Summary: A blizzard and a case of the flu conspire to make the Cartwright boys wonder if Christmas would find it’s way to the Ponderosa<\/p>\n
Rating: K\/G (10,885 words)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
PEACE ON EARTH<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The snow fell softly against the backdrop of the Sierra Nevadas as Ben Cartwright trotted home.\u00a0 It had been beautiful weather all week long, unusual for late December, when sleet and hail and formidable blizzards usually rocked the area.\u00a0 But this week had been pristine and shining with bright sun, and snow at night.\u00a0 Today was the first day he\u2019d seen snowfall\u00bcand, as much as he usually enjoyed the cold winter weather, Ben found himself wishing he could enjoy the vista from his dining room window rather than being in the middle of it.<\/p>\n Ben had started his ride home from Virginia City early that afternoon, calling a halt to a chess game with his old friend Roy Coffee.\u00a0 He\u2019d found himself feeling uncomfortably warm and achy while struggling to keep his eyes open, despite the coffee and the pleasant companionship.\u00a0 Roy had noticed, too.<\/p>\n \u201cBen, you don\u2019t look like you\u2019re feelin\u2019 too well,\u201d he said, concerned.\u00a0 \u201cYou want me to ride back to the ranch with you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, Roy, certainly not,\u201d scoffed Ben, as he shrugged into his sheepskin coat and gloves.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s no need for you to get make such a long ride.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI dunno, Ben, mebbe you ought to stop in and see Doc Martin before you leave,\u201d advised Roy seriously, handing Ben his hat.<\/p>\n Ben smiled wearily.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s likely just a cold,\u201d he assured Roy.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve had the sniffles for a day or two.\u00a0 I\u2019ll go home and rest until after Christmas, and I\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n Roy chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cI guess Santy Claus don\u2019t visit your house much anymore, hey?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben laughed.\u00a0 With three sons between the ages of twenty-seven and fifteen, Santa Claus had indeed gone on to greener – or rather, whiter – <\/em>pastures.\u00a0 Still… \u201cYou know, those three boys of mine still<\/em>\u00a0hang up their stockings on Christmas Eve?\u00a0 I don\u2019t think they\u2019ve completely given up on Santa yet.\u201d<\/p>\n Roy chortled, shaking his head, and walked his friend to the door.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Just two days until Christmas, thought Ben as he tried to snuggle deeper into his coat; he was cold.\u00a0 I must really be coming down with something, he grumbled.\u00a0 Ben always enjoyed Christmas, and it annoyed him to think he\u2019d be stuffed up and sneezing through the holiday.<\/p>\n Buck\u2019s canter was graceful and steady, and it served to lull Ben a little as he rode home, thinking about the holidays and his sons…so many Christmases they\u2019d enjoyed here together.\u00a0 Long ago, when Adam was very small, Ben had begun a tradition of reading the Christmas story from the bible each Christmas Eve. He recalled the Christmas Adam was just four, and the little boy cuddled close on his lap, listening intently and interrupting every few sentences with his never-ending questions:<\/p>\n \u201cHow come Joseph made Mary ride the donkey, Pa?\u00a0 She was awful tired!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy they shut the door at the inn, Pa?\u00a0 How come?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWas it cold in the stable, Pa?\u00a0 Did Jesus have enough blankets?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019re swallowing clothes, Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben shook his head in amusement as he remembered . . . Adam had never stopped asking questions<\/em>, he sighed.<\/p>\n Ben had continued the Christmas tradition with Hoss and Joe ever since. It hadn\u2019t been easy; after Liz\u2019s death, it had been so hard to find any joy in the holiday season, until he remembered something his father had told him long ago.<\/p>\n \u201cBen, when you have children, you must remember you are, often, the source of the joy they find in life.\u00a0 If you have unhappiness, do your best not to fill them with it…they\u2019ll have enough of their own,\u201d Joseph Cartwright had said seriously.\u00a0 Ben had listened and had tried very hard to heed and put into practice his father\u2019s wise words all these years.<\/p>\n At first, the pain in his heart he felt every time he thought of his beautiful Liz was particularly sharp at Christmas time.\u00a0 She had loved the holiday and even acknowledging it had caused him great anguish.\u00a0 But for his little one\u2019s sake, he\u2019d had to put it aside and tried to make Adam\u2019s holiday enjoyable.\u00a0 It became easier year by year, until he found greater peace at the holidays, with each of his sons offering a physical, tender remembrance of their mothers and the love of life each had possessed.<\/p>\n And even now, the boys tended to look forward to relaxing in front of the hearth while Ben read the tale they knew so well, but he remembered those first, quiet Christmas Eves with a special tenderness.\u00a0 …just him and his firstborn, curled up in his lap, fresh from a bath, in a snowy, clean nightshirt and wrapped in an afghan, his big, dark eyes often sleepy less than half-way through.\u00a0 Ben chuckled as he remembered that Adam must have been about eight before he\u2019d been able to stay awake to hear the whole story, and that was only because Ben had Hoss in his lap by then, an arm around Adam\u2019s shoulders sitting beside him, and Hoss kept fussing with the pages, or trying to pull Adam\u2019s hair.<\/p>\n He was shaken from his reverie with a bout of coughing that left his throat sore and his chest aching.\u00a0 Urging Buck on a little faster, Ben sighed and resigned himself to a few days of bed rest.\u00a0 Hopefully he\u2019d feel well enough to be up a little while on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ~-o0o-~<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHey, Hoss!\u00a0 Get a move on with those chores!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDadgum it, Adam, I\u2019m goin\u2019 as fast as I can!\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss angrily pitched hay into the troughs and glared at his older brother.\u00a0 Ever since the snow had started at midday, Adam had been as prickly as a porcupine, snapping at Hoss, snapping at Little Joe to the point where Joe had finally snapped back and stomped off in a huff, leaving his brothers to do the chores.\u00a0 Hoss shook his head in irritation.\u00a0 Hoss wished he could understand that older brother of his sometimes, the way he changed his moods faster than a long-legged jackrabbit was real annoying!<\/p>\n Adam measured out grain and filled water buckets and scowled.\u00a0 The snowstorm, rapidly increasing in speed and intensity, meant his plans to go into town and visit with Beth Denton were over with.\u00a0 Somehow, something always managed to mess up any plans he had.\u00a0 It just wasn\u2019t fair!\u00a0 Hearing those thoughts echoing in his mind made him stop a minute and sigh; no, it wasn\u2019t fair…but neither was it fair that he was taking his bad mood out on his younger brothers.\u00a0 He turned sheepishly to Hoss, whose back was rigid with annoyance.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Hoss.\u00a0 I apologize for yelling at you like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss turned around, grudgingly.\u00a0 \u201cWell, you ain\u2019t the only one around here who\u2019s plans get changed \u2018cos of a storm, y\u2019know,\u201d he said gruffly.<\/p>\n Adam grinned, and eyebrow cocked in surprise.\u00a0 \u201cYeah?\u00a0 Who were you planning to see?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNone o\u2019 your goshdurned business!\u201d snapped back Hoss, blushing furiously.\u00a0 At twenty-one, Hoss had never had the suave confidence of his older brother with girls, or his younger brother\u2019s absolutely unconscious charm and appeal to young ladies.\u00a0 It sometimes bothered him that Little Joe, at just fifteen, had already been in and out of love more times in a year than Hoss had been in his whole life.<\/p>\n \u201cOkay, okay!\u201d snapped back Adam in irritation, abruptly turning back to his work.\u00a0 \u201cI was just asking, you don\u2019t have to bite my head off!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo, you can dish it out but you can\u2019t take it, huh?\u201d came an annoyed voice from the barn door.\u00a0 Joe had just come in, dusted from hat to boots with the fat, damp flakes, his green eyes brilliant against the white back drop.\u00a0 From the stance…jaw jutted out, shoulders tight and body language defiant, it was clear Joe was still angry at his oldest brother.<\/p>\n Having the three together in one place, no one would have pegged them as brothers; in truth, they were half-brothers, all products of their father\u2019s three marriages and each was the physical embodiment of some contradiction.