PRISMATIST

Ezra Beeman looked out the large bay window in his living room and saw the snow falling over the front lawn and the town of Beulah Crossing.  It was going to be a white Christmas.  Not just a little dusting but a blizzard. Fortunately, it had waited until Christmas morning to arrive, so everyone who attended Prairie Star Community Church’s Christmas Eve candlelight service were safely back in their homes, especially his best friend Ike Elizondo who lived on a sheep ranch a few miles outside of town. They had agreed that if there really was a blizzard it was they would postpone getting together on Christmas to exchange presents. Unlike Ezra, Ike would not be alone for Christmas since his wife had decided this year to delay her annual winter vacation to Florida until after the new year.  Ike refused to join his wife on her month’s long vacations, claiming that since he was only semi-retired he was still needed at the ranch, although the truth was he disliked Florida as much as his wife couldn’t stand winters on the high plains.

 

Blizzards that swept across the prairie of southeast Colorado were not to be taken lightly and those who did were likely to spend their Christmas in a snowdrift.  It was not a day to go outdoors unless you absolutely had to and Ezra didn’t have to.  He had planned to work on his Sunday sermon in his office in the Church next door.  For the fifty years he’d been the minister at Prairie Star he’d always written his sermons at his desk in the Pastor’s Study.  Then, Ezra remembered Pete Comstock, a rancher who had gone on a call of nature to his outhouse during a blizzard years ago.  Pete was a widower and lived alone, so no one missed him for several days.  After a search they discovered his frozen body in the outhouse.  He’d been trapped inside by a snowdrift that had blocked the door.  His body was so well preserved by the freezing temperatures that no embalming was necessary for the funeral that Ezra presided over.

 

Ezra was also a widower and lived alone, but unlike Pete’s outhouse the Church was heated. Still, he might slip in the snow and at his age that could mean a broken hip. He imagined crawling through the snow to either the manse or Church and then having to somehow lift himself up to open the door, a door that like the one on Pete’s outhouse might be blocked by a snowdrift. No, Ezra decided, he’d just have to wait until tomorrow when the weather conditions had improved.  He’d just have to curl up with a good mystery instead of “The Good Book”, sit in his recliner in front of the parlor’s fireplace and read.  He’d drink mugs of hot cider while working his way through dozens of Christmas cookies of all shapes and sizes as well as pies and fruitcakes that had been baked by parishioners. If he tired of deserts there were the usual supply of frozen dinners in the refrigerator waiting to be microwaved.

 

Ezra could feel a tap on his shoulder, but when he turned he faced only a sparkling ornament dangling from a branch of the fully decorated and lit Christmas tree of Paul Bunyan proportions.  Some members of the Church had “erected” it in front of the living room’s large bay window.   Although no one said anything, they were probably embarrassed by the “Charlie Brown” trees that Ezra had been putting up since his wife passed away. The only thing missing were presents under the tree. That didn’t disappoint Ezra, since he expected just one present for Christmas and that was from Ike, but their gift exchange was now postponed until after the blizzard. 

 

Ezra was about to retreat to the parlor when he saw what appeared to be a bus pull up in front.  He wiped away some of the condensation on the window and through the opening he saw that it wasn’t a bus but a large RV. A side door opened and two people emerged. They were dressed in matching red, puffy, parkas although one of them was larger and much puffier than the other. He watched as they walked toward the front door. Ezra rushed to open the front door before the bell was rung.  A blast of cold air hit him along with the words “Cousin Ezra,” spoken by the taller, puffier one.  He was wearing a ski mask that covered everything but his eyes and lips. After a few seconds the man pulled up the mask revealing a middle age face that was vaguely familiar.  “Guess you wouldn't recognize me with the ski mask on.  You might not even with it off since we haven’t seen each other in years, but I’m your Cousin Ron and this is my wife, Dawn.” With her face hidden under the hood of the parka and a wool scarf Ezra wouldn’t have been able to recognize her even if he knew what she looked like.  The last time he’d seen him, Ron was in his twenties and there was no Dawn in sight.

 

“Why, of course,” Ezra said.  “Cousin Ron and…and Dawn.  Please come inside out of the cold.”

