The Patricia Kiyono Christmas Collection Read Free Page A

in
amusement.
     

Chapter Three
    Z utphen Chapel was the site of many of
Sophie’s earliest memories. She’d grown up as part of the
congregation, sitting with her parents and siblings, her
grandparents, and several aunts and uncles. The old wooden pews had
been replaced long ago with comfortable upholstered benches, and
the congregation had grown so much that several building projects
had resulted in the church more than doubling in size. In fact the
only thing remaining from the Zutphen church of her youth was the
name. That, and the gleaming white steeple rising from the
center.
    But as long as she’d been a member, she’d
never held a position of authority. She’d attended regularly
whenever she was in town, going to Wednesday night catechism
classes as well as Sunday morning services and Sunday School. But
she’d never taught any of the classes, and now she stood in the
church’s choir room in front of thirty young children who waited
for her direction.
    Well, maybe that was an exaggeration. Four
or five of those little ones waited for instruction. The rest
chatted, and a pair of tow-headed little boys ran around the room
chasing each other.
    Most of the children in the room had parents
Sophie had known all her life. If things had gone according to plan
with Nate, she might now have a child approaching this age. But
there was a saying about best-laid plans. She couldn’t think of it
at the moment, and probably wouldn’t be able to for some time.
Right then she needed to get some order out of the chaos.
    “ Okay, kids, let’s take a
seat,” she began.
    Two more girls sat in the chairs. Four
others turned to look at her then went back to their conversations.
The two runners kept running.
    “ Everyone, please sit
down,” she said, this time a little louder. A few more sat, but
some of those seated started to giggle. At this rate, she’d never
get started. She put her fingers to her lips and blew.
    The whistle pierced through the room,
startling everyone enough that all motion stopped. Sophie knew the
pause would be temporary, so she shot her directions out quickly
while she had their attention.
    “ First graders in the front
row. Second graders in the second row. Third graders in the third
row. The last one to sit down will have an extra job to
do.”
    Little bodies scrambled across the room,
breaking up the neat rows Sophie had set up. The twin terrors, the
sons of high school classmates Peggy DeSmit and Lyle Longton,
knocked over several chairs in their quest to race to the second
row. Unfortunately, some of the chairs they knocked over had people
in them. The pandemonium ceased, replaced by the wails of the
toppled children.
    “ Jordan and Joshua Longton,
come here.” Sophie’s bark of authority surprised even her. The two
boys came toward her, their hesitating steps showing their
uncertainty. “You cannot run around pushing chairs over. You’ve
hurt three people by doing that, and you owe them an apology. But
first you will have to stand in the corner for five minutes. Each
time you turn around or leave the corner I will add another minute
to that time.” She pointed to her left. “Jordan, you stand in that
corner. Turn your face to the wall and don’t move. Anyone caught
looking at or talking to you will also be in trouble.” She pointed
to the opposite corner. “Josh, you have that corner over there.”
She hid her amazement when both boys followed
directions.
    She checked her watch. “Five minutes, and
you will be able to join us, unless you move or talk.” She turned
her attention toward the rest of the group. “Now, we’re going to
work on some songs for the Christmas pageant. But we’re also going
to need some people to read some parts. I’ll show those on the
screen.” She touched a button on the remote for the projector
mounted on the ceiling, and the words for the first song showed on
the screen. “This is a song called ‘Some Children See Him.’ Does
anyone know this song