The Missing Mortals, page 34
Emma hesitated for a moment, wondering what on earth it could be.
“Go ahead and open it,” Doug urged. “We all went together.”
Emma carefully unwrapped the box, purposely taking her time to prolong the moment. This was her last present, and she wanted to enjoy it. When the paper had been removed and set aside, she grabbed hold of the lid and looked at her friends. The expectant looks on their faces had her wondering once again what could possibly be in the box. Then she lifted the lid and looked down. Whatever was inside was covered with tissue paper. Quickly, she moved the top layer of paper aside and couldn’t believe her eyes. Nestled in more tissue paper was a brand-new pair of figure skates.
“I love them! How did you do it?” she cried as she hugged each of her friends in turn. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” she repeated with each hug.
“I asked Dad to get them for us on his last trip to Benton,” Doug explained. “I already knew what size you needed.”
Emma realized then that Doug had been planning this surprise since Thanksgiving. He’d been paying attention when she’d gotten her rental skates that day in Benton, so he’d know what size to buy. Although she knew the skates were from all of them, she was certain that it had been Doug’s idea.
“Merry Christmas, Emma,” Doug said with a smile.
Blinking back tears of joy, Emma looked at his handsome face and said, “Merry Christmas, Doug.”
Doug left them after that to spend some time with his Dad and Lord Dinswood. He wanted to give Lord Dinswood the rocking chair he’d made for him, and he was hoping that Lord Dinswood would feel like playing a game of chess. Doug promised to meet up with them again at lunch.
The others passed the rest of the morning relaxing in the lounge. Sebastian began reading the cookbook Martha had gotten him while the girls worked on a puzzle in front of the fireplace.
True to his word, Doug rejoined them promptly at noon. After a sumptuous Christmas dinner, which included ham and turkey and all the fixings, Sebastian suggested they go to the pond and give their new skates a try.
“I’ve already asked Dad if we could go, and he said it was okay,” Doug told them. “He checked the pond out yesterday to make sure it was safe.”
“Martha doesn’t have any skates,” Emma pointed out. As much as she’d like to go skating, she wasn’t going to go without her friend.
“Actually, I do,” Martha said quickly. Then she went on to explain. “I knew that we were getting you a pair for Christmas, so I brought mine from home when I came back from Thanksgiving break. I got them last winter, but I’ve only worn them a couple of times, so they’re practically new. I’m glad to finally get some use out of them.”
“Where are they?” Emma asked, wondering why she’d never seen them.
“I hid them under my bed,” Martha replied with a sly grin.
“Now I know your hiding place,” Emma said, laughing.
“I guess now I’ll have to find a new one,” Martha answered.
“Well are we going or not?” Sebastian interrupted.
Although it was below freezing outside, the sun was shining in a cloudless sky. Anxious to get out of the castle for a while, the others agreed to Sebastian’s suggestion. They split up then to go to their respective dorm rooms to get ready.
A few minutes later, they met in the lobby and left the castle by way of the main entrance. The girls were bundled up in their new winter coats. In addition to their coats, they wore earmuffs and gloves to ward off the cold. The boys were wearing down jackets, knit caps, and gloves. They had tied the laces of their skates together and slung them over their shoulders so they could carry their hockey sticks. Seeing the logic in this method, the girls did likewise. Then they stuck their gloved hands in their pockets for extra warmth.
“What are you guys going to use for a hockey puck?” Martha asked as Doug led them around the east side of the castle.
“I’ve got one in my pocket,” Sebastian informed her.
“I should have known,” Martha replied.
“How far is the pond?” Emma asked.
“Not too far,” Doug replied. “It’s about a half mile from the castle.”
Doug was leading them in a southeasterly direction. They passed behind the bus barn and then began an uphill track following a narrow path through the trees. Gradually, the trees began to thin out, and they were walking in an open field.
Although the sun was shining, it provided little warmth. Plumes of fog formed in front of their faces as their warm breaths encountered the frosty air. Emma hoped that once they started skating, the exercise would warm them up. Her new coat was doing a good job of keeping her trunk warm, but her face and legs were cold.
