Eighteen-year-old Honey Wheeler glanced around the Manor House dining room and nodded in satisfaction. In just a few hours, her dearest friends would arrive for their annual Christmas Eve gathering – something she had been longing for. College and careers had scattered the seven in every direction, but today, for the first time in over six months, they would all be in the one room at the same time. She could hardly wait.

The next location on her tour of inspection – the adjourning formal living room – also met her approval. She continued on to the downstairs powder room, the foyer and finally to the kitchen, where the cook assured her that everything was fine and that she didn’t need to worry.

“Is there a problem?” her brother Jim asked, as he met her at the bottom of the stairs a few moment later.

Honey shook her head. “No, I’ve checked every single detail I can think of and it’s all fine.”

“Then why do you look worried?”

She sighed. “I just have a feeling of impending doom,” she admitted. “I want tonight so much and it’s like it can’t possibly happen because I want it too much.”

He smiled. “Well, the roads are clear. I’ve just spoken to Mart; he’s already home and so is Trixie. All going to plan, the other three will be in Sleepyside well ahead of time. And if they aren’t, I’m sure we can hold dinner for half an hour or so to give them a bit of extra time.”

“I know it’s irrational.” She brightened as a thought occurred to her. “But if Trixie is already here, I could go down and see her. That would fill in the time and I’ve missed her so much.”

“Sounds like a good plan. Mind if I tag along?”

“I’ll just run up and change my shoes,” she told him. “Meet you here in a few minutes.”

A short time later, the two strolled down the path that led down into the hollow, chatting companionably. The afternoon air held a chill, but the sun peeked through broken clouds just above the treetops. Patchy snow lay on the ground, with no more forecast for a day or two.

“It’s so good to be here,” Honey commented, as they emerged from under the bare-branched trees and into the back yard of the Belden home. “I think I’ve missed Crabapple Farm more than my own house.”

Before Jim had time to reply, the back door flew open and Trixie ran out to greet them.

“You’re here!” she cried, pulling Honey into a tight hug, then turning her attention to Jim. “I didn’t know you were home, too.”

He nodded. “I got in about half an hour ago.”

“Well, come inside, both of you,” she urged, taking one of each of their hands.

They entered the kitchen and took seats at the table. Trixie picked up the hot drink she had abandoned and used it to warm her hands.

“Mart can get you drinks, if you want them,” she announced. “And, of course, there’s cookies.”

“Nothing for me, thanks,” Honey answered. “We have such a big feast planned for tonight that I don’t want to spoil my appetite.”

Mart made a noise of appreciation. “I very much look forward to it. I do hope that there will be a multitude of courses to this feast. Twelve would, I think, be appropriate.”

Honey smiled, but shook her head. “Not quite that many. Can you imagine how full we would be if I tried that?”

Trixie rolled her eyes at her brother. “Not even you could eat that much food. Don’t mind him. He claims he’s been starved.”

“Well, I can promise you that you’ll be satisfied by the end of the meal tonight,” Honey told him. “I just hope that everyone makes it home in time.”

“I’m sure they will.” Trixie glanced out the window. “We’re expecting Brian any moment. And I know that Di is already home. She got in yesterday.”

A slight frown creased Honey’s brow. “Has anyone heard from Dan?”

Mart shrugged. “He said he had things to do today and that he’d head here in time for dinner.”

Honey’s eyes flicked to her brother, letting him see her worry.

“I’m sure he’ll be here,” Jim told her, with a sympathetic smile.

Honey only nodded.

Brian arrived in due course and, when Honey and Jim expressed that it was time for them to go, two of the three Belden siblings elected to walk with them. Brian chose to drive up, so that the car would be there when they wanted to leave. He timed his trip so that all five of them arrived at the same time. The Beldens and Jim sat down in the formal living room, while Honey made one last tour of the house.

“All in order?” Jim asked her, once she returned to them.

“I guess so,” she answered, as the front doorbell rang. “I’d better go and see who that is.”

A minute later, she returned with Diana.

“Merry Christmas, everyone!” the newcomer greeted. “It’s so good to see you all.”