 

“We’re pretty toasty in these get ups, right Honey?” Ron said as Dawn scampered past Ezra into the warm vestibule with remarkable agility given the layers of clothes she wore. “Top of the line gear. Supposed to be what they wear in Antarctica.”

 

“Are you planning a trip to Antarctica?”

 

“Oh, hell I mean heck, no,”. Ron replied. “We’re on our way to Paradise Valley, which is a lot warmer and the only ice is what you put in your drinks. In case you don’t know, Paradise Valley is in Arizona just east of Phoenix and is considered the best place to live in Arizona…if you can afford it, which we can. You may not be able to buy your way into heaven, but that’s the only way to get into Paradise.” Ron paused to give Ezra a chance to laugh, but when he didn’t he continued, “We’re going down there for the winter.  We’ve only got a small place, but now that I’m retired we’ll be buying a much bigger one. Before we bought Rosie, that’s the name we gave our RV.  I wanted to give it a name like a horse would have so Dawn said we should call it Rocinante, which was Don Quixote’s horse - she was an English teacher before we got married and has actually read the book. You said I could be Ron Quixote, didn’t you Honey?” Dawn’s wool shrouded head nodded and Ron continued. “We call her Rosie for short. But, to get back to what I was saying, we’ve always flown down to Arizona in the past, but we want to have Rosie down there for the winter so we drove.  We’d expected to get to Paradise Valley before Christmas.  In fact, that’s where we shipped our Christmas presents before we started out. Everything was fine until Rosie had indigestion; meaning the plumbing malfunctioned.  Dawn here, being a lady, needs indoor plumbing, so we had to wait for the parts to fix the thing. Covered by the warranty, of course, but it set us back time wise. Anyway, like I was saying…”

 

“When we crossed the border from Kansas to Colorado we heard that a blizzard was coming,” Dawn said, cutting Ron short. She’d pushed up the parka’s hood and pushed down the scarf, revealing an attractive face even though her nose was almost as red as the parka she wore. 

 

“We didn’t want to go over Raton Pass in a big rig like this in a blizzard,” Ron said. “Especially since Dawn doesn’t like driving in the mountains under the best of conditions, so I thought that since we’d have to hole up somewhere, why not pay a visit to my cousin, 

Ezra.” 

 

“They’ve closed the pass, so you wouldn’t be able to drive over it, anyway,” Ezra replied, then quickly added, “But I’m really happy that you dropped by for a visit and you’re more than welcome to stay here until the blizzard has passed and Raton Pass is open.”

 

“We don’t want to put you out,” Ron said.  “Interfere with your Christmas plans. If there’s an RV park where we can hook up to the electric we’ll be all cozy in Rosie.”

 

“Nonsense, I’ve got four bedrooms and I’m only using one.”

 

“Why, that’s almost as many bedrooms as our manor house in Winnetka,” Ron observed.

 

“They built the manse to accommodate a pastor with a large family and ended up with one who didn’t have any children. It was just me and Louise.”

 

 “By the way, where is the little woman?” Ron asked. 

 

You’d know if you’d read the invitation to attend her funeral, which you didn’t attend, or even, send a card, and calling her the little woman is insulting to her memory…Ezra stopped his runaway train of thought.  “Louise passed away a few years ago.”

 

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Dawn said, her voice full of sympathy.

 

“Me too,” Ron added, brusquely.

 

“Thank you. In any case, there’s plenty of room, as I said.”

 

“Thanks for the offer, cousin, but like I said Rosie is cozy and now that the plumbing works…”

 

“You can stay in Rocinante if you want, Ron, but I’m accepting Ezra’s invitation,” Dawn blurted before Ron could finish. 

 

That being settled, Ezra took them upstairs and showed them to the largest bedroom.  It had its own bathroom and had been the master bedroom, but he moved to a smaller one at the end of the hallway after Louise died. After helping them carry their luggage up to the bedroom and leaving them to unpack and settle in, Ezra was walking to the kitchen to make some coffee when he heard a rapping on the front door. When he opened the door he was greeted by another blast of frigid snow. Ezra couldn’t see clearly through his snow blurred eyeglasses and was about to dismiss it as the wind blowing snow against the door when he was surprised to hear a woman’s voice say that she was sorry to bother him. He quickly wiped his glasses with the cuff of his shirt and saw that the voice came from a woman wearing a sheepskin coat and a cowboy hat pulled down over earmuffs with a scarf wrapped around her neck.  Only her nose and eyes were visible between the scarf and the snow covered brim of the cowboy hat.

