Dave put on his heavy jacket and walked down the front drive to the mailbox. It was Christmas Eve and still he and his sister had not received a card, a wish, or a letter from their parents. He opened the mailbox and pulled out the few envelopes. Immediately his eyes flashed to the pink one, his mother's stationery. He opened it and started reading. After looking at a few lines, he ran to the house, shouting," Jerri! Jerri, come here, look!"
He opened the door and stepped into the living room. Jerri walked out of the kitchen. "What is it?" she asked, wondering what he was shouting about.
"Look! Mom wrote and it's fantastic. Well, I mean it's a HOPE, anyway," 'he said, showing her the letter.
Jerri moved quickly next to him and together they read the letter;
Dear Jerri and David,
Your father and I have been having long discussions about you two lately. I guess we realized it was time to start forgetting what the people tell us and begin to listen to you. This letter will be short, because what we feel is hard to put into words, and we have never been very good at talking to either of you. I know we've not given you a fair chance and we aim to change that. This is all so hard to say-I guess we just want to tell you we miss you and we sincerely want to understand. You are our dear children, may you live in New York or on the moon. It will be a sad Christmas without you-we hope you miss us just a little at this time of year also.
Dave, dear, give our love to Tracey and tell her we are thrilled with the prospect of becoming grandparents.
Jerri, darting, if you are happy with Rob, we are happy for you. We hope we can meet him someday.
I must close now. You know, we were just last night saying what would we do if we were your age and in your place? Would Ray go into his father's supermarket business? Would I settle on being a housewife and champion bridge player? I wonder; we both do.
Much love,
Mother
"Can you believe it?" Dave asked, closing the letter.
"My God," Jerri said, sitting back in a chair.
Dave sat down on the couch. "It's working, it really is," Dave said, confident that even more would come of it.
"What was all the yelling about?" Tracey asked, entering the room.
"Mom wrote-here, read it!" Dave said, handing the letter to his wife.
Tracey took the letter and read it. Her face lighted up and she looked down to her husband and smiled. "That's amazing," she said.
"Sure gives us hope," Jerri said.
"You know," Tracey added," I don't think you could have asked for a better Christmas present!"
"Right on!" Dave exclaimed.
Late that night, the tribe drove into Santa Fe to stop at the little church where they left gifts for children of the orphanage in the city. Then they stopped at "Father's" commune and wished their friends a peaceful Christmas.
Back home, they sat in front of the fire and sang songs-Christmas carols and other favorites-and relaxed, ready to spend all Christmas day delivering the many gifts they had made for the children.
In the preceding weeks, Russell and Carol had begun to take a liking to each other which superseded their normal relationship as members of the tribe. And now they sat, paired off on the floor-Carol and Russell, Dave and Tracey, Jerri and Rob-as they watched the fire burn itself to nothing.
When the coals were no more than glowing ashes, they went to bed. It was a beautiful winter night, with light snow falling outside the farmhouse, and each pair felt warm and safe in each other's arms.
The tribe was up bright and early on Christmas to get an early start on their deliveries. They packed the station wagon and the van they had borrowed from" Father" and drove off into the hills, stopping at every cabin, village, farm, and city where there were poor people.
At one little house in the mountains, Jerri handed a homemade doll to a little girl. The girl took the gift in her hands and cuddled it to her breast. She looked up at her mother, and then to Jerri, her wide little eyes exploding with happiness. Then she turned to her mother again.
"She cannot speak; God did not bless her with a voice," the dark-haired woman said. "But she says thank you with her eyes."
Jerri picked the girl off the ground and hugged her to her body. Then the little girl kissed her and Jerri turned around and walked away, feeling sad and happy at the same time.
It was typical of the day. All over the county, children's Christmas wishes were coming true. And it gave each member of the tribe a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment.
It was early evening when all the gifts had finally been delivered. The tribe was tired, eager to return to the ranch and sleep. It had been a good Christmas, and Carol's food and a nice night's sleep would make it complete.
Rob was driving the van-Russell followed with the station wagon-as they neared the dirt road that led into Snow Canyon. Everyone was slumped in their seats, resting after the arduous day. Suddenly Rob applied the brakes and shouted, "LOOK!"
They were at the side of the hill, just around the corner from the drive leading to the house and barn. From the top of the hill came an orange glow, like the crater of an erupting volcano, and smoke billowed into the air.
"By God, smoke!" Jerri said, looking out the window as Rob pointed.
Suddenly Rob stepped on the gas pedal, and pressed it to the floor as the van slid on the wet ground and careened around the corner of the hillside. The station wagon followed.
