Disclaimer: Just the usual stuff, the characters, all but Yacov (Jacob) and his family are the copyright property of Random house and this is merely a tribute to Trixie Belden.
Thanks to Stephanie, my wonderful editor & beta-er. Just to let you know, there are several Hebrew words and the translations will be in parentheses.
Yedidot (Hebrew for Friendship)
by
Ginger Garland
It was snowing hard outside. The snow stuck to the window of thirteen year old Trixie Belden's room. She stared at it as the radio blared on downstairs.
"Today, all schools in the Sleepyside area are closed "the announcer said.
In the Belden's house, shouts went out. "Yahoo!" cried Bobby as he drank his orange juice. It was November 29th, the day after Thanksgiving.
Fifteen year old Brian doctored the family dog, Reddy, who cut his paw on a piece of ice.
Mart paraded around with a dictionary, and Trixie ran down the stairs. "Moms! I'm going to Honey's for a while! Be back before dinner!"
"Hold it, young lady," Mrs. Belden stated. "You're going out there? In the snow?"
"Yes, just to Honey's."
Mrs. Belden came over and handed her a hat and a scarf. "Be back before dinner."
"I will, Moms, you're the best!" Trixie ran out of the warm kitchen and into the bitter cold. The snow seemed to push against her, but she made it to Manor House. Soon she was safe inside.
Honey helped her out of her coat, and shook the snow off her boots.
"For such a short walk, it took you 10 minutes!" Honey said, brushing off Trixie's hat.
"That snow is so deep! And the wind is so strong it’s like trying to walk through a brick wall!" Trixie exclaimed as she followed Honey to Honey's room.
When they were in the room they closed the door so they could talk privately.
"You know, there's this boy at school..." Trixie began.
"You're not getting a crush are you?" Honey said quickly with a wide grin.
"No…he's 11 years old, and no one seems to appreciate him."
"Who is he? What grade?"
"7th, he's ahead of every other 11 year old, his name is Jacob Willis."
"Jacob Willis? Is he that young Jewish boy?"
"Yes… he is."
"What about him?"
"People seem to treat him badly."
"Like what?"
"Well, one kid stole his homework, and another filled his locker with sand."
"Aw...no! That's terrible!" Honey cried.
"I know, maybe we should make friends with him."
"That would be swell!" Honey smiled at her. Then she heard a cry of help down on the ground; she ran to the window, and Trixie followed behind her.
There was a small boy with blond hair he was being clobbered by snowballs. He was crying out. Trixie watched in horror. She ran out of Honey's room and outside into the snow. It was still snowing hard, but these boys were tough.
"Leave him alone!" Trixie yelled loudly.
The boys saw her and ran, actually it was a fast walk.
"Are you okay?" Trixie asked when she reached the young boy. She saw it was Jacob Willis.
"Y-y-y-yes. C-c-cold," he stammered.
"Come on, we'll get you warmed up."
"T-thanks." He smiled.
Trixie put her arm around the boy and took him inside Manor House.
10 minutes later...
"What were you doing out there?" Miss Trask asked Jacob.
"I was on the way to the doctor's office when these boys came... achoo! Came chasing me and throwing snow balls at me."
"Why did you need a doctor?" Trixie inquired.
"I don't need one, my mother needs one. She's going to have a baby."
"Now?" Honey gasped.
"Yes."
"Oh dear!" Honey and Trixie said in unison.
Miss Trask went to the phone and called the doctor. "The doctor says he's ready to go, he needs a ride though."
"Brian," Trixie whispered. "Brian and his jalopy--we can get the Bob-Whites together and go!"
"Trixie…" Miss Trask began.
"It'll be great. Honey, start calling."
"Sure!" Honey went to phone and called everyone. Luckily, everyone was at the Belden's.
"They'll try to be here in a few minutes."
"Good." Trixie stated.
"My mother! She needs that doctor as soon as possible."