<\/p>\n Adam, at twenty-seven, was more than six feet tall, powerfully built and very dark.\u00a0 His movements were economical and quick, thought out, like everything else about him.\u00a0 Obstinate, intelligent, articulate, thoughtful, possessing a dry sense of humor that often went over the heads of people around him, Adam was a loner who seemed both to own and be slightly out of place in any space he occupied.<\/p>\n Hoss was a big man, too, a giant of a man at six feet and four inches, and outweighing his older brother by nearly forty pounds.\u00a0 But he was a gentle giant, still young enough to be considered a youth by his family which loved him.\u00a0 Hoss had been taught from an early age that he didn\u2019t need to demonstrate his great strength and power; and God had blessed him with a sweet, gentle nature that was an interesting contrast to his physical appearance.<\/p>\n And then there was Joe\u00a0 Fifteen year-old Joseph Francis Cartwright was small for his age, always had been, but more than made up for it with scrappy, impudent boldness.\u00a0 His slight build and curly brown hair (as usual, longer than his father liked to see it since Joe usually conned Hop Sing, their Chinese cook\/housekeeper\/major domo, into just barely trimming it when Pa ordered a haircut) gave him a fragile look, alternately belied by a cocky, handsome grin or a formidable scowl.\u00a0 Hot-tempered and courageous, Joe had long since left issues of size behind him, learning from babyhood how to get around bigger, more powerful people like his older brothers with guile and charm.<\/p>\n Adam bit back a hot retort and gritted his teeth together, abruptly turning back to his chores.\u00a0 All three worked, the silence in the barn almost palpable.<\/p>\n They picked up their heads in unison as they heard hoof beats in the yard leading toward the barn.\u00a0 A gust of wind and swirling snow preceded their father as he led Buck into the barn, both horse and man caked in snow.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m glad you\u2019re home,\u201d said Adam, noting his father\u2019s shivering.\u00a0 \u201cI was worried about you in the storm.\u201d\u00a0 He came forward and took Buck\u2019s reins from his father, leading the horse toward his stall.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been out in storms before,\u201d smiled Ben wearily, shivering a little.\u00a0 \u201cBut I have to admit, I\u2019m glad – aaaaCHOO<\/em>! – to be home.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss frowned at him.\u00a0 \u201cPa? You all right?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben, fishing out his handkerchief and blowing his nose, nodded and tried to smile reassuringly at his middle son.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s just a cold, nothing to be concerned about.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou go ahead in, Pa, I\u2019ll put up Buck,\u201d suggested Adam, loosening the cinch on the horse.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you, Adam,\u201d nodded Ben, turning toward the door.\u00a0 He caught his youngest son\u2019s worried eye on his way by and affectionately tousled the boy\u2019s hair.\u00a0 \u201cHelp your brothers finish up,\u201d he suggested hoarsely, knowing only too well that Joe was likely neglecting his chores a bit and letting his brothers take up the slack.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, sir,\u201d sighed Joe, turning back to his work.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When the three brothers came back into the house thirty minutes later, they found Ben still shivering in front of the fire, a hot toddy in his hands, and wrapped snugly in a knitted throw.\u00a0 Hop Sing, their housekeeper\/cook\/household ruler for the past fifteen years, was hovering nearby, ostensibly dusting, but in actuality keeping a close eye on his employer.<\/p>\n Ben felt terrible; he was so cold, his throat was sore, his head throbbed and he found he was aching all over.\u00a0 The warm fire felt good.\u00a0 I must be getting old, <\/em>he sighed sadly to himself.<\/p>\n Little Joe tossed his hat onto the sideboard and hung up his coat first, stamping his boots by the door.<\/p>\n \u201cJoseph, how many times have I told you to do that outside!\u201d croaked his father, irritably.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry, Pa,\u201d Joe said sheepishly.<\/p>\n \u201c \u2018Sorry, Pa\u2019 \u201c snorted Ben, closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair.\u00a0 Hoss and Adam exchanged glances and then looked over at Hop Sing.\u00a0 The Chinese man\u2019s worried expression told them everything they needed to know.<\/p>\n \u201cPa, don\u2019t you think you might be more comfortable up in bed?\u201d suggested Adam quietly, as he walked over and perched himself on the huge, heavy oak table in front of the fireplace at his father\u2019s side.\u00a0 Ben slowly opened his eyes and glared at his oldest son; had it been Hoss, he\u2019d have blushed and scurried off, but this was Adam.\u00a0 The young man merely cocked an eyebrow and looked back at his father, with a half-smile.\u00a0 Ben grunted; his oldest son had certainly inherited his stubbornness.<\/p>\n \u201cPa, come on,\u201d said Adam softly, leaning a hand out and touching his father\u2019s forehead.\u00a0 He expected to have it slapped away, and was a little concerned when his father didn\u2019t move.\u00a0 He was even more concerned when he felt the heat radiating from his Pa and noticed the trembling.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re burning up,\u201d he said in surprise.\u00a0 \u201cAnd you\u2019re shivering!\u201d<\/p>\n Ben sighed and nodded.\u00a0 \u201cI just can\u2019t seem to get warm…\u201d His words were cut off by a violent bout of coughing.<\/p>\n Adam set his mouth and rose to his feet.\u00a0 \u201cHop Sing, prepare some hot stones wrapped in flannel, would you?\u201d he said quietly.\u00a0 \u201cPa, you really should be in bed.\u201d\u00a0 He gently touched his father\u2019s arm, sincerely hoping he wouldn\u2019t have to drag him upstairs.<\/p>\n Ben started to fuss, until Adam leaned over and whispered, \u201cC\u2019mon, Pa.\u00a0 You\u2019re gonna scare Joe and Hoss.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben opened his glassy eyes and looked at his concerned oldest son.\u00a0 \u201cYou play dirty,\u201d he croaked, irritably.<\/p>\n Adam smiled gently and helped his father to his feet.\u00a0 \u201cJoe?\u00a0 Would you mind tracking down some extra quilts?\u201d he said easily, trying to keep the worry out of his voice.\u00a0 Chills like the ones his father was experiencing weren\u2019t usual with a simple cold.\u00a0 But it did sound like the disease that was spreading like wildfire through Virginia City…Doc Martin was calling it influenza, and it was serious.<\/p>\n \u201cYou want me to get the Doc?\u201d asked Hoss worriedly, after Joe had gone.<\/p>\n \u201cNo!\u201d snapped Ben, straightening as he headed up the stairs.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ll be caught in the storm.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be fine…just let me get to bed.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss cringed a little at the rebuke; Adam caught his eye and gave him a reassuring smile as he herded his father up the stairs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Half an hour later, Ben was resting quietly, after having been forced to drink down a cup of Hop Sing\u2019s hot broth and sternly told to stay put.<\/p>\n Ben had to admit did feel a little better resting in bed; covered in quilts and with the flannel-wrapped heated rocks at his feet, his chills seemed to ease a bit.\u00a0 Ben chuckled to himself as he recalled how firm Adam, and then Hop Sing, had been with him.\u00a0 Hoss had peeped in worriedly a bit, then Joe hurried in spreading the quilts over him, essentially burying him.\u00a0 He tried not to snap in irritation, remembering the worry on their faces.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t often that he was ill, and he supposed it must be a bit disconcerting for the boys.<\/p>\n His door opened quietly and Adam softly padded in, another steaming cup in his hands.\u00a0 \u201cYou still awake?\u201d he asked quietly, setting the cup down on Ben\u2019s bedside table.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry,\u201d muttered Ben, sitting up a little.<\/p>\n Adam smiled.\u00a0 \u201cPa, don\u2019t worry about anything…we\u2019ll keep everything up while you\u2019re in bed.\u201d\u00a0 He sat down in the chair at Ben\u2019s bedside.\u00a0 \u201cSo, how do you feel?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRotten,\u201d Ben grumbled, coughing.\u00a0 \u201cYou probably shouldn\u2019t be in here.\u00a0 The last thing we need is you sick, too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, if I\u2019m going to get it, I\u2019ll probably come down with after you\u2019re up and around again,\u201d grinned Adam.<\/p>\n Ben harrumphed and lay back on his pillows.\u00a0 Adam allowed his concern to surface as he saw how pale his father looked.\u00a0 \u201cPa, drink down that cup of broth.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI just had some!\u201d grumbled Ben irritably.<\/p>\n Adam sighed, and sternly gazed at the older man, crossing his arms over his chest.