HOME OF THE RED FOX - Segment Fourteen

Chapter 66

         Out stepped Joe, nattily attired in a new tuxedo that was an early gift from Jack Behind him, a painted backdrop represented a London office from around the time of Charles Dickens.

         “I would like to welcome everyone to this year’s Maison du Renard Rouge Christmas show.” Joe’s voice boomed out over the large room as he continued. “Sit back, relax, and accept our humble offerings in the loving spirit we give them. Now,” and he paused for emphasis, “on with the show!”

         When he walked off to the left wing of the stage, two male guests dressed in old-fashioned clothing came on from the right side, one representing Scrooge and the other his clerk. Thus, the play “A Christmas Carol” began.

         For the next hour, the audiences enjoyed watching scene after scene with appropriate backdrops presented for their enjoyment. After the appearance of Ebenezer Scrooge and Bob Cratchit, next to come on stage was the ghost of Marley. Dan Cochran played him enthusiastically with noisy chains circling his body, his face covered with white powder. Next, three of the kitchen staff portrayed the spirits of Christmas past, present, and future. The hit of the play, though, was Joshua playing Tiny Tim, particularly when he limped on stage, holding onto a wooden crutch to say the famous line, “God bless us, everyone.” The actors received a standing ovation at the end of the play, and finally a stagehand closed the curtain. One by one, the thespians, some still dressed as Dickens’ characters, came out to join the rest of the audience to wait for the next act.

         The wait was not long. The curtain again opened to reveal Nick sitting on a chair with Sue Beth standing at his side. What followed was a dramatic narration of the letter written in 1897 by Virginia O’Hanlon to the New York Sun. Sue Beth’s sweet voice read it to ask, “Is there a Santa Claus?”

         Nick’s response from the editorial of the paper ended with the famous sentence, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” Again, the audience got to their feet at the end to applaud enthusiastically the two people taking their bows. Walker got up from his chair and went on the stage to give Sue Beth a small bouquet of roses he had kept hidden.

         “Leading ladies should always get flowers,” he whispered into the ear of the delighted little girl. “You were wonderful, sweetheart.” He received the happiest smile he had ever seen on his young ward and returned to his chair feeling life was perfect. It got even better, though, when Samantha leaned over to brush his cheek with a kiss.

         “You made her day, Walker,” she said, in a low voice. “Aren’t you glad Jack and I persuaded you to let them live here?” She sat back in her chair, also feeling as Walker did that life was perfect. Jack, watching the interaction between his two friends, just smiled. Yes, life was perfect…for now.

         The curtain remained closed for about five minutes and slowly opened again. The overture to Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” flowed out over the room as the dancers came on stage. The company had invited Joshua and Sue Beth to join them on stage in the opening act, and the two children stood laughing on the sidelines as they watched the piece called “The Children’s Gallop.” They had spent the afternoon with the other children as they rehearsed and hoped by next year to join them in this rousing dance.

         Another hour passed swiftly as guests and staff watched, enchanted by the music and joyful performance of the timeless ballet. Many of the older guests remembered seeing it performed live as a child, while the younger staff had only the television versions in their memory. All agreed, however, tonight’s version by the amateur group was one of the best they had seen.

         Walker led the applause while the dancers took bow after bow. They had decided earlier to leave the mansion after their final curtain call. Walker went backstage to thank them personally for coming to his mansion, and he waited with them as they changed back into their street clothes before returning to town. They left in their vans, trying to outrun the snow falling once again. While Walker was returning to return to his chair out in front, he could hear the sound of Scott Dent starting to play the first of the many sing-along tunes that would end the show.

         When entering the ballroom hours earlier, each person received a program of the night’s entertainment. It also included the printed words of the songs in the sing-along. With Scott at the piano and Edith on stage leading the assembled group in the words, secular and religious songs filled the room. All were upbeat in tempo, such that a few flat notes now and then did not matter. Walker sat there with a big silly grin on his face as he listened to the alto voice of the usually serious Samantha sitting next to him singing “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.” Samantha in turn winced to hear his baritone voice attempt “Deck the Halls.” Walker could do many things expertly, but singing was not one of them. She gave him an A for effort but C- for rendition, this last generously high mark given only because she cared for the tone-deaf man.

