Mr. Goodman made a delivery he came back to the wagon with a pierced tin foot-warmer full of hot coals, knowing despite her denials that she was chilled.

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