\u00a0 \u201cIf you have influenza, Doc said liquids… lots of liquids…\u201d<\/p>\n Ben opened his eyes and glanced at Adam.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t let Joe and Hoss in here much, Adam,\u201d he said softly, his voice hoarse.\u00a0 Their eyes met and Adam nodded; they understood each other perfectly.<\/p>\n Downstairs, Joe paced restlessly while Hoss sat staring into the flames in the hearth.\u00a0 Around the house, the wind began to pick up. Outside the dining room window, all was white and swirling.\u00a0 A blizzard was beginning in earnest.\u00a0 Hoss realized that it was a good thing he hadn\u2019t gone, or he\u2019d have been caught in it for sure.<\/p>\n Joe was worried.\u00a0 His father was so rarely ill that when he was sick enough to take to his bed, an uneasy feeling enveloped Joe.\u00a0 \u201cHey, Hoss?\u201d he said softly.\u00a0 \u201cIs Pa gonna be okay?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAw, don\u2019t worry, Joe, he\u2019ll be fine…\u201d said Hoss quietly.\u00a0 \u201cPa\u2019s tough, you know that.\u201d\u00a0 But he didn\u2019t take his eyes off the hearth.\u00a0 Joe nodded, and walked to his father\u2019s desk, touching the leather top, feeling lonely.\u00a0 Both brothers picked up their eyes as the heard the door close upstairs and Adam\u2019s footsteps down the hallway toward the stairs.<\/p>\n Adam saw their worry and sighed inwardly.\u00a0 He picked his head up and heard the wind howl around the house.\u00a0 \u201cI guess Pa was right; blizzard coming.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t get out to a doctor, Adam.\u201d\u00a0 It was a flat statement, and Hoss\u2019 eyes were scared as he looked at his older brother.<\/p>\n Adam walked over to him and put a hand on his brother\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019ll be all right, Hoss.\u00a0 The fever just started today, and he\u2019s resting comfortably in bed.\u00a0 Try not to worry.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe slowly walked over to his older brother as well.\u00a0 Gone from the two younger Cartwrights\u2019 thoughts was the argument in the barn with Adam.\u00a0 Right now, their older brother represented security to them both.\u00a0 Adam was here; he\u2019d make everything all right.<\/p>\n Neither thought about the worry coursing through Adam\u2019s mind, but it was something he was used to; being the oldest, he\u2019d been in this position of surrogate father to Hoss and Joe for years now.\u00a0 It gave them comfort, and that was what they needed.\u00a0 His own needs…well, if I \u00a0get around to \u2018em…<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Christmas Eve dawned but no one could tell, since it was dark and gloomy from the intense blizzard roaring through the mountains.\u00a0 Adam had spent most of the night at his father\u2019s bedside, relieved only occasionally by an insistent Hop Sing.\u00a0 He\u2019d managed to send both Joe and Hoss to bed finally, insisting that he wasn\u2019t going to sit up, that Pa wasn\u2019t that ill, but it was an outright lie.<\/p>\n Ben\u2019s cough had become much worse and his fever burned.\u00a0 Adam wearily wiped down his father\u2019s face and neck as he trembled with chills and fever through the night, tossing and turning restlessly in discomfort.\u00a0 He ached miserably all over and found sleep almost impossible.\u00a0 Finally, toward dawn, exhaustion took over and Ben dozed uneasily.<\/p>\n \u201cHop Sing, we need to make sure he takes liquids every hour,\u201d Adam had yawned as the man relieved him at dawn.<\/p>\n \u201cHop Sing see to it, Missa Adam,\u201d assured the Chinese man, shooing the young man toward the door and to his bed.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd don\u2019t let Hoss or Joe in here,\u201d he insisted, turning back at the door.\u00a0 Hop Sing and Adam shared a glance, the same Ben and Adam had shared earlier.\u00a0 \u201cWake me if they give you a hard time, all right?\u201d<\/p>\n Hop Sing nodded silently, and gently but firmly pushed Adam out.\u00a0 Adam stretched on his way down the hallway.\u00a0 Hoss\u2019 door opened as he passed, his brother sleepily sticking his head out, still in his nightshirt.\u00a0 \u201cPa any better?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s asleep,\u201d assured Adam.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t go in, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy not?\u201d demanded Hoss.<\/p>\n Adam sighed.\u00a0 \u201cLook, Hoss, Pa asked me to not let you and Joe in, since he doesn\u2019t want you catching this, all right?\u00a0 Let\u2019s just do as he asks.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss harrumphed.\u00a0 \u201cMight as well get dressed…I won\u2019t be able to sleep now,\u201d he said miserably.<\/p>\n Adam turned back and squeezed his younger brother\u2019s arm.\u00a0 \u201cIf you\u2019re going to do that, wake me before you go out to do chores.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want you out there alone.\u00a0 You\u2019ll freeze to death if you get lost between the house and the barn.\u00a0 We\u2019ll have to string a line.\u00a0 All right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou ain\u2019t slept at all, have you?\u201d asked Hoss, eyeing his brother.\u00a0 Adam shrugged, and Hoss then knew.\u00a0 His father was seriously ill.<\/p>\n \u201cPromise me you won\u2019t go out there alone, Hoss,\u201d said Adam, intently.<\/p>\n Hoss nodded and watched his brother trudge to his room.<\/p>\n Breakfast was a somber affair.\u00a0 Adam had slept for about an hour, then restlessly woke and, deciding that any further sleep was impossible, had come downstairs.\u00a0 He\u2019d sternly ordered Joe to stay in the house and not venture out into the storm with Hoss.\u00a0 Concerned for his brother\u2019s safety, Adam had strung the line of rope from the barn door to the house himself, coming in shivering and covered with snow.<\/p>\n Joe chafed at the restriction but after being unable to see beyond the porch upon opening the front door, he realized his big brother was right and reluctantly obeyed.\u00a0 He had also been banned from his father\u2019s room.\u00a0 That order he figured he could violate since Adam and Hoss were occupied elsewhere.<\/p>\n Tiptoeing up the stairs in order to not alert Hop Sing, Joe carefully opened his father\u2019s bedroom door.\u00a0 Ben was sitting up in bed with a book in his hands, coughing.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t getting very far with reading since his head was aching miserably.\u00a0 He wearily picked up his head when the door opened.<\/p>\n At first, Ben smiled happily; he\u2019d missed Joe and Hoss terribly, and seeing the worried expression on his youngest son\u2019s face touched his heart.\u00a0 Then he remembered his edict and frowned.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought….cough<\/em>!…..you were told not to come in here?\u201d he said in a very hoarse but stern voice.\u00a0 \u201cDidn\u2019t Adam tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe remained at the door, wistfully. \u201cYes, sir, he did,\u201c\u00a0 he said reluctantly, \u201cbut… well, I…I missed you, Pa.\u00a0 Couldn\u2019t I just stay here at the door?\u00a0 It\u2019s awful lonesome downstairs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy?\u00a0 Where are you brothers?\u201d Ben croaked, setting the book aside.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t concentrate on it, anyway.<\/p>\n \u201cDoin\u2019 chores, and Adam won\u2019t let me out,\u201d Joe bellyached, leaning against the door jamb.<\/p>\n Ben smiled wanly.\u00a0 \u201cHe just wants to keep you safe, Joe…it sounds like a blizzard out there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is,\u201d nodded Joe, sighing.\u00a0 \u201cPa…you okay?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben shifted uncomfortably as his body aches and pains annoyed him.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m all right, or I will be in a few days.\u00a0 Makes kind of a lonesome Christmas for you, though, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe shrugged, not looking up.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s okay,\u201d he said gruffly, trying to be manly and not show his disappointment or his concern.\u00a0 Ben smiled tenderly at him; Lord, how he loved this youngest son of his!<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll tell you what,\u201d said Ben, wincing as he shifted in bed, trying to ease the ache in his back, \u201cwhy don\u2019t you ask Hop Sing if he\u2019ll help you bring in the tree from the back porch.\u00a0 At least into the washroom to let the snow dry.\u00a0 Then you can get it set up while your brothers do the chores.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s face lit up in excitement.\u00a0 \u201cYou mean it, Pa?\u00a0 I can set up the tree?\u201d he grinned.\u00a0 He\u2019d never been allowed to do that before; either Pa or Adam had always set the Christmas tree in the crossed bar stand and got it ready to decorate.\u00a0 Then it hit Joe;\u00a0 Pa wouldn\u2019t be helping to decorate and his face fell a little.\u00a0 \u201cYou ain\u2019t gonna feel good enough to help tonight are you, Pa?\u201d he asked softly.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, Joe, I\u2019m afraid I won\u2019t, but I\u2019ll at least try to come look at it,\u201d smiled Ben a little weakly.