Chapter Seventeen

The following afternoon, the three Keenan girls arrived at the Hanlons’ after school was out. At the front door, they waved good-bye to their father, who drove away in a surprisingly quiet van. Kate wondered if there had been any arguments about bringing the girls to her house. Russ had made it no secret how he felt about her. Compassion for his wife must have won, however, because they were right on time.

Keara and Molly raced inside, oohing and aahing at everything they saw. Colleen hung back, watching Kate with large, solemn eyes.

Kate had already pulled out the ingredients for sugar cookies and had everything child friendly and ready to go on the kitchen counter. The two younger girls dove into the project with gusto and giggles.

Kate gave them some instructions, then turned to Colleen. “Would you like to have some music playtime?”

Colleen smiled shyly. “I’ve never heard it called that before.”

“Music should be fun. Come, I’ll show you.” She beckoned for Colleen to follow her to the piano. She sat down on the bench and patted the place beside her.

Colleen hung back for a moment, then came over and sat beside Kate.

“Do you know chopsticks?”

Colleen shook her head.

With a wide smile, Kate played the little tune. “Now, you try it with me.”

Colleen concentrated on Kate’s fingers, following her every move. She picked up the tune surprisingly fast. Soon they were playing it together as a duet, and as Kate upped the tempo faster and faster, Colleen giggled.

“Okay, now you keep going,” Kate said, “and I’ll add a little different tune on my end; then we’ll switch.”

Soon they were both laughing as they tried to keep up with each other.

After a while, Kate asked Colleen if she would like to sing, and she nodded.

“I’ve heard you singing ‘Greensleeves.’ Would you like for me to play it for you?”

She nodded again.

Kate played the intro, then gestured for Colleen to begin. But the child was looking at the floor and seemed unable to open her mouth.

Kate stopped playing and took Colleen’s hand. “You know, when things start to seem serious or scary, you might try thinking about something that makes you happy. We were both laughing just now at that nonsensical little song. When things seem scary, think about what fun it is to mix laughter and music with a pinch of joy.”

Colleen looked up at her, the corner of her mouth quivering with a tiny bubble of laughter. “Pinch of joy?”

Kate grinned. “Let’s try ‘Greensleeves’ again, only this time I want you to sing the words to the tune of chopsticks. And we’ll do the Old English version.”

Another giggle, this time louder. “Okay,” she said.

Kate played a chopsticks intro with an exaggerated flourish.

“Alas, my love, you do me wrong to cast me off discourteously, for I have loved you oh so long, delighting in your company...” Breathless and giggling at the same time, Colleen tried to fit the words to the tune.

“Now,” Kate said after a few more of Colleen’s giggles, “let’s try the right version with the right music, ‘What child is this...’”

With a nod and a smile, Colleen tried it again. Her eyes danced, and her smile widened. She was obviously remembering the chopsticks version as she sang. By the time she got to the second verse, however, her voice and demeanor matched the sweet and solemn song.

The laughter and chatter in the kitchen was growing louder by the minute, and Kate left Colleen to practice chopsticks while she hurried into the kitchen to see what the younger girls were up to.

Flour and sugar seemed to have utterly flown from the bowls and landed on the counter and floor. The soft butter and eggs had been stirred beyond recognition with wooden spoons, and a few globs had escaped the bowl.

But the delight on the children’s faces was worth every minute Kate spent cleaning up.

By the time Kate drove the girls home with their baggies of sugar cookies, her energy level had dropped drastically. She practically fell into Paul’s arms in gratitude when he suggested an early dinner at the diner before choir practice.

THURSDAY AND FRIDAY FLEW BY without a moment for Kate to even think about the mystery. Planning for Saturday’s auditions, along with housework and other church obligations, had kept her mind and body completely occupied. And at nine on Saturday morning, Renee, Caroline, LuAnne, Livvy, Sam, Joe, Millie, and Kate met in one of the downstairs classrooms at Faith Briar.

Tryouts were to start at ten. Joe handed out the script he’d written just for the children’s pageant. He seemed pleased with the result, and it was obvious to Kate that he’d taken a lot more pleasure in the process than he’d expected. She shot up a little prayer of gratitude before getting started.

Kate brought her concerns before the group, asking that they all try, if possible, to avoid hurt feelings as the parts were announced. Livvy added that they needed to emphasize that all the roles were important, some of the lesser ones even more fun than the greater ones. She mentioned an idea she’d had for some of the children to dress up like oxen. She chuckled. “That’s the kind of role my boys would have loved at that age.”

Sam said he’d already started working on special music from the time period, and that those children without speaking roles could be in the pageant choir.

