This story was written for the 2017 Advent Calendar – Day 24<\/p>\n
Summary:\u00a0 Virginia City awaits the highly anticipated Nativity play.\u00a0 Thankfully, anyone can be an angel when there is a need.<\/p>\n
Rating:\u00a0 G\u00a0 3,700 words<\/p>\n
Then the shepherds returned,<\/em> In honour of anybody who has ever written, performed in, coached kids through, sewn costumes for or dealt with the aftermath of a nativity play. They rarely go to script and have often provided some hilarious moments \u2013 usually unintended.\u00a0 As they say in showbiz, never work with kids or animals!<\/p>\n Angels, In Spite of it All Joe tugged at the accursed string tie and tried to stop fidgeting beside his father. The ride into Virginia City had been unusually quiet as Joe had tried protesting one last time for good measure that he was too old for the school nativity pageant. Ben would have none of it and had chastised his youngest son into compliance by reminding him that he owed Miss Jones his very best efforts.<\/p>\n \u201cJoseph, your teacher hasn\u2019t forgotten last year.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOr the year before,\u201d Adam muttered to Hoss as they rode alongside the wagon. Hoss rolled his eyes and had to look away to stifle a laugh.<\/p>\n The words echoed in Joe\u2019s thoughts and he stared at his polished boots and tried to contain a groan. Nobody in the whole of Virginia City had forgotten last year! Least of all the ladies from the church guild. Last year was the reason that Joe had been relegated to a narrator\u2019s role instead of an acting part this year. It suited Joe just fine that he was done with putting on those dumb kids\u2019 costumes that Miss Jones seemed to gleefully rustle up out of their nightshirts and tablecloths. Still, a string tie was a little more than he\u2019d bargained for in terms of being dressed enough, but Pa had insisted. And when Pa insisted, there was no point arguing. If he had known what Miss Jones had in mind for him and Mitch, he would have been perfectly happy with a string tie and polished boots. And probably would have bolted into the woods before Pa could catch him.<\/p>\n As Ben pulled the wagon in alongside the building, Joe was pleased to see the Devlin\u2019s buggy not too far off up the road. At least he had Mitch to stand alongside him as he endured the embarrassment, hopefully for the last time. Next year he planned to be all done with school and that would mean somebody else would have to fill Miss Jones\u2019 places in her annual nativity pageant.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t take long to get the baskets from the back of the wagon and Hoss was only too eager to get them inside to join the pre-nativity supper. Hop Sing had outdone himself and Joe had already decided it would be the only good part of the night. He walked along the length of the trestle tables and picked at various goodies while Mitch looked equally subdued. As the oldest two students in the school, Miss Jones had made a point of reminding them both that she was expecting exemplary behaviour from them and she would settle for nothing less. The fact she felt the need to reinforce that message multiple times was not lost on either of them. She still hadn\u2019t forgiven them or at least had not forgotten last year\u2019s humiliating moment of glory.<\/p>\n Eventually, it was time for the ladies to round up the children and get them into their costumes while the men went about setting out seats in the open area. A makeshift curtain had been rigged across on a rope to make a designated stage area and two crates had been set up for the narrators to stand on.<\/p>\n Adam and Hoss settled themselves into a row and kept a space ready for their father to sit in when he was done getting Joe sorted.<\/p>\n \u201cYou reckon Pa\u2019s givin\u2019 Little Joe a last minute reminder to behave himself?\u201d Hoss nodded towards the outer room that served as the boys\u2019 dressing room.<\/p>\n \u201cI still can\u2019t believe Miss Jones thought it was a good idea to make Joe and Mitch into angels! Of all things.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss caught the glint of a laugh in his brother\u2019s eyes and laughed to himself.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe she was hopin\u2019 it\u2019d rub off on \u2018em!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHmmm.\u201d Adam crossed his arms and leaned back into his seat. \u201cWe\u2019ll soon see.\u201d<\/p>\n The look on his older brother\u2019s face told Hoss that he was less than convinced.<\/p>\n As Ben hurried back to his seat, the rest of the families were getting settled and Miss Jones made her way out to the front of the curtain. She cleared her throat and looked around as the audience began to quieten.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you, ladies and gentlemen for coming along tonight to celebrate our nativity pageant with us. The children have been working hard to prepare their parts and are very excited to share this blessed story with you all.\u201d<\/p>\n She paused and waited as Mitch and Joe appeared from the back of the room. Both boys were draped in white fabric with cords wrapped around their waists. Wings fashioned from wire and cloth were covered with white chicken feathers and as the boys solemnly walked up the centre aisle, they left a random trail of feathers behind them. Both boys refused to make eye contact with anybody and Hoss chewed on his lower lip as he watched Joe. His usually chipper little brother looked like he wanted to bolt from the room. The twisted wire halo on each boy\u2019s head was the final ironic touch. Joe hadn\u2019t said anything about having to wear a costume and he glanced at Adam who just smiled that irritating little smile that said he knew something that others didn\u2019t. Hoss narrowed his eyes at his older brother and Adam just raised a questioning eyebrow.