“We’re almost there,” Doug informed them a few minutes later. “It’s just beyond those trees up ahead.”
They passed to the east of the stand of trees Doug had indicated, and the pond came into view. It was a good-sized pond, covering more than an acre, and just as they had anticipated, it was frozen solid. Several benches were scattered around the pond’s perimeter.
“Did Lord Dinswood have these benches put out here?” Martha asked just as Emma was opening her mouth to ask the same question.
“Yeah, this was one of his favorite fishing spots,” Doug told them.
“There are fish in this pond?” Martha asked in surprise. “Where did they come from?”
“Lord Dinswood said Darius had the pond stocked with fish shortly after the castle was completed. There are largemouth bass, perch, channel catfish, and crappie. Dad and I come here to fish a couple of times each summer.”
When they reached the pond, they sat on the benches to put their skates on. The girls sat together on one bench and the boys on another. Emma took off her gloves so she could lace up her skates the way Doug had shown her on their trip to the rink in Benton. By the time she was finished, her fingers were frozen. She quickly put her gloves back on and stuffed her hands in her coat pockets while she waited for Martha to finish lacing her skates. By the time the girls were ready, the boys were already on the ice pushing a puck around with their new hockey sticks.
“Are you guys going to play a game?” Martha asked. “Because if you are, we’ll wait here until you’re finished.” Martha had watched enough hockey games to know that a flying puck could cause a lot of damage to an unprotected face, and she intended to keep all of her teeth.
“No,” Sebastian answered. “I only brought the puck, so we could practice moving it over the ice. If you guys are ready, we’ll stop.”
“We’re ready,” Martha said quickly. She stood up and began making her way to the edge of the ice. She looked at Emma, who was still sitting on the bench, and motioned for her to follow.
Suddenly, Emma felt nervous. It had been a while since she’d last skated, and she didn’t want to make an idiot of herself in front of her friends. Martha must have sensed Emma’s reluctance because she came back to where Emma was sitting and looped her arm through Emma’s.
“Come on,” she said, pulling Emma to her feet. “You can’t get better if you don’t practice. Nobody here is going to laugh at you. Every now and then, I still wipe out myself, so I’m not exactly an expert. The boys have both played hockey so they’ve had a lot more practice than we have. There is absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about.”
All of this was said as Martha led Emma to the edge of the pond, and by the time she was finished speaking, both girls were standing on the ice. The boys had put their sticks on one of the benches and were now skating over to them. Without hesitation, Doug grabbed Emma’s hand.
“We’ll start off slow just like we did that day in Benton. Then once you get the feel of the ice, we can go a little faster,” Doug told her.
True to his word, Doug led her around the pond’s perimeter. Much to her delight, Emma quickly grew accustomed to the feel of the ice. Her new skates did a good job of supporting her ankles, and they hardly bowed in at all. As her confidence grew, she stopped watching the ice and began to enjoy the passing scenery. She had to smile when she saw that Sebastian was skating alongside Martha but lacked the courage to take her hand.
Despite what Martha had told her only moments ago, Emma could tell she was a skilled skater. She glided along with strong, confident strokes, and her ankles were centered over the blades as they should be.
Sebastian quickly grew tired of skating slowly around the edge of the pond. Suddenly, he stopped keeping pace with Martha and began racing along the ice. He zipped around Emma and Doug until he caught up with Martha again, and then he started skating circles around her.
“Come on, Doug. Let’s show these girls some hockey moves,” Sebastian yelled.
“Let’s show off, you mean,” Martha stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
“That’s exactly what I mean,” Sebastian admitted with a grin as he continued to do loops around Martha—much to her annoyance. A moment later, he turned and began skating backward. He makes it look so easy, Emma thought with envy.
“Go ahead, Doug, before he makes Martha mad,” Emma whispered. “I’ll be okay on my own. I’m used to the ice now.”
