excerpt
A light snow had been falling for two hours when Tyne got off duty at 3 o’clock. She hurried to her car in the hospital parking lot, threw her handbag on the passenger seat and climbed in. In the trunk were the gifts for the Conrad children, as well as a box of Mandarin oranges and another box full of homemade fudge. She smiled as she put the car into gear and headed towards town, remembering the fun she and Aunt Millie had had making the candy treat.
As a child, Tyne had gone to her aunt’s house a few days before Christmas every year, and together they had made enough dark and light fudge for the family and at least half a dozen friends. This year, Aunt Millie had insisted on making an extra batch for the Harrison household.
The idea of taking gifts to Rachael and Bobby and not to the others, had been worrying Tyne ever since she and Morley had bought the doll and the dump truck in Medicine Hat. How could she single out two children, and leave five other young ones out? The oranges might help, but were not personal gifts. So the homemade fudge, which they had packaged individually in white tissue paper bags, tied with colourful ribbons and a tag with each child’s name, might make up for any disappointment at being left out.
She carefully navigated the side street where the Harrisons lived…
Manolis Aligizakis 