<\/p>\n “You knew Miss Jones had them getups for those two?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam shrugged slightly in a very non-committal way, which to Hoss, was enough to prove his brother\u2019s guilt.<\/p>\n \u201cCall it payback,\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n As Joe and Mitch climbed up onto the crates, each boy still hadn\u2019t looked up and Miss Jones cleared her throat. They glanced at each other before finally facing the audience. Joe dared not look at his brothers and possibly see laughter on their faces, so he looked over the heads of those closest and stared at the people in the back row. He wasn\u2019t sure, but he thought they might have been Timmy Olsen\u2019s folks. Timmy had only been in school for the past three weeks since his family had just arrived in town. Timmy was barely just gone six and his first day of school had not gone well. He was dressed in clothes that were clearly too small and he looked kind of tatty around the edges. Suzy Jackson had taken an instant dislike to him and made it very plain what she thought of him. At the ripe old age of eleven, Suzy had already learned that money brought her a measure of power and she was quickly learning how to wield it. When Miss Jones had first suggested that Eleanor Clark would take the role of Mary in the nativity pageant, Suzy had somehow managed to get Eleanor to convince their teacher that Suzy would be a much better Mary. After all, it was the starring role and who better to star than her?<\/p>\n Joe had his suspicions about how Suzy had pulled that off, but Eleanor wasn\u2019t talking other than to say that she was quite happy being a backup angel in the heavenly host that would appear to the shepherds. Her wistful looks at Suzy\u2019s costume told another story.<\/p>\n Things were moving along reasonably well with only two children needing a whispered prompt from Miss Jones and Joe and Mitch behaving as respectable angels and narrating the story in turns. Abigail was beginning to think that just maybe this year would be different and her adaptation of the gospel would be a success. It might have been if Timmy\u2019s mother had not tried to help her son look his best for the pageant and allowed him to wear his everyday boots. Since he had only been at the school for such a short time, it was too late to give him a speaking part so Abigail had put him in charge of one side of the curtain. Each time a scene changed, Timmy and Mark Allen would pull the curtains across and stand guard on them until it was time to pull them back again, revealing the next scene.<\/p>\n If Timmy had just worn his usual boots, the scene may have ended uneventfully. But Margie Olsen had insisted that Timmy\u2019s boots were too shabby and made him wear his older cousin\u2019s new boots after pleading with the boy\u2019s mother to be allowed to borrow them. They had been polished and shone as best as they could, but they were two sizes too big, even with extra socks stuffed into the toes. As Suzy prepared for her big moment of presenting the newborn child and stood behind the curtain, waiting in anticipation, Timmy stumbled on one of his boots and tripped, headfirst, into the curtain. He tried to right himself, but his hands met flimsy material and he plunged straight through it. Suzy shrieked in righteous indignation as Timmy pushed her backwards and the whole curtain came down on top of her and her Joseph. She kicked and shouted as she tried to crawl out from under the curtain and only managed to entangle herself further. Paul Clark had known that somehow Suzy had stolen his sister\u2019s role as Mary and was only too pleased to stand on the edge of the curtain, along with the rest of the lowly shepherds, thereby preventing Suzy\u2019s escape.<\/p>\n Timmy pulled himself upright and scooted off the top of the curtain as quickly as he could. He watched in horror as Suzy finally crawled out from under the curtain and she began to scream and point her finger at him. Her hair was dishevelled and the usually pristine Suzy looked like some kind of wild thing coming at him. She flung the baby Jesus ragdoll to the floor as she marched towards him, oblivious of the audience still watching in fascinated horror.<\/p>\n Before she could reach him, Timmy turned and bolted for the door with tears of shame streaming down his face. Behind him, chaos had taken over as several of the smaller children had begun to cry and Abigail Jones looked like she may have a fit of the vapours. Parents hurried forward to settle things down and Ben was too busy trying to help untangle the shredded curtain to see his youngest son had also left the room, along with his fellow angel.<\/p>\n Mitch and Joe weren\u2019t certain, but it was a fair bet that Timmy would run to his usual hiding place. In the few short weeks he had been in town, he had attracted the attention of two of the older boys and more than once he\u2019d been seen running towards the livery stable. It was big enough in the loft for one small boy to stay well hidden.<\/p>\n The last few days had seen the town dusted with just enough snow to create a muddy sludge and by the time they made it to the livery, both Joe and Mitch were well and truly splattered with mud. They pulled up short as they heard the sound of sobbing coming from the upper loft and with a silent nod of agreement, they began to climb up to where Timmy was hiding. When he spotted them coming, he tried to burrow into the grain sacks and ignore them. When that didn\u2019t work and it was clear they weren\u2019t going anywhere, he tried kicking them. Both boys had enough experience around horses to easily sidestep the kicks and they settled themselves on either side of the distraught little boy.