Bailey clasped her mom’s hand and led her into the living room. Charles and Alexis followed. “Look at the tree.”

Marilyn looked. “Oh no! What happened?”

“We got robbed.”

Marilyn raised her hands to her cheeks. “All of my beautiful ornaments...an angel.”

Bailey told her mother and Alexis everything.

“I can make paper chains to hang on the tree,” Alexis said.

Marilyn smiled a sad smile.

Bailey moved to the window. She wanted the family’s ornaments and angel back, but they couldn’t leave the tree bare. But she would find Pete and make him give them back.

Marilyn took a deep breath. “Well, Bailey did what she could do. Chief Elker will work on it. Let’s go start dinner, shall we? Charles, are you staying?”

“Sure,” Charles answered. “I’d love to have dinner with my ladies.”

They walked toward the kitchen.

***

“I think we’ll need to start locking the doors,” Marilyn said after Charles said grace. “But goodness knows where the key is.” She began to spoon chicken noodle casserole onto Alexis’s plate.

“I think you should get the locks changed,” Charles said. “If you want, I can call the locksmith tomorrow. I don’t have any classes.”

Marilyn nodded. “Alright. I think that’s a good idea.”

After supper, the girls listened to Christmas music on Bailey’s little radio/CD player while they fixed the tree. Bailey helped Alexis make more paper chains. They had nothing else shiny or glittery to hang back on the tree. Bailey got angrier the more she looked at the tree. Their small family already didn’t have much and now this thief had stolen the family history. Her history. She’d catch that Pete Abbott…and catch him good. “The top of the tree doesn’t look right without our angel. She watched over us.”

“Well,” Alexis said, “you can close your eyes and remember how it looked.”

Bailey closed her eyes, and sure enough, the angel appeared beneath her eyelids.

Marilyn walked into the living room and set a tray of hot chocolate on their small coffee table. “What’s going on?”

“Just remembering,” Bailey said.

They sat and drank their chocolate for a few minutes, then Marilyn helped the girls with looping the chains around the tree, with the Christmas carols echoing soft and sweet in the background.

“My favorite,” Alexis said when the choir began to sing Oh Little Town of Bethlehem. She stopped a minute to listen and then returned her attention to the tree. “I hope we made enough chains.”

“Plenty,” Bailey said. “They’re beautiful.”

“Hand me the end of one, Alexis,” Marilyn said from the top of the ladder. “I’ll drape some on the top.”

Bailey watched her sister glow with pride. Some people wouldn’t be caught dead with homemade ornaments on their Christmas trees. Some stores displayed all silver or all pink trees. This family still liked a real pine tree, one with short needles and all kinds of ornaments, including homemade ones. She loved her Alexis so much. Most older sisters didn’t like their little sisters hanging around, but she didn’t mind. Alexis was kind of cool.

Marilyn finished stringing the chain and climbed down. She sat down on the couch and patted the spot beside her. “Bailey, I need to speak to you for a moment.” Pip Squeak jumped up from the floor and sprung onto the couch. “Get down Pip. You can cuddle later.” Pip Squeak hopped back off the couch.
Bailey sat. I’m in some sort of trouble, she thought. Just from the look on Mom’s face. The Christmas tree cast a warm glow. She faced her mother.

“Bailey, I know you said the thief was Pete Abbott, but you didn’t see his face, so you don’t really know.”

“Mom, the thief wore an Army jacket just like Pete wears all the time. And like I told Chief Elker, the light showed on his hair and it was blond like Pete’s. The hair wasn’t dark.”

Marilyn tucked a lock of Bailey’s hair behind her ear. “Honey, I understand that you saw those things, but they still aren’t solid evidence.”

“Well, it couldn’t have been any of his friends,” Bailey said positively.

Marilyn sighed. “Why not?”

“All his friends have dark hair, and besides, Pete probably did do it because he’s a troublemaker. He probably steals for fun.” Bailey shifted her weight, leaned against the back of the couch, and crossed her arms. “Why are you defending him?”

“I’m not. I just don’t want the poor boy to get in trouble for no good reason.”

Bailey jumped up. “You don’t believe me! You’d rather give Pete Abbott the benefit of the doubt!”

“No. You know that’s not true. I don’t want you jumping to conclusions.”

Bailey’s brown eyes sparked with anger. “Don’t worry, Mom. I intend to prove it was Pete Abbott!” She stomped away and went to her room. Alexis followed her.