Instantly, Peter dashed up the stairs and could be heard repeating, "Father! Father! Please wake up! Father Christmas has come!" In a matter of moments, Bob Cratchit descended the steep stairs behind his eldest son, yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he came.
The children watched excitedly for a nod from their mother, and when it came, they ran toward the little fireplace mantle where hung five oft-darned stockings that were now laden with all-manner of delightful contents.
"Ribbons!" cried Belinda. "Oh they are the loveliest pink ribbons I have ever seen!" And digging further down inside her stocking she pulled out a small orange that filled her with joy. "And an orange!"
"A pencil!" cried one of the younger Cratchits.
"Chestnuts!" cried another.
"An apple!" cried Tiny Tim. "Oh it is a big, shiny red apple!"
In the very bottom of their stockings, each child found a few pieces of broken peppermint candy obtained by their father free of charge from a friend who worked in a confectionary store and kept the broken bits and pieces of candy he scraped from the bottoms of jars (before refilling them) for his own children and those of his friends. The discovery of this delicious and rare sweet treat brought forth gasps of delight from the Cratchit children.
Once the stockings were entirely emptied of their precious contents, Mrs. Cratchit began assigning chores and errands to each of her children save Tiny Tim who was waiting patiently for his father to dress and take him to church for Christmas morning services. But before he went upstairs to dress for church, Bob pulled a small parcel out of his robe pocket and handed it to his wife. (end of p. 3. Complere story for $0.99 on kindle)
The pudding was Mrs. Cratchit's own special project, just as the Christmas punch was always made by Bob. She had put by a penny here and there throughout the year so that she had enough to buy the currants and sugar for the pudding. Every year at Christmas Mr. Scrooge's nephew Fred could be depended upon to give Bob a bottle of brandy, some of which Mrs. Cratchit would use to flame the pudding. As she rushed about getting things ready for Christmas dinner, she pondered how such an odious and hateful man as Ebenezer Scrooge could be related to such a wonderful, kind and generous one as Fred!
Her thoughts were interrupted by her youngest daughter.
"Mother!" cried the child, who stood looking out the front window of the tiny but tidy house. "There is a cab pulling up in front!"
Knowing her smallest daughter to have a particularly vivid imagination, Mrs. Cratchit did not trouble herself to look out the window to confirm the presence or lack thereof of a cab. Rather, she continued about her business, getting preparations underway for the family's holiday meal. "Someone coming to pay a Christmas visit to one of our neighbors, no doubt," said Mrs. Cratchit, removing several potatoes from a small bin and adding them to the bowl of those yet to be peeled. "Or perhaps Father Christmas has returned to deliver a gift to some child in the neighborhood he forgot on is earlier visit," she concluded, a twinkle in her eye.
Then, startled by a sharp rap on the front door, she went to see who it was that was now distracting her from preparations for the Cratchit Christmas feast. When she opened the door, she found a man standing there next to a cab.
"Good day!" the man exclaimed, tipping his hat while stamping his feet in an attempt to warm them against the bitter cold. "Is this the residence of Mr. Bob Cratchit?"
"Yes it is," said Mrs. Cratchit, a look of puzzlement on her face, whereupon the man went round to the back of the cab and removed an enormous turkey that he then presented to Mrs. Cratchit. Her husband, now fully dressed and having heard the knock at the door, joined her and both stared in utter amazement at the poulterer and the bird, which was twice the size of Tiny Tim.
"There must be some mistake," said Bob, scratching his head, a look of confused dismay on his face.
"No mistake," replied the poulterer. "This turkey was ordered and paid for by a gent who told me to deliver it to Bob Cratchit in Camden Town, and so I have done!"
"A gentleman?" said Mrs. Cratchit. "Which gentleman was that?"
"Anonymous," replied the poulterer with a smile, turning to re-enter the cab. "He said he wished to remain anonymous." And with that he tipped his hat politely once again, closed the cab door and was whisked away down the little street.
The youngest Cratchits watched as their mother and father struggled to carry the enormous turkey into the house and place it upon their table; it occurred to Mrs. Cratchit that it was such a large bird it never could have stood upon its legs as they would have snapped off in a minute, like sticks of sealing-wax!
For a full five minutes husband and wife sat in silence staring at the magnificent turkey. Soon their contemplation of this incredible and wholly unexpected gift from an anonymous benefactor was interrupted by Peter and Belinda, rushing into the Cratchit home with great excitement, proudly carrying the largest goose they could buy with the small penance their mother had provided for that purpose. Stopping short, they took one look at the enormous bird now laid upon the table and then looked with bewilderment and not a little embarrassment at the puny goose they held between them.
"What is this?" asked Peter after a few moments of silence resulting from his profound amazement and incredulity at the sight of the huge turkey that now lay atop the table where the family dined.
"It was just delivered only moments ago by a poulterer who said a gentleman bought it and told him to bring it to Bob Cratchit in Camden Town," explained his mother, upon which remark Peter and Belinda laid their small goose upon the table where it seemed to be a tiny gosling sitting alongside its mother.
"Mother what are you going to do with it?" asked Peter, his face registering his utter amazement. (full book on Kindle for $0.99)
Mrs. Cratchit looked at her husband and then back at the enormous turkey. After a few moments of thought she smiled at her family and said, "I say we cook it and have the biggest Christmas feast in the history of the Cratchit family!"
"Yes indeed!" agreed Bob Cratchit heartily, a look of joy and excitement on his kindly face.
"Hurrah! Hurrah!" cried the children, now joining hands and dancing gleefully about the table upon which rested the largest turkey any of them had ever seen.
"But Mother," said Peter, stopping abruptly the dance he had joined in with his siblings. "What shall we do with the goose Belinda and I bought?"
Mrs. Cratchit looked at her son sympathetically, knowing he and his sister had done their very best to find the largest bird they could purchase with the tiny sum she'd given them.