"I know, we'll get one as soon as possible. I promise." Honey said, comforting the young Jewish boy. He shocked them all by crying.
"I-I'm sorry," he said. "I just never had any real friends. You're the first people to ever help me." Sweet Honey hugged the boy.
"Of course we're your friends, and that's our Hanukkah gift for you--the gift of friendship," Trixie said smiling. Someone knocked at the door and the rest of the Bob-Whites came in: Diana Lynch; Jim Frayne, Honey's adopted brother; Brian and Mart Belden; and Dan Mangan.
"Come on. If you want to pick up the doctor we'd better go," Dan said, giving Jacob a dry coat and hat.
"Thank you," he said gratefully. All the Bob-Whites piled into the station wagon and drove to the doctor's house. They picked him up and then they were on their way to the Willis' house.
They arrived as the sun was starting to set; a soft glow came from a window.
"What's that?" Di asked.
"That's our Menorah. You see, there's eight candles in it, tonight is the first night of Hanukkah, so there's only one lit."
"Why eight candles?" Brian inquired. Before Mart could answer, Jacob did.
"There's eight candles to symbolize the miracle which took place during the battle of the smaller, unarmed Jewish soldiers, led by Judah Macabee, against the large, heavily armed Greeks and Syrians. The Jewish soldiers won. They had only had enough oil to last one day to refurbish the temple, but the oil lasted 8 days."
"That's a beautiful story." Honey breathed. As they all hurried into the Willis' cozy house, a teenage girl, Trixie’s age, and two young boys in Kipa, a Jewish man’s head covering, greeted them.
"Hello, my name is Miriam. Doctor, my mom is in her room with papa," said the teenager.
"Hi, Miriam." Everyone introduced themselves and came in. They all sat around the table except Miriam, who went to the cupboard and started pulling out russet potatoes and an onion. Then she went over to the refrigerator and took out some scallions and an egg. She then put some cold water in a bowl and then handed each of the Bob-Whites (see my other note on "Bob-White") a potato.
"Will you peel this?" She questioned.
"Sure," Jim agreed and started peeling.
"What are we making?" Dan inquired, as he finished peeling a potato.
"They are called Latkes, but you would call them Potato Pancakes. They are a tradition of our people to make on Hanukkah." She placed the potatoes in the cold water.
Several minutes later, all the Bob-Whites were busy grating the potatoes. Mart was grating the onion and trying not to cry.
Soon they had two dozen Latkes.
"These are delicious!" Brian and Mart said in unison.
"Mmm…" Echoed the other Bob-Whites.
"After this, I'll show you how to do the Hora and play S'vivon."
"S'vivon?" Di asked.
"The dreidel game--it’s fun. The Hebrew words ‘Nes Gadol Ha-yah Shin means 'A great miracle happened there' you play for chocolate."
"Count me in!" Mart exclaimed.
They cleared the kitchen table and did the dishes. Then went into the living room and cleared the floor. Miriam turned on the record player, and Jacob joined them.
"Yacov, how's mom?"
"She's all right."
"That's good. They want to learn the Hora; let’s show them how. First, you need to know the words to the song. It’s called ‘Oh Hanukkah.’ You'll like it." In a sweet voice she sang:
Oh Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah,
Come light the menorah.
Let's have a party,
We'll all dance the hora.
Gather round the table,
We'll give you a treat.
S'vivon to play with,
Latkes to eat.
And while we are playing
The candles are burning low.
One for each night,
They shed a sweet light,
To remind us of days long ago;
They shed a sweet light,
To remind us of days long ago.
The Bob-Whites joined in the second time around, but something else was mixed in with their singing: a baby's cry.
The girls screamed with joy, ran up the stairs quietly, and soon were surrounding the little newcomer.
"What's her name?" The girls wanted to know. The boys congratulated Mr. Willis.
"Lydia," Mrs. Willis answered.
"Miriam," Trixie whispered to her, "I guess two miracles happened on this day!"
The End! And Happy Holidays!