“You’re doing great,” Doug complimented her. “I’ll be back,” he added over his shoulder as he sped off to join Sebastian.
Martha waited for Emma to catch up with her, and the two girls skated along together as the boys showed off their skating skills.
“I wish I could do that,” Emma commented to Martha.
“From the looks of it, you’ll be skating circles around them in no time,” Martha replied. “Once you’ve had a little more practice, I’ll teach you how to do some tricks.”
“That’d be great! I can’t thank you guys enough for the skates. They’re really nice.”
“It was Doug’s idea,” Martha told her, confirming what Emma had suspected earlier.
Just then Sebastian left the ice to retrieve his and Doug’s hockey sticks.
“How about you girls learn to handle a hockey stick? Doug and I can show you how,” Sebastian offered. As he was speaking, he began trying to get the puck out of his pocket, but his bulky gloves made what should have been a simple task almost impossible. Just as he worked the puck free from the confining material of his coat pocket, he started to drop the hockey sticks he was holding in his left hand. While he was trying to regain his hold on the sticks, the puck flipped onto the ice and rolled to the center of the pond before coming to a rest.
Emma was closest to it, so without hesitation, she yelled, “I’ll get it.”
“I’ll race you,” she heard Martha shout behind her.
Emma’s competitive nature kicked in, and she started skating faster than she’d ever skated before. She could hear Martha close on her heels. All was going well until Emma leaned a little too far forward on her right skate. One of the teeth on the front of the blade grabbed the ice, stopping her right leg’s forward motion and throwing her off balance. Unable to recover, she landed flat on her belly and continued to slide toward the center of the pond like a seal on a waterslide. Emma finally came to a stop within a foot of the puck. She lay there for a moment—too mortified to look at the others. She expected to hear laughter, but instead she heard, “Emma, are you okay?” from each of her friends.
“I’m okay,” Emma answered with a sigh. I’m just a big klutz, she thought. She was pushing herself up with her arms when a glint of something under the ice caught her eye. She stopped trying to get up and leaned closer to the ice for a better look. What she saw had her blinking in amazement. The ice was acting as a sort of magnifying glass, and resting on the bottom of the pond, she could clearly see a metal chest. The chest exactly matched the ones in which they’d found all of the other sculptures.
“Guys, you’re not going to believe this!” Emma cried excitedly.
“What?” Sebastian asked, skating over to her.
Emma waited until Doug and Martha joined her and Sebastian, and then she pointed to the ice. “Look and tell me what you see,” she told them, trying to hide a smile.
They all looked where she was pointing, and it took only a matter of seconds for them to process the information their eyes were sending their brains.
“I can’t believe it!” Sebastian exclaimed. “Emma, you’ve done it again. If there’s not a Mortal in that chest, I’ll eat my hockey stick.”
“I’m going to hold you to that,” Martha said without hesitation. “Although, I’m actually hoping that you won’t have to eat your hockey stick for two reasons. First, you could get splinters. And second, for Doug’s sake, I really hope there’s a Mortal in that chest.”
Doug stood there looking down with an incredulous expression. He was certain the chest contained a sculpture. He couldn’t explain how he knew, but he did. It was nothing short of a miracle that they’d found it. If the pond hadn’t been so low due to lack of rain, they wouldn’t have been able to see the bottom. Emma falling and sliding to a stop directly over the spot where the chest lay could not have been a mere coincidence. Mr. Munsen was right: the Lord was with them.
“There’s a sculpture in there all right,” Doug told the others. “We’ll have to wait until spring to get it though. There’s no way we can get to it now.”
“I don’t understand,” Sebastian said with a frown. “This pond wasn’t even on our list.”
“It should have been,” Martha interjected. “In one of Rebecca’s journal entries, I remember her mentioning how much she enjoyed going fishing with Darius. She didn’t give a location, and I just assumed they fished in the river. At the time, I didn’t know about this pond or that it had been stocked with fish. I’m sorry, Doug.”