<\/p>\n \u201cGo \u2018way!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNope. We ain\u2019t leavin\u2019 you out here in the cold.\u201d Joe was beginning to wish he\u2019d brought along a jacket.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I ain\u2019t never goin\u2019 back in there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNobody said you had to, did they, Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNope. Nobody did.\u201d<\/p>\n Timmy rubbed a fist across his face and tried valiantly to stop his tears. Neither boy had paid him much nevermind, but neither of them had been mean to him either. Unlike his older cousin, who looked down his nose at his poor kinfolk and taunted the child with awful names.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s really gonna hate me now!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWho? Miss Jones?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSuzy! She said \u2026 she said \u2026 \u00a0I\u2019m just a dumb little poor kid. And now I \u2026\u201d Timmy sucked in a gulp of air as he considered what lay ahead of him.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t you worry none about Suzy. Besides, I think I still hold the record for the most biggest disaster in one of Miss Jones\u2019 nativities.\u201d Joe tried to smile at Timmy as the little boy frowned at the idea.<\/p>\n \u201cCan\u2019t be as bad as what I just did.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou wanna bet?\u201d Mitch laughed as Joe scowled at him.<\/p>\n Timmy looked back and forth between the two boys and shook his head. He didn\u2019t have anything to bet with and besides, his papa would tan him if he knew he was making bets.<\/p>\n \u201cLast year, I managed to set everything on fire.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d Timmy\u2019s eyes grew rounder as he stared at Joe\u2019s face. There was no trace of a smile.<\/p>\n \u201cWell \u2026 Miss Jones thought it would be a good idea for me to play Joseph. She said since it was my name, I\u2019d be a natural for the part. Except I didn\u2019t want to be Joseph. I wanted to be a shepherd since they got to bring the lambs in.\u201d<\/p>\n Mitch laughed as he recalled how Miss Jones had given his best friend a stern lecture on playing his role with enthusiasm since it was such a major part. She had rambled about Adam\u2019s stage presence when he quoted poetry and surely something of his brother had rubbed off on him. Joe then explained how he wanted to argue with her that he didn\u2019t have any such presence, but his pa had told him to do as he was told and play the role as his teacher asked. He had been a little too eager with picking up straw to fill up the manger while Mary\u2019s back was turned and she was busy finding the baby Jesus doll that was hidden under her shawl. Joe was enthusiastically tossing the hay across the stage when several bits came too close to the angels holding candles and well \u2026 Mitch laughed as he told Timmy that somehow the play ended a bit sooner than the gospel version.<\/p>\n \u201cMiss Jones said I nearly burned the place down.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, it weren\u2019t gonna come to that since Sherriff Coffee threw that bucket of water over everything.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd everyone!\u201d Joe looked at Mitch and laughed as they recalled the startled ladies from the church guild who had pride of place in the front row. Both boys could still hear their shrieks as the freezing trough water splattered over each of them.<\/p>\n As the two of them continued to regale Timmy with several more stories of how they had crossed over onto Miss jones\u2019 bad side and lived to tell the tale, they were finally interrupted by voices below them. Joe peeked over the side of the loft to see a small crowd gathered below them. His father\u2019s relieved face was better than the face he had seen last year. That face didn\u2019t bear remembering.<\/p>\n \u201cSon, why don\u2019t you bring Timmy down here? His folks are worried about him.\u201d<\/p>\n It took a little coaxing, but finally, all three boys were out of the loft and Timmy was enveloped in his mother\u2019s arms as she stroked his hair and plucked bits of straw from it.<\/p>\n Joe and Mitch stood to one side and Hoss nudged at Joe\u2019s elbow. \u201cDon\u2019t let Miss Jones see what you two done to them purty costumes of hers. She ain\u2019t gonna be happy.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam leaned against the railing and tried not to laugh. Two more bedraggled-looking angels did not exist. He\u2019d wondered aloud on the way to town about his brother playing an angel and Joe hadn\u2019t disappointed him. Their wings had been discarded on the road outside the hall and would clearly never be used again. The robes would take some serious laundering if they were ever going to be white again. Nope, Joe looked exactly how Adam had first envisaged him as an angel – less than squeaky clean and with no halo to be found.<\/p>\n The ride home from town was even more subdued than the ride in as Joe huddled under a blanket and pretended to be asleep. It was easier than joining the conversation and reliving the whole horrible mess.<\/p>\n \u201cThat poor little tyke couldn\u2019t help trippin\u2019 over them huge boots. What was his mama thinkin\u2019 makin\u2019 him wear them?