 

“No bother,” Ezra said. “Come out of the snow.”

 

After the woman stepped inside and Ezra shut the door the woman took off her cowboy hat revealing hair streaked with gray and tied in a bun. Then she unwrapped her scarf revealing a face with high cheekbones and blue eyes.  She looked worn out and not just from driving through the snow.  “You probably expecting to see a mummy face after I finally unwound this scarf, but the heater in my old pick up stopped working. My name is Hannah Chase and I was driving on through when it began to snow.  It started coming down hard and soon I couldn’t see the road.  Then I saw a bright light in the clouds. I just followed it and it led me here.  I didn’t know it was on top of a church.”

 

“This is Prairie Star Community Church and that light is the star on top of our steeple. People can see it for miles in clear weather.”

 

“Well, it’s bright enough that I could see it through the blizzard,” Hannah said taking off her leather gloves and held out her right hand. 

 

“I’m Ezra Beeman, the pastor, and this is the Church’s manse…”

 

“It sure is big enough to be a mansion.”

 

Ezra chuckled as they shook hands.  “A manse is what they call the pastor’s house, but it is quite big, especially considering that I’m the only occupant.”

 

“Well, Reverend or Pastor Beeman…”

 

“You can call me Ezra.”

 

“Well, Ezra, like I was saying I’m just driving through but it seems that with this blizzard I can’t drive anywhere. Looks like I’m stuck here.”

 

“The Beulah Inn is the only hotel around here. I can call them and see if they have a room.”

 

“It’s not just me that needs a place to stay.”

 

“You need one room with two beds or two rooms?”

 

“Actually, I need a place for both me and my horse, Sheba. She’s in the trailer hooked to my pickup in front of the Church. I really can’t leave her out in this cold.”

 

“A horse.”

 

“I couldn’t leave Sheba behind.”

 

“I’m pretty sure a horse isn’t allowed under the Beulah Inn’s pet policy,” Ezra quipped. “Where are you headed?”

 

“Not exactly sure.  To be honest, which is probably a good policy with a preacher, I have no idea.  I started out yesterday from Wyoming.”

 

“You live in Wyoming?”

 

“All of my life until now.  I had to leave, so me and Sheba hit the road. I knew there might be some snow, but didn’t figure on a blizzard.  If it hadn’t been for that star of yours our final destination would probably have been a snowdrift.”

 

“Look, I have a two car garage and I only have one car so there should be room in it for your horse. I’ve got a space heater that I can plug in so she’ll stay warm.  You should spend the night here in the manse. A cousin of mine and his wife are staying here, but there are still a couple of extra bedrooms.”

 

“I’m not looking for charity, but I don’t have much cash on me.  In fact, I don’t have much cash anywhere.”

 

“It’s not charity it’s more of a Christmas present.”

 

“Then I have to give you a Christmas present as well.  Since I don’t have anything worth giving how about I cook Christmas dinner for you and your cousin and his wife?”

 

“You don’t need to do that.”

 

“Just like you don’t need to put Sheba and me up. Besides, I’ve got lots of experience cooking for folks and I’m guessing you don’t. Now, what do you have in the way of ingredients?

 

“I’ve got pies and cookies that members of the Church baked.”

 

“Then dessert is covered. What about for dinner?”

 

“Nothing except some sliced bread, lunch meat, peanut butter, jam and a half dozen frozen dinners.”  Ezra realized how pathetic it sounded, then remembered that the refrigerator and pantry in the Church kitchen were stocked with food for the upcoming Sunday church service, including a ham. He explained all of this to Hannah. 

 

“Shouldn’t be a sin to raid the Church’s refrigerator if you’re the Pastor and you need to feed the hungry masses.”

 

The hungry masses were only four people not five hundred and Ezra was no Jesus, but it was a minor miracle that his guests would eat something other than microwaved Mexican dinners.