         Nick came back on stage to join Edith in a duet of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” which ended with an unplanned kiss between the two. When Nick left a suddenly bemused Edith alone, it took her a minute or so to gather her wits together. The last song of the evening started out unsteadily; however, it brought tears to the eyes of some as she sang “Oh Holy Night,” accompanied reverently on the piano by Scott.

         When the lights in the room came up to thunderous cheering, those in the audience noticed Franklin White wheeling in the rolling cart usually stationed near the entrance room’s desk. On it, there were high piles of books, enough for everyone in the audience, with some left over for those who had missed the show.

         While giving out the books, the photographer knew all his months of work were worth it by the many delighted faces around him. Finally joining Walker, Franklin just stood there absorbing all the comments he had overheard throughout his passage around the room. The still shy Belinda Ayres could only stare at the picture Franklin had taken one day of her talking with Samantha. It showed two women, one on the verge of middle age and the other much older, but still lovely with the lines of time on her face. One of his most popular photographs was of the Cochrans taken one sunny summer day simply sitting together on a bench and holding hands as they often did.

         Occasionally, he would hear laughter and knew someone had come across the picture he had of Walker. It showed the man with a guilty look on his face just after he broke the window playing baseball. Franklin had been lucky enough to be outside with his camera on that day and caught Walker just after everyone heard the sound of shattering glass. All agreed, though, the best photograph in the book was of Edith. The photograph showed Walker’s mother one afternoon watching unobserved as he walked through the entrance room with his two young wards. The look on her face showed clearly the love she had for him.

         Slowly and reluctantly, the people left the ballroom to return to their rooms or those of their friends. Most said the show had been perfect with the wonderful surprise of the picture book at the end. For days afterwards, Franklin would find himself stopped to receive thanks and praise for his gift. Walker just smiled without a word as Franklin repeatedly thanked him for this opportunity he had given him. He knew the first of the man’s royalty checks for the books would arrive in a few months, as the book had turned out to be popular in the short time it had been for sale by the public.

         Walker would not have been so happy if he had known about one person who had bought the book. For now, though, both men enjoyed the delight they saw on the faces of the mansion’s residents.

Chapter 67

         The following morning, one day before Christmas, was a day of rest for many and a hectic one for others. Samantha came down early to check the pile of gifts in the front room, still a bit blurry eyed from staying up late for the previous night’s show. This morning, it took three mugs of coffee to wake her up.

         After discovering the culprits of the nightly gift game, she cornered Walker when he joined her an hour later. “Perhaps you should have the gifts covered tonight. We can throw a tarp over them to keep our three rascals away.”

         “Don’t you think it would be a mean thing to do? They’re having such fun and not damaging anything.” Walker gave her a look that reminded Samantha of a little boy pleading with his mother to stay up for just one more hour. She could almost hear the boyish, “Please, Mom!” in his adult voice.

         Still trying to be the voice of reason, she looked at him while trying not to smile. “All right, but what if they break one of the gifts?”

         She started laughing when he eagerly came up with a solution. “I’ll replace anything they damage. Don’t you think they deserve to have one more night to play?” Knowing the tender spot he had for animals, she dropped the subject and continued to rearrange the packages.

         During the day, the pile of colorfully wrapped gifts grew while periodically Samantha checked to see there were presents for everyone. She knew how disappointing Christmas could be when someone failed to get a particular gift. While she did this, Walker kept busy by checking with Geoffrey about the next day’s lavish buffet.

         “Is everything ready?” he asked the chef whom he found amid total chaos. “Do you need anything? How may I help?”

