It's Just a Christmas Tree.
It was a beautiful tree, there was no doubt about it. It stood proudly at 6 feet, a fully shaped scotch-pine with a perfect top and just enough room between branches to hang ornaments and icicles with ease.
Carolyn had bought it from the Boy Scouts for much less than Claymore was selling his trees and even though he had spent a good part of the day trying to make her feel guilty about it, she had refused. She wanted their first Christmas at Gull Cottage to be very special and part of that was finding the right tree. And this one had seemed to call to her from its place on the lot.
The fact that it was quite a bit cheaper had been a bonus and proved to her again that her landlord was a bit of a Scrooge in all things. As was the tradition in the Muir household, the tree would be set up after the children had gone to bed on Christmas Eve. It was one of the things that she and Bobby had discussed when they had waited with bated breath for the arrival of their first born.
Many of the Christmas traditions from the Muirs' and the Williams' they had adopted as their own, but it was the two of them that had decided that they wanted their children to awaken to the sight of a fully decorated tree on Christmas morning where nothing had been the night before. And she was determined to carry that on. There was one slight hitch in her plans but she really wasn't very worried about it. That was that she hadn't actually ever put a tree up by herself. Her part in the process had been watching her handsome husband put the tree in the stand, while she sat on the couch and told him if it leaned too far one way or the other or whether it looked good in that spot, or maybe we should cut a bit more off the bottom. He had always insisted on tightening the screws and making sure the tree was secure for the onslaught of eager children and one small white fuzzy dog.
And, of course, when she was a child, her father had put up the tree. In college they had taken care of the matter by simply putting the tree in a bucket for the week it would be there. But in all honesty, she didn't see how it would actually be that hard. The instructions on the tree stand promised a five year old could do it. Which meant that at her advanced age of 32, she should be able to do it twice as fast, at least.
Martha had gone out for the evening and had said she would be back around 10:00 or so. She had been invited to the movies with Ed Peavy, who had recently been finding excuses to hang around Gull Cottage. Which was pretty good, Carolyn thought, for a man who hadn't even wanted to come in the front door just three short months ago. She had a good feeling about Martha and Ed and hoped she was right. Martha deserved a good man and while Carolyn didn't know Mr. Peavy that well, she knew he couldn't go wrong with a woman like Martha.
The children had gone to bed just half an hour ago, although she doubted they were asleep. But they were very eager to see what Santa might bring them and so they had gone to bed without any fuss, well not much anyway. They would be up at the crack of dawn and she needed to be prepared for it. So, even though it seemed awfully early to start putting up the tree, she should be done in an hour at least -- that included decorating and everything -- just about the time Martha was coming home. She would try to remember to put some hot milk on for hot chocolate, right before then so she and her friend could share a cup before they both went to sleep.
She had the tree standing against the fireplace and was pulling the stand out of the box, when she was greeted by the spirit of Gull Cottage. He looked as though he had been up to something but she had known him long enough to know not to ask.
"That is a beautiful tree, Madam." he praised her selection as he ran a hand down the trunk. "Top rate."
"Thank you." she smiled, wondering why every time he paid her a compliment, big or small, she blushed. She had never turned red so often in her life as she had in the past few weeks. "It was the nicest one I could find for what I had to pay."
He nodded his head in understanding. "The children will be quite pleased with it." He turned his head to look over at her and she felt like blushing again. "May I be of some assistance to you?" he indicated the tree stand that she was placing down on the floor.
"No, thank you, Captain." she shook her head. "I do appreciate the offer, but I am perfectly capable of putting up a tree by myself."
"If you are sure." he tugged on his ear and gave her a smile that made her feel warm all over.
"I am sure." she nodded.
"All right then. " he nodded back. "I will leave you to your work."
"Place tree in stand. " she read out loud, "making sure trunk is in the middle." That didn't sound too hard. She went over to the tree, picking it up, wondering if it had been this heavy when she bought it.. Actually she hadn't picked it up then, she remembered. One of the boy scouts had put in the back of the station wagon for her and Ed Peavy had brought it into the house right before he left. Well, she was a strong woman. It was just a matter of moving it a few inches.
Lugging the tree over to the stand, she placed it in the middle like the instructions said but when she reached for the box again, the tree fell out of the stand and across the fireplace. Hurriedly she snatched it up and, putting it back in the stand, propped it against the mantel. "Now stay!" she commanded it and then picked up the box once more.