They spent the next few minutes greeting each other and catching up on news. Every so often, Honey took a quick peek at her watch.

“There’s still time,” Jim assured her.

But Honey wasn’t listening. In the doorway stood the Estate Manager, Margery Trask. Honey crossed the room to speak to her.

“I’ve had a telephone message from Regan,” the former governess informed her, without waiting to be asked. “He says that Dan has been unavoidably detained and not to wait for him.” She paused to squeeze Honey’s hand. “I know you’ll find this disappointing, but you shouldn’t expect to see him tonight. He’ll call you later, to explain.”

Honey nodded, blinking back tears.

“Do you want me to remove a place setting from the dining table?”

“No!” Honey shook her head so hard that her hair whipped back and forth. “No, please don’t do that. We’ll leave a place for him, even if he isn’t coming.”

The older lady nodded and stepped away.

Honey turned to face her friends. “You all heard that, didn’t you?”

In a moment, Jim stood beside her, dropping one hand on her shoulder and giving it a comforting pat. “We’ll just have to make another day to meet. We’ll figure something out.”

“It won’t be the same,” Honey mourned.

Trixie gave her best friend a hug. “We’ll make the best of what we have. We can still have a good time tonight, and we’ll have another good time on another day.”

“I was looking forward to tonight far more than to tomorrow,” Honey admitted, in a whisper.

Trixie nodded, but before she could answer, Celia entered the room to announce dinner.

“Cheer up, Honey,” Mart urged, as he rose from his seat. “There is a feast to be enjoyed. And just think: while we devour delectable delicacies, Mangan is probably being forced to subsist on soggy sandwiches, and it will serve him right for not being here.”

Honey laughed through her impending tears. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“It makes me feel better,” Mart answered, gently guiding her through the door ahead of himself. “One less mouth to feed is all the more for us.”

“There’s more than enough for all of us, as you should very well know,” Honey chided, but she smiled nonetheless.

They sat down at the table and Celia began to serve the first course, to a chorus of approval from the gathered Bob-Whites. But Honey’s eyes strayed to that empty place setting.

“Obviously, we’re all going to have to take turns making the remarks that Dan would make,” Trixie noted, grinning. “I’ll go first by telling Mart, ‘Dude! The look on your face right now is indecent!’”

“He would not say that!” Di countered. “He’d just hand Mart a napkin and tell him to wipe off the drool. Though, I do have to agree, Mart, that you seem to be enjoying that a little too much.”

“Can I help it if I am in gastronomic heaven?” Mart answered. “This soup is the pinnacle of perfection, the apex of–”

“Dan would ask if that dictionary you ate gave you indigestion,” Brian interrupted. “But I concede that the soup is delicious.”

“Is it my turn, or Honey’s or Mart’s?” Jim asked.

Trixie grinned. “Mart is too busy eating.”

“Well, in that case,” Jim decided, “I think that Dan would say that it was time to make a move on Diana, while Mart isn’t paying attention.”

Mart frowned. “I am not quite so enamoured with this delectable dish as to miss a manoeuvre of that magnitude. Dan would say that he had bigger fish to fry.”

“Well, if you’re finished with your soup, there’s fish next,” Honey commented.

“Do you think I could have Dan’s bowl of soup?” Mart asked, with a mournful glance at his own empty bowl.

Honey shook her head. “Dan would say that you’d burst if you ate all of his food as well as your own.”

Trixie nodded. “Dan would tell Mart that he’d have more luck with chicks if he spent more time talking to them and less time stealing their food.”

“I’m not talking about stealing food belonging to girls,” Mart argued. “I’m talking about stealing food from Dan, who isn’t even here to eat it.”

“And who would certainly tell you that gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins,” Diana added. “And that patience is a virtue.”

“What does patience have to do with anything?” Mart wondered, as Celia began to clear the soup bowls. “It’s not like I was pounding on the table, demanding more food.”

“If you did, Dan wouldn’t say anything,” his sister told him. “He’d just cuff you across the ear.”

“I think we’ve heard enough of what Dan would say to Mart,” Jim interjected, as Mart geared up to respond. “Right now, he’d probably break the tension by telling Honey that the sweater she’s wearing brings out the colour in her eyes.”