Rob couldn't believe his eyes as the entire main barn stood burning in front of the van. He slammed on the brakes again as Jerri jumped out, running near the fire, trying to do something.
"The horses!" she screamed, realizing there was nothing anyone could do.
Russell brought the station wagon to a halt and jumped out. Carol and Dave and Tracey joined Jerri and Rob close to the barn and they felt the roaring heat of the flames against their faces.
Suddenly, they all heard a horse cry-a shuddering, animal cry that echoed in the canyon-as a beam at the roof of the barn crashed to the ground. Then, immediately after, a chicken ran from the burning building, its feathers burning, singed, black, and it screeched until it dropped dead in the middle of the yard.
Jerri began to cry as Rob pulled her away, turning her away from the fire, holding her tightly in his arms.
"Why? Why, Rob?" Jerry sobbed.
"Shhh, it's okay, honey," Rob said, trying to comfort her.
The others stared in stunned disbelief as the barn disintegrated before their eyes, A pungent odor filled the canyon as the flesh of their dead animals burned in the flames. There was nothing to do. The nearest fire station was in Taos, but it would have taken hours to get help to the canyon, and on top of that it was Christmas. There was no danger of the house catching on fire-it was a good distance from the barn and the wind was carrying the flames and burning embers away from the wooden structure. They could only stand and watch futilely.
Carol couldn't stand it any longer. She turned away and looked at the sky and then brought her eyes to the top of the hill, in the direction of the wooded area. There, standing on top of the hill, on the edge of the Circle-T land, was the figure of a boy. The flames were strong enough to outline his features, and though he must not have realized that he could be seen, he stood there looking at the fire, Carol knew that figure-she would know it anywhere-and she nudged Russell and directed his gaze to the hillside.
"Jim," she said softly. In a second the figure of the boy disappeared.
They watched as the fire died down and then stared in shock as the final walls of the barn came crashing to the cold earth.
"Come on, everyone," Rob said sadly," we've got work to do."
They began to move toward the pile of burning wood that had been their barn.
Hours later, after they had poured buckets of water on the last of the burning embers, they gathered in the living room, washing their arms and faces in pans of soapy water.
"We'll get Father to help us in the morning with the animals," Rob said, drying his face in a towel.
"Dirty motherfucker!" Dave said, throwing his wet shirt to the floor. "I'd like to burn his fucking HOUSE down with him in it!"
"Okay, okay, take it easy," Rob warned.
"Oh, shit, take it easy! We just lost our horses, chickens, feed, vegetables, equipment…" Dave was blustering now, walking around the room like an animal in a cage. "How the fuck can they do that?"
"Look, man, they're fucked-up people. But doing the same to them isn't going to prove anything. That will just cause a war," Rob said intelligently.
"I'd love to slice that kid's balls off," Carol said.
"It couldn't have been him alone," Russell added," there was kerosene poured around the entire building. Anyway, even if he acted alone, it was the hatred of all of them that did it, that caused him to do it."
"What are we going to do, forget it?" Carol asked.
"Let's show the bastards we're not going to take this," Dave muttered.
"How?" Jerri asked.
"Maybe we should go, maybe we should move," Tracey said. "If this is a preview, then the house is going to be next. How can we live among all this hatred?"
"We can. We have thus far. We bridged the hatred-or almost hatred-of Jerri and Dave's parents. Why can't we make this work?" Rob sat on the piano bench in front of all of them. "Rob, how? Tell us how? There's no way," Russell objected.
"Yes, there is, dammit!" Rob shouted. "Look, they're expecting us to retaliate. They want us to fight back, then they will have reason to hurt us more. They would win that way, and if we ran they would win. So we stay and we fight back with love. That's something they can't take. They're not prepared for it."
"What?" Carol exclaimed, looking at Rob as if he had just stated the impossible.
"Yeah, fight back with love," Rob said. "You know the story about the hippie in San Francisco who, when a cop busted him over the head with his club, handed him a flower? You hit them with something they don't expect, something they can't understand. And that way is the ONLY WAY you'll get any understanding out of them."
"You tried, Rob," Russell argued," you tried to get understanding out of them and they spit at you."
"Bullshit, man," Rob said," that wasn't understanding I was asking for. I was mad that day and I was merely stating facts. I'm talking about ACTION, not words. We have to do something, as they did something. They don't understand words-they understand physical actions! Why do you think Tex wouldn't answer that day? He couldn't, he couldn't relate! So he spit! Well, well hand them love instead of spit."