"Place hooks into trunk, making sure that all are even and then turn screws until tight." What could be easier? The problem was, she couldn't get the hooks into the tree and keep the tree inside the stand at the same time. But there had to be a way. How had Bobby managed it? "Well, that's what I was for." she hit her hand to her forehead, the tree once more falling across the fireplace. She had always held the tree in place while he put the screws in and held it straight until he got them in right. All right, don't panic, Carolyn, there is a way around this. It's just going to take a bit longer that's all. She looked around the room, trying to think of someplace she could prop the tree up that would hold it in place while she put the hooks in. No, the couch wasn't high enough and she didn't want to chance breaking the glass in the book case. Here by the fireplace wasn't good because she was constantly afraid of a spark catching the entire tree on fire. Think, Carolyn.
She looked out the living room door, and suddenly she brightened. The steps! Of course. Why hadn't she thought of that before? She could drag the tree out to the stairs, tie it against the rungs, put the trunk in the stand, start the hooks in and then she could untie it and haul it back in here and finish it up. It might take a little longer than she was thinking, but over all it was a brilliant plan.
Dragging the tree was right, as it was a lot heavier than it looked, but she did manage to get it out by the stairs. Needles were sticking on her clothes, and she felt hot and sweaty but she tried not to think about that. This would work. As soon as she found some string. Blast! Jonathan would have string, but she had been warned not to go rooting around in their room, so she wouldn't find something she shouldn't. Besides they were asleep and she sure didn't want to wake them up. Well, the clothes line would work! Opening the back door, she was greeted with a chilly wind and she drew back, closing it so fast the window rattled. Oh, that was cold. But she needed that clothes line. What was that? Laying on top of the washer was a nice piece of rope, just perfect for tying up the tree. Had it been there before? She didn't remember seeing it, but surely it had been. As she reached for it, she thought of how convenient it was that the rope was here when she needed it. Maybe a little too convenient. "Nice try, Captain." she called out, knowing the spirit was somewhere near by. 'I said I wanted to do this by myself." and she put the rope back where she found it.
She took a deep breath and once more opened the door, struggling with the clothes line, and finally getting it loose and hurrying back inside. "Blast, but it's cold out there.' She rubbed her hands together, wondering if the feeling would ever return. She could have sworn she heard the Captain say 'stubborn woman' as she walked back into the hall. Well, she would show him.
She managed to tie the tree to the banister by going up the stairs part way and wrapping the cord around the rungs and then tying it to the top of the trunk. There. She pushed back the piece of hair that insisted on falling down into her face and headed back to the living room to get the stand. Her back was already aching and she could see the tub filled with nice hot water calling her. But she would be done with this now in a matter of minutes and it would be worth every minute when the kids saw the tree tomorrow.
Back to the stairs, she sat the tree in the middle of the stand. Getting down on her hands and knees, she placed the hooks inside the soft trunk and began to screw them in. Hey, this wasn't so bad. She got two of them in with no problem, but the third one wouldn't even reach the trunk. What was she going to do now? Blast! "You know, Carolyn, you really need to learn a new swear word." she said out loud. "And don't laugh at me." she added for good measure.
Moving on her stomach to the other side, she put in the last hook and attached it, but she still wasn't sure what to do about the hook that wouldn't reach. Sitting up, she made herself think what to do and then it came to her. Scrambling up, or at least doing a good imitation of it, she went out to the kitchen and found one of Jonathan's wooden blocks that he had not put away and took it back out with her. Placing the block between the hook and the trunk she screwed it in and then sat back to view her handiwork. Perfect! Now to get it back to the living room. Once more going to the kitchen, she got the butcher knife and cut the cord, after she found out her knots had been a little too good.
"Are you sure you don't need some assistance, my dear?" the Captain appeared beside her when she had the tree and stand about halfway to the livingroom. 'I would be more than happy to aid you in placing the tree where you want it to be."
"No thank you, Captain." she shook her head, reaching up to take the needles out of her hair. "I do appreciate your offer, but I can do this."
He looked her over, shook his head and then gave her a smile. "Well, if you are sure."
'I am very sure." she said a little more haughtily then she meant too. "Why don't you go find a Scrooge to haunt or something?"
"As you wish." he bowed and disappeared from sight.
"Thank you. " she grabbed the tree and finally with a lot of tugging, got it back to where she had planned to put it in the first place. Once more she got down on the floor, tightened the hooks even more and then slowly got up and walked back a bit to see what it looked like. It was standing! And it was relatively straight. Time to get the decorations.
Checking in on the kids, she was gratified to see that they were asleep and not pretending and even Scruffy was snoring as he lay on the end of Jonathan's bed. She watched them for a few minutes and then headed up to the attic, where she had the decorations stored. This was turning out to be a lot of fun. And once she got the lights and balls and icicles on, it would be perfect. She felt so happy, she started to hum, feeling a lot of her energy coming back.
