There were only two days left before Christmas. But how can we have Christmas here?
Mina wondered. We have no home, no fir tree, no feast for the table. Christmas could
not come to this forlorn beach.
Back home in Germany, Christmas was the best time of the year. The village was blanketed
with snow. Inside every house there was a Tannenbaum glowing with candles
and ornaments. And on every dining table a Christmas feast was spread.
It had been raining every day, soaking their tent un til it began to leak. Mama used
tin cups to catch as many drips as she could. Whenever the rain stopped Papa and
Mina would wring out the blanket, and place it back over the branches.
Mina walked along the beach away from the camp. For once it had stopped raining.
She was searching for something to give Papa and Mama for Christmas. Maybe the sea would wash something up.
The grownups did not talk of Christmas. They talked of the lack of food and the sickness
that was in almost every tent. And they talked of the cold, rainy weather that made
the roads impossible to travel.
"Even if we had wagons and oxen, we could not get through on those roads,"
Herr Kaufmann had said to Papa.
"Ja, you are right, Heinrich, we would sink to the axles. We must stay
here and wait."
Mina pulled her coat tighter around her to keep out the cold wind, and trudged along.
She thought of Frau Kaufmann. Her baby would come soon. And they did not even
have a decent roof over their heads. She thought of last night when Mama had said,
"I wish I had never heard of Texas, Ernst."
Papa's face was so sad that Mina wanted to wrap her arms around his neck and make
him smile.
But he just answered, "You must have faith, Minchen. Better times will come."
Mina tried to believe that. Though her stomach always felt empty, and she longed
for some milk to drink, she wanted to believe Papa.
Up ahead she saw a small black shell. What luck! It was not broken. She picked it
up and turned it over in her hands. A perfectly symmetrical shell that flared like
a fan-just the gift for Mama. She put it in her pocket and walked on. Now something
for Papa. Mina went closer to the water's edge. There, half buried in the sand, she
found a flat white circular shell with a five pointed design on it-like a star.
"The star of Bethlehem! I will give you to Papa," Mina said out loud to the shell. She took off her woolen scarf and carefully wrapped it up.
In the morning Mina went to Anna's tent and called, "Anna, do you want to go
look for a Christmas tree?"
Anna came out of the tent, braiding her hair. "Where would we find a tree around
here?"
"Well, maybe not a tree, but something. It just will not be Christmas Eve without
some kind of tree."
"Sure," Anna replied, "maybe it will make me forget my stomach."
They walked together silently. It was cloudy, and the ocean looked gray. Then Mina
saw it-the tree.
"Anna, there it is!" Mina ran over to a piece of driftwood lying on the
wet sand.
"That?" asked Anna.
"Sure." Mina held the gnarled branch upright. "If we find some decorations,
it will be a Tannenbaum."
Mina and Anna carried the branch back to camp. They chose a spot in the center of
the camp, dug a hole and planted the branch. People began to come out of their tents
to see what the girls were doing.
"What is that supposed to be?" asked a boy child, Martin.
"This is going to be our Christmas tree," Mina told him cheerily. "Do
you have something to put on it for decoration?"
Martin turned and ran back into his tent. In a moment he came out again with a red
ribbon.
"Oh, perfect!" Mina clapped her hands together. She tied the red ribbon
in a bow on the very top of the branch.
Other people began bringing ornaments-beads, shells, ribbons, candles. The ribbons
of all colors were strung around its branches. At last it was a Tannenbaum.
" I am proud of you, Mina. " Papa put his arm around her. "You are
a real pioneer girl."
That evening the whole camp gathered around the tree. Mina and Anna lit the candles,
which flickered but kept burning. Papa pulled his harmonica out of his pocket and
began to play.
Oh Tannenbaum, oh Tannenbaum,
How lovely are thy branches.
Mina's throat got very tight, and tears streamed freely down her cheeks as she
sang, blurring the candlelight on the tree. The branches were not lovely at all.
When the song was ended Mina ran and buried her face on Papa's warm chest, and began
to sob.
"Now, now," said Papa patting her back, "you must not cry on Christmas
Eve. We still have presents to give."
It had grown dark. Papa, Mama, and Mina wished all a merry Christmas, and returned
to their tent.
"I have a surprise for you, Mina." Papa reached under his blanket and pulled out something wrapped in a scarf. "Fröhliche Weihnachten my kleine Mina."
Mina unfolded the scarf carefully. And there in her hand was a little figure of a
seagull with its wings spread in flight, carved from driftwood.
"Oh, Papa, it is beautiful." She held it up toward the sky and made it
fly. Then Mina flung her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. "Thank you,
dear Papa."
Mama reached inside a box and brought out another package. "Fröhliche
Weihnachten, Mina." She handed Mina the soft package with a dark green ribbon
tied around it. Mina untied the ribbon, opened up the package. There was a tiny red
velvet cape-for Johanna- with tiny buttons to fasten it at the neck, and all lined
with satin.
"How pretty, Mama! Johanna will look so fine." Mina kissed Mama's smooth
cheek. "Thank you, Mama." Then Mina pulled Johanna out from her blankets,
and fastened on the red cape. How elegant she looked.
Mina gave Papa and Mama the shells she had found. Mama said her shell was just the
thing to hold her needle and thread. And Papa said, "Why it is shaped like a
coin."
"Ja, and there is a Christmas star on it too. It will bring you good
luck, I know, Papa."
They wished each other a Merry Christmas again, and then Papa blew out the candle.
Long after Papa and Mama were asleep, Mina lay awake. She thought about the Christmas
feast last year-roast goose, baked apples, potatoes. It made her mouth water. Would
tomorrow really be Christmas?
The wind had stopped blowing, and Mina crawled out of the tent very quietly so as
not to awaken Papa and Mama. Outside the sky had cleared. All was quiet and still, as though the whole universe were holding its breath. And there, low on the horizon, was a single bright star. It was so big and bright that all the other stars looked dim beside it. The Christmas star, thought Mina, and kept gazing at it.
Silent night, Holy night,
All is calm, all is bright . . .
Those words had never had so much meaning as they did this night.
Suddenly the quiet was broken by a woman's cry. Mina looked around. Where had it
come from? She felt her heart thumping hard inside her chest.
"Papa, Papa, wake up!"
"What is it, Mina? Where are you?"
"Out here."
Papa struggled out of the tent. "What happened?"
Just then the night was pierced by shrill baby's crying.
"Frau Kaufmann!" Mina said at once.
"But it is not her time yet." Mama was coming out of the tent. Yet the
crying went on.
"The baby thinks it is time though, Mama."
"Ja, Mina. We must go and see if they need our help."
People were gathering at the Kaufmanns' tent, standing with coats over their night
clothes. A light glowed from inside. Anna rushed over to the Jordans.
"Mina, Mina, I have a baby sister."
Mina thought of the star and of the baby. "Anna, it is just like the first Christmas.
Look there." Mina pointed up at the star.
"So it is," Anna said with awe in her voice.