A Magical Christmas Read Free

too.”
    Their logic was sound, if painful.
    It seemed that God had been looking over themfor Christmas. Two men who might well be dying anyway had chosen the short straws, along with the two men who were the oldest in their company.
    But there was still one more straw.
    The Yanks were away from them, letting them make the discovery among themselves of who was to die.
    “Where’s the fifth straw?” the captain asked.
    He heard a choked-back sob. Then little Jimmy Haley came walking toward him. His head was high. His shoulders were squared. “It’s me, Captain, sir.” Jimmy, with his tousled brown hair and huge brown eyes, looked up at him with a fine show of bravado. But then his eyes filled with tears he blinked back furiously and his fine-squared shoulders began to tremble. “I—I ain’t afeered of dyin’, sir. I—I know damned certain that I can die well, too. I won’t holler or blubber or anything, Captain. I promise. I’ll make you proud.”
    “Jimmy, you’ve always done us proud,” the captain said softly.
    The Yanks were coming back.
    Oh, hell, oh, hell, oh, God, the captain thought.
    He’d wanted to live so much. He’d wanted to live so damned badly. See her face just one more time again. Hear her whisper, touch her, kiss her, stroke the past and the pain away…
    God, yes, he wanted to live.“You’re too young to die, son,” the captain said curtly, and he snatched the straw from brave little Jimmy Haley, dropping his own long one in the snow.
    The Yank, Lieutenant Jenkins, was back, and the captain turned to meet him.
    “Wh—who—” Jenkins stuttered.
    “Lieutenant, First Privates Sams, Roswell, McCorkindale, Larson—and I myself—have drawn the short straws,” the captain said without blinking.
    Tears filled Jimmy Haley’s eyes in truth now. “Wait—” he started to protest.
    But Darcy, behind him, clapped a hand over his mouth. He knew the captain would have none of it, the men letting Jimmy try to step in now when he had taken the boy’s place.
    “If you men will come with me…” the lieutenant said unhappily.
    “I will gladly accompany you, Lieutenant, as will Privates Larson and Roswell. My other two friends, you will note, in truth all but cheat the hangman, and they will need your assistance.”
    Lieutenant Jenkins nodded. His Adam’s apple jiggled.
    “You’ve time with the chaplain, sir, if you’ll accept the services of a Yank.”
    “Indeed, Lieutenant, my men and I will be glad of a man of God, since I’m quite certain in my heart God wears no uniform Himself. Both of our causeshave claimed that God is on our side, yet I suspect that He is heartily disgusted with us all at this point.”
    The captain spun, gallantly saluted his men. Then, as ordered, he followed the lieutenant back to the house.
    To prepare for his hanging.
    At his own home, from his own tree.
    If he closed his eyes and prayed hard enough, perhaps he could discover that he had slept.…
    And he would awake.
    And it would be Christmas.

Chapter One
    Christmastime
South Florida
The Present
    “I t’s not just a tedious, monotonous, wretched drive through tons of steel and horrifically rude people—it’s an adventure!” Julie Radcliff muttered bitterly, stuck again in another traffic jam-up. Every day it got worse. She glanced at her watch again. She was going to be late. All she needed was ten minutes more each morning, but no matter how hard she tried, she never seemed able to get the household ready that simple little ten minutes earlier. Of course, it would help if once in a while—just once in a while—Jon’s work wasn’t more important than hers.
    She realized that Ashley was staring at her. Ashley, just six, and in real school this year—first grade. Ashley seemed to have heard all the things that Julie had managed not to say—that she could be on time if only Daddy would handle his share of things. Julie tried to make her smile real as shereached over and squeezed her daughter’s