Meg was singing like a bird, with a shopping—bag over her shoulder. All day she had been buying food, while her two sisters, Jo and Amy, were home, sitting idle, as today was their day off from work. Jo worked at a school as a teacher, while Amy was a student. Jo was fifteen, Meg eighteen and Amy twelve.
Tomorrow was Christmas, and Meg, who had been given money to buy food for the family, had gone to shopping. She had bought fish, meat, vegetables, bread, butter, ham and fruit, so that the three of them could make quite a lovely breakfast at Christmas day.
Meg, the oldest and the prettiest, with soft brown hair, large, blue eyes and white hands, was singing a melody when she arrived at the door of the house. Soft snow laid in heaps everywhere in the path, but since the three of them had earlier shoveled some snows off the street, it was quite easy to walk now. Meg pressed her ears against the door (she did not open it) and listened and could hear Jo and Amy grumbling and quarreling like obstreperous and impulsive children.
Jo seemed to be mixing ingredients together for a cake, and she was saying, 'Look! I've baked a cake, and you're doing nothing, Amy! You lazy little thing!'
'Oh, Sis, did not come yet—nothing's wrong—I can still sit on the chair,' Meg could hear Amy snap at her.
'And I'm here,' Meg cried from the door. Jo hurriedly opened it and Meg hopped inside, taking off her bonnet and her darned coat and putting it on the peg. Jo silently closed the door and returned to her baking.
'So, I'm not here, am I, Amy dear?' asked Meg. 'I am. Now move from the easy—chair. I'm exhausted.'
'I shan't!' the spoiled Amy snarled. 'I also work too! Studying is hard. You only sit around the house and wash the dishes and sweep the floor! Easy work! I won't, and I won't, move from the chair. I am tired too.'
'Amy, if you don't, I'll tell Mother—she's sure to telephone us soon,' Jo said, setting the cake in the oven. The two elder sisters didn't bother much about Amy's lash-out; they were quite used to her acting out now. Amy, however hastily got off from the chair, in fear that her mother would be angry with her.
Meg sat down, and looked around. The house looked the same as in the morning—not even a single pillow was altered. There were four bedrooms in the house, all of which were upstairs. The biggest one was Mother and Father's, but now it was locked, because they were away. And the three girls' bedrooms beside them were no longer than the size of a big cupboard. The kitchen, dining-room and the drawing room were all combined together in a very long room, like a great hall, downstairs.
Since so many rooms had combined together, all the furniture was cramped. The dining—table's cloth was cleaned, though very rough. There was a mantelpiece, a dresser, a shelf of books, pictures on the whitewashed walls, an old piano and a red threadbare carpet on the floor.
The fireplace was blazing red-hot now and Jo had earlier set the kettle in, which was merrily hissing away.
Meg got up and put the meat, and fish and stuffs in the refrigerator, and then came back to the chair and again sat down. Jo was setting plates on the table, and Amy, as usual, was sitting down, with her hand over her chin, looking bored as ever. Meg took out from her money—bag, the mobile, which her mother had given her when she had left, and started fiddling with the numbers. Amy looked sharp.
'Meg!' cried Amy. 'What are you doing?'
'None of your business,' cried Meg, who always got fed up with Amy. Being the youngest, Amy was spoiled by her parents and would always poke in other people's affairs.
'Why are you fiddling with the mobile?' Amy said shrilly. 'It's not yours.'
'Mom gave it to me,' Meg cried.
'But not to play with it,' cried Amy, who wanted to have the mobile so that she herself could call one of her friends. 'Give it back.'
'It's safer in my hands than yours, Amy!' growled Meg. 'Beside, I am the oldest. I can do anything I like. You are, Amy, the youngest, and that means following commands! And the command is—get your nose out of other people's affairs.'
'No!' cried Amy. 'You are not "other people." You are my sister!'
'Oh, now you are trying to be sentimental, so that I will give you the mobile and you can do anything you want to with it! Isn't that so?' cried Meg indignantly. 'You just want to call up your friends! Well, no, I won't let you it! You're small, and remember that only rich, unfashionable and idiotic girls use mobiles in the age of twelve. Decent and smart girls never do!'
'Shut up, Amy, listen to Meg' cried Jo. 'Now tea.'
'What excellent tea!' cried Meg, going towards the dining—table, where everything had been neatly set up. 'Oh, Jo, what a fine fruitcake! One slice, please.' Jo generously gave her an enormous slice.
