Page 1 of Once Upon a Midnight Clear

Prologue

Christmas Eve, Present Day

Cold,hungry,andtravelweary, Hilde stepped out of the taxi and into the gray slush by the side of the road. Without waiting for her to move, the driver took off, splashing her with damp snow as he sped away.

She sighed. Christmas spirit was not what it used to be.

Thankfully, she wore boots under her trousers to keep from getting wet, but her legs and feet were still cold. Stepping onto the freshly shoveled sidewalk, she made her way down the street through the old town in the fading light of day. As she walked down the sidewalk, she scanned the remaining open shops looking for that last perfect gift for her darling niece.

One of the shops, Elinor’s Fine Linens and Things, caught her attention. Inside, beautiful scarves stacked along a table with a sign that readFifty Percent Off. The bell above the door announced her entrance. The shop was small with one register toward the back. A wall of cubbies hosted folded sweaters. Pea coats hung in various colors on a rack near the sweaters. At the back wall was a variety of winter boots and shoes. Neatly folded scarves were stacked on the table in the center.

She paused at the scarf table. Some of them appeared to be handmade, knitted from the finest wool. She ran her hand over the top one in a beautiful shimmering pink. But pink was not her niece’s favorite color. It was blue. A deep blue one with shiny thread intermingling with the chunky stitches caught her eye. As she held it in her hands, she closed her eyes and thought of the child.

Marigold was rosy-cheeked with bright blue eyes and ringlets of blonde hair framing her cherub face. She was bubbly and sweet and full of light. Since Hilde had no children of her own, she loved to dote on the girl, her sister’s only child.

Hilde headed to the register with her treasure and placed it on the counter. The woman smiled as she began to ring it up.

“It’s lovely, isn’t it?” the woman said. “We sell a lot of these handmade scarves.”

“It's beautiful,” Hilde said with a nod.

“A woman in Scotland knits them from the wool of her own sheep,” she continued. “I’m not sure why she started sending them to me to sell, but she wanted to make sure I always kept some in stock during the winter. Would you like it gift wrapped?”

As the woman held the scarf in her hands, Hilde swore she saw the wool shimmer in the low light of the shop. But, no, that was only an illusion. Even so, goosebumps broke out on her arms and skittered down her spine. Her gut tingled as she realized she was meant to buy that scarf from this shop on this day for a special girl.

“Ma’am?”

“Oh, yes, please. That would be lovely.”

The woman beamed as she wrapped the scarf in Christmas tissue. She then tied it with an elaborate Christmas plaid bow and slipped a piece of holly in for decoration. She handed her the package and the receipt.

“Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas to you, too,” Hilde said, taking the small package.

She left the shop and started down the street. But something made her pause and glance back. The shop lights were off and the sign was turned to CLOSED. She must have been the last customer of the night. It was, after all, Christmas Eve.

There weren’t many taxis at this time of night, especially on Christmas Eve after dark. She would have to walk the rest of the way to her sister’s home. Lucky for her, Drumchapel Village, in which her sister’s family lived, was quite close to the small shopping area.

By the time she arrived at the two-story house at 323 Crown Lane, her tired old bones were cold and weary. The white house was outlined in cheery holiday lights from roofline to ground. The bushes were covered in lights. Even the old live oak tree in the yard was wrapped. Everything about the house was magical.

Her sister really did love to decorate for the season.

She climbed the porch stairs, rang the bell and waited. Moments later, a shout from inside and then the door swung open. Her sister, rosy-cheeked and bright eyed, greeted her with a smile.

“Hilde, you made it.” She waved her inside. “You look frozen.”

“I walked from the shopping area.”

“Youwalked? Are you mad? Give me your coat.”

Before Hilde could put down the gift and slip out of the coat, Linnea was already pulling on the shoulders. She slid one arm out and then the other.

“Jack, Hilde is here!” Linnea called.

Jack, her brother-in-law, was busy snoozing in his recliner in front of a showing ofIt’s a Wonderful Life.His response was a soft snore.

“He doesn’t want to see me anyway. Where’s my niece?”

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