33

CHRISTIMAS EVE

Kyle’s parents and Wendy’s parents both lived within an hour’s drive. Wendy and Kyle spoke with them often on the phone, but they didn’t spend a lot of time at each other’s houses. The big family gatherings of the year took place at Christmas. First there was Christmas Eve at the home of Wendy’s parents, then, on Christmas Day, Kyle’s parents had a big family get-together. And finally there was Christmas night. That was when Wendy and Kyle would go home and have one more celebration, a small cozy one, with the animals they loved.

Normally Wendy looked forward to their “three-in-one” Christmas. But this year she didn’t have the heart for one, let alone three. She just wanted the fear to go away. She wanted to feel free again. She wanted her friendship with Danny back. Yet all those things seemed gone forever. The depressing reality was that her life had turned into a black hole. And if those criminals ever caught up to her, she could end up at the bottom of that black hole.

Kyle insisted that they go ahead with the usual celebrations. Otherwise, he said, everybody’s feelings would be hurt. He even bought her a new outfit, which he gave to her on Christmas Eve, just before they left for dinner with Wendy’s parents.

“What’s this for? You think I should have new clothes just to visit family?”

“Well, uh, it’s not exactly that,” Kyle said. “It’s just that Radar is always peeing on you. I wasn’t sure you had anything to wear that wasn’t, uh, you know, kind of rank.”

“Oh come on!” Wendy chided. “It’s not that bad. And I do use that odour-kill stuff Karen told me about.” She pulled off her shirt, sniffed it, and made a face. “Although I guess it doesn’t work one hundred percent.”

“You mean she told you servals pee on everything? And you took Radar, anyway?” Kyle shook his head in disbelief.

“Not everything,” Wendy stepped out of her jeans and slipped into the new outfit. “Just on me, because he thinks I belong to him. He never pees on you.”

“Right,” Kyle said. “Never on me. He just pees on my stuff. I bring something in the house, and the minute I set it down, he pees on it. So far he has peed on my wallet, on the book I was reading, on an electric drill, and on a brand-new package of socks I’d never even worn. The other day I set a six-pack of Pepsi down on the coffee table and he even peed on it!”

“He’s trying to train you to put things away,” Wendy teased. She turned from the mirror where she had been checking herself out in the new outfit. “Like it?”

Kyle put his arms around her. “I like what’s in it. Even if she does smell like serval pee.”

“No I don’t. I just showered.” Wendy wrinkled her nose and sniffed. “But now that you mentioned it … did you check your new shoes before you put them on?”

• • •

By the time they got to Wendy’s parents’ house, her brother was already there with his girlfriend. Her parents were very religious so there was a lot of hymn singing and a long prayer of thanksgiving before dinner. Everybody had a present for everybody else, mostly homemade things like hand-knitted sweaters, canisters of cookies, jars of salsa so spicy it sent smoke out your ears, and venison steaks from Wendy’s father to go in their freezer.

After the gift-opening they settled in around the dining table for Christmas Eve dinner. There was stuffed quail, home-baked bread, vegetables in delicate sauces, pumpkin and berry pies, and a whole plate of special Christmas cookies — all things that had been Wendy’s favourites since she was a little girl. This year she could barely choke anything down. Of course her mother noticed, and toward the end of the meal, when Wendy refused dessert and only took one cookie on her plate for the sake of politeness, Mrs. Marshall said, “You look tired, honey. Do you have a headache?”

“I think one’s coming on,” Wendy admitted. “We might have to leave early.”

Her father reached across and patted her hand. “That’s okay, hon. It’s been a real nice Christmas Eve already, a blessed one, if you ask me. But before ya’ll leave, I got one more present for you.” He grinned. “Well, not for you, but for some friends of yours.” He left the room and came back carrying five dead rabbits by the ears.

“Oh, Dad!” Wendy exclaimed. “I spend my life trying to save animals and you’re still out there shooting them!”

“Well, now, we all got to eat, and there’s nothing wrong with keeping the balance of nature,” her father said, offering his usual reasons for hunting. “Since your cats can’t go out and hunt their own, I thought they’d each one enjoy a nice natural rabbit for a change. I know you’ve fed them already today, so just put these out on the back porch. Cold as it is, they’ll keep till feeding time tomorrow night. When you see how much they appreciate these rabbits, that’ll make you happy.”

As Wendy and Kyle were preparing to leave, Wendy’s mother handed her a large wrapped package. “This is for that boy, Danny,” her mother said. “I expect he’ll be stopping out sometime in the next day or two, so you give him this, will you?”

Wendy looked at the package uncertainly. She had not told her parents about what had happened with Danny, or the fact that he hadn’t been to the farm in a month. She wasn’t sure what to do with the gift. Her mother, not knowing why Wendy was looking at the package in such a dubious way, said apologetically, “I suppose it was silly to spend so much on somebody who’s not even family, but he’s bound to be having a terrible Christmas, what with his mother getting fired and all.”

“Terrible for anybody to get the boot right at Christmas,” Wendy’s father agreed. “But her especially, since she’s the family breadwinner. That husband of hers hasn’t held a real job since they got married.”

“Oh,” Wendy said. “I hadn’t heard. Where did Mrs. Ryan work?”

“At the phone company.”

• • •

When they got home that night, Wendy immediately went to bed, with Radar curled up on the pillow next to her head. She heard Kyle downstairs on the telephone. She supposed he was talking to his folks, making plans for the party they always had at their house on Christmas Day.

A little while later he came into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Wendy?” he asked. “You still awake?”

“Yes,” she said. “Did you ask your folks what they want us to bring tomorrow?”

“I wasn’t talking to them,” Kyle said. “I was trying to find out why Mrs. Ryan got fired.

“And did you?”

“More or less. You know I reported to the phone company about somebody getting our unlisted number. I said we thought it was Danny who gave it out. But just a few days ago we got that call at night. It was to our new unlisted number, which Danny didn’t have. When I reported it, they said it might be an inside job, and put a company detective on it. Whatever Mrs. Ryan’s job was, she wasn’t supposed to have access to unlisted numbers. But they found her in those files and she had copied down one number. Our most recent one.”

“I can’t believe they told you all this!” Wendy exclaimed, collecting Radar into her arms to stop him from chewing on her hair.

Kyle smiled grimly. “I have friends in high places.”

“In the FBI?”

“Higher than that,” Kyle said. “In the phone company.”