Joe spoke up. “The children in the choir can dress like angels, because at one point in the diary, Abigail says she could hear the sounds of angel wings in the trees when the winds blew, almost as if the angels had surrounded the little group to protect them from the harsh winter snows. I think an angel choir would work well for the children. That way, everyone gets to dress up in costume.”

There were murmurs of agreement. Kate glanced at Joe and then leaned forward, meeting the gazes of the others around the table. “Joe and I have a special request, but it may be a difficult one to see through.” She paused before going on. “It’s about the lead role, Abigail Tucker. We both agree that Colleen Keenan should play the part.”

Joe broke in. “She sings like an angel, and she has a beautiful speaking voice...”

“Then why would choosing her be a problem?” Sam sat back in thought, his chin cupped in his hand, his eyes on Kate.

“She has this fear inside her,” Joe said. “And she tries to be as invisible as possible when she’s around other people.”

“Lots of girls that age are shy.” Renee patted Kisses’ head. The little Chihuahua looked up at her with adoring eyes. “She’ll get over it. Just put her on the stage. The ham in her will emerge. You’ll see.”

“This is different from shyness,” Kate said. “I can’t say exactly why, but it just is.”

“Maybe we should choose someone else,” Sam said. “For her sake, I mean, if it’s that painful for her.”

There were nods of agreement.

“She’s coming today,” Kate said, “and I’ve asked her to sing for you. Let’s just give her a chance and see what happens.”

PROMPTLY AT 10:00 AM, Kate stood by as Renee ordered the church doors opened, and with Kisses at her side, looked out at the parking lot. Her jaw dropped, and Kate was surprised as well. There must have been two dozen children waiting with their mothers, fathers, or both, to try out for the pageant.

Kate watched, smiling, as Renee walked toward the group, cleared her throat, and told the children to line up, walk quietly down the aisle of the sanctuary, and take their places in the first three pews.

The children stopped their giggling, shoving, and whispering and did as Renee said. Within a few minutes, they were seated and quiet.

Kate noticed that the only child who didn’t sit with the others was Colleen, who was with her mother in the very back pew of the sanctuary. Molly and Keara were already making friends in the first few rows.

“First,” Renee said, “we’ll have the writer of our pageant come up and tell you the story we’re going to perform. But you’ll need to be very quiet and listen carefully while he tells it to you, because all of you are going to be chosen for special parts. Depending on how well you listen and pay attention, you’ll be chosen for either a singing part or a speaking part.”

Molly Keenan raised her hand.

“Yes?” Renee said.

“Do the animalth get to thpeak?”

Renee frowned for a moment, deciphering the lisp, and Kate chuckled to herself. Then Renee nodded. “Perhaps,” she said. “We’ll have to see what Mr. Tucker has written in the play.”

“Cauth I want to be an octhen,” Molly said.

Joe went up to the front where the children were sitting. He told them a brief story about the early pioneer families who traveled to Copper Mill by covered wagons pulled by oxen. The children listened in rapt attention.

“There will be parts for everyone,” he concluded. “Angels, pioneers, a mountain man, oxen, a horse, and even Cherokees.”

A gasp of awe rose from the children.

“Cherokees?” some of the boys whispered, looking at each other. “Wow.”

“I wanna be the mountain man,” a boy of about eight years old said. Kate recognized him as Grayson Goodwin, the son of the bookstore owners. “I have a coonskin hat my dad got on eBay. I’ll wear it and be the best mountain man ever.”

“I’ve got one too,” his brother, Gordy, said. “That’s not fair if you get to be the mountain man and I don’t.”

Joe called for their attention again. “There are plenty of parts for everyone,” he said. “We’ve got some pretty important roles for some of you who might want to be Cherokees.”

“Maybe I’d rather be a Cherokee brave,” Grayson said, scratching his head. “I can’t decide.”

“Well, let’s get started, then,” Joe said. “Mrs. Lambert will take a few of you at a time to play the roles of Jedediah Jones, the mountain man, Abigail and Adam, and the rest of the pioneers.”

Renee counted out seven of the children and took them to the back of the church. She gave them some instruction, and a few minutes later, the little group came down the aisle.

Gordy Goodwin led the group, his chin held high. “I’m Jedediah Jones,” he said to the seated children as the little procession passed by. “And I’m leading the pioneers to the promised land.”

“I’m the octhen,” Molly said, pulling a red wagon with two little girls in it. “And thith ith Abigail and Thadie Penny in my wagon.”

Two more wagon and oxen teams were right behind Molly’s, with two children playing the roles of the older couple, Mr. and Mrs. Buckley, and finally the last wagon with Fergus Molton, played by Grayson Goodwin, who looked grumpy.

