excerpt
“Yeah, it’s quit snowing, and the wind’s died down some.”
She hadn’t even noticed, because it was still awful cold. She looked up again. “Are we … goin’ east?”
“Um … I dunno. Why?”
“Cause Uncle Morley,” she had to pause to catch her breath, “Uncle Morley said … a star was in the east at Christmas … to lead shepherds to a stable where Jesus was born.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah … an’ they found animals in the stable, sheep an’ lambs … an’ a donkey an’… they found … the baby lying in a manger.”
“Uh uh,” Ronnie muttered as he bent to urge Bobby forward.
“Ronnie … d’ya think that star is leading us to a stable where … where there’ll be animals, an’ … an’ it’ll be warm, an’ ….” She had to stop; she didn’t have the breath to walk and talk at the same time. But in a few minutes, she started singing quietly to herself, “Twinkle, twinkle, little star … how I wonder what you are …”
“That’s right, Rachael, keep singing. Bob old man, you can sing, can’t you? Come on, buddy ….” Ronnie, too, began to sing, stopping for breath at times but cheering them on with his breaking soprano. “Twinkle, twinkle, little star … how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky ….”
Rachael didn’t want to sing anymore; she couldn’t force the words through her dry lips. Bobby’s voice fell silent, too, and soon Ronnie stopped. She knew there was no point in going on, anyway. The star wasn’t going to lead them to shelter, and there were no animals, and no baby, and … and …. You must have been wrong, Uncle Morley.
Pray, Rachael, pray.
For a moment she thought she had heard Uncle Morley’s voice. Then she knew it was only the memory of his voice. Please, God, make the star take us to a stable. Please, God.
Too weary to hold her head up any longer to watch the star, she looked down at her plodding feet – feet she could no longer feel. “Twin..kle, twin..kle … lit..tle star ….”
“Rachael, look!”
She raised her head and looked to where Ronnie pointed …
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