 

 

 

An hour later Sheba was in the garage and Hannah was in the manse kitchen having found everything she needed in the Church kitchen to cook a Christmas dinner. While they were together, she told Ezra that she had worked on a ranch in Wyoming for the past fifteen years. Hannah cooked for the guys in the bunkhouse as well as the owner, who was single after his wife divorced him and his grown kids had made it clear they weren’t interested in ranching.  Hannah also helped out with other stuff on the ranch.  “When they were short a man they didn’t mind a woman helping. I grew up on a ranch where it was just my parents and me, so I knew how to ride and could do just about anything.  But I really loved cooking, even if it was for a bunch of men who’d eat just about anything that was well done.” A week ago the owner announced that he had sold the ranch to a billionaire from New York City who was going to turn it into a place where he could relax with his family and friends rather than a working ranch. Since the new owner was selling most of the cattle he only needed a couple of ranch hands and everyone else was fired. That included Hannah, since the new owner had his own private chef.  “So, I hitched up the horse trailer and me and my horse took off in search of greener pastures, or, better yet, greenbacks, because after spending all fifty one years of my life on ranches I don’t have a plug nickel,” Hannah said, then asked Ezra if there were any cafes or restaurants in town where she might get a job as a cook?

 

“There’s only one restaurant in town and the husband and wife do all the cooking.  There was another place, but service was lousy, which wouldn’t have been a problem if what they finally served was edible. It was no surprise when it closed a few months ago and is for sale. I imagine when it is sold the new owner will be looking for a cook, but no one knows when or if anyone will buy the place.”  Ezra was about to tell her that she and Sheba could stay for a few days while she tried to find a job in Beulah Crossing when Dawn walked into the kitchen.

 

“Can I help with making the dinner,” Dawn asked. “I just don’t get much of an opportunity. In addition to a maid, we have a cook and Ron insists that since we’re paying her she should be cooking all of the meals.  The only time I had a chance to make dinner was for myself when Ron was out of town on a business trip, but now that Ron’s retired he’s around all the time.” 

 

“Well, you’re welcome to join me. I’d love to have your company,” Hannah said.

 

Dawn smiled and then asked Ezra if he minded keeping Ron company in the parlor. “Otherwise, he’ll be in here and …” Her voice trailed off.

 

And she needed a break from Ron, Ezra guessed.  He wished he could stay with Hannah and Dawn, but this could be his Christmas present for Dawn.

 

Ron was sitting in Ezra’s chair in front of the fireplace, but Ezra didn’t have the heart, or maybe it was the courage, to ask him to move.  Instead, avoiding the chair where his late wife had always sat, he lowered himself onto the couch.

 

Ron was sipping Scotch. He’d brought the bottle from the RV. The RV had a fully stocked bar as well as a special top of the line wine refrigerator since, as he explained with a chuckle, they hadn’t figured out a way to put a cellar in an RV. “You want some of this?” Ron asked holding up the bottle that had been resting on the table next to him.  “It’s called Old Sheep Dog and it’s the finest single malt Scotch there is. I had to order it directly from the distillery in the Highlands. They age it for thirty years.”

 

Thirty years is more than twice the lifespan of a sheep dog, so maybe it should be called Dead Sheep Dog, Ezra was tempted to say.  “This coffee is strong enough for me,” he said,  holding up the mug of coffee that Hannah had just made.

 

Ezra listened to Ron talk. It was mainly about his success in business.  The business he’d been successful in just happened to be owned by Dawn’s family.  After they were married, her father promoted Ron to be the CEO.  According to Ron, he had increased profits by getting rid of the deadwood, which consisted mainly of long time employees.  He explained that it may sound ruthless, but that you can’t be sentimental in business and that, unlike a church, a business is all about making money not saving souls.  “When Dawn’s parents passed away, she inherited the business and we sold it for a fortune.  Now we’re set for life. That’s why we can do whatever we want.” 

 

“What is it you want to do?”

 

Ron poured himself another finger or two of Old Sheep Dog.  He held the glass up to the firelight and stared at it like it was a crystal ball.  “I’m still working on that,” he sighed. “Turns out that even though the world is my oyster, I still have to pry the damn thing open to get to the pearl.” Ron took a sip of scotch and said, “You know I haven’t known what I really wanted since I was a kid and that didn’t work out too well.”

