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their attention. “If you want to get the door,” David said, reaching down for the handle, “I can bring this.” Rachel said nothing but did as he asked.
    David brought the bucket into the house and waited for Ruth to further direct him.
    “Just put it down over here, David,” she called. “Marion is securing the tree with some rope.”
    David could see this for himself as Mr. Bennett was now on his knees, half concealed by the thick branches of the Christmas tree. Depositing the bucket nearby, David stepped back and waited for further instruction. After another fifteen minutes of adjustments and filling the bucket with sand, everyone stepped back to observe Marion’s find.
    It was just as David had imagined. The tree went nearly to the ceiling. He didn’t know how Mr. Bennett had gauged it so close. Perhaps years of repetition had enabled him to know exactly how high was too high, how wide was too wide.
    “Well, it looks just perfect, Marion!” Ruth declared. “I think it’s the nicest tree we’ve ever had.” She glanced over at David and Rachel. “If you two aren’t busy with anything else, why don’t you go up to the attic and bring down the ornaments.”
    Rachel nodded and said, “Come on, David. This is the fun part.”
    David shrugged and let Rachel lead him upstairs. He was curious as to what she was doing when she opened the door to her own room. As if understanding his confusion, Rachel smiled.
    “You have to get to the attic through our room. Actually, it’s just a storage area and a place for the pipes and wires, but it holds quite a bit.”
    David nodded and stepped into the decidedly feminine bedroom. It wasn’t at all a pretentious room, but rather a very useful and practical place. A sewing machine stood in one corner, a stack of material placed in a neat and orderly fashion beside it. One bed, with its narrow iron frame, filled the opposite corner. Topped with a colorful, no doubt homemade quilt, it brightened the room and gave it a cheerful nature. Its twin was positioned at the bottom to form an L shape and give the girls the maximum amount of room. Around him on shelves were books, and bits and pieces of collected treasures.
    “David?” Rachel called him out of his observation. “Is something wrong?”
    He offered her a lopsided smile. “Wrong? No. I was just looking things over. I’ve never been in a girl’s—I mean a lady’s bedroom before.”
    Rachel blushed again and headed for a miniature door on the far wall. “You’ll have to duck your head to get inside, but once you’re in, the room opens up.”
    David followed her into the musty, dark room. “Is there a light in here?”
    “Just leave the door open,” she called back to him. “I’ll open the shutters and then we’ll have light from the window.”
    David waited, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. He hated the feeling that washed over him. He felt momentarily trapped and rubbed his left arm to ward off the dull ache. In a moment his fears were pushed aside, however, as Rachel opened the window and light flooded the narrow room.
    “We keep the Christmas things over here,” she announced. “We’ll have to sort through them and decide what we want to take down. Last year . . .” She paused and was momentarily unable to speak.
    David felt her sorrow. “It’s all right,” he murmured, unable to think of anything else to say.
    She knelt down beside a trunk. “We put up the tree last year, but by the time we took it down, we knew for sure about Kenny. Pop just kind of gave everything a toss up here, and I don’t think any of us ever thought to come up and straighten it out.” She wiped away a tear and opened the trunk.
    “We can do that now,” David said, uncomfortable with her emotions. He found it impossible to focus on her sentiment and keep any reasoning in his own head. Helping her lift the trunk and place it on a small table, he dusted the top before unfastening the latches.
    “We’ve been