{"id":46736,"date":"2023-12-24T20:16:44","date_gmt":"2023-12-25T01:16:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=46736"},"modified":"2025-09-25T15:37:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T19:37:20","slug":"the-miracle-of-midnight-by-inca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=46736","title":{"rendered":"The Miracle of Midnight (by Inca)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bonanza<\/strong><\/span>
\n~*~*~ Advent Calendar ~*~*~<\/strong><\/span>
\n* Day 9 *<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Summary:\u00a0The trouble with grownups was that they were always busy.\u00a0 Too busy, to Little Joe\u2019s mind.
\nRating:\u00a0 G
\nWords:\u00a0 3,520<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

The Miracle of Midnight<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI just need to finish this first, Little Joe,\u201d Adam said when he asked his oldest brother, and Pa said, \u201cLater, Joseph.\u201d\u00a0 Even Hoss, who wasn\u2019t really a grown up yet because he was only twelve, had looked apologetic as he pointed at the sacks on the back of the wagon and said, \u201cI gotta shift all them, Little Joe, then I gotta check on the cows and make sure they\u2019re all fed.\u00a0 I can go with you after that if you like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Little Joe sat down on the porch step, looked down at the folded piece of paper in his hand and sighed.\u00a0 It was Christmas Eve already and the middle of the afternoon. If he didn\u2019t deliver his letter before evening, Christmas would be here and it would be too late.<\/p>\n

The letter had been Adam\u2019s idea.\u00a0 A few days before, at breakfast, they had all been talking about how it would soon be Christmas and Pa had asked Joe if there was anything special he\u2019d like as a present. Instead of excitement, Joe had found himself overwhelmed by a sudden and unexpected sadness he couldn\u2019t explain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want Mamma back,\u201d he\u2019d said.<\/p>\n

Adam and Pa had exchanged looks with each other, then Pa had said, \u201cThat can\u2019t happen, Joe, you know that, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe did know.\u00a0 Of course he did.\u00a0 Mamma was dead.\u00a0 She was in a grave by the lake and she couldn\u2019t come back.\u00a0 But that didn\u2019t stop him wishing.\u00a0 And hoping against hope.\u00a0 Because, in spite of knowing it couldn\u2019t happen \u2013 not really – he could never quite make it go away, the secret hope inside him.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t help it, he just found himself thinking that one day, maybe, just maybe, she would prove them all wrong, and she would walk through the door and be real again.<\/p>\n

After breakfast, Adam had put his hand on Joe\u2019s shoulder and said, \u201cYou could write a letter to your mamma, Little Joe.\u00a0 We could take it up to her and put it on her grave.\u00a0 What do you think?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe had considered this for a few moments.\u00a0 Writing was not his favorite occupation and he wasn\u2019t very good at it, but he did like the idea of communicating with his mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could tell her some of the things you\u2019ve done this year.\u00a0 She\u2019d be very proud of you, you know. I can help you write it if you like.\u201d<\/p>\n

So that was what he had done.\u00a0 With Adam\u2019s help, he had composed a resume of the most important events of the past year: the giant trout he\u2019d caught all by himself, the race he\u2019d won at the harvest picnic, the new saddle he\u2019d been given for his sixth birthday, the boat Pa and Adam had built so they could sail on the lake, and the wonderful morning the pig got into the house.\u00a0 It felt good to see all that news written down on a clean sheet of paper, even though there were more smudges and crossings out than he had hoped for.\u00a0 In the space that was left on the page, he decided to add a picture, and there was no question in his mind about what that should be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to draw a picture of Midnight,\u201d he told Adam.\u00a0 Midnight was Mamma\u2019s horse.\u00a0 After Mamma\u2019s accident Pa had wanted to sell her and it was only Adam who had persuaded him to let her stay.\u00a0 Even though Pa still avoided her, Little Joe went to see her every day and harbored a secret hope that one day, when he was tall enough, Pa would relent and let Midnight be his.<\/p>\n