'Me, please,' Amy said, holding out her plate.
'Get it yourself, little gal,' Jo said. Amy haughtily turned away and refused to eat even one slice of the marvellous cake which Jo had so exquisitely made.
'The tin of shortbread, I would like a piece,' Meg said, since she was hungry.
Jo had already started eating her fruitcake and her fingers were now all sticky. She did not want to touch the tin and make it sticky too. That meant more washing for her.
'Amy, dear, please, please give me the tin of shortbread,' Jo asked sweetly.
'Fine,' Amy said, surprisingly, and went to take out the tin of shortbread from the cupboard. She opened it and took two big pieces of shortbread for herself. Then she passed the tin to Jo, who after peering inside it, cried indiginantly, 'Why you mean selfish little girl! There's none left. No wonder you took the tin of shortbread! You knew there were two left so that's why you hurriedly took it out! Give the shortbread back, you wretch.'
'Jo, don't use such bad words,' cried Amy, who loved pretending a lady, and did not like Jo, because Jo was a tomboy. She had long limbs and she reminded everyone of a colt because she did not know what to do with her long legs. Her only great asset was her glossy black, straight hair. Amy had golden hair that fell in curls around her shoulder. And she had brilliant blue eyes, and she carried herself like a little lady.
'Jo uses too many bad words,' repeated Amy in a grumbling tone. 'And if you really want the shortbread, why didn't you take it earlier? You shouldn't have asked me!' And she put the two shortbreads on her mouth and chewed it in a very ridiculous manner.
'You are really the most selfish, mean, spiteful little—'
'Peace,' said Meg, who loved playing the role of peacemaker. 'Peace. Amy, with all your little airs, you'll soon grow up to be a snobbish little goose.'
'And me?' asked Jo, giving Amy a look of anger and then sitting down. Then she sighed, 'How I wish I were a boy! It would have been fun to go with Father in the war and be a soldier! How I wish!'
'Yes, but it can't be helped,' Meg said nonchalantly. 'Now, for some knitting and less talking.'
'Oh!' moaned Amy, who hated doing work. Meg produced everybody needles, thimbles and told them to sew their old dresses, because they could not afford to buy wonderful silk dresses anymore. Amy could sew neatly, but she did not do it properly as she hated to work. Instead, she started embroidering a handkerchief.
'Meg, isn't it nice?' asked Amy after five minutes of working.
'Yes, very neat, and nice too,' Meg replied. 'Who is it for?'
'Myself,' said Amy, and slipped the handkerchief into the pocket of her dress. Jo gave Meg a isn't-she-a-selfish-little-midget look. Meg said nothing, smiling slightly.
'Meg, Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents!' grumbled Jo, after half an hour of work and silence.
'It's so dreadful to be poor!' said Amy, looking at her old dress. 'The other girls in schools wears so lovely and expensive dresses! How I wish I had them! It's not fear for some girls to have plenty of pretty things while others have nothing at all.'
'We've got Mother and Father and each other,' Meg replied. 'There's no reason to feel discontented.' The three young faces brightened to hear Meg's words of comfort.
'But we haven't got Mother and Father,' replied Jo gloomily. 'Father went as a chaplain and Mother went as a doctor.'
'You know this is the reason why Mother told us not to have presents this year?' said Meg. 'This is going to be a hard winter for everyone. Though we can't do much in the war, it will be a sign of gratitude if we just sacrifice our Christmas presents!'
'I really can't think how Christmas presents will help the army!' snapped Amy. 'I was planning to buy some music. How I wish Mother and Father could present me with a fine piano! I hate to play with that broken one! And how I am jealous of the girls who have nice pianos. It's extremely unreasonable to be poor. What do you want for Christmas Jo?'
'Colours,' said Jo, who wanted to be an artist.
'Books,' said Meg, who was a bookworm.
'Let's buy what we want and have a little bit of fun,' suggested Jo. 'After all we all work hard.'
'But I can't buy my present!' said Meg a bit gloomily and sadly.
'Why?' Jo gasped. 'Did somebody steal the money?'
'No, I spent all my money for Christmas food!' she said. 'Though it is a generous thing to do—we have Hannah, the housekeeper too— I still wish I had money to buy myself a present. After all, I will feel envious when the two of you will marvel your presents while I just sit and knit. I mean, I am only eighteen.'
