Have a Bloody Christmas Read online

  Part Two: December 21st

  Tom started his day as usual with a coffee after his shower. The shower and coffee times were significantly later than normal and he was actually able to enjoy a breakfast with his family. The children were dressed in thick winter coats, boots, scarves, gloves and hats and the family piled into the car at 10AM.

  The forty minute drive to the Christmas Tree Farm took them out of the city center and into farm country. The farm was so popular that a bus came every hour to take people to and from the farm. It was a special bus taken from the regular fleet that followed a specific route every year and came equipped with a holder for Christmas trees in the front. Smaller trees were allowed to be dragged inside the bus itself and until the bus could be aired out, it always smelled of Christmas.

  The drive was spent singing Christmas carols and discussing what the children hoped Santa would leave under the tree. Grace made mental notes about this in addition to the notes she already had in her purse. They reached the tree farm and noted it to be full despite the lateness of the month.

  People were milling about everywhere, making it hard for the Hubberts who ran the farm to get between the large groups with trees. Children darted between tightly spaced rows throwing snowballs as adults lined up in front of the big red booth to pay. The line was thinning out some as Tom stepped out of the van.

  “Stay close you two,” Tom instructed as the children leaped out of the car.

  They complied with a bit of whining but Casey reached up to hold Tom’s hand. Grace stayed close to James, not quite reaching out her hand but close enough that if he were to try and wander off that she could grab him. They approached Old Man Hubbert, the owner of the Tree Farm.

  “’Ello there Tom, Grace, Little Casey-May and James, Merry Christmas to ya’ll,” Old Man Hubbert exclaimed in a loud booming voice despite the fact that he looked to be nearing a century in age and walked with a thick wooden cane.

  “Hi, Old Man Hubbert!” Casey and James shouted back because they knew full well the older man was close to being completely deaf.

  “Hello Mr. Hubbert,” Grace greeted with a bright grin.

  “Hello Mr. Hubbert, do you think we can borrow one of your sons or grandsons to find a tree?” Tom questioned loudly while leaning into the big wooden booth that Old Man Hubbert had set up for the holidays.

  This year the booth had been repainted with bright red paint to cover the dull reddish-brown color it had been the year before. ‘Merry Christmas’ was stenciled in white and gold lettering across the top of the booth and on either side. The back of the booth held the door and there was a heater and a coffee machine stashed to one side. Underneath the main desk of the booth, Tom knew there were specially made Candy Apples and hot chocolate.

  The Candy Apples were made from caramel and melted candy canes then partially dipped in milk chocolate before being coated with little chunks of mint. Mrs. Hubbert made each one by hand every year and sold at least one to every single customer that walked through the gate. Old Man Hubbert never revealed how many people came to his farm but Tom knew the older man only sold evergreen trees and apples but was still able to maintain the farm.

  “'Course. BILLY!” Old Man Hubbert yelled out.

  A tall lanky youth who was barely out of his teens came rushing towards the booth. He carried an axe and wore a flannel winter jack over blue jeans and brown work boots. A backwards blue baseball cap adorned his head with shaggy brown hair sticking out from under the cap. His shoulders and hat were dusted with snow and his hands were covered with thick workman’s gloves.

  “Yes Grand-pop?” Billy inquired with a cheerful smile.

  “Take these youngens out to find the perfect tree,” Old Man Hubbert commanded lightly.

  “Of course, follow me folks,” Billy told them and began leading them into the row upon row of Christmas Trees.

  Soon they were deep into the forest of Christmas Trees with Billy as their guide. They passed a few other families, Billy’s brothers, uncles, or cousins helping the other customers. Tom knew that Old Man Hubbert had 10 sons and each son had another five or six sons and a few daughters. At any given time, all these various children and grandchildren would be busy leading a person through the maze of trees.

  “Oh, that one daddy,” Casey called out pointing to a tall tree that sagged a bit to one side.

  “That one’s crooked Casey, we can’t have a crooked tree,” James scolded her and peered around.

  “What about that one?” James pointed to the biggest tree on the lot which despite its great size was not as full as the other trees.

  “That tree is too skinny,” Casey complained.

  “That one,” She exclaimed a moment later and pointed at a small tree with thick, full branches.

  “That one’s too short,” James whined and the group continued on.

  “How about that one?” Tom finally pointed out.