“I wanna be a Cherokee or a trapper,” he said.

The children went up on the stage, and one by one, they read or recited a few lines that Renee had coached them on.

Kate sat back and smiled. Each of the children was unique in his or her delivery, though some stood out as more comfortable speaking and acting in front of a group than others. Jane Goodwin had been right about her two boys; they were hams from start to finish. Dark-haired with hazel eyes and round faces, they won Kate’s heart from the moment each read his part.

She didn’t know how the others felt, but either one would do well as Jedediah Jones, and her heart was leaning toward Grayson.

Renee repeated the process several more times until every child had taken a turn with the tryout actions and lines. When they were seated again, she called for their attention and said, “Now we’re looking for someone who would like to sing a solo for us to try out for the role of Abigail. At the very end of the play, in the final scene, she will sing a lullaby to her newborn baby.”

“Kinda like Mary thinging to Baby Jethuth,” Molly contributed.

“A bit like that,” Renee said. “Who would like to try out for that part?”

A few hands shot up. “I would, I would,” Keara said.

“Me too,” Molly said, then sat back with a loud sigh. “If I can be an octhen too.”

“You can only play one character,” Renee said with more patience than Kate knew she had.

Several of the little girls lined up. Sam took his place at the piano, and after having them sing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” one time through together, he then nodded to each one separately to sing it as a solo:

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

Then he taught the group another verse, which they sang together:

When the blazing sun is gone,

When he nothing shines upon,

Then you show your little light,

Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Kate wondered at Sam’s reasoning, then she realized he was testing the little girls with the new material to see if they could sing something unfamiliar, and what they would do if they forgot the words.

After several times through, he then gave the little girls the opportunity to sing verse two as a solo. Only three of them raised their hands that they wanted to try—Keara, Molly, and another child Kate didn’t recognize. Molly went first:

When the blathing thun ith gone,

When he nothing thineth upon,

Then you thow your little light...

She sighed and frowned when she forgot the last line. “I wanna be an octhen anyway,” she said and left the stage to sit down in the pew once more.

The other two girls sang it beautifully, but Keara’s voice carried loud and clear, much like her sister Colleen’s. As she sang, however, Kate pictured her as Sadie Penny and knew she would be her top pick.

By a quarter to twelve, everyone had tried out for the part except Colleen.

Joe glanced at Kate, who stood and walked to the back of the sanctuary, where Colleen sat with her mother. She noticed that Colleen had brought her Autoharp.

“Would you sing for us?” she asked gently.

Colleen bit her lip, and her eyes filled with tears. “I want to...I just don’t know if I can. It’s different with so many people here.”

“Remember how we practiced?”

Colleen gave her a teary smile and nodded.

“Would you like to try a bit of chopsticks?” Kate put her arm around the girl’s shoulders. “That might liven up the rehearsal a bit.”

Colleen giggled.

“Someone told me just the other day that you have the voice of an angel...”

She looked up shyly. “They did? Really?”

“Absolutely. You were chosen for the lead part the day we decided to put on the pageant.”

Colleen swiped at her wet cheeks and sniffled. “Really?”

“Really.” Kate handed her a tissue. “You just need to believe in yourself,” she said, then winked, “and keep in mind the fun we had with chopsticks.”

Colleen nodded. “I’ll try,” she said.

At the front of the sanctuary, the other children had turned around and were whispering.

“Do you want to do ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’?” Kate asked, though she was pretty sure of the answer.

“I’ll sing the one we practiced the other day at your house.” She smiled at Kate as she stood. “But not chopsticks.”

She walked down the aisle, carrying the Autoharp under one arm.

Colleen’s face was pale as she strummed the first few lines of “Greensleeves.” Then she seemed to lose herself in her music, and a slight smile played at the corners of her lips as she hummed the melody.

She briefly met Kate’s eyes, then began to sing:

What child is this, who, laid to rest,

On Mary’s lap is sleeping?

Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,

While shepherds watch are keeping?

This, this is Christ the King,

Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:

Haste, haste to bring Him laud,

The Babe, the Son of Mary!

So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh,

Come peasant, king to own Him,

The King of kings salvation brings,

Let loving hearts enthrone Him.

Raise, raise, the song on high,

The virgin sings her lullaby;

Joy, joy, for Christ is born,

The Babe, the Son of Mary!

When she was finished, she sat very still as if wondering what to do next. Then in the back row, someone started to clap. Others joined in. Colleen blinked in surprise, then gave everyone a big smile.

“Thank you,” she said, ducking her head as she stood, the Autoharp in her arms.

“That’th my thithter,” Molly whispered loudly to the rest of the children.