 

“What happened?”

 

“I never got it.” 

 

Ezra was about to ask what it was that his cousin wanted so much when Hannah appeared in the parlor doorway and announced that Christmas dinner was ready.

 

 

 

They ate the dinner slowly with everyone savoring each bite. Ezra declared it was a miracle meal prepared by two angels. 

 

“That’s the first time I’ve been called an angel,” Hannah laughed. “Of course, you didn’t get to taste my devil’s food cake because of all the cakes and pies that your parishioners baked.  By the way, that’s a mighty impressive Christmas tree you’ve got.” Nodding her head toward the the living room where the seven foot tree stood.

 

“I’ll say,” Ron laughed. “When we pulled up I could see it through that big bay window and I thought for a minute we’d pulled up in front of Rockefeller Center in New York City.  I guess you opened your presents before we showed up since there aren’t any under the tree.” 

 

“I didn’t have any presents to put under it.”

 

“Well, I don’t either,” Hannah said then added, “Or a tree to put them under.” 

 

“Nor do we,” Ron sighed. “I mean, not with us.  We’ve got a ton of them but we had them sent ahead to our place in Arizona thinking we would be there today instead of here.”

 

“I have an idea,” Dawn said with a big smile, “Why don’t each of us imagine that under Ezra’s Christmas tree there are presents in big boxes covered with Christmas gift wrapping and bright ribbons with a bows and that each present has one of our names on it.”

 

“An imaginary present,” Ron said, incredulous at his wife’s suggestion. “Then what happens?”

 

“Why, then we all sit around the tree and take turns unwrapping the gift box with our name on it and tell everyone what’s inside. It should be something we really, really want.” 

 

“You mean make up something?” Ron said, and then drank the scotch from the bottle of Old Sheep Dog that he brought to the dining table as an aperitif.

 

“Not pretend.  Each person tells the rest of us what they’d really like to receive for Christmas. But in your case, Ron, you can make something up if that’s too uncomfortable for you.”

 

“I’ll go first,” Hannah announced and promptly got up from her chair. “I’ve never gotten what I want for Christmas.  In fact, a lot of times I haven’t gotten a darn thing at all, so I’m not about to pass this up.”

 

Everyone got up and followed Hannah into the living room with Ron reluctantly bringing up the rear, clutching the bottle of scotch in one hand and a glass in the other.

 

After everyone but Hannah was seated with Dawn and Ron on both ends of the couch and Ezra in one of the easy chairs, she strode to the tree, bent down and picked up an invisible box.  She then walked over to one of the empty easy chairs and sat down. Quickly she mimed tearing the invisible gift wrapping off, untied the invisible bow and opened the invisible box. She looked inside. By now everyone was half convinced there really was a box and couldn’t wait to see what was inside. Even Ron was leaning forward in anticipation.

 

“Why it’s all I ever wanted,” Hannah exclaimed.  “My very own restaurant. A place where I can cook what I want and be my own boss.” She placed the invisible box on the floor beside her and asked who was next?

 

“I’ll go next,” Dawn said, jumping from the couch. 

 

“Why Honey are you sure?  Remember that you’ve got lots of presents waiting for you in Paradise Valley,” Ron said.

 

Dawn looked at Ron and held up the invisible box.  “Believe me Ron, there’s nothing in those presents that comes close to what’s in here.” She sat down and quickly unwrapped the invisible box.  She looked inside then clapped her hands and hooted with delight.

 

“I give up, Honey, what the heck is in that box that’s got you so excited?”

 

“It’s a home.”

 

“But we have a home already in Winnetka and we’re going buy one in Paradise Valley to replace the house there and we’ve got Rosie out there. Now you want another place?”

 

“No, I only want only one home. You’re the one who decided to buy a bigger house in Paradise Valley.  What’s in this box is a home that I can really call my own in a community that I want to be part of.  It’s in a regular old small town and not in some fancy, exclusive place and it’s not big or ostentatious, but cozy. I guess most importantly it’s not a house that someone else picked like the houses I grew up in and…” Dawn paused, but everyone heard Ron’s name just the same. “In fact,” she looked around the living room.  “It’s sort of like here, Ezra’s house, only there aren’t as many bedrooms,” she said as put the invisible box on the coffee table.  “Now it’s your turn, Ron.”

