L'Engle, Madeleine A Live Coal in the Sea

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Frankie,
the little tomboy.
When Mac came home, Taxi would rush at him, 'Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!' followed
by
Frankie, equally loud, both of them waiting for Mac to pick them up and swing
them. Quan tum, unwilling to be left out, would make one of his leaps onto
Mac's
shoulder, and then purr loudly enough to be heard over the children, while
Camilla laughed with pleasure.
When the children were in bed, Camilla, often joined by Mac, read to them.
One night Taxi looked at them, asking, 'Who bought Frankie and me?'
Mac said, 'No one could possibly buy either you or Frankie. You're both much
too
precious to buy.'
'Extweemly pwecious,' Frankie announced.
A Live Coal in the Sea,221
'But who bought us?' Taxi persisted.
Camilla tried to help. 'You couldn't be bought, Taxi. God gave you and
Frankie
to us.'
'For Cwistmas,' Frankie said.
'But we was tiny babies. How did we get to be tiny babies?' Mac said, 'You
know
how we put seeds in the garden, and they turn into flowers and vegetables?
You
might say you and Frankie were grown from seeds.'
Camilla looked at him. He was right. Ultimately Taxi would want more accurate
stories of his birth.
'But how did you get the right seeds?' Taxi asked.
Mac answered seriously, 'We do have to have the right seeds, son. If we got
the
wrong seeds, you could have been a tomato instead of a Taxi.'
He and Frankie broke into delighted giggles at this fancy. 'Bedtime,
bedtime,'
Mac said. 'No more questions tonight.' He and Camilla kissed the children.
Then
Camilla went outside and stood looking up at the night sky, at the familiar
patterns of the stars, until she felt relaxed enough to go to bed.
,Star-gazing?' Mac asked as she came into their room. She laughed. 'Yes. Most
astronomers don't actually go out and look at the stars, but it's something
I've
always liked to do, maybe because there weren't many stars visible in the New
York night sky. The stars at night were one of the things that got me through
my
years in boarding school. They're especially beautiful, here, in Corinth.'
Mac rubbed his hand gently against the back of her neck. 'I go into the
church
and pray, and you go out and look at the stars.' He stretched his arms high.
'God, it's good.' Then he turned to her and pulled her to him.
Later that night, waking from a dream, Camilla went downstairs to write her
weekly letter to Rafferty, whose arthritis was worsening, and who had moved
from
Chicago to New Mexico. New Mexico was far enough away so that Mrs.
Madeleine L'Engle222
Lee no longer asked Camilla why Taxi's father did not come to visit. He sent
expensive presents regularly, and Camilla wrote him long, chatty letters
about
the children.
This chore was the sad point of the week. She had lost Rafferty as her father
when he sent Taxi to them.
E A R L Y I N T H E S P R I N G, when Taxi and Frankie were four, Mac finally
received his seminary appointment. His job would begin in February with the
Lenten term. He would be tutoring a group of junior seminarians, and teaching
a
seminar in ascetical theology, as well as doing his own work for his degree.
'What's ascetical theology?' Camilla asked.
'Oh, prayer, mediation, contemplation. Things like that. I'm glad I haven't
been
asked to lecture in church history or Anglican polity. Are you ready for the
big
city?'
'I'll miss a lot of people, especially Dr. Edith, but in many ways I can't
wait
to go home.'
'Has Corinth been so awful?' he asked again.
'No. Corinth has been wonderful. Frankie was born here. Taxi came to us here.
It
will always be special. But I'm ready to leave. The children are still young
enough to be able to put down new roots. I was brought up in New York, so I
don't see it as a bad place for children.'
Mac said, 'There's a playground for them at the seminary, and it's safe
enough
so they can go about the grounds on their
own.
TEN
'What about Quantum? We can take him with us, can't we?'
Madeleine L'Engle224
'Of course. There are lots of pets there. When the kids are old enough, maybe
we
can get a dog.'
'Quantum's enough for now.'
Mac pulled on a light sweater. 'We'll be here for Christmas with the parish,
and
I'm glad of that. I'll miss our little brown church.'
'We'll ask Dr. Edith to come to us for Christmas as usual.' 'Of course. And
we
should have a Christmas party for the youth group.' But his mind went quickly
back to the seminary. 'The dean suggests that we come to New York the last
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