They had made it. Two trips in less than an hour and their parents none the wiser. Logan had visited all of the ‘I Ams’ and all but two of the apostles. Even though it wasn’t necessary for his report, not only he, but all of the children really wanted to visit the remaining two Apostles, James the lesser and Thomas. That way, as Lucien put it, they would have a complete set. But they didn’t dare make another attempt for awhile. They were lucky to have accomplished the last two without their parents catching them.
***
And so they made a tiny snow maze for the sqwaps and they had a contest to see which one would most quickly get to the prize, a piece of smoked fish (their favorite delicacy). They drew straws to determine which sqwap would run first and Lily had drawn the longest.
“Won’t they get cold?” Maggie was cuddling her sqwap under her jacket to keep him warm.
“I made sqwap booties.” Lily fitted a pair of faux fur pouch-like booties to her sqwap and tightened the drawstrings.
Lucien examined the animal’s little booted foot. “You’re getting really good at sewing,” he said, looking up at Lily.
“Necessity.” Lily put her sqwap at the entrance to the maze and gave her a little shove. “Go, Gracie.”
The sqwap had a bit of trouble adjusting to wearing boots, partly because the booties were slippery and she wasn’t used to skating. So she would take a couple of steps and fall on her furry blue butt. Then a couple more steps and down again and Logan was about to cancel the whole thing on account of cruelty to animals when she finally got her ‘snow legs’ and also caught a whiff of the fish treat. From that point on it was clear skating and within a couple of minutes she was cuddled inside Lily’s jacket, contentedly chewing on fish.
That’s when the betting began. Their grandfather had a longstanding tradition of betting rosaries over sports games and he had passed this along to all of his grandchildren. “I’ll bet ten Hail Mary’s my sqwap will get there faster than yours,” Lucien said, cinching the booties on his pet.
Lily took that bet and when Lucien’s sqwap won, Logan raised the pot to two decades of the rosary. Molly had drawn the short straw and by the time her sqwap got his turn the pot was standing at an entire rosary-- mystery of the loser’s choice.
Then there were side bets and when the dust settled the boys had to pray a rosary each and the girls were dancing with the victorious sqwap. They looked up from this jubilee to see a sober-faced inspector, pushing a cart full of empty cages.
Richard Gonker looked like he wanted to cry. “He’s come for the sqwaps,” he said, and gently took Molly’s pet from her hands.
Garden of Gethsemane and James the Lesser
Without the sqwaps Yurtville was nowhere near as fun.
New snow has its own kind of magic but for the Gonker children-- and especially for Brody Bootzer-- it was as though they had lost their true love. When your heart is aching nothing is fun anymore. So they just moped around the place, unwilling to go outside or do anything but be sad.
Maybe that’s why their parents relented and their mom actually suggested they might enjoy reading from the saints book Father Andrew had given them.
Jesus would understand, Finne knew. So, after some discussion of when would be the best place they settled upon an episode in the life story of Jesus where He was as sad as they now felt. Maybe they could all be sad together.
When they stopped spinning they found themselves in the line of Apostles, marching out of the upper room where they had just finished celebrating the Last Supper meal with Jesus. He led them to a Garden where He left them to pray and wait, while He took just Peter, big James and John and went off to a more secluded spot.
“We might as well pray that rosary we owe God,” Logan said grumpily. And even though the girls didn’t have to, they prayed with the boys. They prayed for the sqwaps to be safe, and that they might get them back. They prayed for their parents not to get in trouble with the government. They were just getting around to praying for Jesus when the angry mob arrived, carrying torches and weapons and looking for Jesus. The children ran after the mob into the inner garden. Then that evil Judas walked right up and kissed Him on the cheek.
“Who are you looking for?” Jesus asked them.
“Jesus the Nazorean!”
“I AM.” When He said this the whole crowd staggered back from the power of His Name-- the Name of God. Some of them fell to the ground.
Jesus said again, “Who do you seek?”
“Jesus the Nazorean,” they said again.
Then Jesus said, “I told you that I AM. So if you are looking for Me, let these men go.” And He motioned for His disciples to leave.
Then something horrible happened. Peter came rushing at the crowd with his sword and he slashed at one of the soldiers who were there to arrest Jesus, cutting off his ear.
But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword away. Those who live by the sword die by the sword.” And He reached out and healed the soldier’s ear.
Then Jesus went with the mob, leaving His apostles and the Gonkers looking confused.
***
“But I needed to talk to Jesus,” Finne whined as his brothers dragged him after the departing figures of the disciples.
“Finne,” Lily took him by the shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. “Jesus is a little bit busy right now.”
That’s when the reality hit the children. Even Finne. Jesus was being taken away to die on a cross. For them. Because He loved them. Even though it was a blow to lose their pet sqwaps, at least the sqwaps were alive. The suffering of the Gonker children was nothing in comparison to His. So they followed St James and the other disciples as they fled into the night for their lives.
***
The children found James the Less sitting slumped against a well. He was holding his head in his hands.
“Are you all wight?” Molly asked him. Mags sat beside him and leaned her head into his arm.