         “We’re fine.” The excitable man stopped ordering his staff around long enough to give Walker his undivided attention. “Just keep everyone out of my kitchen for the next 24 hours, and you’ll have a feast tomorrow like none you’ve ever experienced. Get your coffee and don’t worry about us. Now, shoo!” Knowing the kitchen was in good hands, Walker did exactly that.

         The rest of the day passed quickly and smoothly, as most of the people in the mansion hurried around with last minute preparations. Late in the afternoon, Samantha saw Jack as he prepared to leave for the airport on an errand he refused to reveal to her.

         “I’ll only be gone for a couple days,” was all he would say as he stuffed a small suitcase into the trunk of the waiting taxi. “You’d better get back inside,” he told the shivering woman standing near him. “You’ll freeze to death without a coat.” The snow finally stopped falling midmorning, and the temperature had dipped below zero during the night and stayed there.

         Knowing how Jack loved secrets, Samantha gave up. “Just be careful and make sure your plane doesn’t run into a low-flying sleigh and reindeer.” She watched as her friend drove off down the long driveway.

         Getting the two excited children to go to bed was a task Walker and Samantha took on. With Sue Beth and Joshua finally tucked in under the covers, Samantha sat back in the shadows when her friend and boss placed a second chair near them. He opened a book and started reading, “T’was the night before Christmas and all through the house,” to the still wide-awake little ones. When he reached the last line of the favorite holiday poem, the adults saw two sets of eyes closed in sleep, probably dreaming of sugarplums, too.

         Walker saw the two large stockings hanging from the back of a chair near the window and stopped midstride. “Darn it, Samantha, I forgot all about putting something in their stockings. That tradition slipped my mind. What am I going to do?” He looked for help from her only to see her slowly shaking her head at his look of mild panic.

         “Stop worrying, Walker. I’ve taken care of it.” It never ceased to amaze her how much Walker took the happiness of everyone around him to heart. The fact he felt guilty at forgetting about the children’s Christmas stockings was so typical of the generous, giving man. Samantha thought Walker would make the perfect Santa Claus, even though he planned on asking Nick to portray the jolly man the next day.

         After turning out the light in the children’s room, Walker invited Samantha up for a drink before they turned in for the night. About midnight, Samantha left the drowsy man sitting in his overstuffed easy chair and went first to her room, then back to where two large empty stockings waited.

         Settling into her own bed half an hour later, she slipped off to sleep, dreaming not of sugarplums, but of the sleepy man she had left in the apartment upstairs.

Chapter 68

         Christmas Day began with a bang…literally. Samantha woke up around 4 a.m. to the sound of banging on her door. She stumbled out of bed and grabbed a pale-green, silk robe to cover her matching nightgown on her way to the door. After tying the darker-green, satin ribbons to close the robe, the half-awake woman slowly opened the door to have two boisterous children nearly knock her off her feet. They held stuffed stockings towards her.

         “Samantha, look what Santa brought us,” said Sue Beth, her eyes wide in excitement. Samantha had finally convinced the two children she preferred this to the more formal and stuffy Miss Ward. Hard as he tried, though, Walker could not get them past calling him Mr. Walker.

         The little boy jumped in. “Santa knew to find us here and not in San Francisco. I was so afraid he couldn’t.” He looked so happy Samantha had to reach out and hug the child.

         “Don’t be silly, Joshua,” scolded his sister. “Of course he knows we’re here. He’s living right downstairs, isn’t he?” The children still believed Nick was Santa Claus. In the past few days, no adult wanted to tell them he was not the old elf. Everyone took great pains to say nothing to spoil their belief in Santa.

         “I have an idea,” whispered Samantha, an innocent look on her face. “Why don’t we go up and show Walker what’s in your stockings?” She figured if she had to get up so early, he should, too. The three of them, all still in their nightclothes, climbed the stairs to wake up the unsuspecting man.