She went into the living room, put her box of decorations down on the couch and turned to look at the tree. "Blast, blast blast." The tree was on the ground, just the tip of the trunk in the stand. Why was this happening? Putting a tree in a blasted stand shouldn't be this much work. It had always looked so easy.
The chiming of the grandfather clock reminded her that time was running out and what had she gotten done? Not a thing. She kicked the stand, but that only made her toes hurt and then she laughed at herself for taking it out on the stand. Captain Gregg was sitting in the chair nearby, looking like he was enjoying this scene just a little too much. He gave her a wicked smile and rubbed his hands together.
"Please." she rolled her eyes and picked the tree back up, starting the process all over again. She was gratified to find out that she didn't need to tie it up again, the hook with the block in it was at least doing its part but getting the tree up still wasn't easy. Wasn't there anyone who she could call to help her? Ed Peavy would do it! But no, he was with Martha. And Martha, of course, was with him. There was no way she had enough money to get Claymore up here this time of night, nor most of the people in Schooner Bay, for that matter. She supposed she could wait until Ed dropped Martha off, but what if they decided to get a bit to eat and didn't get home at 10? Not to mention that they would be tired. And Mr. Peavy still wasn't crazy about being in the house after dark.
Glancing over at the Captain, who was just sitting there, his hands folded in his lap, she swallowed her pride and turned to face him. 'Um, Captain?"
'Yes, my dear?"
"Would you, if I apologized, would you, hel, help me with this?"
'I would love too, Madam, but to quote you, you are doing just fine and I should be out finding Scrooge or whatever. I really can't see anything that I can do that would help you."
"Men." she hissed, standing up and pushing her hair back again.
"How many times do I have to remind you...?" he started.
"Men, ghosts, you're all the same. Now, if you will excuse me."
"As you wish." he said and once more dematerialized from the room.
"And stay away." she called out, wishing she hadn't as soon as the words came out. Well, she would apologize later.
Time lost its meaning as she struggled with the tree, watching it lean to the right and then the left and, when that was straightened, watching it lean backwards. Her hands were beginning to hurt and she was sure she would have a blister between her thumb and forefinger. She stepped back to look at it one more time and began to see the her mother-in-law's reasoning in hiring a decorator to do such things. Was it leaning a little too far towards the front? It was, wasn't it? Well, she would get it, she would.
The clock chimed 10:00 and then 10:30 and she realized she had been right, they had decided to go out after the movie. Every time she got up to look at the tree, it looked crooked and she wondered if it really was or was it just her imagination. 11:00 came and went and 11:30 wasn't far behind. The tree was in right, wasn't it? Her muscles protesting, she once more went back to the couch and looked at the tree. It was perfect. It was. Remembering something Bobby always did, she shook the tree and let it go. It was still standing! And it did look good!
Thankfully the lights behaved for once and all lit and weren't too tangled. Of course it had helped that they were new and she had only taken them out of the package. She hung the balls and the ornaments Candy and Jonathan had made her in school and the one her father had brought her back from his trip to England, finally hanging the icicles, watching them shine in the tree lights. The effect was beautiful. It was past midnight when she finally finished and headed up to her room. The kids would be up in about four hours. Well at least she could get a little bit of sleep.
Then she remembered the presents. All of them, lying on her bed, waiting for her to wrap them. And a race track to put together. Well, sleep was highly over rated. It wouldn't hurt her to go one night without it, she had done it in college all the time. She would wrap the presents, put the track together and then take a bath and maybe at least lie down and take a nap. And then she would catch up later. Who would have thought putting a tree up could be so much work?
She opened the door to her room and switched on the light, blinking her eyes, not sure if she should believe what she saw. But it was true! All of the presents were lying in a pile at the end of the bed, neatly wrapped and decorated with bells, and ribbons and candy canes. She picked one up and saw that the tag said to Candy from Mom and to Candy from Santa, etc. All of them, were labeled. They were all done! The race track was together as well, the cars sitting on the start line, ready to go.
Sinking down onto the bed, she picked up a brightly wrapped package that said it was for Jonathan from Mom and held it close. Tears of gratitude welled up in her eyes and she sighed. "But why? I wasn't exactly nice. "
"It is the Christmas season. " the seaman appeared before her. "Just giving Santa Clause a hand." and with a smile, he left her alone once more.
It was then she saw the small package buried under a much bigger one. Pulling it out, she touched the ribbon that curled down the sides. To Mrs. Muir from Captain Gregg. Merry Christmas!
It most certainly was.