“I’m so ashamed of myself,” he said.
“Why?” This was Lucien.
“I didn’t fight them.” He looked at the children with anguish filled eyes. “I didn’t even stay with Him.”
“Jesus didn’t want you to stay.” Lily gave him her most encouraging look. “He stopped St. Peter from fighting them.”
“Saint…?”
“Yes, Peter is a saint,” Lily said. “And so will you be.”
“But I’m not brave,” he said, his voice hollow.
“You will be,” Lily’s words were solemn. “When the time comes.”
They spent the night with James and when it was daytime he agreed to help the children find Jesus. It was their only hope of getting back home. They found Him in chains being interrogated by Pontius Pilate. But, despite all the accusations that were being thrown at Him, Jesus said nothing. Finally Pilate decided to send Him to Herod. But before they took Him away the Gonkers ran to Jesus.
“I’m sorry, Jesus!” Mags clung to His knees.
Lily looked at Him sheepishly. “Can you…?” But before she could ask He reached out and blessed them back home.
***
Somehow after seeing Jesus in chains, the children were better able to bear the loss of their pets. They stopped moping and started living again.
Doubting Thomas
“There’s only one Apostle left,” Logan said, staring into the evening bonfire. Supper had just ended and he and Lily were the only ones there. “It would be a shame not to visit Thomas.”
Lily swallowed her bite of toast. “They’ll let us use the book. They still feel sorry for us losing the Sqwaps.” She was right about that.
For a moment there was silence. Logan prodded the coals with a prong and the flames rose and crackled. “I keep thinking we should save them… somehow.”
Silence again. “Who knows where they are? “ Lily sighed. “And we’re only children. What can we possibly do?” But as these words sank in they rang false because, in
truth, they had done a lot, and they both knew it. Not all had been for good. But they had certainly done things. “I just hope someone is loving them, because otherwise they’ll…” She let her voice trail off rather than say it out loud.
By now the rest of the family had gathered, all bundled in their snow clothes. The sky was lit with such a deep pink that it was almost red in the area where the sun was sinking down to the horizon.
So they prayed the rosary with Aunt Gen leading. The meditations were the Light Mysteries: Jesus’ Baptism (they’d been there), the wedding at Cana (there, too), the spread of the Gospel (some of this), Transfiguration of Jesus (not yet), and the Last Supper and spread of the Eucharist (most of this). It was getting easier to meditate the rosary mysteries with each trip they took back in time. They knew all of the sights and sounds and smells first hand.
“I’ve been thinking,” their mother broke the silence after the rosary was done, “we could all use some cheering up. So I invited your cousins to come out for a visit next weekend.”
Lucien jumped up eagerly. “Which ones?”
“Abel, Noah and baby Jude for the boys…” She was interrupted by cheers from Logan, Lucien and Finne. “Sofia and Emily for the girls.”
Lily clasped her hands hopefully. “Can they sleep over, please, please, please…?”
“We’ll see.”
And so they had something to look forward to.
***
But before the sleepover there was one last Apostle to visit. Their mother and Aunt Gen were so busy prepping desserts for the upcoming party they would never even know the children were playing with the Saints’ Book.
There is really only one good place to visit doubting Thomas. “Anyway,” Lily said, “We’ve never gone to see Jesus after the Resurrection. So they put on their sheets and stood in a circle, holding hands. They landed in a great hall. The Bible at home called this place the upper room. All of the Apostles and some other Disciples, including Jesus’ mother and Mary Magdalene were present. But only the Apostle Thomas looked up when they popped in. “My turn, I see. “
Lucien flashed his dimples. “Did you doubt you’d get one?”
Thomas scratched his beard. “I assumed my brethren weren’t lying about you, but I always like to see for myself. “
“So do we,” Lucien said. Then he and the other Gonkers sat down to make themselves comfortable.
“What are you waiting for?” Thomas asked them.
“Jesus is coming!” Molly said with excitement. “I’ve nevoy seen wisen Jesus!”
Thomas shook his head cynically. “That makes two of us. In fact, unless I am able to put my fingers into the nail marks in His hands and my hand into His side, I will never believe He is truly Risen.”
There was a slight pause before Lily said. “Well, Sir, you’re going to get your chance.”
They didn’t have long to wait. Within minutes there was a shimmering and Jesus stepped right through the door, which was closed and barred. He was dazzling, but He was still Jesus. At first there was no sound but the shimmering sound which came with Him, so shocked were those gathered, no one could speak. Into this silence Jesus spoke, “Peace be with you.” Then He turned to Thomas, hands extended. “Put your finger here and see My hands. Put your hand into My side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Then Thomas fell to his knees and said, “My Lord and My God!”
Jesus said, “Have you come to believe because you have seen Me? More blessed are those who have not seen and still believe.” Then He reached out and blessed the Gonkers home.
When the dizziness stopped and the children came back to themselves, Molly said, “Does that mean we ahy less blessed?”
“I feel blessed,” Lily said. “This Book and the Bible at Cathedral are the best thing that ever happened to us.”
Pentecost
Saturday finally came and with it the cousins. Then there were children everywhere running. Thankfully the moat was frozen over, so there was no worry of anyone drowning again.