  The tree in question was just the right height to fit in their living room with thick full branches and stood perfectly straight.

  “Yeah,” Casey and James agreed in unison.

  “All right, one tree coming up,” Billy told them and began to hack at the tree with his axe.

  Grace wrapped Casey in a hug from behind while Tom held James back by the shoulder. Just before the tree was ready to topple over, Billy got a specially made cart to easily drag back the tree. A resounding crack came from the evergreen as it was severed from its roots and placed onto the cart.

  Billy placed his axe in a holder on the cart and began pushing the cart back towards his grandfather’s red booth. Tom helped as much as he could with James helping Billy in the back. Grace held Casey’s hand and soon the group was back at the front of the booth.

  “Hey Bobby, can you help me load this on the car?” Billy called out to an almost identical clone.

  “It’s the silver van,” Tom told them.

  “I’ll lead them over,” Grace suggested as she tugged on James’ coat to get his attention and strode back to the car.

  Billy and Bobby followed as Tom watched for a moment while the tree was lifted onto the roof of the van and tied down. He nodded once in approval and went to pay. As he was striding to the old man he felt a tingle along his spine. He half-turned on his heel and saw a flicker of someone in a red coat out of the corner of his eye. He blinked and stared into the rows of trees, trying to look for the red coated figure. He shook off the unnecessary paranoia and muttered to himself. He shook his head to clear it before continuing to the red booth.

  “That’ll be $75 Tom,” Old Man Hubbert told him with a grin.

  “Can I add a few of those amazing Candy Apples your wife makes and some hot chocolate to go?” Tom asked with a grin.

  “Course, gimme a minute to grab it all,” Old Man Hubbert beamed as he slid off his stool to better access the items under his desk.

  “How many apples?” Old Man Hubbert questioned as two were placed shakily on the desk.

  “Another 14 if you have them,” Tom told him sheepishly.

  “Got a party goin’ on at yer house?” Old Man Hubbert laughed.

  “Well, Grace and I are hosting Christmas and we’ll have my sister coming with her two kids and Grace’s brother with his two kids plus my parents and Grace’s parents make 16 people. I figured I’d be nice and get everyone one of your wife’s delicious candy apples for dessert,” Tom explained with a light laugh.

  “Full house, lemme get a bag for you,” Old Man Hubbert chuckled as he turned slowly.

  “Thanks but I can just imagine how full your house must be for Christmas,” Tom remarked.

  “Yep, we’ve normally got close to a hundred comin’ down every holiday,” Old Man Hubbert revealed as he packed 14 candy apples into a plastic grocery bag.

  “Wow, and I thought we’d have a full house,” Tom whistled low as he took the bag and the offered tray of four hot chocolates.

  “Ain’t no one got a bigger family than us Hubberts. Damage today is $111 Tom,
” Old Man Hubbert told him with a grin.

  Tom happily paid, knowing that the candy apples and hot chocolate were worth the two dollars each. He hung the bag on his arm and took the tray with that same hand.

  “Have a Merry Christmas,” Tom joyfully said to the other man as he began to stride off with a wave.

  “Ya’ll come back here next year,” Old Man Hubbert shouted back.

  “Don’t worry we will,” Tom assured him with a laugh.

  As he strode back to the van he thanked Billy and Bobby who had just finished securing another couple’s tree as they walked by. They returned the pleasantries and tipped their hats as Tom walked by them, wishing him a Merry Christmas as he left. Tom felt another chill along his back and turned in time to see a figure in a red coat get onto the city bus that had come around. He scowled at his own paranoia and hopped into the car.

  “Hot Chocolate!” Casey exclaimed with a broad grin.

  “Did you get candy apples too?” James excitedly asked.

  “Yeah, but we’re saving them until Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Carol, Uncle Joe, Aunt Melina, Uncle Tim and all your cousins come over on Christmas day,” Tom informed them as Grace carefully handed a Styrofoam cup to Casey then to James.

  “Aww, do we really have to wait that long Daddy?” Casey whined with a pout.

  “Good things come to those who wait,” Grace told her with a wink as she set the other two cups into the cup holders and took the bag of candy apples.

  Tom was finally able to close his door and put on his seat belt. The city bus was pulling away and Tom could not help but watch it. The figure in the red coat was staring out at the lot but Tom could not see its face as a baseball cap was pulled down low over the brow. Tom frowned at his own unneeded paranoia as he started the van and reversed out of the lot towards home.