He was pleased with his picture when it was done.\u00a0 It was very clearly Midnight. He\u2019d even remembered her white socks and the star on her forehead.\u00a0 Mamma would have recognized her straight away, he was sure.\u00a0 Now all that was left to do was to take the finished letter down to the lake and deliver it to Mamma\u2019s grave.\u00a0 He\u2019d really have liked it best if they could all have gone together, a special Christmas visit, but the grown-ups were all rushing around, muttering about the weather, and needing to get the animals in, and making sure everything was secure.<\/p>\n

Joe wasn\u2019t clear what the fuss was about.\u00a0 For sure, it was a grey day, the sky was overcast and there was a cold wind, but there had been only a few light sprinklings of snow so far that winter and the roads around the ranch were well-trodden and clear.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t far to the lake and he was a fast runner. They were all so busy, he was confident he could be back before they\u2019d even noticed he was gone.<\/p>\n

He tucked his precious letter inside the pocket of his coat, pulled his fur hat down around his ears and set off at a fast trot.\u00a0 No one called after him or even seemed to notice, they were all too absorbed with being busy.<\/p>\n

He liked to run, his breath like smoke in the cold air.\u00a0 On foot, he could take the shortcut down the side of the mountain, through the trees, his feet kicking up the soft needles and filling the air with a sharp piney scent. He paused to catch his breath when the lake came into view, as grey and wintery as the sky above, its surface ruffled by the same icy breeze that stung his own cheeks and made them glow red with cold.\u00a0 He wondered if it was later than he\u2019d thought as the sky looked much darker than it ought to for mid-afternoon.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t want to get into trouble with Pa for staying out longer than he should, especially on Christmas Eve, so he set off again, running faster than ever.<\/p>\n

Close by the lake, it felt colder still, and the wind cut sharper.\u00a0 He was glad of his hat and his woolen mittens.\u00a0 Crouching down on the ground next to Mamma\u2019s grave, he pulled his hand from its glove and fished in his pocket for his letter.\u00a0 There was already a little pile of rounded stones on Mamma\u2019s grave.\u00a0 They\u2019d built them into a small cairn there in the summer.\u00a0 Removing the three on top, he placed his letter on the remaining stones then laid the others back where they\u2019d come from. His letter was now securely in the middle of the pile where it wouldn\u2019t blow away.<\/p>\n

In just that short time, his ungloved fingers had turned red in the biting wind coming over the lake.\u00a0 As he pulled his mitten back over his hand, a flurry of icy pellets stung his right cheek. He lifted his face to look at the sky and a vicious slap of wind flung another horizontal blast at his head, so sharp and so furious, it drove the breath out of him in a gasp.\u00a0 In seconds, the lake had vanished in a dark fog of driving snow; not the big, silent mesmerizing snowflakes that drift down into a soft white quilt, but a howling assault of wind-driven powdered ice that whipped and hissed and scoured everything in its path.<\/p>\n

If he\u2019d had more warning, he would have run for the cover of the pines, but the storm engulfed him with such unexpected ferocity, all he could do was hunker down behind his mother\u2019s headstone, burying his head in his arms to protect his face from the stinging sheets of snow that whipped at his exposed flesh.\u00a0 In fact, the headstone was now his only marker in a swirling whirlwind of blinding grey-whiteness.<\/p>\n

He shivered and huddled down tighter behind the cold grey stone. Pa was going to be angry. He\u2019d told Little Joe not to go running off on his own, that it looked as if a storm was brewing. Joe knew he was going to be in big trouble. Except, a dismal realization was dawning upon him with alarming swiftness that he was actually in far bigger trouble than any Pa was likely to deal him. Even in the lee of the gravestone, the snow was piling up horribly fast around him.\u00a0 Once again, he wondered if he might run for the trees, but when he tried to get to his feet, the wind was so strong, it bowled him right over, as if he\u2019d been hit by a slamming door.<\/p>\n

He scrambled back to his meagre shelter. The icy wind had already stung his eyes to tears, but now he was crying from fear as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cMamma,\u201d he called out, his voice lost in the undulating howl of the wind and the hissing, spattering cacophony of the storm.\u00a0 \u201cMamma, help me!\u201d<\/p>\n

