Jacqueline Kelly: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“I got a prize at the fair for tatting.” I grimaced.

“Did you? I didn’t know you were interested in that sort of thing.”

“I’m not. I hate it, and I’m no good at it. I haven’t told Mother that it was third place out of three.”

“Never mind. Tatting was never my strong suit, either.”

I thought he was joking but you could never be sure. We worked side by side for a few peaceful hours until Viola rang the bell. I was grateful for those hours. I had been missing him.

I CHERISHED THE INFREQUENT hours I had with Granddaddy. As Christmas loomed on the horizon, our paltry time together shrank even further. I worked in the kitchen at Viola’s elbow, which I think she found more aggravating than usual, as she had to cook and teach me at the same time.

J.B. quizzed me. “Callie, how long until Christmas?”

“Look, J.B.” I held up my hand. “See my fingers?”

“Yes.”

“Well, this finger is for today, and this one is for tomorrow, and this one is for the day after that, which is Christmas. You see?”

“Yes.”

“Do you understand now?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

“But, Callie, how long until Christmas?”

Question for the Notebook: When does the young human organism get a grasp of time? The five-o’clock possum living in the wall understands time, so why doesn’t J.B.? He’s driving me batty.

I looked at this last sentence. Granddaddy had taught me that a scientific log was a citadel of the facts and that opinion didn’t enter into it. I erased my comment, relieved that I’d only written it in pencil.

Father and Alberto came through the door with a stunted pine they had found in the oak scrub (evergreens did not do well in our part of the world). J.B. went into a positive frenzy. “Look, look, Callie, it’s our Christmas treeeeeee! It must be Christmas!”

We spent the afternoon making decorations from colored paper and clamping tiny candles in tiny holders to the branches. Harry made a star out of shiny silver cardboard and placed it on top of the tree with no need of a ladder, it was that puny. As a finishing touch, we arranged cotton bolls on the boughs to look like snow, something we had all heard about but never seen.

The world of Methodist Fentress was divided into those families who opened their presents on Christmas Eve and those who opened them on Christmas Day. Fortunately we were Christmas Eve-ers. According to our minister, Mr. Cornelius Barker, presents were a pointless, expensive, pagan diversion. Yes, well, good luck explaining that to seven children. My mother had no success with it, and neither did the Reverend Barker, although to give him credit, he didn’t try all that hard. He came to dinner once a month, and as far as I could tell, he was the one guest Granddaddy looked forward to. They addressed each other as Walter and Cornelius, which scandalized Mother, and they baited each other in genial discussions of Genesis versus the Fossil Record. Mother scored the coup of having the Reverend come to our house for supper following the Christmas Eve services.

We spent a large part of Christmas Eve day making sure that everyone was well scrubbed—no small undertaking, as it meant heating a huge amount of water. Then we assembled in the front hall for inspection. For once, no one was sent back to the washroom for more work on his neck or her nails.

The night was clear and cold, and we bundled up in our thickest coats and scarves. Harry penned up the dogs so that they wouldn’t troop along after us, and then we set off, all except for Granddaddy, who stayed behind to tend the fire in the parlor and enjoy some peace and quiet. Alberto and San-Juanna took the wagon to Our Virgin of Guadalupe in Martindale. Viola went off to her own service at All God’s Children. I would have liked to have gone with her, but that would never have been allowed. I had walked past her church before and heard music spilling from the falling-down clapboard building; the spirited singing and proclamations of joy emerging from it beat the other churches all hollow, to my mind.

We set off with lanterns and sang carols on the way. I held J.B.’s hand and pointed out various constellations to him.

“Look, J.B., there’s Canis Major and Canis Minor. That means the big dog and the little dog.”

J.B. looked concerned. “There’s no dogs in the sky, Callie.”

“They aren’t dogs, they’re stars. Some people a long time ago thought they looked like dogs.”

“They don’t look like Ajax. They don’t look like Matilda. I think you’re fibbing. Mama says you’re not supposed to fib.”

I myself had trouble making a dog or a bull or a lion out of the distant pinpoints of light. How had the ancients come up with such cockeyed fancies?

We rounded the corner, and there was the Methodist church, lit with a thousand lamps. We filed into our pew, all except for Harry, who went up to assist Miss Brown at the organ. She played vigorously, pulling out the stops with a flourish and treading away like mad on the bellows pedal while Harry turned the pages. We sang “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” and the music made my feelings about Miss Brown thaw. A little.

When it was over, Mr. Barker walked home with us. Sam Houston pinched me, daring me to cry out as we walked behind the grown-ups. In retaliation, I shouldered him into a puddle. Wet shoes would teach him.

We smelled the fragrant smoke from our own chimney as we rounded the bend. Viola was back from her service, and she and Granddaddy stood at the front door. As we entered the parlor, she lit the dozens of tiny candles on the Christmas tree, and they nickered like fairy lights. The fire roared high. On the sideboard, a cut-glass punch bowl glinted, filled with mulled red wine redolent of cloves. There was a silver pitcher of hot cider for the children (sweet cider, of course, not hard). I noticed the quiet passing of another milestone: For the first time, Harry got a cup of Christmas wine.

My parents were about to exchange their brief Christmas kiss, the only time they bussed in front of us, when Mother remembered the presence of the minister and ducked her head in embarrassment. Father took her hand and kissed it instead, murmuring, “Margaret.”

The minister inquired whether Granddaddy had yet received any word about the Plant. I could tell that his interest, like that of the irrepressible Mr. Hofacket, was genuine.

“No, Cornelius, no word as yet.” Granddaddy lit a cigar and politely blew the smoke toward the ceiling. “You can’t rush science. These things take time.”

After a ham supper, during which we children grew increasingly restless, my parents took pity on us and distributed the presents. Despite his philosophy of presents, Mr. Barker stayed on and exclaimed over the fineness of our spoils.

For the family at large there was a new stereoscope, which all the children were to share equally (fat chance of that happening). There were viewing cards of the Great Sphinx of Egypt, the Fabulous White City of Chicago, the Fascinating Lives of the Esquimaux. Everybody got a big bright orange, a rare and expensive present during the winter. I saved mine for later.

There was a handsome new rocking horse for J.B., who had worn the rockers of his old one down to nubbins. It was covered in cowhide and had a real horsehair tail. For Sul Ross there were several wooden pull toys and a spinning top. Travis received a book on raising rabbits for fun and profit and a new curry comb. I knew he’d been hoping for a donkey, but he seemed happy enough. Lamar got a leather case containing a steel protractor, a ruler, and a compass. Sam Houston got The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Harry got a new suit of the finest dark navy wool, perfect for the young man about to make his mark in the world. And of course they all got brown woollen socks knitted by yours truly, displaying various degrees of competence. J.B.’s socks, the first ones, were lumpy and deformed, but by the time I got up to the older boys, they looked passable; I had even managed to knit a modest cable pattern into Father’s and Granddaddy’s. Much was made over this later handiwork, which, while not too embarrassing, did not warrant the fervent praise it received. (I suspected a put-up job.)