\u00a0 He was really feeling worse instead of better, but he didn\u2019t want to alarm his son.\u00a0 \u201cYou tell Adam and Hoss I said it was all right for you to set it up this year.\u00a0 You\u2019re fifteen now, old enough to handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThanks, Pa,\u201d he said with a small smile.\u00a0 As he walked back down the stairs, Joe tried to remember a time when Pa hadn\u2019t helped string the cranberries and popcorn…<\/p>\n When Hoss and Adam came in from doing chores, which took so much longer than usual because of the storm, they were surprised to see Joe hard at work getting the tree into place in front of the gun rack.<\/p>\n \u201cLooking good, little brother,\u201d grinned Hoss, hanging up his coat and stripping off his gloves.<\/p>\n Joe glanced back at Adam, his jaw jutted out at Adam\u2019s expression.\u00a0 \u201cPa said I could,\u201d he declared, belligerently.<\/p>\n Adam sighed and nodded.\u00a0 \u201cI wasn\u2019t going to say anything, Joe,\u201d he said softly, turning and walking into the kitchen without another word.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s\u2019a matter with him?\u201d asked Joe, uncomfortably.<\/p>\n Hoss thoughtfully came into the room, looking at the tree.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s pretty bushed, Joe.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t get much sleep last night, sittin\u2019 up with Pa.\u00a0 And, you gotta remember, for the past few years Adam\u2019s been the one to set up the tree.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe nodded, feeling a little guilty.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry, I just figured he was gonna yell at me for doin\u2019 it, and I had Pa\u2019s permission.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPa feelin’ any better?\u201d asked Hoss glancing up the stairs.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d replied Joe, sitting back on his haunches.\u00a0 He looked up woefully at his big brother.\u00a0 \u201cHe looks awful, Hoss.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss nodded, and he turned toward the kitchen, as well.\u00a0 Reluctantly, feeling bad for the way he\u2019d talked to his brother, Joe sighed and hauled himself to his feet to follow, figuring he\u2019d best apologize.<\/p>\n Adam sipped a cup of coffee as he stared out the window, leaning against the wall and feeling the wind buffet the house.\u00a0 He heard the heavy footsteps coming up behind him and smiled to himself.\u00a0 Hoss would never be able to sneak into a room, that was for sure.\u00a0 He turned back and glanced at his brother.<\/p>\n \u201cHe didn\u2019t mean nothin\u2019, Adam,\u201d said Hoss quietly, pouring himself a cup.\u00a0 \u201cHe was afraid you was gonna holler at him.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam sighed.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, I know.\u00a0 But that means he disobeyed and went into Pa\u2019s room.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, I didn\u2019t,\u201d came the soft voice from the door, not defensive, just soft.\u00a0 \u201cI stood at the door, I didn\u2019t go into the room.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry, Adam, I just… \u201c Joe shrugged his shoulders unhappily.\u00a0 Adam walked to his youngest brother with a smile.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s okay, squirt,\u201d he said quietly, squeezing his shoulder, on the way by.\u00a0 \u201cI’m worried about him, too.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The tree was gaily decorated, the gifts placed underneath\u2026 and the mood filled with gloom.\u00a0 Adam sat silently in front of the fireplace reading, while Hoss worked braiding some harness and Joe fidgeted, restless.<\/p>\n He got to his feet and wandered into his father\u2019s office area, touching the desk, fingering the books on the shelf behind it, looking up at the map of the Ponderosa.\u00a0 First Hoss, then Adam, glanced up following his movements, feeling badly.\u00a0 It was a hell of a Christmas Eve for the kid.<\/p>\n Hoss looked at Adam in appeal.\u00a0 He thought if Adam would maybe play his guitar a little, it might lift their spirits.\u00a0 But before he could speak, Hop Sing came downstairs, a serious look on his face.<\/p>\n All three boys turned in alarm.<\/p>\n \u201cFatha not good,\u201d said Hop Sing softly.\u00a0 \u201cMissa Adam, fevah much hottah.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam got to his feet and hurried up the stairs, his brothers on his heels.<\/p>\n \u201cStay downstairs,\u201d he barked over his shoulder.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam, he\u2019s our pa, too!\u201d snapped back Hoss, stubbornly trudging up the staircase.\u00a0 Adam stopped short and turned, nearly making Hoss tumble backward.<\/p>\n \u201cHoss, that order was Pa\u2019s, not mine,\u201d he said sternly.\u00a0 \u201cNow stay here with Joe, I mean it!\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss scowled, and Joe tried to push by.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m gonna see my Pa!\u201d declared Joe, obstinately, banging into his brother\u2019s suddenly dropped arm and being stopped short.<\/p>\n \u201cJoseph, you\u2019re not going anywhere,\u201d he said sternly.\u00a0\u00a0 Joe struggled for a moment, then stopped when Hoss put a hand on his arm.\u00a0 Adam saw the fear in Joe\u2019s eyes and sighed.\u00a0 \u201cLook…let me just check on him and I\u2019ll let you know how he is as soon as I know.\u00a0 I promise.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ben tossed in bed, his fever burning.\u00a0 His mind was awhirl with thoughts of snow, white and driving, keeping his vision from clearing.\u00a0 It sounded like wind whooshing around his ears, and his head ached from the noise.\u00a0 Snow shouldn\u2019t burn,<\/em> his tired mind reasoned.\u00a0 Only occasionally, he felt cold snow flakes cool his face and neck…<\/p>\n Adam gently wiped his father\u2019s forehead and neck, concerned by the amount of heat still radiating from him.\u00a0 The door opened and Adam glanced back, hoping it wasn\u2019t one of his brothers and he\u2019d have to yell.\u00a0 Luckily it was Hop Sing.<\/p>\n \u201cNo bettah?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam sighed and shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s still awfully hot,\u201d Adam replied.<\/p>\n \u201cI sit.\u00a0 You go downstairs.\u00a0 Christmas Eve,\u201d said Hop Sing firmly.<\/p>\n \u201cAw, Hop Sing,\u201d muttered Adam sitting back.<\/p>\n \u201cNo!\u00a0 Little brothers worried, scared.\u00a0 Need you now.\u00a0 You go downstairs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut what about Pa?\u201d he stalled; truth was, he was reluctant to go down there without anything new to tell them that was promising.\u00a0 He glanced at Hop Sing. \u201cWhat am I gonna say to them?\u201d\u00a0 Exhausted, Adam allowed himself to sag, and rested his head on his hand, closing his tired eyes.<\/p>\n Hop Sing glanced at his boss, now relatively calm and resting with the cool compress on his forehead, asleep.\u00a0 Then he walked to the bookshelf against the wall.\u00a0 Hop Sing looked on the shelf, pushed aside Marie\u2019s old books of poetry, her copies of Villon and Beaumarchais, then Elizabeth\u2019s books, and reached for the aged Cartwright family Bible.<\/p>\n Hop Sing drew it down with great respect and carefully opened it where the red velvet ribbon marked it.\u00a0 He studied it a moment, then nodded and walked to Adam.<\/p>\n \u201cFatha always read on this night,\u201d said Hop Sing carefully.\u00a0 \u201cYou Numba One son.\u00a0 Fatha,\u201d he said, nodding toward Ben, \u201ccannot read.\u00a0 You read.\u201d\u00a0 Hop Sing slowly, respectfully laid the holy book of his adopted family\u2019s God into Adam\u2019s lap.<\/p>\n Adam stared at it.\u00a0 Three generations of Cartwrights had held that Bible…his great-grandfather Daniel, his grandfather Joseph and his father.\u00a0 It was his family, represented right there in his lap in that book.\u00a0 It was one of the very few things his father had brought of himself and his past with them on their trek west.<\/p>\n Adam closed his eyes as his sensitive fingertips touched the worn velvet ribbon.\u00a0 His mind flew back more than twenty years…one of his earliest memories was of sitting in his father\u2019s lap on Christmas Eve, running his baby fingers up and down the softness of the velvet ribbon, now worn and discolored.\u00a0 He drew in a shuddering breath and sighed, allowing his fingers to do it again, seeking the comfort and peace it had always given him in the past.<\/p>\n After Adam went downstairs, the heavy Cartwright family bible in his hands, Hop Sing sat down in the leather bedside chair the young man had vacated, and studied the face of his employer.\u00a0 For fifteen years, Hop Sing had been with this family, feeding them, keeping their home in order, watching over them.\u00a0 He had watched the boys grow, having arrived not long after Little Joe\u2019s birth, when Adam was a bright, difficult, scrappy twelve-year-old, and Hoss a large but sweet little boy of six.\u00a0 He\u2019d watched them all suffer the pain of Marie Cartwright\u2019s death, watched the adolescent struggles of the older boys as they reached for manhood.