         Walker, not even close to being awake, answered the children’s loud, excited pounding on the door. He wore only the blue boxers he had left on when crawling into bed only a few hours before. His hair was tousled, and his feet were bare as he stared blankly at the people standing in front of him. “Hello?” Walker managed to get out one word before he closed the apartment’s door in their startled faces.

         “Walker, it’s us,” he heard through the closed door, just as he headed back to bed. Walker swore it was Sam’s voice, though it could not be at such an early hour. He turned back towards the door when the voice called out, “Walker, get back here this minute and let us in. “

         A second and younger-sounding male voice now spoke. “Mr. Walker, please let us in. We want to show you our stockings.” Confused and still not fully awake, Walker tried to figure out why some child’s pair of socks should interest him. Because he was a kindhearted person, though, and did not want to be too rude to whoever was outside, he again opened the door. Samantha and the children walked in and guided Walker back into the living room. All the time, they spoke softly to him.

         It took another few minutes before Walker finally woke up enough to recognize them and apologize for closing the door in their faces. He also decided to put on a robe, even though Samantha did not complain. Walker figured she probably had not noticed his undressed condition. She had, of course. Samantha also practically gloated when making the comment, “And you say I’m difficult when I first get up. I’m Suzy Sunshine compared to you.”

         The children had waited long enough and insisted on pouring out the contents of their stockings onto the floor to show Walker. After he had admired the candy, G. I. Joe action figure, and various other small items from one stocking, he looked at Samantha with a confused look on his face. Walker had forgotten Samantha had told him she would take care of filling the stockings. She shrugged her shoulders and pointed down at the goodies from Sue Beth’s stocking. He saw some candy and assorted other items, but the new pride and joy of the little girl was a stuffed toy cat, powder blue and in a sleeping position. “I’m naming him Sleepy,” she said, as she cuddled the small plush animal in her arms. Walker agreed it was a perfect name.

         He suggested everyone get dressed and go downstairs for some breakfast since it was nearly 6 a.m. After Samantha and the children left for their rooms, he decided to call down to Nick’s room. Walker wanted to ask him to play Santa Claus when distributing the gifts downstairs in a few hours, but got no answer to his phone call. The man’s probably already in the dining room eating, he thought, hanging up the phone. Putting on his black slacks and green pullover sweater, Walker found himself looking forward to having Nick play Santa Claus and seeing the joy on the faces of his two wards.

         It was too bad he forgot , “The best laid plans …”

Chapter 69

         By 7 a.m., the dining room was filling up as people wandered in for breakfast. The plan was to open the gifts lying all over the floor in the entrance room when breakfast was over. The next two and a half hours dragged for the two restless children. They understood and calmed down after Samantha explained older people do not get up this early as children do on Christmas morning. She said this while trying not to yawn from her own lack of sleep.

         “Have you got hold of Nick yet?” she asked Walker when he joined her and the children out in the front room around 9:15 a.m. She knew he had been calling the other man’s room every half hour with no success at reaching him. Hearing his negative response, she suggested, “Why don’t you go up to his room? Maybe he overslept and just turned off his phone for the night.”

         “Sounds like a plan,” replied Walker and headed across the room towards the elevator and the second floor. Within ten minutes, she saw him returning alone and carrying an envelope, a strange look on his face.

         When he reached the waiting trio, Walker said quietly to Samantha, out of the hearing of the children, “Nick’s room is empty, and even his clothes are gone.” He showed her the envelope, but did not give it to her. “He left it with a note on top to not open it until someone distributed all the gifts. I guess that would be me.” Walker put the envelope in his slacks pocket and looked at the huge stack of gifts in front of him.

         Guests and staff crowded the large room, all looking at him in anticipation of receiving their presents. Walker looked back at Samantha. His eyes silently pleaded with her for help. What she did was stand up to show him a red Santa hat she had been holding to give to Nick.

