The last day of school had been filled with happy kids that kept yapping about Christmas coming.  It had no special meaning to her because she and her grandmother were living like church mice now.  The wind blew cold around the trees that lined the dirt road.  Shivering, she pulled her thin winter coat, which was already too small, closer around her tiny body and began to angrily sing.

"Jingle bells, jingle bells

Santa’s on his way

But his busy little elves

Put nuttin for me in his sleigh"

“Is that you Addy?”  Her grandmother asked as she let the back door close with a loud bang.

“Yes, Grandma.  It’s me.”  Her answer sounded too dull and lifeless to be coming from a ten-year-old child.

Grandma was in the sitting room in her rocking chair.  She had dropped something in the basket beside her that she had been crocheting.  Innocently she picked up another ball of yarn and began the finishing work on an afghan she was going to give to the preacher and his wife for Christmas.  It was almost finished.  She had managed to buy the yarn from money she saved from selling eggs to the neighbors.

Adrianna looked in the coal box behind the heater.  It was almost empty.  Without waiting to be told, she went outside to the coal pile behind the barn and filled a bucket with the cold black chunks of coal.  It was heavy to carry but she had gotten used to it long ago.  Dragging it up the back steps was the hardest part.  She had to make several trips before the coal box was filled.

Grandma used to take care of the chickens but lately she was not able to do it.  When cold weather set in, her back seemed to hurt even more, so Adrianna had taken to feeding and watering them.  Then, while they were busy eating she would gather the eggs.  They didn’t lay as well in the winter months so there was not as much money to be made from selling the eggs.  She hoped Grandma would save back enough eggs to make a cake for Christmas instead of selling them all.

The next day was Christmas Eve.  As soon as their meager breakfast was finished and the dishes washed and put away Grandma suggested they go look in the woods for a suitable Christmas tree.  Adrianna didn’t see much point in putting up a tree since there was no money for presents but Grandma insisted.

“You must always believe in the Christmas angels, Addy.”

“Yeah right!”  Addy mumbled under her breath, as they walked across the frozen ground that crunched beneath their steps, taking them toward the woods. 

“Let’s find a pretty holly tree with lots of red berries on it.”  Grandma knew that if there were pretty red berries on the tree it wouldn’t need as many ornaments to make it festive.  All she had to decorate the tree was two strings of multi-colored lights and a small box of hand made ornaments that she and Addy had made over the years.

When the perfect holly tree was found, Grandma took her sharp hatchet and chopped it down.  They carefully carried the tree back to the house between them, so the tiny berries wouldn’t get knocked off.  Tucked under each of Grandma’s arms were pine boughs she had broken off to lay in the windowsills.  The house would smell more like Christmas with them in place. 

Grandma was acting as cheerful as if Santa was going to deliver every wish imaginable.  She was too short of breath to sing and carry her end of the tree so she began humming “Jingle Bells”.   As the notes of the melody drifted back to Addy, her mind filled in the words from the jingle she had made up on the way home from school.  She was just not in a good Christmas spirit but she would pretend since it seemed to make Grandma happy.   She began singing the correct words of the song, in harmony with Grandma’s humming.

Once the tree was home, Grandma found an old bucket and filled it with dirt and planted the tree inside it.  It was watered carefully to settle the earth and to give the tree something to drink.  She carefully tied a burlap wrap, which was found in the barn, around the bucket to hide it; making it look just as pretty as those did for sale in town.  The tree was brought inside and set before their front window.  When the lights were lit on it at night, nobody could tell from the outside that it was not laden with ornaments and gifts.

That afternoon Grandma was busy in the kitchen and the smells were so tempting as the fragrance drifted all over the house. Adrianna’s tummy rumbled with hunger.  They hadn’t stopped to eat since breakfast.  Maybe there would be something really good for supper tonight.   She knew that Grandma had killed and dressed one of their old hens, which no longer laid eggs, for their Christmas dinner tomorrow.  She hoped supper would be soon.

“Addy, get washed up for supper!”  Her grandma’s words were music to her ears. 

She raced into the kitchen and poured water from the pitcher into the basin that was kept for washing hands.  It was so cold it hurt her fingers and the bar soap barely lathered on her hands.   Quickly, she scrubbed her hands together and barely passed them across her face before she grabbed the towel that hung on a nail driven into the wall.   Her eyes surveyed the table but she saw nothing that she thought she had smelled this afternoon as she went about her chores.  Their supper was to be the same meager offerings of biscuits, home-cured ham and molasses, just like all the other nights.  She ate ravenously.

When the dishes were cleared away she slipped away to her bedroom.  She had made Grandma a tray to keep her hairpins in from abandoned ice cream sticks she found on the schoolyard.  The only wrapping she had was a brown paper sack but that was all right.  She would draw a pretty bow on it.  She knew Grandma would love it. 

Holding it carefully, she slid it under the twinkling tree when Grandma wasn’t looking.  She noticed that Grandma had wrapped the afghan for the preacher and his wife and it was beneath the tree too.  There were no other presents to be seen anywhere.  She was glad she had a place to put Grandma’s present but she still thought that putting up the tree had been a lot of trouble for nothing.  With a heavy heart, she kissed her grandma goodnight and went to bed to dream of Christmases yet to be when there would be plenty for all to enjoy.

Christmas morning dawned cold and the windows were frosted on the inside of the old house. Adrianna could hear Grandma poking at the coal heater trying to get the fire to burn stronger.   She lay beneath her burden of heavy homemade quilts savoring the warmth and for the moment forgot that it was Christmas Day.  Her nose told her that something was different this morning.  She smelled the unmistakable sweet fragrance of a cake baking.  Grandma had saved some eggs!  They would have cake for Christmas!

Adrianna’s bedroom door opened into the kitchen where she saw Grandma busy at the stove.  She looked as if she was actually wearing a smile.  Puzzled, Adrianna stood in her doorway and watched her for a few minutes until her cold feet reminded her to get dressed.  Quickly she pulled on her clothes and worn out shoes and socks.  Closing her bedroom door behind her she walked behind her Grandma and gave her a hug.

“Merry Christmas, Addy.  Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, Grandma.  Did you?”

“Well, you know I tried to sleep but there was so much racket going on outside that I couldn’t get a wink of rest. Didn’t you hear anything last night?”  What do you suppose it was?”

“I didn’t hear anything Grandma.  Are you sure you weren’t dreaming?”

“No Addy, I was definitely not dreaming.  Let’s eat our breakfast before it gets cold.  I’ve got something to show you after we finish.”

Grandma set before them a plate of cinnamon raisin biscuits she had just made along with thick sliced country bacon from their own scantily filled smokehouse.  On Addy’s plate she had put one fried egg that had been held back just for this morning.  Addy tried to share it with Grandma but she would hear nothing of it. 

“Eat it child and enjoy it!  It’s Christmas morning!  When you’re finished we have things to do!”