\u00a0 He\u2019d watched his family grow up.<\/p>\n He recalled nineteen-year-old Adam leaving home to further his education, little more than a boy, and returning as a man, taller, quieter, sadder, with a secret pain that he wouldn\u2019t, or couldn\u2019t, share.\u00a0 He\u2019d watched Hoss become a mountain of a man, never losing his childlike trust and joy but acquiring a man\u2019s acumen of other men.\u00a0 And he\u2019d watched the baby, Joseph, become taller, more mischievous, but maturing into a fine young man, reminding him a great deal of his beautiful, spirited mother, whom Mr. Cartwright had loved dearly.<\/p>\n They had made him a part of the family, as hard as he\u2019d tried to maintain the distance he had felt was required to maintain the dignity his upbringing demanded.\u00a0 Strange as their customs were, he found he was grateful for the good wishes they obviously bore him.<\/p>\n He recalled the first Christmas he\u2019d allowed himself to be drawn into their holy day.\u00a0 It had been difficult for him to acknowledge it without feeling he\u2019d be less than true to his own beliefs. But finally, his fourth year there, he\u2019d accepted that allowing himself to be drawn into the family would not diminish his own true faith; it was merely a celebration, an elaborate birthday party for their God.\u00a0 As such, he could justify it.<\/p>\n Mrs. Cartwright had brought him into the living room on Christmas Day as the boys opened their gifts and emptied their socks… no, they called them stockings…<\/p>\n The boys had been tickled he was joining them.\u00a0 Adam, a tall sixteen-year-old, had escorted him to the settee, and Hoss, nearly as tall as his brother at just ten, had rushed up to the gaily decorated Christmas tree in the corner by the gun rack, grabbed a beautifully wrapped gift and brought it to Hop Sing.\u00a0 Mrs. Cartwright had sat back with a smile on her husband\u2019s knee while Mr. Cartwright had grinned and smoked his pipe.\u00a0 Four-year-old Little Joe had climbed up close beside him on the settee, wanting to watch him unwrap it.<\/p>\n \u201cOpen it, Hop Sing!\u201d grinned Adam, perching himself on the arm of the sofa, and Hoss had plopped down at his feet, his moon face wreathed in smiles.\u00a0 Hop Sing had shyly opened the gift and stared in shock.\u00a0 Then he looked up at Mrs. Cartwright, knowing she had been in the inspiration for this gift.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe said your special pen had a bad tip and it made your writing difficult,\u201d she said softly, her eyes warm.\u00a0 \u201cI cannot imagine you not being able to write to your family.\u201d\u00a0 Hop Sing retired to his room at least once a month to write to his family back in China and San Francisco and tell them of his adventures in this new land.\u00a0 It was true, his pen had become worn.\u00a0 But, the gift was so much more than a pen nib.\u00a0 It was a beautiful calligraphy pen, just right for forming the Chinese pictographs with which he wrote, ensconced in a carved wooden box lined with crimson velvet.\u00a0 The box cleverly held a drawer that, when opened, displayed exquisite rice paper, the best upon which to write.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam made the box, Hop Sing!\u201d Hoss crowed, \u201can\u2019 he let me carve on it!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCahving velly good, Missa Hoss,\u201d said Hop Sing softly.\u00a0 He glanced up at Adam, who beamed at him.\u00a0 \u201cFine work.\u00a0 You do…all by self?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam nodded.\u00a0 \u201cI got the idea from a box I saw at the mercantile,\u201d he said with a smile that reached all the way to his eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cAn\u2019 it was my idea!\u201d said Little Joe, determined to get his due.\u00a0 \u201cMama found that pretty cloth and I put it in!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWith Marie\u2019s help,\u201d chuckled Adam, ruffling his curls in affection.<\/p>\n \u201cNo!\u201d scowled Joe, glaring back at his amused oldest brother. \u201cI do it!\u00a0 All my own self!\u201d<\/p>\n Hop Sing was overcome.\u00a0 It was a beautiful gift.\u00a0 He looked up at the senior Cartwrights who smiled at him with caring and generosity.\u00a0 Mr. Cartwright gently stood his wife on her feet, rose and walked over, stretching out his hand.\u00a0 \u201cMerry Christmas, Hop Sing,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t imagine not having you share in the family\u2019s favorite holiday.\u00a0 Thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n Hop Sing struggled for a moment, then nodded, shaking Mr. Cartwright\u2019s outstretched hand.\u00a0 \u201cMelly Clissmas, Missa Cahtlight,\u201d he said softly.\u00a0 He bowed deeply to Mr. and Mrs. Cartwright, emotion filling in his heart, then abruptly turned and started to walk to his kitchen.<\/p>\n Behind him, he knew the boys must be crestfallen, and looking in appeal at their parents.\u00a0 He stole a glance back at the family.\u00a0 Mrs. Cartwright was smiling, tears glistening in her eyes and Ben had his arm around her with a gentle smile.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t worry boys,\u201d said Ben softly.\u00a0 \u201cI think he loves your gift.\u201d With a small smile, Hop Sing nodded, then re-entered his domain.<\/p>\n Hop Sing sighed and looked down at this man…this man who was his friend…and gently wiped the perspiration from his feverish face.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ~-o0o-~<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201c\u00a0 \u2018.. And so Joseph went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to David\u2019s town of Bethlehem – because he was of the house and lineage of David – to register with Mary, his espoused wife who was with child….\u2019\u00a0 \u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Hoss settled back in the blue velvet chair by the hearth, closing his eyes and listening.\u00a0\u00a0 Twenty-one years he\u2019d heard this story.\u00a0 A different voice rang in his ears this time, but hearing Adam reading it didn\u2019t disturb him in the least.\u00a0 All of his life, that voice had been as important to him as his father\u2019s, and hearing the words of the birth of Christ in his big brother\u2019s voice sounded nearly as sweet as it did in his father\u2019s.<\/p>\n \u201c\u00a0 \u2018… Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and sayin<\/em>g, When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another: \u2018Let us go to Bethlehem and see this event which the Lord has made known to us.\u2019 ….\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Joe sat beside Adam, who had one arm draped around his little brother\u2019s shoulders and the other resting on the yellowed page of the old bible.\u00a0 This time it was Joe\u2019s fingers that slipped up and down the worn velvet of the ribbon marking the spot in the gospel of Luke as he leaned his head back, safe in the crook of his big brother\u2019s arm.\u00a0 It was harder for him to hear Adam\u2019s voice and not his father\u2019s read of the birth of Jesus.\u00a0 But it felt good to hear them.\u00a0 At least the words were there, even if his father couldn\u2019t be.<\/p>\n \u201c\u00a0 \u2018… They went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger; once they saw, they understood what had been told them concerning this child.\u00a0 All who heard of it were astonished at the report given them by the shepherds.\u00a0 Mary treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart.\u00a0 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, in accord with what had been told them…\u2019\u00a0 \u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Joe recognized the end of the story was near and laid the velvet ribbon back on the page;\u00a0 Adam finished reading and closed the book gently.<\/p>\n \u201cThanks, Adam,\u201d said Hoss softly.\u00a0 \u201cIt jest wouldn\u2019t\u2019a felt like Christmas Eve without hearin\u2019 that.\u201d\u00a0 He was still young enough to need the tradition of his past to feel safe and comfortable.<\/p>\n Adam smiled at him, then looked down at his baby brother.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s face was pale, and his eyes were welled with tears he was working hard to keep back.\u00a0 Adam sighed and squeezed his shoulders in a gentle hug.\u00a0 \u201cPa\u2019s going to be all right, you\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n Silently, Joe nodded, his throat tight.<\/p>\n Hop Sing came down the stairs, his face closed.\u00a0 All three boys stared up at him, his face saying what he couldn\u2019t put into words.\u00a0 Their Pa was worse.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ~-o0o-~<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They split the night watch up into three four-hour blocks.\u00a0 Adam would take the first shift of watching, then Hoss, and finally Joe, after he\u2019d had some sleep.\u00a0 Adam couldn\u2019t refuse him; he\u2019d been scared to death.\u00a0 Adam figured it\u2019d give him something to hang onto until morning.<\/p>\n He managed to coax his father into sipping down some broth, then sat down in the chair beside Pa\u2019s bed.\u00a0 Ben\u2019s fever was still raging; Adam tried to cool him down, but didn\u2019t get very far.