Although their mother had said the cousins were coming to cheer the kids up Lily suspected her mom and Aunt Gen had as much fun visiting with Jamie and Jacinta-- the mothers of their cousins-- who had been their best friends growing up. Jamie, like the Bootzers, had all boys and Jacinta just had two daughters, aged 5 and 3. There was lovely mayhem and no one caring. Their parents had made all sorts of festive foods and the cousins had brought some, so nobody was sticking to their diet. There was roasted turkey and cheesy hash brown potatoes in a 16 quart roaster. Bright colored sautéed veggies, trays of fruit and desserts of all sorts.
When the snow started falling it just added to the epic beauty of the day. But then it kept falling and drifts started piling up and the wind started blowing, which made everything so white you couldn’t even see a person standing a body length away. So they fled inside the yurts and it was quickly decided that the children would get their sleepover. Then the children were all banished to the rec yurt-- even Fred Therese-- because they made too much noise, and it was looking somewhat unlikely that anyone would be getting very much sleep. But the littlest children fell asleep after all and, determined to stay awake all night, the older ones played games and told stories. Eventually they ran out of regular games.
“But what do you do when you’re bored out here in the country?” Sofia asked.
Lily exchanged a glance with Molly. She bit her lip. She knew she shouldn’t, but the temptation was too great. She went and got the Saints book and then she was able to really tell some stories. Before long all of the older children had gathered around and were listening with rapt expressions on their faces.
Periodically the boys would insert a comment or take over a story that only they had been on.
After a few hours of this the stories were running low. “But all of that didn’t really happen,” Sofia said.
“Yes, it did!” Molly said defiantly. “I can pwove it!” And she went and got the treasure chest which, by now, was full to bursting with mementos of their trips. After they had gone through and told them from where each had come, their cousins were pretty much convinced.
“Take us somewhere!” Abel pleaded. And the other cousins chimed in.
The Gonkers knew they shouldn’t, but after several minutes of pleading they broke down.
“Just one,” Logan said firmly.
They chose the Pentecost story because that gave them their pick of Apostles and Bible Saints-- anyone who had a window. So they went through all of the people they knew would have been there and it became clear they would have to choose a repeater. Sifting through the end pages to come up with a list of little window saints, the Book fell open to the very last page, which was mysteriously blank, except for the heading.
“What’s the Hall of App-ar-itions?” Sofia asked, sounding out the words.
There was a pause before Lily answered for the others. “We have no idea.”
“Can we go there? “ Abel asked.
Logan shook his head. “Nothing to read us in…” Then he smiled slyly. “Unless it’s invisible ink!”
Lily put the book behind her, protecting it with her body. “Absolutely no defacing.”
So, Pentecost, then. When the Holy Spirit first came upon the Apostles. They had a vote and chose to visit Saint Andrew because he was a lot of fun, and in honor of their priest. Then Abel took a turn reading while they all held hands.
***
They arrived in the same Great Hall where they had seen the Risen Christ only days before. Saint Andrew was right there to greet them. “Gonkers. It’s always a good sign when you come. We have been praying for nine days that the Lord would send us a sign-- something to let us know what we are to do. And now here you are.”
“We’re not the sign,” Lucien said.
“But it’s coming…?” Andrew was expectant.
But the Gonkers weren’t telling. They would find out soon enough. They introduced the
ir cousins-- who were looking around with amazement-- to St. Andrew before finding a spot near the back of the assembled crowd-- and it was a crowd. All of the Apostles and about fifty more people were surrounding Mary, the mother of Jesus and they were all praying in Hebrew.
Suddenly there was a gush of wind that made the blizzard winds look like a balmy breeze. Then tongues of fire appeared above the head of each person in the Hall. And then a Great Miracle occurred because the children could suddenly understand every person who was speaking, and -- more than that-- they could all understand every bit of the Gospel, everything which Jesus had been trying to teach them was instantly and completely clear to them.
And they knew what they needed to do. With everyone else in the Hall they rushed out of the building into the street and began to proclaim what they knew. It was a curious sight to see such small children as Magdalene and Noah and Brody, and even Fred Therese (for they had brought even the sleeping children with them) expounding these great Truths which every prophet had longed to understand since the beginning of time. And then, with one last great gush of wind the Children were brought back by the Spirit-- who is also God-- and deposited once again in the rec yurt.
The Great Prayer
When the parents got up in the morning they found the children still prophesying, which might seem like a good thing. But, in truth, it freaked them out. Especially Fred Therese, who periodically would open her mouth to say something like, “And from the Branch of Jesse there shall arise a stem…” Then she would lapse into reverie while no other child-- maybe Emily-- would pick up the stream of thought, “and He shall be called Wondrous Counselor…”
Logan raised his hands at this thought and cried out, “Hosanna!” and Finne chimed in with “Alleluia!” and it was all very freaky to the uncles and aunts, who quickly gathered up their children and left-- the roads having been ploughed during the night.
“What are we going to do?” Aunt Gen was plugging her ears, trying to drown out the holy chaos.