\u2019<\/p>\n Ben turned towards his middle son as Hoss rode along beside the wagon.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was trying to put her son in the best she could manage. It was just unfortunate that it went the way it did. The Olsens have had a hard time of it in recent months and money is very tight.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs that why you told her they were invited to Christmas dinner tomorrow night?\u201d Hoss had heard his father asking, but wasn\u2019t sure of the outcome.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, she was reluctant to take what they thought was charity, but it seems that Adam managed to charm her and Timmy\u2019s pa into saying yes. They\u2019ll be arriving by four.\u201d<\/p>\n The group rode on in silence for a while longer until Hoss began to laugh. At first, it was a muffled noise as he buried his nose in his scarf, but it quickly grew into a full belly laugh.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s so funny?\u201d Adam watched as Hoss struggled to hold himself upright in the saddle.<\/p>\n \u201cI was just thinkin\u2019. Joe and Mitch forgot one story that we\u2019ll have to share with the Olsens tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe huddled under the blanket, his fists balling together as he wondered just what his older brother could be talking about.<\/p>\n \u201cRemember little brother\u2019s first nativity?\u201d *<\/p>\n Adam glanced at his father\u2019s face, knowing that day was still firmly set in all of their memories. It was a story he and Hoss enjoyed teasing Joe with from time to time.<\/p>\n \u201cCould we ever forget?\u201d Ben had an inkling his youngest son was awake under the blanket and his suspicion was confirmed as Joe shot upright, looking indignantly around at the trio.<\/p>\n \u201cI was a baby!\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss guffawed at his brother\u2019s face while Adam turned aside to avoid eye contact.<\/p>\n \u201cYour mother thought it was a good idea.\u201d Ben patted Joe\u2019s arm, trying to settle his son before things turned the wrong way. \u201cAnd she said that with Adam\u2019s help, all\u2019s well that ends well.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, I can\u2019t hear that song without thinkin\u2019 on Little Joe\u2019s hollerin\u2019 in front of all them important folks!\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss laughed again as Joe scowled at him. Before his brother could say anything further, Adam\u2019s rich, deep voice carried over the crisp night air.<\/p>\n \u201cHark, the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king.\u201d<\/p>\n Soon another voice joined in and another and even Joe finally found himself singing the beautiful carol as the horses made their way home.<\/p>\n \u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.<\/p>\n On the outer edge of town, another family was getting ready for bed after a long and eventful night. Margie tucked the blanket up around Timmy\u2019s chin and leaned forward to kiss her son on the forehead. His eyes gleamed with laughter as he looked up at her.<\/p>\n \u201cMama, did you know what Hoss did one time in his nativity pageant?\u201d<\/p>\n Margie sat back and tried to think of Hoss being small enough to be in a school play.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, but I\u2019m sure you will tell me, darling.\u201d They had stood under the loft and listened for some time before making their presence known as Joe and Mitch had tried to cheer her son up with their own tales of disaster.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe said that when Hoss was in his pageant, he was a shepherd. His dog had just had pups and Hoss brought the littlest one of them with him, inside his jacket. His pa didn\u2019t know and he didn\u2019t think anyone would see it, \u2018cause it was so little. Joe said that the puppy got loose and peed on the floor, right by the manger. When they tried to catch the puppy, it ran off and Hoss slipped over on the floor and hurt his nose. Joe said shepherds ain\u2019t supposed to have bloody noses and Hoss had to go and sit off the side of the stage with a bag of snow on his nose.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDid Hoss get his puppy back?\u201d<\/p>\n Timmy frowned at his mother\u2019s question.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know. Joe didn\u2019t say that bit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, perhaps you can ask Hoss tomorrow. After all, some things are more important than others.\u201d<\/p>\n Once again, Margie leaned forward and kissed her son goodnight.<\/p>\n After she pulled the door closed behind her, she leaned against it and smiled. As she thought on\u00a0all the things that they had heard and seen<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0since arriving in the town with barely two coins to rub together and a vague promise of a fresh start, she smiled as she recalled the words they had overheard in the livery. Two boys, who were clearly no angels, in spite of their attire, had taken her son under their wings and given him hope. On this holy night, of all nights, hope was a gift she would treasure.<\/p>\n ~The End<\/p>\n Hope is a gift and as I was writing this, I was listening to\u00a0O Holy Night<\/em>. It is my favourite Christmas carol. I\u2019ve included a link to one beautiful version of it, sung by Josh Groban.<\/p>\n
\nglorifying and praising God for\u00a0all the things that they had heard and seen<\/strong><\/b>,<\/em>
\nas it was told them.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n~~by Questfan<\/b><\/p>\n
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