“Does it?” Mart asked, in an undertone.

“Yes!” Di answered him.

Mart frowned. “How did he even know that?”

“It was just a good guess,” Brian suggested, from across the table. “Dan would tell you to listen to the way girls talk to each other, if you want to know how to give a good compliment.”

“I thought we’d had enough of what Dan would say to Mart,” Trixie pointed out. “Ooh. Right now, Dan would tell us that it’s time to dig in to the next course.”

“And he would be right,” Di added. “Mmm, that looks good.”

The conversation paused a moment as they all took their first tastes.

“I have to say that Dan would be telling us to count our blessings,” Jim decided, “because not everyone gets to eat like this.”

Honey nodded. “And, after that, he’d ask what was for dessert – which it isn’t actually time for, because there are more courses before then.”

“And, if you told him that, Dan would say, ‘horses for courses’,” Trixie added, with a giggle. “What does that even mean, anyway?”

“I have no clue.” Honey shook her head. “Dan might tell that if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.”

“I think you’ve got him confused with his uncle,” Brian told her.

“Well, I think that Dan would tell us we were barking up the wrong tree.” Mart waved his empty fork at his friends. “Or, perhaps, that having a balanced diet means that you have a cupcake in each hand.”

Jim shook his head. “I’m pretty sure that Dan would say that you can’t have your cake and eat it, too.”

“He is a bit of a tough cookie,” Di commented. “But Dan would almost certainly say right now that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.”

“If you ask me,” another voice added, “I’d say that Dan seems to have missed something important here.”

Honey stared at the empty place, which wasn’t empty any more. “Dan! You’re here!”

“In the flesh,” he replied, as she tore down to the other end of the table and hugged him. “So, why would I be trying to catch flies?”

“We missed you,” Honey told him, “and we were trying to fill your place, only some of us – like me – weren’t all that good at it, but it was kind of fun, only we were so busy trying to come up with what you would say, we didn’t even notice you come in. And, oh! You’ll be hungry. I’d better go and get you something to eat.”

Trixie shook her head. “Jim’s already gone.”

“So, I think you’d better fill me in on all the things I’ve been saying.” Dan paused to thank Celia as she served him, then cast interrogative looks around the table.

“In a minute.” Trixie sent him an interrogative look of her own. “First, where have you been?”

He shrugged. “Well, there was a lady having a baby, and no room in the inn, and maybe a wise man or three.”

“I think you’ve gotten that confused with something else,” Brian pointed out.

Dan smirked. “Maybe. Actually, I was about to leave to come here when I heard someone calling for help. And then I found the lady from next door, leaning over her car.”

“She was about to have a baby?” Di asked, wide-eyed.

Dan nodded. “So, I drove her to the hospital, but we couldn’t reach her husband and I told her I’d keep trying him until I got him. At the time I called Uncle Bill, he still wasn’t picking up, but he did the next time I called. So I came here, in the hope that Mart hadn’t eaten my share of the food.”

“See, Mart? We told you Dan would tell you not to eat his food,” Trixie teased.

“Actually, that’s most of what we said you’d say,” Di admitted. “At least, it was, before we started on all the strange, old sayings.”

“What does ‘horses for courses’ mean?” Honey wondered.

“Never heard of it,” Dan answered.

“Well, I think that categorically proves that Dan wouldn’t say all of the things we said he’d say.” Honey smiled down the table at him. “But I’m very glad that you’re actually here, Dan, because you are a lot better than the imitation that we tried to make.”

Mart nodded. “The real Dan would never have made quite so many jokes at my expense.”

“Is that a dare?” Dan grinned. “What number am I aiming for?”

“No, thank you!”

“I think Mart may have had enough,” Jim observed.

Honey sat up straighter. “But not enough to eat, I hope. At least, not yet.”

“Well, I’m still hungry, even if Mart is full,” Dan told her. “I can help him out.”

Mart shook his head. “Don’t you even try!”

“Definitely better than the empty place and our imitation,” Honey murmured, looking down the table at Dan. “And now, everything is complete.”

The End