  Jon was back outside when they arrived home and Tom was grateful to see him. The kids charged out of the van with Grace on their heels as Tom came around the other side of the van to wave to Jon.

  “Hey neighbour, do you have a minute to help me out?” Tom questioned with a small smile.

  “Of course, that’s what neighbours are for. Let me just tell Maggie,” Jon replied back before walking up his front steps and opening the door to his house.

  “Hey Maggie, I’m going to help Tom with the tree,” Jon shouted into the house.

  A few moments passed and Maggie appeared, dressed in winter boots and a thick winter coat. Tom watched confused for a moment as the couple began to walk towards him.

  “I’ll help hold the children back while you two men wrestle with the tree,” Maggie offered as she passed Tom with a wink.

  “Ah, good thinking,” Tom offered with a chuckle.

  Soon he and Jon were wrestling the tree off the van and into the house while Maggie, Grace and the kids pulled up boxes of decorations. Only a few pine needles decorated the hardwood flooring and Tom was grateful for the lack of a mess.

  Soon lights were being wrapped around the tree and delicate glass orbs in multitudes of shining colors were being hung. Silver strings and candy canes were placed on the tree as Grace and Casey fiddled with the fake snow that would wrap around the pot and litter the floor. Finally, Jon held the ladder as Tom placed the star on the top of the tree.

  Grace invited Maggie and Jon for lunch and they dined happily until the children were ready to venture back outside. Jon and Tom went with them and as Maggie and Grace cleared the table and put the dishes in the washer, Maggie offered to watch the children so the younger couple could get their Christmas shopping done. Grace waved her off but after a small battle, she relented with a warm smile.

  “Hold the lights a bit tighter there Tom,” Jon suggested lightly as he helped the other man string red and green Christmas lights along his roof.

  “I need a bit more slack,” Tom countered and Jon held the lights up a bit higher.

  “Hey dad, there’s a bulb that’s burned out on this string,” James shouted up and held up a string of lights.

  “Ah, check the box to see if there are any backups,” Tom suggested.

  “Here James, look! More lights,” Casey exclaimed as she held up a package.

  “Good job Casey, just hang on to those for a minute until I get these ones up,” Tom told them lightly.

  James made sure to keep a hold on the burned out light until Tom descended from the ladder and knelt by his son and daughter. He carefully changed the bulb and made sure it worked before beginning to wrap it around the railing of the porch.

  “Daddy, what are we doing with all the green stuff?” Casey asked as she held up the fake Evergreen decorations.

  “We’re going to put those around the door and in between the lights. Let me finish up wrapping these here,” Tom explained to her with a smile.

  “Can I help put up the door decoration?” James questioned hopefully.

  “Why don’t I help you with that James?” Jon suggested with a wink to Tom.

  Tom gave him a grateful smile as he finished with the lights and helped Casey wind the Evergreen strings around the porch carefully. The shining red wrapping paper was hung on the door first and fake-wrapped with a golden bow before the wreath was hung. Lights were added to the windows before the group stood back and admired their work from the end of the driveway. Grace and Maggie came out to look with them and congratulated the team on a job well done.

  “What about the reindeer daddy?” Casey asked as she pointed to the final large box on the porch.

  “Why don’t we build the snowman first before we set up the reindeer? This way we know where to put them all,” Tom commented to her.

  “Yeah, come on Casey, we’ll start on the bottom ball,” James agreed and grabbed her hand.

  Instantly the two were in the snow and packing a fist sized ball tight. Tom and Grace began starting on the second ball after thanking their neighbours as the duo left to start their own supper.

  Soon the two children were using all their might to roll the ball of snow across the lawn. Tom suggested they had a big enough base but they begged for it to be larger. Tom and Grace took over while Casey and James began on the head. Grace laughed loudly as Tom lost his footing in the snow and fell forward with a yelp of surprise.

  “Oh you think that’s funny do you?” Tom grinned wickedly and lobbed a snowball at his wife.

  She yelped in shock as it cascaded onto her face and quickly bent to grab her own ball of snow. Tom ducked and ran across the yard with Grace on his heels. Soon James and Casey joined in and it was girls against boys snowball fight.

