| Now the very
next morning, a well dressed man
came to Jeremy's door. "I'm Mr Clausin and I would like to speak to the gentleman of the house.." Jeremy politely interrupted the man and said, "Please Sir, won't you come in? My Daddy isn't here right now, he went into town, but my Mommy is here. If you would please sit down, I'll get her." Jeremy
motioned the gentleman to the best chair 'Nice to see the Bible, but this must change,' he said to himself, shaking his head. 'Such a kind, hard working, loving family does deserve a few comforts.' Jeremy's Mom came in from out of the kitchen and Mr Clausin introduced himself and explained that he was new in town and needed lots of work done on his new home. Jeremy stood by his Mother, and listened. There was something about ths man, but he just couldn't figure out what it was. Mr Clausin continued to talk and said he had heard that Jeremy's father was quite a skilled craftsman and would like to hire him to do some work. "Well sir, my husband isn't home at the moment, he went into town, but he should be home in a few hours," Jeremy could hear the excitement in his Mommy's voice. "I can give him your message.." Mr Clausin interrupted her, "I appreciate that Ma'am, but I need him to start immediately, the rest of my, ahh..family is coming in for Christmas and I need to have this all done, where can I find him in town?" Jeremy's mom couldn't hide her excitement any longer. She sounded like a little girl to Jeremy. "He is working at the store, filling shelves...he only gets staples as payment..but it keeps food on the table." "Well," Mr Clausin nodded and said, "I'm off to town then..but heres a small token of my gratitude. Unfortunately, your husband will not be home this evening as he will have to work into the night...but please except these few things, consider it as a sort of trade for his time tonight and I promise you..he will be well paid." Mr Clausin produced a large bag, seemingly out of no where and handed it to Jeremy's Mom. Jeremy watched as her eyes dropped to the bag...and got quite large in amazement.  Mr Clausin smiled a jovial smile and said.."I can see myself out, Good day to you Mrs. Plaine, and to you and your sisters too, Jeremy." And with that he turned and made his way to the door. "Another time then, Ma'am. Oh yes, I'd like to invite you and your wonderful family for Christmas Dinner" With that, he tipped his hat and said, "Dinner will be at 4," and with that he was gone. Jeremy's Mom looked in disbelief at the door, and then her eyes dropped down to the bag that was handed her. She started pulling out item after item; a large ham, sweet potatoes, a bag or oranges, a canister of coffee, a box of tea and a new tea kettle. It seemed as if the bag never emptied, she just kept pulling things out! There was a small bag of hard candies, some sweet breads, 3 beautiful sweaters, one for Mom and one for each of his sisters, 2 warm, heavy shirts, 4 heavy blankets and last but not least..a cat toy. Jeremy's Mother sat stunned on the floor, looking at everything and tears welled up in her eyes. Jeremy walked up to his Mother and said.."Please don't cry Mommy..I just know that everything will be ok, you'll see, things will be better now." Jeremy's Mom looked up at her wonderful little boy, hugged him and his sisters, wiped the tears from her eyes and said.."But we don't have a cat!" |
and ran to get his Mom. Jeremy's sisters peeked into the room, Mr Clausin smiled at them, and they giggled and vanished behind a
curtain. Mr Clausin looked around. He
noticed the tattered quilts, quite beyond repair, warming by the
fire,
the stark furnishings around the
room, the thread bare rug that he stood upon, but most of all, he noticed that there were no toys or books, only the Family Bible.