He pulled his hat down well over his ears and closed his eyes, curling up as tightly as he could against her headstone, wrapping his arms around his knees and pressing his face down out of the wind. Cold and unrelenting as the stone was, it gave him comfort to know she was close. He told himself that maybe the snowstorm would pass over as quickly as it had arrived.\u00a0 Or that maybe Pa or Adam or Hoss would have wondered where he was and come looking for him. Maybe. Hopefully.<\/p>\n

It was cold, so cold.\u00a0 The sky grew darker; the wind shrilled and wailed across the lake and still the sheets of icy pellets surged across the lake in a savage winter fury.\u00a0 The wind drove the cold right through his coat until he could not keep from shivering violently.<\/p>\n

Something more solid than the wind and the snow bumped his shoulder. He opened his eyes, teeth chattering, blinking ice from his lashes. Another nudge. A shape loomed huge and dark in the swirling grey-whiteness. He squinted. A big black head, breathing smoke from its nostrils, an unmistakable white star in the center of its forehead.<\/p>\n

\u201cMidnight?\u201d he whispered in disbelief.\u00a0 \u201cIs that you?\u201d<\/p>\n

The horse nudged him again, blowing warm air across his cold cheek. He scrambled to his feet and threw his arms around the horse\u2019s neck as if he wanted to be sure the apparition would not vanish away and leave him alone in the storm again. But the mare was warm and strong and stood as solid as a tree.\u00a0 Even when wrapped his hands into her mane and clung onto it like a rope, digging his knees and feet into her flank to haul himself onto her broad back, she bore with his clumsiness, as if she understood.\u00a0 Finally, panting and shaking, he was astride her, his face pressed close into her shoulder to protect it from the icy wind, clinging on with every muscle in his small body.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

\u201cAnnounced by all the trumpets of the sky arrives the snow,\u201d said Adam aloud to himself, stepping back into the shelter of the barn door as an abrupt onslaught of white fury erupted through the yard on a howling blast of wind.<\/p>\n

Pa came running across the yard towards him, head down, shoulders hunched against the gusting cold.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime to get inside,\u201d Pa said, taking him by the arm and raising his voice to be heard over the sudden noise of the wind.\u00a0 \u201cDid you manage to bring the last few horses in?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll except Midnight,\u201d said Adam, squinting against the snow blowing into his face.\u00a0 \u201cThe storm must have spooked her. She took off over the fence in the other direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once upon a time, Pa would have smiled at Midnight\u2019s contrariness. \u201cLike horse, like rider,\u201d he\u2019d used to say when Marie was alive.\u00a0 Now, instead, his brow came down and his mouth tightened.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, she\u2019ll have to take her chance then.\u00a0 We\u2019re not going after her in this weather.\u00a0 Let\u2019s get inside.\u201d<\/p>\n

They only made it as far as the porch before the door of the house opened and there was Hoss, still in his coat, fair hair awry where he\u2019d pulled off his hat.\u00a0 Behind him, in his working apron, Hop Sing hovered anxiously, a small frown dinting his forehead.<\/p>\n

Hoss peered round behind his father and brother, where the snow swirled in a wild, wind-driven melee. \u201cIs Little Joe with you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought he was with you,\u201d said Pa.\u00a0 \u201cI thought the two of you were going to decorate the tree.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t find him,\u201d said Hoss, the frown deepening. \u201cI\u2019ve looked all over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hop Sing nodded.\u00a0 \u201cWe look all over house, Mister Ben.\u00a0 Little Joe not here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pa looked at Adam. He shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s not in the barn.\u00a0 I\u2019ve just come from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a moment no one said anything, while each of them sensed dread, like a hard lump in the pit of his stomach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll check the barn again,\u201d said Pa, his voice tight.\u00a0 \u201cAdam, see if he\u2019s with any of the men in the bunkhouse.\u00a0 Hoss, check the outhouse and the other sheds.\u00a0 Hop Sing, double check everywhere inside. He\u2019s got to be here somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was as Adam came out of the bunkhouse that he remembered, with a plummeting heart, Joe\u2019s letter.\u00a0 Hoss came running from the back of the house and Pa emerged from the barn and they converged in front of the house.\u00a0 Adam raised his voice over the howling, hammering wind and the driving snow.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had his letter Pa.\u00a0 The letter for his mamma.\u00a0 What if that\u2019s where he\u2019s gone, to her grave?\u201d<\/p>\n

