Mary’s Son (13 page)

Jared glanced around suspiciously. While in the house and confronted by Nicholas, his one hope was to find himself in the open, where he could simply outrun the old man. Now that he was in the open, he realized it wasn’t going to help. Somehow, this little man had control over him. He’d never felt anything like it, and he was wary.

“I think I’d rather be back at the house and take my chances there,” he said while pointing behind himself and glancing around before dropping his hand sheepishly because he didn’t know where he was.

It was at that moment that Sarah came to her senses. “You’re the one I saw on the street,” she said.

Jared looked at her and smiled malevolently. “Yeah, you’re the rich girl.”

“You shot at me,” Sarah whispered as the realization of the last seconds in the house struck her.

“Sorry I missed,” he said sarcastically. “I’m outta here,” and he turned to walk away.

“Stop him!” Sarah shouted needlessly. It was clear he could not walk away.

“Enough!” shouted Nicholas. He turned to the boy. “You are not in control here, young man. We are not part of your little gang. We don’t jump at your every word. You are not ‘outta here.’ You will come with me and do as I say or you will never be ‘outta here.’”

Jared was surprised at the power of Nicholas’s words.

“And you, Miss Stone, will put aside your own selfish needs and follow me. You are no better than Mr. Roberts here. Hopefully, you will both learn to be human beings who aren’t interested only in yourselves.”

Sarah was taken aback by the rebuke. Nicholas started toward the road and the travelers making their way. “Come with me,” he commanded.

Sarah and Jared glared at each other for several seconds, knowing they had no choice but to stay together and follow Nicholas.

A short time later the three of them stood at the road’s edge and watched a dark bearded man lead a donkey carrying a very pregnant woman. The woman smiled through obvious pain and discomfort, and the man glanced back at her with concern in his eyes. The woman was actually a girl of about seventeen. She was beautiful with dark hair pinned back loosely and bright blue eyes that sparkled with life despite her discomfort. The man, in his late twenties, was her husband. He was tall with a dark complexion and dark eyes and a carriage that bespoke strength of character and commitment.

“We’ll be there by nightfall, Mary,” said the man. “Can you make it?”

“I’ll be fine, Joseph. But please hurry.”

“She’s about to have a baby,” Jared said.

“Is she going to be all right?” asked Sarah.

“She’s very close to her time, Sarah. She has traveled a long distance in this condition,” said Nicholas.

“Do you know them?” asked Jared.

“Yes,” said Nicholas, “and so do both of you.”

The boy turned to Nicholas. “I’ve never seen them before.”

Sarah shook her head, acknowledging the same.

“You know them nonetheless,” Nicholas said. “It’s just that you have chosen to forget.”

“Where are we?” Sarah asked again.

“We’ve taken a little journey…to a place called Bethlehem. We’ve come to witness the first Christmas,” Nicholas said.

Both kids were stunned. Although Sarah, who had witnessed much magic from Nicholas, was inclined to experience more, Jared was having none of it.

“Give me a break, man,” he said. “Are you telling me we’ve gone back in time?”

Nicholas nodded. Jared gawked at him and then at Sarah. He’d never considered hooking up with these two when he and his friends planned the Stone robbery. But he had indeed hooked up with them. For the time being, he had no choice and decided to bide his time, go along with the old guy and the rich girl, and look for his escape.

“Who are you?” he finally asked Nicholas.

“I’m one of the others you’ve forgotten,” Nicholas responded.

“What does that mean?”

Sarah stood to the side. Her mind wrestled with Jared’s question and with the knowledge she had of Nicholas. Nicholas glanced at her as the boy awaited his answer. Sarah resolved to reveal the truth…no matter how silly it sounded.

“He’s…Santa Claus.”

Nicholas smiled at Sarah, took her hand, and turned abruptly to follow the travelers. Jared shrugged, glanced around as if they were both crazy, and trotted after them.

MARY Roberts stood at her kitchen counter, her right hand clutching the telephone receiver to her ear and her left hand covering her mouth. She was trying desperately to hold back the tears that started the moment Amanda had come back from her older brother’s room and told her Jared wasn’t there and that it looked like he hadn’t slept in his bed. A few moments later the phone rang.

“Yes…thank you,” Mary said awkwardly and hung up. She turned to Amanda and the twins who were staring at her. Billy sat fidgeting in his highchair.

“What happened to Jared, Momma?” asked Amanda, fear etched in her eyes. “Is he all right?”

“They don’t know, honey. The police said…” Mary started as she wiped her eyes and glanced around absently before she resolved to do something.

“C’mon, Amanda,” she said. “We have to go see someone.”

“Who, Momma?” her daughter asked.

“It’s about your brother,” she responded. She bustled about to ready the younger kids. “Now help me here, Amanda. We’ll see if Flora can watch the kids for a while.”

Mary grabbed the twins’ hands. Amanda took Billy and followed her out of the kitchen.

DETECTIVE Bruce Phillips hung up the telephone. Several plainclothes police officers sat at monitoring stations set up in Jonas’s library. They were awaiting a ransom call and coordinating the field search teams, which had fanned out across Penford Heights in ever-widening circles in search of any possible clue. Jonas hadn’t slept and was worn and disheveled in his tuxedo from the night before. He looked thoughtfully at the detective, who shook his head.