Meg looked so sad that Jo and Amy felt quite sorry for her. But still they were grateful to their elder sister, who sacrificed her money for them so that they could have a meal tomorrow. They immediately felt ashamed of themselves for not thinking of doing the same thing. Jo said, 'Oh, if mother and father were here, all our horrible ideas would have gone away!'
'I—I know!' said Amy. 'It seems as if half the house is gone!'
'Well,' said Meg, smiling. 'I've remembered something. And this might cheer you lot.'
'What is it?' asked Amy inquisitively.
'A letter from Mother and Father,' said Meg.
'Three cheers!' cried the others. 'Quick, read it out.'
Meg quickly took out from her bag a note of paper and unfolded it. Amy and Jo were jumping with excitement and happiness. They were extremely happy to get the letter. They had not been able to contact with their parents for two weeks. Meg said, 'I'll read the part where Mother and Father mentioned all of us, okay?' Meg read it:
'Give them my love, Meg, and I tell you that I think about the three of you all the time. I hope you do your duties faithfully, and when I come back, I am prouder than ever of my little women.
With love,
Father and Mother.
Meg said, 'Do you understand girls? What Mother and Father are saying? You think about what you have done these past years and tell me about it.'
After several minutes, Jo said, 'I understand. I want to be a tomboy. I should be much more ladylike and quiet and gentle. I should not loose my temper so often, for unreasonable purposes. And I should be responsible and self—sacrificing.'
'Spoken like a true lady,' praised Meg. Jo blushed, but she was pleased.
'And I—I agree what you told about me,' said Amy. 'I think too much of myself and I am too selfish and hate to work. I should learnt to help others like you, Meg.'
'I am sure we all will put brave efforts doing our tasks,' said Meg warmly, and this made everybody more grown—up and think about their tactics and their inner self.
At supper—time, Jo said, 'Meg, what about supper?'
'A simple one,' Meg answered. 'I want everybody to have great appetites for Christmas morning, tomorrow. I have ordered a fat young goose, which the butcher's boy will deliver tomorrow early in the morning. And there is ham in the refrigerator too.'
'I'll make some tomato sauce,' said Amy. 'I simply love it with meat.'
'And bread and butter and cheese,' went on Meg, 'with icy cold milk and strawberries and cake. I am sure it ought to be a fine breakfast.'
'Yeh, sure,' said Jo. 'What about now?'
'What do you say—bread, butter, and some of the farm cheese that I bought,' said Meg promptly, 'with a tomato or two, and a bit of milk. For dessert, two strawberries each, with the farm cream that I bought today?'
'Sounds good,' said Jo, getting up. Amy, for the first time also helped. She was determined to make her parents proud of her and see that she had grown less selfish. With the help of Meg and Amy, Jo set up the plates at the table. Then they pulled chairs towards the table and prepared to enjoy the simple meal.
'The tomatoes are fresh and juicy,' Amy said, taking a bite.
'Pass me the bread, will you, Jo?' asked Meg.
'I will,' said Amy, getting up and passing the wooden tray where the loaf of bread was.
'I wish Mother and Father were with us,' said Jo, sighing, buttering the toast.
'Hey, I have a fantastic plan,' cried Amy, suddenly, getting up from her chair.
'What?' said Jo, disbelieving.
'Well, our rooms aren't heated, and I do feel frightened to sleep alone in my room, knowing that Mother and Father aren't with us. So how about spreading rugs behind the fire and sleeping there. The fire will warm us, and I shan't be frightened much, because the two of you will be around me.' Amy waited for her sisters to response.
'Lovely, Amy,' said Meg, stamping her feet on the ground. 'Amy, bring a rug or two and the pillows. Jo clean this up. I'll lock the front door.' And she did it and went off to help Jo with the cleaning.
After the works were finished and Amy had brought the rug, the three sisters spread it on the carpet near the fire. The carpet was warm, and very soft, like a velvet cushion, and so when they lay down on it, they felt extremely comfortable. They all had sweaters on them, because it was really cold. Meg peeked across the window and saw that it was snowing again. They all laid down very close together, feeling very snug and comfortable.
'Ooh, it's so warm and comfortable,' Amy said, wrapping herself with the rug.
'Sleep well, girls,' said Meg. 'We have a great day tomorrow.'