Their faces gaped at him through the swirling snow, pale with dismay.\u00a0 Then Pa lifted his to the angry sky as if he defied the storm to try and steal any of his sons from him. When he looked back at Adam, his dark eyes flashed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need horses.\u00a0 And Hoss, some rugs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll come with you,\u201d said Hoss, squaring his broad young shoulders against the wind and jutting out his chin.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d said Pa. \u201cI want you here in case he comes back while we\u2019re gone.\u00a0 Now, fetch those rugs from the house. Your brother\u2019s going to need them if he\u2019s out in this.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was madness, thought Adam, as he buckled a saddle, his fingers clumsy with cold, heading out into the blinding wind and snow.\u00a0 But what choice did they have?\u00a0 Little Joe was only six years old.\u00a0 The idea that he could be lost forever was unthinkable.\u00a0 Just imagining him, alone and scared, was like a physical pain in his own middle. But Joe had guts. He might be small, but he was tough. Whatever the storm threw at him, he wouldn\u2019t just give in.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s alive,\u201d Adam told himself.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s alive and we will find him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, just as he\u2019d finished saddling up, he heard it; a shrill yell, penetrating even the wailing of the wind.\u00a0 It was Hoss\u2019s voice, shrieking for all he was worth.\u00a0 Beside Adam, Pa\u2019s head shot up.<\/p>\n

\u201cPa! Pa! Adam! He\u2019s here! He\u2019s here!\u201d<\/p>\n

He and Pa almost fell out of the barn in their haste, once again into a wall of driving snow.\u00a0 There ahead of them, hopping up and down in frantic excitement, was Hoss, and in front of him, in the middle of the yard, a familiar black horse with a small, snow-covered mound, pressed limpet-fashion into her back.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Midnight!\u201d Hoss shrilled in delight. \u201cShe found him! Midnight found Little Joe!\u201d<\/p>\n

Pa and Adam reached the little boy the same time which was as well because he was so cold and his body so tightly clenched against the horse, they had to peel him away, limb by limb, before Pa could lift him free and hug him to his chest, as tightly as if he never intended to let him go again.\u00a0 Hoss ceased his dancing and threw his arms around Midnight\u2019s neck, pressing his face into hers by way of a thank you before relinquishing her to his older brother\u2019s care and sprinting after Pa and Little Joe.<\/p>\n

By the time Adam had taken care of the horse \u2013 in a manner befitting an equine hero \u2013 and run back through the snow to the house, Little Joe was bundled up like a parcel in front of the fire, Hoss squashed into the chair beside him.\u00a0 Only Joe\u2019s face and a few tousled curls peeked out from the mountain of coverings, along with two small hands, tightly wrapped around a steaming mug. Pa stood behind the chair with his hands resting on the wrappings about where Joe\u2019s shoulders would be. Hop Sing stood beaming nearby, with a plate of cookies and a pot of fresh coffee, as relieved as any of them at Joe\u2019s safe return.<\/p>\n

Joe lifted his face as Adam approached the fire and crouched down to hold out his hands to the welcome warmth.\u00a0 There were two spots of pink now on the child\u2019s face, a sight as welcome as the roaring fire after the nightmare of the storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs Midnight all right?\u201d asked Joe.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s fine,\u201d said Adam. \u201cI gave her extra oats and she seemed very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow did she know where to find me?\u201d asked Joe.\u00a0 \u201cDo you think Mamma sent her?\u201d<\/p>\n

Pa and Adam looked at each other as if each was hoping the other might answer that question, but it was Hoss who got there first.\u00a0 He wrapped his arm around his cocooned brother, his round, freckled face alight with happiness.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a miracle, Little Joe.\u00a0 God does miracles at Christmas, doesn\u2019t he Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam grinned and even Pa smiled.\u00a0 After all, who could argue with that?<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