“That was the boy’s mother,” Phillips said. “She was shocked. Apparently, she didn’t know her son wasn’t at home. I told her to get down to the station and talk to Dexter. Maybe she can help us. Other than that, we’ve heard nothing yet. We’ve got the whole force looking for them. Something will turn up.”

“Thanks,” Jonas mumbled and plopped down heavily in a chair.

“Look…Jonas…why don’t you get some sleep?” Phillips suggested. “We’ll be here. We’ll wake you if anything breaks.”

Jonas nodded mechanically. Stevens took his arm, helped him out of the chair, and walked with him out of the room.

The sun dropped below the horizon while travelers trudged in loose groups down the hill toward the tiny town of Bethlehem. In the distance the first flickers of the warming fires of shepherds could be seen while in the fading light flocks of sheep huddled together for the evening.

Nicholas, Sarah, and Jared stood at the town’s east end, watching Joseph lead the donkey upon which Mary was riding. It was clear to them that Mary was struggling with her burden. Joseph recognized Mary’s intense discomfort, and he stopped the animal, helped Mary to the ground, and sat her down against a post in front of the closest inn.

“Wait here, Mary,” he said tenderly. “I’ll find a place for us for the night.”

Mary nodded and smiled through her pain and discomfort, and Joseph walked off toward the door of the inn.

“She’s not going to make it,” whispered the boy. “I saw my mom like this…just before Billy. She needs help fast.”

“Come this way, Jared,” said Nicholas, motioning for the boy to accompany him and Sarah.

Jared hesitated for several seconds, not sure whether he should try to help Mary or follow the other two. He turned to Nicholas and Sarah, just as Joseph was walking away from the first inn and approaching a second.

The three watched with concern as Joseph went from inn to inn, only to have doors slammed in his face with shouts of “We’re full!” and “Too crowded!” from the proprietors. When Joseph approached the final inn, it appeared as noisy and overwhelmed as the others, but he had to try. His wife was about to give birth and could not do so on the cobbled roads of the town. He knocked. The door opened, and a harried little man looked out.

“Please, sir, my wife is ready to give birth. Could we have a place to stay?” Joseph asked.

The little man was unimpressed with Joseph’s plea. He was having enough trouble trying to satisfy the throng of people already inside his inn.

“No room!…Go away!” he said. “We have no more room!”

“I just need a shelter, sir…any shelter,” Joseph begged.

“We have nothing!”

Jared stepped forward to address the innkeeper.

“What’s wrong with you?” he shouted. “She’s pregnant. You gotta help.”

The door slammed. Joseph dropped his head to control his rising fear before he turned and walked away. Jared ran to the door, hammered on it, and kicked it. He turned to Nicholas.

“Can’t you do anything?”

“Not here, Jared. None of us can. We are only observers. No one can see us. No one can hear us,” Nicholas responded.

“What’s going to happen to her?” asked Sarah.

Nicholas simply turned to follow Joseph.

Frustrated, Joseph approached Mary, afraid to give her the unhappy news. The young woman sat awkwardly, her eyes closed. Despite her predicament she seemed at peace, with her hands holding her stomach. Joseph touched her shoulder. As she looked up, he shook his head “no.” Mary tried to reassure her husband not to give up hope. Joseph crouched next to his wife and took her in his arms while his eyes scanned the streets in search of possible shelter. At that moment a middle-aged woman carrying two large empty water buckets stepped up to Mary and Joseph. Joseph was surprised and stood up between Mary and the woman, who was intently viewing her.

“I wasn’t sure if you were making up a story about a pregnant wife back there.” The woman pointed to the last inn and then looked at Mary. “It’s pretty clear it was not a story. This young woman is at her time.”

She gently pushed Joseph aside, bent to Mary, extended a hand, and said, “I know a place… come. It’s not much. But it’s a shelter. Can you travel?”

Mary nodded slowly and leaned forward to take the lady’s hand.

“Come, then,” she said, smiling warmly. She turned to Joseph. “Take your wife. I will show you where and come to help when I can.”

Joseph assisted Mary onto the donkey, and the woman led them toward a hill and a distant cave.

The three visitors followed for a few steps and then stopped when Nicholas held his hands out to either side to hold his companions back. He appeared to be thinking or listening to some instruction with a confused look on his face.

“Why are we stopping?” asked Sarah.

“Yeah, let’s follow them,” said Jared.

“We’ll see them later. I have something else for you to see now,” Nicholas said. His companions watched Mary and Joseph start their trek up the hill.

“What is this?” Jared asked angrily. “We can’t just walk away from this.”

“Be patient,” said Nicholas.

THE three travelers found themselves standing in front of a dilapidated wood structure that looked very much like some of the structures that straddled the streets of the Sink. On either side of the hard-packed dirt road were other squat structures made of clay, stone, and wood. The oil-lit interiors cast their glow in uneven intervals onto the road as travelers either reveled in the public eating establishments or made their way through shops still open in the early evening. The well-heeled people for the most part walked in the middle of the road, holding tightly to money purses and valuables and avoiding the shadows where the homeless and wretched skulked.