         “Well, Walker, looks like you’re our Santa,” she said, putting the hat on his dark hair at a jaunty angle. Even in his green sweater and red hat, Walker was too tall and muscular to be mistaken for Santa Claus. It’s what is inside that counts, though, and Walker was Santa to the people around him.

         With a grin, he motioned the two children forward. “Kids, would you like to help me pass out these presents?” For an answer, Joshua and Sue Beth each picked up a gift from the pile and read the names on the tags. Joshua went to Rose Cochran with a small rectangular box, gaily wrapped in silver foil with a red bow on top. The label said it was from her husband, and when Rose opened the box, it contained a simple gold chain from which hung a heart with a diamond in the middle.

         Sue Beth, meanwhile, had found Slappy McKinney standing near the front desk and shyly handed the clown a box nearly as big as she was. She stood there as he opened it and started giggling as he first pulled out a pair of gigantic size-24 yellow shoes followed by a spinning red bow tie and finally a gaudy plaid suit only a clown would wear. When Slappy checked the label, all it said was “From Santa.”

         Walker stood watching the two children giving out the first two gifts and picked up an odd-shaped package near his feet. Reading the label, he saw it was for Toby Cutler. He spotted the young waiter at the outskirts of one group of people and walked over to him, greeting others on his way there. “Merry Christmas, Toby,” he said with a jovial ho-ho-ho in his voice and handed the other man the gift. From the shape of the wrapping paper, they knew it had to be the fancy fishing reel Toby had seen and admired in the local sporting goods shop last summer. Toby’s look of pleasure turned to surprise when he read the label saying it was from Samantha. He did not know she saw him that day, practically drooling over the reel in the shop’s window, and had bought it for him a few minutes after he left.

         With the first gifts given out, the pile slowly dwindled down as Santa and his two small elves continued for the next hour or so. Anna, the woman always taken for granted by her family, slowly opened the box Joshua handed her. She just sat there staring mutely at the beautifully crafted hat inside. All her life she had wanted a hat as stylish as this. Her husband and children, however, told her she was foolish and to forget about it. As she never told anyone else of her desire, she was in shock at seeing the expensive creation surrounded by crumpled blue tissue paper. Anna finally reached for the label and read “From Santa”.

         By noontime, all the presents were in the hands of the proper people, and torn wrapping paper and discarded boxes and ribbons covered the floor. On one side of the room, an elderly man tried out the strings on his new guitar. The tune sounded no better than that played at night by Rufus, at least to Walker. As he listened to it, he also watched Samantha as she tried on the creamy white cashmere sweater he had given her. At the last minute, Walker decided against giving her the exquisite Edgeworth emerald and diamond necklace, knowing it would be an inappropriate gift for an employee. That, of course, was all Samantha was to him, a valued employee. Nothing more, went through his mind, wondering why it did not sound convincing.

         After the last of the guests and staff left the entrance room to head for the buffet laid out in the dining room, Walker remembered the envelope in his slacks pocket. He called Samantha over from where she had been examining the children’s new toys, leaving Edith to watch over Sue Beth and Joshua. After he and Samantha sat down on an empty sofa, he pulled out the envelope and started reading it aloud.

         “Dear William, you have discovered by now I no longer am within your wonderful mansion. Since Christmas Eve is my busiest night of the year, I had to leave without saying good-bye to you or your lovely Samantha. I hope you will forgive me since I must be off for I have many miles to travel before I can rest. Thank you for letting me know there are still those who understand the true meaning of Christmas. It’s not the gifts that are important, but the selfless sharing of yourself with those around you. Bless you, my children, and I will see you again next year.”

         Walker stopped reading and said quietly, “He signed it simply “Nick,” nothing else.”

Chapter 70

         “It is a human bone, XX, female.”

         It was quiet at the mansion the first week in January, letting the residents have a chance to relax after the hectic holiday season. Jack returned from his trip two days after Christmas and still refused to tell Samantha where he had been or why. She knew he would tell her in his own good time so decided to let the matter drop…for now. The grin on his face, however, whenever he caught her looking at him slowly weakened her resolve to remain quiet.