\u00a0 At least he was able to calm him from his restless tossing.<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s mind drifted as he sleepily set his book down.\u00a0 He shut his eyes and leaned back a bit in the chair, remembering Christmases gone by.<\/p>\n He recalled the year he was six, when Inger had been alive and it had just been the three of them, Pa, Inger and himself.\u00a0 He remembered sitting in Pa\u2019s lap while he read the Christmas story from the gospel of Luke, and he remembered Inger sitting beside them, sewing and smiling.\u00a0\u00a0 Adam had been determined to stay awake and hear the whole thing this time, but as in years gone by, his sleepy eyes had drooped and he\u2019d fallen asleep toward the end; the last he remembered was Pa reading about the big, bright star that illuminated the spot where the Christ Child lay.\u00a0 Other happy Christmases danced across his memory as he sat there, wiping his father\u2019s hot face and neck.<\/p>\n Then he remembered another Christmas, a sad, lonely one in Boston his sophomore year of college.\u00a0 Adam had been invited to spend the holidays at the home of a classmate; as such, his grandfather had accepted the invitation of an old friend and his family. When, unexpectedly, just a day before the holiday, his classmate\u2019s father had passed away, Adam didn\u2019t feel he could impose on the grieving family and ended up spending Christmas by himself at his grandfather\u2019s house in Boston.\u00a0 For the first time in his twenty-one years, Adam was totally alone for the holiday.<\/p>\n He sat in the living room that Christmas Eve, in silence in front of the fireplace watching the flames.\u00a0 He\u2019d dug out his latest letters from his father and brothers, and tried to see their faces and hear their voices in his mind.\u00a0 In embarrassment, he felt his eyes welling up and he got to his feet, resolutely fighting to keep his lips steady.\u00a0 Looking out the window from the dining room, he saw the snow falling on the harbor, feeling more homesick than he\u2019d felt in all the fifteen months he\u2019d been there.\u00a0 The snow reminded him too much of home, and the water too much of the beautiful lake that had been his refuge for twelve years.<\/p>\n Miserably he\u2019d walked back to his grandfather\u2019s leather chair in front of the fireplace and sank into it.\u00a0 He tried to think of his mother, enjoying Christmas as a girl in this house, but as he\u2019d never known her beyond other people\u2019s memories and the portraits of her his father and grandfather had, he had trouble making a connection.\u00a0 He was very lonesome and unhappy, and after a few moments of struggling, he covered his eyes with his hand and felt the tears come.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, Pa…\u201d he whispered, squeezing shut his eyes, trying to sense the love his family held for him in his mind.\u00a0 Softly, slowly he began to hear his father\u2019s voice… softly, quietly, telling the story of the blessed Christ Child.\u00a0 Adam opened his eyes and stared into the flames, hearing his father\u2019s voice as he had for the first nineteen years of his life.\u00a0 He drew in a deep, shaky breath and sighed, managing a small smile.\u00a0 \u201cThanks, Pa,\u201d he said softly.<\/p>\n Adam came back to the present, opened his eyes again, and looked down at his father, his fever still high as the bright spots on his cheeks attested.\u00a0 Running the back of his hand over his damp eyes, Adam sniffled and reached for a fresh cold compress, wiping down his father\u2019s face.\u00a0 \u201cC\u2019mon, Pa,\u201d he whispered shakily.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ve got to get well.\u00a0 I might not be little anymore, but I still need you.\u201d<\/p>\n He heard heavy footsteps approaching, and composed himself quickly, drawing in a deep breath, thankful for the soft light in the room.\u00a0 The door opened softly and Hoss stuck his head around it.<\/p>\n \u201cC\u2019mon in,\u201d said Adam softly, getting to his feet.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s sleeping.\u00a0 I managed to get some broth down him about an hour ago, but he\u2019s going to need something again soon.\u00a0 Let him sleep a little longer, then wake him up.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss nodded.\u00a0 His eyes were circled and red.\u00a0 Adam smiled wanly and squeezed his brother\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019ll be alright, Hoss.\u00a0 Just try to keep the fever down, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss nodded and looked worriedly at his father.<\/p>\n \u201cDid you get any sleep at all?\u201d asked Adam softly.<\/p>\n Hoss sighed.\u00a0 \u201cI couldn\u2019t.\u00a0 I was thinkin\u2019 too much.\u00a0 You?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam sighed and shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe I can now.\u00a0 Hoss, wake me if he gets worse, okay?\u201d\u00a0 He headed toward the door, then turned wryly.\u00a0 \u201cAnd you\u2019d better wake up our little brother at four or he\u2019ll never forgive us.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss managed a small smile.\u00a0 \u201cI will. You try to get some shut-eye, now, y\u2019hear?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah,\u201d sighed Adam, taking a last glance at his father then shutting the door softly behind him.<\/p>\n Hoss slowly walked over to the bed, felt his father\u2019s forehead and sighed as the heat was still intense.\u00a0 After half an hour there was a light knock on the door and Hop Sing came in, a bowl of snow and water in his hands.\u00a0 \u201cCold watah,\u201d he said quietly, peering at his employer worriedly.\u00a0 \u201cYou sleep, Missa Hoss?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d sighed the young man.\u00a0 \u201cI just couldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Hop Sing nodded, understanding, and placed the compresses into the cold water.\u00a0 Ben stirred restlessly, moaning in his sleep, and coughing.\u00a0 Hop Sing frowned and stepped closer.\u00a0 He noted with alarm the heat coming from his employer.<\/p>\n \u201cMissa Hoss, we must cool him,\u201d he said urgently.\u00a0 Hoss got to his feet, alarmed, and helped Hop Sing open his father\u2019s nightshirt and wiped down his chest, neck and wrists, while leaving an icy compress on his forehead.\u00a0 After working at it for twenty minutes or so, they felt Ben relax and rest more comfortably.\u00a0 They woke him briefly to drink down some water, then watched as he dozed back to sleep.\u00a0 Hop Sing smiled tiredly and patted Hoss\u2019 shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cHe bettah now.\u00a0 You watch and let fatha rest.\u201d\u00a0 And he slipped out as quietly as he\u2019d entered.<\/p>\n Wearily, Hoss sank into the chair at the side of the bed and looked at his father.\u00a0 \u201cPa…\u201d he said softly, reaching out a big, meaty hand and taking his father\u2019s.\u00a0 Stroking his father\u2019s hand reminded him of another Christmas, so many years ago now.<\/p>\n A couple of days before Christmas, when he was only four years old, Hoss had slipped on the ice outside the old cabin and sprained an ankle.\u00a0 It had gotten badly swollen and ached terribly.\u00a0 Even though he\u2019d tried real hard to be brave, it hurt something fierce and he couldn\u2019t help crying.\u00a0 Pa had been so patient with him, wrapping the ankle in snow to ease the pain and bring down the swelling, and spending as much time as he could with him.\u00a0 Adam had been real good to him, too, reading to him and playing checkers with him, trying to keep his mind off his pain.\u00a0 The worst had been Christmas Eve.\u00a0 He was sure that he was going to miss decorating the tree and hearing Pa read the Christmas story from the bible.\u00a0 But Pa had carried him into the main room from Pa\u2019s bed, where he\u2019d been staying since he couldn\u2019t climb the ladder to the loft he and Adam shared, and propped his swollen ankle up on a pillow right near the tree.\u00a0 Pa jovially put Hoss in charge of stringing the cranberries and popcorn; the fact he\u2019d nearly eaten enough to give him a tummy-ache didn\u2019t bother him that much.\u00a0 And he\u2019d lain with his head cushioned in Pa\u2019s lap while he read, stroking his father\u2019s hand just as he was doing now.\u00a0 Adam had stretched out on the rug in front of the hearth, listening quietly.\u00a0 Hoss didn\u2019t remember falling asleep, but he woke up Christmas morning in Pa\u2019s bed, cozy and comfortable.\u00a0 Even his ankle didn\u2019t ache as much.<\/p>\n Hoss smiled at the memory of that Christmas and later ones with Marie and his baby brother.\u00a0 And then the sad ones…the first year after Joe\u2019s Mama had died, and then when Adam was away.\u00a0 That first Christmas with just the three of them had been hard.\u00a0 Pa had been pretty sad but tried not to show it.\u00a0 Joe was lonesome too, often looking at the guitar in the corner of the living room.\u00a0 For so many Christmas Eves, Adam had played carols and hymns on his guitar, and Little Joe had missed it that first year without him.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you think Adam misses us, Pa?\u201d he\u2019d asked, his green eyes sad as he sat in his father\u2019s lap on the settee in front of the fire.