"Christ, maybe you're right," Russell said, leaning back against the chair. "Maybe you're right."
"What'll we do?" Jerri said.
Rob sat still for a moment, thinking. Then he lifted his head and started giving orders. "We have to get going right away, when they're the least expecting it. Carol, how many pies do you have in there?"
"Three… no, four," Carol answered.
"Okay, heat them up, wrap them up, hurry!" Rob said, pointing to the kitchen. Carol jumped up and disappeared into the room and turned on the oven.
"Jerri," Rob said," do we have any gifts left?"
"Yeah, about ten or so, but we were planning to save those for the mission tomorrow."
"Well, we'll have to make more," Rob said, thinking. "What's there?"
"Mostly adult things-leather belts and a purse, and some headbands-oh, hey, there's a woman's silver belt," Jerri responded.
"Great," Rob replied," Mrs. Tex Whatever-her-name-is will get the belt. Go get the stuff from the van and label them."
Jerri got up and put her coat on and went to the van to fetch the gifts.
"I'll get a jar of cider," Tracey said, walking to the kitchen.
"Hey," Russell said," I can burn in a Circle-T emblem on a wallet."
"You have some extra?" Rob asked.
"Yeah," Russell responded.
"Do it!"
Russell went to his room to get the wallet. Dave stood up and looked at Rob and shook his head. "I hope you're right," he said, rubbing his hands together.
"I am, believe me. "Rob was confident. He hit a note on the piano and then jumped up. "Hurry up, everyone, let's get going!" They parked the van in front of the main gate of the Circle-T ranch and, loaded with pies, gifts, and cider, they began their long walk to the main house, where lights blazed in every window.
As they neared the porch, they could hear laughter and music playing. Their feelings were mixed-frightened, hoping, worried-but Rob led them with fierce determination. Jerri stood at his side as he rang the doorbell.
Jack opened the door of the house. He stood there in stunned disbelief as he stared at the group gathered on his porch.
"May we come in?" Rob asked, holding a steaming pie in his hand.
"I… I don't know…" the boy stammered.
A voice from behind the door called out as the music stopped abruptly. "Jack, who is it?"
"It's the…" He was cut off by his mother's presence in the doorway. She stood there, like her son, staring at the young people on the porch.
"What do you want?" the woman said sternly.
"It's Christmas…"
She cut Rob off. "I know it's Christmas!" Jack backed away, leaving his mother standing in the cold air.
"It's Christmas and we have some gifts for you and your family and friends," Rob said gently.
"We have no use for your gifts and we certainly…"
Tex appeared next to his wife now and she stopped talking and looked at him. "What's going on here?" Tex asked.
"Here," Rob said, handing him the pie he was holding.
"This is for you," Carol said, handing the other pie to Tex's wife. The woman put out her arms, too stunned to say anything.
Russell stepped into the house. "Here, this is yours," he said, handing a wrapped gift to Jack, Then he turned to the mother again and gave her the box containing the silver belt. "Here's something we made. Merry Christmas."
The group was inside now, passing out presents in the midst of the shocked family and a few friends, all people they had seen behind Tex when he had spit at Rob.
"Hear, peace and love," Tracey said, giving the bottle of cider to an elderly man who took it from her, not knowing if he should smile or frown.
Then Carol spied Jim, hiding himself behind the corner of a bookshelf. "Jim, Merry Christmas," she said happily as she handed him the wallet.
The gifts had all been distributed and the tribe gathered at the door. Everyone looked at them dumbfounded, struck by silence.
"We're sorry we got here so late and interrupted your party," Rob said.
"Yes, we had an accident on our ranch," Jerri added.
"But everything's okay now. We just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas-and a peaceful New Year!"
Rob opened the door and led the group as they walked out of the house and down the path to the van. They said nothing as they opened the doors to the vehicle, getting inside. Suddenly they heard a shout from the ranch house and they turned to see Jim running toward them. The boy hopped the little fence and stopped suddenly near the van, almost losing his balance. He was panting and his eyes were full of tears. "I'm… I'm…" he couldn't bring himself to say it. He just stood there, breathing heavily, tears falling down his cheeks, and then turned and walked slowly back to the house.
Rob closed the door of the van and started the engine. He also took a deep breath, and turned on the headlights.
"Hey, Rob," Dave said as the van began to move down the road.
"What?"
"You were right," Dave said, admitting that his reservations had been wrong.
"No, Dave. WE were right"
There was nothing more to say or do. There would be enough to do in the morning.