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At Christmas, play and make good cheer, for Christmas comes but once a year.
– Thomas Tusser
As Jordyn made her way back to the house, she noticed a number of young children laughing and holding something small in their hands. Their faces were lit with pure joy as they ran around searching high and low for more hidden objects.
Before Jordyn could grab the memory that was slowly surfacing, a couple walking by her pointed to the same children. “Oh, look. Someone found a Believe Bell,” one of them said.
Jordyn nodded as it all started coming back. Her father loved creating special, magical moments that couldn’t be found anywhere else—especially for children. With the world outside Painted Sky Ranch progressing and technology advancing, he wanted a simpler, more traditional, old-fashioned experience they would remember forever.
The idea for the Believe Bells came about when Jordyn found a sleigh bell lying in front of the house one Christmas Eve. Instead of explaining to her that it had probably come from one of the horse’s collars, her father told her it must have fallen off Santa’s sleigh. Every year after that, Jordyn would search for fallen sleigh bells—and every year she would find one.
It amazed her that they were never the same. Sometimes a slightly different color. Other times a distinctive shape. Always with their own unique sound. As she grew older, Jordyn had her suspicions about where they were coming from, but it wasn’t until she was getting ready to leave for New York that her father confessed the truth about what he’d done so that his baby girl would keep “believing.”
Jordyn stopped in mid-step as it occurred to her that she didn’t have anything tangible to hold from those days. Every year on Christmas Eve, her father would tell her to place the bell on the front porch so Santa could put it back on the sleigh. Jordyn smiled to herself as she remembered running onto the porch every Christmas morning before she even looked under the tree. It filled her heart with joy to discover that Santa had taken the bell.
The thought of his simple act of love caused Jordyn’s eyes to well up with tears. Her father had been larger than life when he was alive. And even after he was gone, his spirit continued to live on in the traditions and love that still flowed through Painted Sky Ranch.
She could see it on the faces of the children as they searched for their own sleigh bells, because of course, the practice had eventually grown to include everyone at the ranch. Her father had woven an elaborate story about a select group of elves—the Sleigh Bell Elves—who would come hide bells all over the ranch. Upon their arrival, each family received their own special jar to decorate and collect the bells they found. A tag on the jar said: With every bell that you receive, Santa knows that you believe.
Guests could either take these treasures home with them at the end of their trip, or put them out on the porch of their cabin for Santa to pick up. If they left the jar for Santa, they would find a note in the morning that said: Thank you for the Sleigh Bells. Their jingling sound will remind Santa of your family’s kindness as he delivers presents all over the world.
Jordyn remembered the delight her father would take out of watching even the most skeptical adult’s face light up when they stumbled across one of the bells. As the jars began to fill, the excitement for Christmas day intensified. People came to Painted Sky now as much for the tradition and the anticipation of the Believe Bells as for the scenery and relaxation.
Of course, that wasn’t the only special treat. Each cabin came with its own small Christmas tree and a box of ornaments to decorate it. There were classic movies and books, as well as plenty of hot chocolate and popcorn too. Special requests were often fulfilled by volunteers dressed as elves.
Jordyn thought about her last Christmas at Painted Sky. She’d been a young woman by then, but she’d found a bell and put it on the porch as was her custom. And just like every other time, it had been gone Christmas morning, though Jordyn had only looked as an afterthought. She’d spent most of the night in tears after telling Chad that she’d be leaving for New York.
She wondered briefly what had ever become of all those bells. Had her dad kept them? Or had he used them on any of the dozens of harnesses he’d collected over the years? She’d have to remember to ask her mother.
Of all the Christmas traditions started by her father, this one was perhaps the most memorable. No matter where Jordyn was in the world on Christmas Eve, she always took time to close her eyes and remember the magic she felt finding that special gift and giving it back to Santa.