“It’s not your fault, Martha. You couldn’t have known. We’ve found it now, and that’s all that matters,” Doug told her.
“Who wants to skate?” Sebastian asked, breaking the somber mood that had fallen.
They skated a while longer, and the boys let the girls use their hockey sticks to practice moving the puck around on the pond’s frozen surface. Of course, the boys provided lots of instruction on proper puck handling techniques.
When the sun began to drop behind the trees, they decided to call it a day, and after taking off their skates, they started the journey back to the castle.
Doug whistled merrily as he led the way. A great weight had been lifted from his shoulders today. Now he could enjoy the rest of his vacation knowing that the sculpture was safe and sound on the bottom of the pond. There, it would wait until the four of them came back to get it after the spring thaw.
Taking his cue from Doug, Sebastian began singing the words to the Christmas carol Doug was whistling. Without any shyness or embarrassment, Sebastian sang out in a clear tenor voice. After their initial surprise, the girls joined in. Doug stopped whistling and sang along with the others. Soon the castle came into view with a welcoming light shining from each of its many windows.
Once inside, they put their coats away in their rooms and then spent some time warming themselves in front of the fireplace in the lounge. New logs had recently been added, so the fire was blazing nicely and putting out plenty of heat to thaw their frozen limbs. They had just regained the feeling in all of their toes when it was time to head to the dining hall for supper. There were still plenty of leftovers from the Christmas feast they’d had earlier that day. When they’d had their fill of turkey, dressing, and pie, they returned to the lounge and played charades with some of the other students until it was time for bed. The best part of the evening was that Doug was more relaxed than Emma had seen him in a long time. He really seemed to be enjoying himself during the game.
Later that night, after preparing for bed, Emma laced her new ice skates together and hung them over the bedpost at the foot of her bed. As she climbed into bed, she thought back over the day and decided it had been a Christmas that she would never forget.
The rest of the Christmas break passed quickly. They went skating every day, and by the end of the week, Emma could skate backward and do some of the tricks that Martha had taught her. She still wasn’t as good as Martha or the boys, but she was getting there.
The rest of the student body began returning on Saturday. The noise level around the castle rose substantially as the dorms were once again filled with chattering students.
On Sunday, after chapel, it began to snow. It began as big fat flakes drifting down lazily from a gray sky, but it soon turned into a full-blown blizzard. By the time it stopped snowing on Monday afternoon, more than two feet of snow covered the ground.
After classes concluded on Monday, excited students headed outside to enjoy the first real snow of the season. Some built igloos and forts and had snowball fights, while others worked on creating the most unique snowman. A number of sleds and toboggans had been purchased over the summer and stored in the bus barn for just such an occasion. These were brought out, and students took turns riding them down the steep hill on the west side of the school. Doug, Sebastian, Emma, and Martha chose a toboggan big enough for four and spent the hour before supper trying to get their best time down the hill. They pretended they were entered in the Olympics as a four-man bobsled team. Sebastian was hilarious as he assumed the role of coach for the team.
By the time everyone was called in for supper, the front lawn was dotted with a multitude of snowmen in various shapes and sizes, and the snow on the west side of the castle was packed down from all of the tobogganing.
Ravenous from the fresh air and exercise, students quickly put their coats away in their rooms and hurried to the dining hall where they feasted on turkey pot pie. Conversation was light while everyone concentrated on satisfying their hunger.
After the meal, Emma, Martha, Doug, and Sebastian collected their books and went to the library to do their homework. Mr. Criderman was sitting behind the counter, keeping a watchful eye on the studiers. Emma hoped he wouldn’t start flirting with the senior girls again. It made her sick to watch it. She hadn’t wanted to study in the library, but the lounge was full. Thankfully, there weren’t any older girls in the library at the moment. As the evening wore on, Emma noticed that the majority of the students in the library were boys. Maybe Mr. Criderman’s behavior had made the senior girls uncomfortable, so now they were avoiding him. Emma hoped so. It would serve him right. Mr. Criderman may be good looking, but he was way too old for high school girls.