         Walker saved her from giving in to her curiosity by asking them to come up to his apartment one morning. When the three of them were sitting in his living room, he told them, “I got a phone call from Randall last night.” Walker repeated the sentence Randall had told him about the bone. Samantha looked at him, still not understanding. Jack, however, caught Walker’s meaning immediately.

         “I was right?” he asked.

         “Yup, you sure were. Randall said the bone you gave him is from a human. They were able to extract some DNA from what little was left of the bone’s marrow.” Walker saw Samantha still was in the dark about all of this. He continued for her benefit, “When we were down in the cavern, Jack found a bone he knew wasn’t from a dead animal.”

         “Why did he know that?” Samantha asked.

         “Well, Sam, the piece of cloth found with it gave him a clue.” Walker tried to look serious but failed. He started grinning at Samantha and continued, “We figured no self-respecting animal would be wearing clothes.”

         Jack jumped into the conversation. “What else did he say? You mentioned it’s from a female?”

         “He said Dr. Burke calculated the age from the length of the long bone. It was a femur like you thought, and it came from a young female.”

         Samantha frowned, as she thought for a minute, and finally asked, “Walker, didn’t you say there was a little Edgeworth girl? Yes, I remember. You said her name was Sarah or Hannah?”

         “Hannah.” Saying her name reminded him of what he had shown Joshua on the day they discovered the caverns. “There’s an oil portrait of her with her parents down in the third floor room.”

         “Do you two have time to go there?” Jack asked, curious to see what the child looked like. The bone might not belong to Hannah Edgeworth, but again, it might. “Maybe there’s even some clue in the room about why a child’s bone was down in the cavern.”

         “I’m game,” said Walker, standing up and heading for his front door. Samantha just nodded and joined her two friends as they once more returned to Walker’s hidden room. She was not about to let the men have all the fun of solving this mystery.

         Walker found the room unchanged from the last time he had been in it. So far, no one else in the mansion had stumbled across his hidden room. He found the oil painting of the Edgeworth family and placed it on the floor closer to the sunny window. Jack just stood there gazing at the image of the young girl.

         Samantha, on the other hand, could not pull her eyes away from the sight of the necklace around the blonde woman’s neck. The large marquis diamond surrounded by alternating emeralds and smaller diamonds appeared too heavy for the slender gold chain. The artist had captured perfectly the brilliance of the jewels and the elegance of the woman’s green, satin gown.

         Walker watched as Samantha knelt down in front of the portrait to get a closer look. “It’s magnificent, isn’t it?” His comment finally broke through her intense concentration, and he reached down to help her back on her feet.

         “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful piece of jewelry.” Samantha took one last look at the oil painting then gave Walker her full attention. “Did you find any diaries or notebooks yet? Maybe they give us a clue about the little girl.” She left him to walk towards a trunk none of them had investigated yet. The trunk that once contained the blueprints stood empty against the room’s back wall. Earlier, Walker had checked out two more and found they contained more clothing. Outfits belonging to an infant filled one of them with adult clothing in the other. This left two trunks still unexplored.

         On opening the trunk, Samantha was delightful to find it filled with items obviously belonging to a woman. She first took out an ornate silver hairbrush with matching mirror, both in desperate need of polishing. After placing them on the floor beside the trunk, she picked up a small simple wooden music box. The two surprised men swung around towards her as the sound of a Strauss waltz filled the room.

         Leaving the box on the floor with the music still playing, Samantha delved back into the remaining contents of the trunk. Her curiosity paid off when she lifted a beautiful dark-blue wool hooded cape to find half a dozen journals tucked in its folds. When she opened the topmost one from the stack, Samantha let out a cry that had the men hurrying towards her to see what was wrong.

Continued in next segment.

HOME OF THE RED FOX - Segment Fifteen  (18+) Chapters 71 thru 75 #1082897 by J. A. Buxton