Free Christmas Under Western Skies by Anna Schmidt

buffalo robe in the back of the wagon. “Are we there yet?” Luke demanded with an exasperated huff. “I’m freezing.”
    â€œYou’re cold,” Julianne corrected, “not freezing. And no, we have not seen a tree yet.”
    â€œWe’re not giving up, are we?” Laura asked, and Julianne realized how important this Christmas was going to be for her children. It marked a return to normal, an end to mourning.
    â€œTell you what,” Nathan announced, “let’s make a game of the hunt. First one to spot a proper tree wins the prize.”
    â€œWhat’s the prize?” the twins chorused.
    â€œWell now, let’s see. If Laura wins, then she gets ayard of ribbon from the mercantile. If Luke wins, he gets a nickel’s worth of penny candy.”
    â€œWhat about Mama?” Laura asked.
    Nathan glanced at Julianne’s cheeks, as rosy as a ripe apple. “Apple seeds,” he said softly, “for her orchard.”
    Their eyes met, and for an instant he held her gaze before focusing on her lips.
    â€œNot fair,” Luke declared.
    â€œFair if I’m making the rules,” Nathan countered. “When you come up with a game—and the prizes—then you get to set the rules.”
    He sounded like a father—not his father certainly, but the father he and Jake had always wished they might know. How Jake would laugh if he could hear Nathan now.
    â€œTrees,” the twins screamed in unison, pointing to a cluster of juniper trees in the distance.
    â€œI win,” Luke crowed.
    â€œI saw them, too,” Laura protested.
    â€œIt’s a tie,” Julianne said, quieting both children as Nathan snapped the reins and the team of horses trotted across the barren landscape toward the trees.
    â€œNot exactly a forest,” Nathan said with a grin.
    â€œIt seems a shame to cut even one,” Julianne said. “Trees are so very scarce out here.”
    â€œAw, Ma, it’s Christmas,” Luke groaned, kicking at a branch that had broken off one of the trees.
    Nathan bent and picked up the branch, oddly shaped but still green with needles. Then Julianne pulled another small branch from the snow.
    â€œIf we tied them together,” she said, “they’d almost have the right shape.”
    Nathan handed her his branch and watched as she arranged the two so that one’s greenery covered the other’s bare spots.
    â€œHere’s another,” Laura called, running to collect a smaller branch. “If we find enough we could build our own tree.”
    The search was on.
    â€œNo fair breaking branches off, Luke,” Laura instructed.
    â€œNow who’s making up the rules,” Luke muttered, but released the branch he’d been trying to break off one of the live trees.
    Â 
    The four of them had soon collected enough greenery to make an impressive tree and then some. “This is fun,” Luke shouted as he added another branch to the pile in the back of the wagon.
    â€œNo doubt about it,” Nathan said, “you two found us a treasure when you spotted this grove.”
    â€œWe’ve enough to make a tree for our cabin and one for the Fosters as well.” Julianne was beaming. “It will be a wonderful surprise.”
    â€œCome on,” Luke urged. “Let’s get home so we can build the trees.”
    Everyone piled into the sled and the horses started for home. The scent of juniper berries surrounded them and Nathan could not remember the last time he had felt such anticipation for Christmas to come.
    â€œYou know, when Jake and I were just boys,” he said, “we used to go into the woods looking for mistletoe. It grew in the tallest trees, and Pa would shoot it down.”
    â€œMy father did that as well,” Julianne remembered. “I always begged him to let me go along, but he said it was a man’s job.” She got a faraway look in her eyes and frowned.