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Today, the house also glowed frohts were on The eaves were adorned for Christmas, as were the apple trees that lined the drive Those closest to the house twinkled white Along the drive itself the trees rapped in lights the color of ripe apples

For the past three weeks, Nick had noticed the strands coiled around the trunks and lihts hadn’t been illuht even now But the trees were shining The fa, Nick saw The partygoers had overflowed to the porch, and the grounds

They seery, like Dennis’s--or his mom’s previous boyfriends’

These shouts sounded worried

The road dipped, leaving the farmhouse and its noises behind The orchard entrance lay ahead, at the botto, an archway of red and white, and just inside, at the base of a lighted tree, was a sobbing child

She wasn’t very old Two or so And she was really sobbing The kind of hiccupping wails that only grew silent when it became necessary for her to breathe

Nick had witnessed such sobbing before Marianne’s boyfriend before Dennis had a two-year-old daughter who cried like this Nick hadn’t been allowed to comfort her She needed to learn not to cry, her father had said

No one was forbidding Nick to coirl Without hesitation he ran to her

"Don’t cry!" he implored

She looked at hih her holly-green tights had dirt stains at the knees Nor did she seem cold; in her heavy Christmas sweater, she was probably warmer than Nick

Maybe she was scared

Maybe a carol would help

"Jingle Bells" wasn’t Nick’s favorite "A Midnight Clear" was

But "Jingle Bells"above her cries

She could, and when she did, she stared at hinant one--as if she’d been enjoying a perfectly good cry and how dare he make it end?

Then she smiled, beanation Surprise that what had felt like hopelessness could be vanquished by a song

"You belong up there, don’t you?" he asked, glancing at the drive "You’re the reason everyone’s searching They probably figure there’s no way you could’ve , but the smile disappeared and new tears threatened

"Don’t start crying again, okay? I’d better carry you" Assu he could lift her

She was a healthy toddler He was se Very small, as Dennis--and others--never failed to point out

She was heavy Nick staggered a little under her weight It helped when she curled her ar, and she joined in

"‘Jingle bells,’" she crooned "‘All the way’"

Her ju compared to the tune she couldn’t carry

But she had a happy voice, and the tears were gone She’d obviously concluded that it wasn’t so bad, in fact fun, to be carried up the hill She pointed to the twinkling branches overhead and giggled as she sang

When they reached the crest of the hill and were spotted by a searcher who shouted the wonderful news, she was immediately surrounded by the kind of love Nick wouldn’t have believed existed if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes

Whisked fro parents while the large circle of people who loved her wept, laughed and marveled that she’d wandered so far, so fast--especially since, or so they’d thought, they were all keeping an eye on her

Inas one toward the farmhouse Nick was halfway down the drive when he heard the male voice behind him