 

“Me? There’s nothing under that tree for me and I mean nothing,” Ron laughed.

 

“Well, let’s see,” Dawn said. She got up from the couch, walked over to the tree looked under it.  “Why here’s one with your name on it, Ron,” she announced.  She reached down and lifted an invisible present then marched over to Ron.

 

To everyone’s surprise, including himself, Ron put his glass of scotch on the coffee table in front of the couch next to the bottle of Old Sheep Dog and accepted the invisible present from Dawn. He slowly removed the invisible gift wrapping and with trembling hands he pulled up the top of the invisible box and peeked inside. “I don’t believe it,” he gasped then smiled.

 

“I guess it’s not a lump of coal,” Hannah joked.

 

‘What is it?” Ezra asked.

 

Ron looked up from the box and said, “A horse.”

 

“A horse?” Dawn asked

 

Ron nodded and said, “When I was kid I always wanted a horse.  I also wanted to be a cowboy, but that was mainly because they got to ride horses. When I asked for one for Christmas my parents said that since we lived in a big city, Chicago, I could only have a toy one. I never asked again. I’ve never even ridden a real horse.”

 

“Well, I’ve got a real horse you can ride,” Hannah said.

 

Stunned, Ron asked, “A real horse? Where?”

 

“In the garage next to the house. I brought Sheba with me when I left Wyoming. Ezra kindly let me put her up in his garage. I’m a cowgirl, but Sheba doesn’t discriminate and lets cowboys ride her.  She won’t buck you off, either. We can go out there right after we’re done here and you can meet her.  Then tomorrow, we can saddle her and I’ll let you ride her.  Of course, it’ll only be in the garage, unless the snow has cleared enough to go outside.”

 

As Ron sat there, speechless with tears welling in his eyes, Dawn said to Hannah, “In the Christmas spirit of making these invisible gifts real I’ll finance your restaurant. I watched you when I helped you make dinner and I’ve never seen someone who knew her way around a kitchen the way you do and after eating dinner I think we can all attest to your cooking ability. And don’t worry, I’ve got plenty of money to invest from the sale of my family’s business, don’t I Ron?”

 

Ron nodded, “Yes, you do, dear.”

 

“Why, I don’t know what to say.”

 

“Other than yes, you only need to find a place.”

 

“Why, Ezra told me there’s a restaurant in town that just closed and it’s for sale so that could be the place.”

 

“Then it won’t be far from where we live,” Ron declared. “Honey, if you can’t find a home here to call your own then we can build it.  There should be plenty of land available for the house you described.”

 

“You’d move here?”

 

“Seems like a better place to ride a horse than Winnetka or Paradise Valley.  If Hannah will let me borrow Sheba that is.”

 

“Borrow her, I’ll give her to you as long as you let me ride her when I’m not working at my restaurant.”

 

“Wait,” Dawn said.  “Ezra hasn’t opened his present.”

 

“Yeah, none of this would have happened if you hadn’t welcomed us into your home in this blizzard,” Hannah said.

 

“Right,” Ron said.  “If anyone deserves to get what they really want for Christmas it’s you, cousin.”

 

Ezra hesitated, trying to think of a Christmas gift in a box that he really wanted. He couldn’t think of anything. Then he looked around the room at their faces, glowing in the light of the Christmas tree. They had all been strangers to him just hours before and now…It suddenly came to him and he rose from his chair.  Instead of walking over to the Christmas tree he stood in front of them and said, “the gift I always wanted is too big to fit under the tree.” 

 

Ron laughed, “Well, if a horse and a restaurant and a house can fit into boxes under that tree, yours must be a heck of a big present inside.”

 

“Exactly how big is this gift box of yours?”  Hannah asked Ezra

 

“As big as this room.”

 

“But if your gift box is that big then there’s no room left for us,” Dawn said.

 

“Not if you’re the gift,” Ezra replied.