\u00a0 Hoss had sat at his father\u2019s side with Pa\u2019s arm comfortingly around him, too.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure he does.\u00a0 But he\u2019s with his grandfather so he\u2019s not all alone,\u201d soothed Pa, trying to console himself at the same time.<\/p>\n \u201cWill Santa find him in Boston, Pa?\u201d asked Joe worriedly.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s so big and it\u2019s so far away.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSanta will find him, Joe, don\u2019t worry,\u201d smiled Pa, hugging him close.\u00a0 And then he\u2019d lifted Joe up to put the star on the top of the tree and they sat down all together again to read the chapter of Luke.<\/p>\n Hoss looked down at his father and saw that he\u2019d been sleeping comfortably for awhile now.\u00a0 He lightly touched his father\u2019s forehead.\u00a0 He was still pretty warm, but at least he seemed comfortable, and his breathing didn\u2019t seem as labored.\u00a0 Hoss glanced wearily at the clock and saw it was just before four a.m.\u00a0 Time to wake Joe.<\/p>\n Hoss quietly opened his father\u2019s door and saw the light on under Adam\u2019s door.\u00a0 He peeped in and smiled.\u00a0 Adam had fallen asleep reading, with the book splayed out over his chest.\u00a0 Good, thought Hoss, he was worn out.\u00a0 Gently, Hoss laid the book on Adam\u2019s beside table, blew out the lamp and drew the quilt up over his older brother, who didn\u2019t even stir.<\/p>\n Further down the hall, Hoss quietly opened Joe\u2019s\u00a0 door.\u00a0 He saw his brother was still fully dressed and just covered lightly with a quilt while the wind howled outside.\u00a0 Hoss came to the side of the bed and gently shook his brother\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe…\u201d Hoss said quietly.\u00a0 \u201cJoe, wake up.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe stirred and groaned. \u201cIt can\u2019t be morning…\u201d he protested sleepily, starting to sit up.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, it ain\u2019t morning,\u201d said Hoss with an indulgent smile.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s four a.m.\u00a0 You wanted to – \u201c<\/p>\n \u201cPa!\u201d\u00a0 Joe\u2019s eyes were wide and frightened as he bolted upright.\u00a0 \u201cPa! Is he okay?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRelax, Joe,\u201d soothed Hoss, shushing him.\u00a0 \u201cPa\u2019s alright… he\u2019s sleepin\u2019 comfortable.\u201c\u00a0 Joe closed his eyes and lay back on the pillow.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry,\u201d he said, shakily, composing himself again, a little embarrassed. \u201cI just got scared for a minute.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s okay,\u201d nodded Hoss, yawning.\u00a0 \u201cYou awake enough to sit with him?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah,\u201d nodded Joe, swinging his legs around and out of bed.<\/p>\n Joe struggled to keep his eyes open as he sat with his father.\u00a0 Ben was definitely resting better.\u00a0 Joe wiped down his forehead and neck when he got hot again just before dawn but noted that he barely stirred.\u00a0 Joe watched the sun rise from his father\u2019s window, and it suddenly occurred to him that it was Christmas Day.\u00a0 He sighed, and glanced over at his father, who stirred in his sleep and muttered, then turned onto his side.\u00a0 Joe smiled a little, and walked back toward the bed, sitting in the easy chair beside him.\u00a0 He studied the contours of his father\u2019s face, the slight stubble of gray beard, the dark brows, which had been knitted together in discomfort earlier and which were relaxed now.\u00a0 Although pale, he no longer had the two red fever spots in his cheeks.\u00a0 Joe reached over and gingerly felt his forehead.\u00a0 Cooler; he was definitely cooler now than he\u2019d been.<\/p>\n Joe sighed and leaned back, thinking.\u00a0 His father was ill so rarely, he had to think back to remember the last time he\u2019d been ill enough to be confined to bed.\u00a0 Usually, his Pa would fight a cold on his feet, refusing to give in, with the same stubbornness with which he\u2019d send one of them to bed at the first sign of a sniffle.\u00a0 Joe chuckled softly as he remembered a battle between Adam and Pa over a cold just last month.\u00a0 As usual, Adam had lost, ending up fussing and fuming in bed for two days.<\/p>\n Joe settled back in the chair, and relaxed.\u00a0 Christmas…it was always his favorite holiday.\u00a0\u00a0 He loved giving gifts, and he loved getting them!\u00a0 He thought sadly of the bottle of brandy he\u2019d saved his allowance for; Pa probably wouldn\u2019t feel up to a Christmas toast with that today.<\/p>\n Christmas…Joe smiled as he thought back over the years.\u00a0 His father and his brothers had always worked hard to make his holiday special.\u00a0 The first Christmas he could remember he must have been around three and a half years old.\u00a0 Adam had made him a wooden marionette that year, one that moved when he jiggled the strings dangling from a crossed bar of firring strips.\u00a0\u00a0 He could remember being fascinated by it and taking it to bed with him.\u00a0 Joe smiled as he realized he still had it upstairs in the attic.\u00a0 And his mother…\u00a0 he could remember sitting in his mother\u2019s lap while they listened to Adam play Mama\u2019s guitar.\u00a0 He giggled quietly as he realized that Adam sure had a long way to go before he\u2019d be very good, but at the time, to three-year-old ears, it had sounded pretty.<\/p>\n Hoss had proudly given him his gift, a whistle he\u2019d whittled himself, and which Mama had shuddered over, with a laugh, when he made it shriek.\u00a0 And Pa and Mama had given him some toy soldiers, like Adam\u2019s old ones, but with bright red and blue paint.\u00a0 It had been a wonderful Christmas!\u00a0 He remembered falling asleep playing with his soldiers and Pa carrying him to bed, protesting that he wasn\u2019t at all tired! even as he dozed against his father\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0 He\u2019d insisted on taking his marionette to bed with him.\u00a0 Joe smiled and closed his eyes.<\/p>\n In his Pa\u2019s arms…putting the star on the tree…stringing the popcorn …reaching up for his stocking… the stockings!\u00a0 Joe bolted upright in the chair.\u00a0 With all their worries over their father, they hadn\u2019t hung up their stockings!\u00a0 Then he smiled sheepishly.\u00a0 Well, he supposed they were old enough to let that go, he thought with a grin.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t likely Santa would be dropping by this year.\u00a0 He smiled as he glanced down at \u201cSanta,\u201d sleeping comfortably now.\u00a0 Joe settled back again as the Christmas sunshine filtered through his father\u2019s bedroom window.<\/p>\n In his father\u2019s arms…he closed his eyes as he remembered the first Christmas after Mama died.\u00a0 He had been so sad that year, not getting very involved in the festivities as much as Pa, Adam and Hoss tried to make it happy.\u00a0 He\u2019d sat in front of the dining room window looking out at the stars… When Pa came up to him and rested his hands on his shoulders, he\u2019d leaned over and kissed the top of his head.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong, Joe?\u201d he\u2019d asked quietly, gently stroking his curls.<\/p>\n \u201cI miss Mama,\u201d he\u2019d sighed, his lower lip trembling.<\/p>\n Ben had picked him up and cuddled him close.\u00a0 \u201cI miss her too, son,\u201d he father had said softly, kissing his cheek.\u00a0 \u201cBut she\u2019s not far away.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe sniffled and rested in his father\u2019s arms.\u00a0 \u201cWhadda you mean, Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben carried him into the living room picking up a knitted throw and wrapping it around him then carried him out onto the front porch.\u00a0 Joe had snuggled into the blanket, his nose growing cold.\u00a0 \u201cLook up there, Joseph,\u201d said Pa gently, nodding up at the skies.<\/p>\n Joe sniffled a little and looked up at the navy blue blanket above him flecked with the white stars.\u00a0 The snow had stopped earlier and all was clear with stars as far as he could see.<\/p>\n \u201cSee all those stars?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was aboard ship, Captain Stoddard used to tell me that whenever I \u00a0was lonely, and missing the people I loved, I should look up at the stars.\u00a0 I should think of them looking, too, and imagine that we were all looking up at the same stars.\u00a0 And that people we\u2019d loved who were no longer with us had become one of those many, many stars, helping God watch over us.\u00a0 That\u2019s where your Mama is now, watching over you…and all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe stared up at the sky.\u00a0 \u201cWhich one do you think she is, Pa?\u201d he asked softly.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know, Joe, which do you think she\u2019d be?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe brightest one, Pa,\u201d he said, turning to look at his father.\u00a0 Ben sighed and cuddled Joe closer to him.<\/p>\n \u201cI think you\u2019re right, Joseph, she would be brightest, most beautiful star.