As Jessica opened the kitchen door, a man in shorts carrying a large knife filled the doorway.
Christy and Jessica both shrieked.
“So… did you get the crystal?” Rick asked calmly.
Both girls flushed with recognition and quit screaming, then noticed he held a melon in the other hand, which he was cutting up for a fruit tray for breakfast.
“Are you gonna beat us?” Jessica questioned.
“That wouldn’t be fair, would it?” Rick asked.
Christy said, “Nope!”
“Well, I’m not feeling particularly fair at the moment,” he waved the knife around menacingly.
They both dashed past him toward the stairs, screeching again, this time in mock panic.
“Get back here!” he roared.
The girls stopped and moped back to him. He held out his hand and Jessica deposited the crystal in it. “The cube too,” he added, and Christy pulled it out of the bag, setting it on the counter. “Go put away your things and get back here. You’re fixing breakfast.”
They whined and complained about being tired, but did as they were told.
Anna heard Rick’s yell and emerged from her room just as the other girls tromped up the stairs. She walked over to Rick and hugged him. “I might as well help. You should be resting,” she pointed to a chair.
Rick hobbled to the table, grabbing the cube on the way. He opened it and started watching Jessica and Christy’s adventure.
The rest of the clan eventually joined them and all listened to the tale. Everyone was shocked at the mere descriptions; Jessica urged them all not to watch it.
After breakfast Rick insisted the three girls in Anderson’s class wear a necklace all day. Oddly though, Mr. Anderson made no strange moves, barely acknowledging the girls. Rick spent all day reading up on the birth of Jesus until it drove him mad and he opted to work on his video game instead. Abby was shopping for supplies for her upcoming expedition and didn’t come home until it was almost time to get Jessica from school.
“It seems nobody truly knows when Jesus was born,” he said with a sigh. “Some say December 25, year 0, of course, but they are in the extreme minority. It ranges from 8 BC to anywhere in the next twelve years. Some say he was born in Jerusalem, some in Jericho, some in Nazareth, some even say Mary wasn’t his mother! How can anyone claim to be sure, much less righteous, and proclaim with such certainty something so incredibly vague?” He threw his hands up in frustration.
“I’ll ask some of my friends tonight to see if they know anyone who knows something…”