Later that evening, they sat in the barn together while Pa read aloud the Christmas story from the big Bible. It had been Little Joe\u2019s idea that they should listen to it in the barn, and they had all agreed it seemed fitting.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a story about a stable,\u201d Hoss reasoned, \u201cso makes sense to read it in a stable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen Midnight can hear it too,\u201d added Joe.<\/p>\n

So they sat amongst the straw and listened to Pa\u2019s deep voice as he read about the baby born in a stable, and the shepherds and the angels, and Midnight and the other horses munched on their hay and turned their heads now and then as if to consider a particular nuance of the story.<\/p>\n

When he\u2019d finished reading, Pa smiled at his sons and nodded in the direction of the house.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime to get back in the warm,\u201d he said. \u201cHop Sing\u2019s made some special treats. And then, young man,\u201d his eyes fixed on his youngest, \u201cit\u2019s time you were in bed. Go on now, off with you all.\u201d<\/p>\n

He watched as they headed out of the barn, full of the excitement of Christmas Eve.\u00a0 The storm had finally exhausted its fury, leaving only a handful of snowflakes still drifting down from the night sky. He heard the shrill squeals of the two younger boys and the deeper laugh of his oldest son as they paused on their return to the house to pelt each other with snowballs.\u00a0 He smiled too, his own peace intensified that evening by the deep relief of Joe\u2019s safe return.<\/p>\n

He crossed to the stall where Midnight was munching contentedly.\u00a0 It might be a ridiculous notion to apologize to a horse, he thought, but even so, he reached in his pocket for the apple he\u2019d taken earlier from the fruit bowl and Midnight leaned in and took it from his hand with surprising daintiness. He watched as she crunched it with relish then nuzzled at his hand in the hope of another.<\/p>\n

This would be their second Christmas without Marie. The last one had been a struggle for him, poignant for all of them, and he hadn\u2019t been looking forward to this one, but now\u2026.<\/p>\n

The horse took a step back, tossed her head and snorted.\u00a0 He looked behind him but the barn was empty of all but its usual animal occupants.\u00a0 Funny, he could have sworn he sensed a presence.<\/p>\n

Midnight lowered her head again and turned it towards him.\u00a0 He looked at her with a little frown dinting his features. \u201cDid you feel it too?\u201d he asked her.<\/p>\n

She blew warm breath from her nose.\u00a0 He looked around again but still there was no one there.\u00a0 When he looked back the horse was watching him with her dark, intelligent eyes.<\/p>\n

He blew out the lantern and crossed to the barn door.\u00a0 There he paused as if reluctant to leave.\u00a0 He looked back and even though it was too dark now to see anything, he was sure he could sense Midnight\u2019s gaze still upon him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you,\u201d he murmured into the soft darkness, then he raised his face to the night sky beyond the doorway.\u00a0 There were no stars visible tonight, and no angels, but he didn\u2019t need to see them to know they were there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you,\u201d he said again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My phrase: “Announced by all the trumpets of the sky arrives the snow<\/a>” from The Snow-Storm by Ralph Waldo Emerson<\/span><\/p>\n

My Character:\u00a0 Joe\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Link to Bonanza Brand 2023 Advent Calendar – Day 10 – The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t<\/a> by Cheaux<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/g><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0The trouble with grownups was that they were always busy.\u00a0 Too busy, to Little Joe\u2019s mind.\u00a0
\nRating:\u00a0 G
\nWords:\u00a0 3,520
\nWritten for the Bonanza Brand 2023 Advent Calendar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":5835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1007],"tags":[1062],"class_list":["post-46736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-joe-cartwright","tag-advent-calendar","wpcat-1007-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":794,"today_views":1},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Christmas-Traditions.jpg?fit=639%2C480&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19259,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=19259","url_meta":{"origin":46736,"position":0},"title":"Bear Tracks (by A-P)","author":"A-P","date":"December 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: Written for the 2018 Advent Calendar, based on the quilting prompt, Bear Tracks. There\u2019s bear tracks on the Ponderosa. 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