  Tom ran into the middle ball for the snowman and flipped over it in surprise. Grace covered him in snowballs until he relented with a roar of laughter. Finally they went back to work on the snowman as the street lamps clicked on. The base was rolled into the center of the lawn and Tom hoisted the middle up with Grace’s help. The head of the snowman was a bit more awkward than the body. Tom and Grace were laughing so hard from it slipping off so many times that the head barely made it to its proper place in one piece.

  Casey presented the stones from previous years and Tom lifted her up so she could place them in as eyes and a mouth. Grace wound a scarf around the snowman’s neck as James jabbed in two sticks on either side for arms. More round stones were used for buttons and Tom helped Casey carefully put gloves on the ends of the sticks.

  James got the honor of sticking in a carrot for a nose as Casey did it the previous year and Tom stuck on the faded baseball cap. The reindeer were arranged around the snowmen and Grace ushered the children into the house to warm up as Tom collected the boxes. As he turned to gather the last box, he caught a glimpse of a figure in a bright red coat.

  He rushed down the steps towards the Evergreens separating his property from the neighbours on his other side but by then the figure in the red coat was nothing more than a shadow that had turned and was walking down the sidewalk past the end of the street. Tom stared after the shadow for a long moment, feeling oddly disturbed
but not knowing why. He knew there was nothing wrong with a person wearing a red coat but for some reason, this person seemed different somehow as if they were surrounded by a cloud of malice.

  “Tom, what are you doing out there? Come inside to warm up,” Grace called out from the doorway.

  Tom started and turned. He gave her a smile and trotted back up the steps with the last empty box, a chill racing down his spine. He shrugged it off and assumed it to be simply a neighbour from down the way walking their dog. He did not mention to himself that he had seen no dog prints in the snow and heard no such beast.

  Dinner was served and soon he forgot completely about the figure in red. A favorite Christmas cartoon had come on the television shortly after and Tom was sitting comfortably on the couch, a mug of hot chocolate in his hands. The children were sitting too close to the television but Tom allowed it for once.

  Grace sat happily on the couch beside Tom and curled into him. Tom wrapped an arm around her and they smiled. Their holidays had been long in coming and they would not waste a moment of them now that they were here.

  “Maggie offered to watch the kids tomorrow while we go shopping,” Grace whispered in his ear.

  “Oh that’s good,” Tom remarked with a grin.

  “She’s going to drop by at 8AM so we can get an early start,” Grace muttered with a little scowl.

  “Ah, so we’ll have to get up before 7AM to make sure the kids are fed and dressed,” Tom pointed out.

  “Yes,” Grace sighed out with a frown.

  “Don’t worry honey, it’ll be the only day besides Christmas that we have to get up that early,” Tom assured her with a little peck on her cheek.

  “I hope so, it’s my week away from the office too and I don’t want to see the underside of 8AM again,” Grace chuckled out.

  “Trust me, I know. But it has to be done,” Tom told her as they looked over at James and Casey who were desperately trying not to show how tired they both were.

  “Okay you two, another hour then go get ready for bed,” Grace informed them over the sound of the television.

  “We’re not tired mommy,” Casey argued with an enormous yawn.

  “I know but we’re dropping you off next door at 8AM sharp before we go Christmas shopping,” Grace rebutted.

  “Aw, but I want to come too,” Casey whined with a pout.

  “It’ll be too busy and we don’t want you two getting pulled away by the crowd,” Tom butted in with a smile.

  “But I’m old enough to watch Casey,” James joined his sister in complaining.

  “Not quite buddy. But we’ll take you two to see Santa at the mall tomorrow when we’re done, okay?” Tom bargained.

  “Okay!” the duo instantly agreed and went back to watching their movie.

  Grace giggled a bit and curled deeper into Tom’s arms as he sighed contently. Suddenly a deep shudder ran through Tom and he peered at the window. Something moved outside and he blinked, brow furrowing.

  “What is it?” Grace inquired with a small frown.

  “I thought I saw something outside,” Tom uttered lightly as he moved.

  Grace displaced herself from his arms and bit her lip in worry as Tom stood and peered out the window. Nothing seemed to be out of place or came to his attention immediately and he sighed. He shook his head and walked back to the couch with a grin as Grace gave him an amused look. Tom would not notice the extra set of footsteps leading off his porch and would only dismiss them as his own or Jon’s.