\u201d\u00a0 And together they\u2019d looked through the night sky, seeking out the brightest, until Joe had fallen asleep in his father\u2019s arms.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe came back to earth abruptly as he heard his father\u2019s voice.\u00a0 He looked down at the bed and beamed when he saw his father smiling gently at him.\u00a0 \u201cPa!\u201d\u00a0 He reached out a hand to his father\u2019s forehead and grinned in relief.\u00a0 He was still cool.\u00a0 The fever must have broken.\u00a0 \u201cHow do you feel?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBetter,\u201d said Ben quietly, not saying how weak he felt.\u00a0 \u201cJoe…is there something close by I could drink?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe immediately poured a glass of water and supported his father\u2019s shoulders while he thirstily drained the glass.\u00a0 Joe got him settled again, propped up a bit on pillows.\u00a0 He could see how tired his father looked so he didn\u2019t make him talk, he just sat close and stroked his father\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n He\u2019d never noticed before how beautiful his father\u2019s hands were… Hands that had calluses from hard work.\u00a0 Tender hands that had stroked his cheek, in comfort;\u00a0 deft hands that had helped him button up his coat when he was very small, or showed him the intricacies of machinery or the slight movements needed to guide a horse; stern hands, that had delivered a sharp parental smack to the seat of his pants or pointed straight to his room when he\u2019d been disobedient or naughty. Caring hands, that had clasped his own smaller one in protection and love.\u00a0 Joe brushed away his tears in embarrassment as he realized his father was watching.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m all right, Joe,\u201d said Pa tenderly, squeezing Joe\u2019s hand.\u00a0 \u201cEverything\u2019s all right.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know, Pa,\u201d he said huskily, and gave in.\u00a0 He sat on the edge of the bed, leaned over and kissed his father\u2019s cheek, which earned him a hug.\u00a0 \u201cMerry Christmas, Pa,\u201d he said brokenly, his face buried in his father\u2019s nightshirt, his arms around his pa.<\/p>\n \u201cMerry Christmas, son,\u201d said Ben tenderly, stroking his youngest son\u2019s hair.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam jarred awake, looking around himself.\u00a0 He relaxed as he realized he was in his own room, and the house was quiet.\u00a0 He listened; it appeared the wind had died down.\u00a0 He stretched and hauled himself to his feet, walking to his window.\u00a0 The storm had stopped in the night, and the ground was crystalline with brilliant sunshine reflecting off the fresh, unmarred snow.<\/p>\n Adam sighed and walked out into the hall.\u00a0 Hoss was just coming out of his room, too, stretching and yawning a bit.\u00a0 Adam smiled at him and they walked quietly together to their father\u2019s room at the end of the hall.<\/p>\n Joe was asleep in the chair by the bed, and Pa was sitting up, reading.\u00a0 He glanced up when he saw his older sons and smiled.\u00a0 He put a finger to his lips, and smiled, nodding at Joe beside him.<\/p>\n Hoss put out a hand to his father\u2019s forehead; Ben sighed but submitted gracefully.\u00a0 Hoss beamed at his brother and nodded;\u00a0the fever\u2019s gone<\/em>!\u00a0 Adam grinned back and perched on the edge of his father\u2019s bed.<\/p>\n \u201cHow do you feel, Pa?\u201d he said very softly, so as to not disturb his little brother.<\/p>\n \u201cMuch better, Adam, thank you,\u201d he said quietly, his voice still a little hoarse.\u00a0 \u201cYou boys didn\u2019t sit up all night, did you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, sir.\u00a0 We split it up between us,\u201d said Hoss in a whisper.\u00a0 \u201cAdam took the first shift, then me, then Short Shanks.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, you both look tired to death.\u00a0 After you finish the morning chores, why don\u2019t you both go back to bed and get some sleep?\u201d suggested Ben quietly.<\/p>\n \u201cSounds like a plan to me,\u201d yawned Adam sleepily.<\/p>\n \u201cYou hungry, Pa?\u201d asked Hoss hopefully.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a matter of fact, I am,\u201d nodded Ben, a little surprised to realize it.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll go down and see if I can\u2019t rustle up somethin\u2019 – \u201c began Hoss getting to his feet, when the door opened and Hop Sing entered, bearing a tray.\u00a0 The commotion finally disturbed Joe who jerked awake, startled at seeing so many in the room.<\/p>\n He immediately looked at his father in alarm.\u00a0 Ben, still looking a bit weak and ill, gave him a warm smile.\u00a0 Reassured, Joe leaned back and yawned.<\/p>\n \u201cYou all go downstairs.\u00a0 Eat bleakfast, do chores!\u201d scolded Hop Sing, back to his old self as he set the tray on Ben\u2019s bedside table. \u201cFatha need to rest.\u00a0 Him sick!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut Hop Sing – \u201c began Joe in protest.<\/p>\n \u201cGo!\u201d roared the man, punctuating his command with a spate of Chinese, his intensity sending three young men scurrying out the door.\u00a0 After the door had closed quietly behind them, he chuckled and turned to his employer, gently laying the back of his hand on the man’s forehead.\u00a0 He nodded, satisfied.\u00a0 \u201cFevah gone, Missa Cahtlight.\u00a0 You feel bettah?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cYes, thank you Hop Sing,\u201d he sighed contentedly.\u00a0 Hop Sing set the bed tray at Ben\u2019s lap and sat beside him.<\/p>\n \u201cYou eat much as you can…too full, stop.\u00a0 But must eat.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThank you,\u201d nodded Ben, with a warm smile.\u00a0 \u201cThank you very much.\u201d<\/p>\n A silent message of trust and friendship passed between them, then Hop Sing quietly sat back in the chair and watched over Ben as he ate.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Downstairs, the boys found breakfast waiting at the table, eggs kept warm in a chafing dish, crisp bacon, home-fried potatoes browned and smelling wonderful.\u00a0 The boys were hungry and ate well, relief from worry being an excellent way to regain an appetite.\u00a0 Then they hurried outside to the chores, already more than two hours late.\u00a0 Adam sent Hoss and Joe out to the barn to tend to the stock while he found a broad shovel and cleared the snow from the front porch and sections of the front yard, then went around back to do the same.\u00a0 After clearing the back, he attacked the woodpile, getting a good load of wood cut, split and stacked and hauled some into the house.<\/p>\n It was nearly lunch time when the three found their way back inside to get warm by the fire.\u00a0 Hop Sing had hot coffee and tea ready for them, as well as turnovers to warm their hands by the fire.\u00a0 They sat in companionable silence eating and relaxing until Hoss looked up at the hearth.<\/p>\n \u201cHey!\u201d he said in wonder.\u00a0 Adam and Joe glanced at him in surprise, then turned to follow his gaze.<\/p>\n Three stockings hung over the fireplace, filled to bursting.\u00a0 Joe giggled and scrambled to his feet, making his older brothers grin indulgently.\u00a0 \u201cHey, come on!\u00a0 Ain\u2019t\u00a0 ya gonna look in yours?\u201d he crowed gleefully, looking back at his brothers with a joyful expression that belied his fifteen years.\u00a0 Hoss looked at Adam, questioningly, but his older brother\u2019s eyes were wide as he shrugged.<\/p>\n Like three overgrown children, the boys happily dumped out and examined the contents of their stockings.\u00a0 The special, well-planned and thought-out little gifts, nuts, and the traditional sticks of peppermint candy delighted them, making them laugh and chatter noisily with each other just like Christmases long gone by.<\/p>\n When he heard his three sons come back into the house after chores, Ben set down his book and listened intently through the door Hop Sing had left open, with a conspiratorial smile.\u00a0 A few minutes later, at the sudden crows of delight, Ben smiled to himself.\u00a0 The sounds of their talking and laughter warmed his heart and made him feel better than any medicine any doctor could have forced down him.<\/p>\n Santa Claus had found his way to the Ponderosa again this year, with a short detour at a sickbed and then, through China.<\/p>\n Written in December 1997<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summary: A blizzard and a case of the flu conspire to make the Cartwright boys wonder if Christmas would find it’s way to the Ponderosa<\/p>\n Rating: K\/G (10,837 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12518,"featured_media":13924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1008,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","category-prequels","wpcat-1008-id","wpcat-30-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/St.-Nicholas.jpeg?fit=182%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12518"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u2018Glory to God in high heaven,<\/em>
\npeace on earth to those on whom his favor rests.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n
\n