His For Christmas (2 page)

He
barely
heard
the
boy
’
s
small
sound
of
joy
before
Timothy
launched
himself
to
the
large
store,
flurries
of
newly
fallen
snow
kicking
up
from
his
new
leather
shoes.

Well,
at
the
very
least,
this
Christmas
wouldn
’
t
be
so
lonely
for
him.
Usually
Mrs.
Chang
would
go
back
home
to
Charleston
for
the
holidays,
so
the
last
three
Christmases
had
been
rather
quiet
and
nondescript.
But
that
was
before
he
found
a
ragged
street
urchin
curled
up
in
his
stables
almost
a
year
ago.

Shivering
with
a
high
fever
that
worried
him
to
no
end,
Elliot
called
for
Doc
Warner,
who
’
d
sat
down
with
the
boy,
having
administered
to
the
small,
trembling
bundle
that
seemed
to
weigh
far
too
less
than
it
should
’
ve.

“
I
don
’
t
know,
Elliot,
”
tsked
Doc
Warner
under
his
breath,
brushing
two
fingers
down
his
meticulously
kept
mustache.
“
He
’
s
suffering
from
severe
malnutrition
and
those
wounds
on
his
back
…
looks
like
the
boy
was
beaten.
Pretty
badly,
at
that.
”

It
was
the
wounds,
the
four
lash
marks
on
the
boy
’
s
back
that
very
nearly
undid
him.

And
then,
it
was
the
small
cries
he
heard
as
he
washed
the
boy
’
s
back
that
really
undid
him.

Timothy
never
talked
about
himself.
Other
than
telling
Elliot
his
name
and
that
he
’
d
hitched
a
ride
from
Aurora,
those
were
the
only
two
clues
he
had
regarding
the
boy
’
s
past.
And
truth
be
told,
he
wasn
’
t
even
sure
if
Timothy
was
the
boy
’
s
birth
name
…

He
shook
his
head.
It didn’t matter.

The
carolers
had
stopped,
thank
God,
but
to
his
dismay,
realized
it
was
only
to
turn
the
pages
of
their
songbooks
and
discuss
among
themselves
which
songs
to
plague
the
townspeople,
judging
from
the
way
they
whispered
and
stabbed
fingers
at
the
various
pages.