The snowflakes swirl around in the air while the wind sweeps icily through the alleys. Slowly, thick fog pushes through the streets. Already in the morning all the lanterns are burning and a hackney carriage or other wagons are hardly seen outside. It is cold. Bitterly cold. Even now, though he is running. They have split up to lose their pursuers and he probably left them behind a while ago. Because he's a fast runner. And the cold is playing into his hands. Nobody really wants to be out here in this weather. Still, he's not going to check it out. That's rule number one on the road, never turn around and never stop until you really feel safe. That's what Laurie told hin. Again and again. He's walking on to the meeting point.

Under the bridge on Lanestereet he comes to a gasping halt. His warm breath condenses in the cold air. Slowly he comes to rest. At this point he can hear the water of the Thames rushing. It also smells musty. Now he looks around for the first time. There’s still no Laurie in sight. No surprise at all, to be honest. He would rather make one detour more than one too few. No wonder, because he's the one William and the gang are after most of all. He's got the loot. The loot, in this case is a whole sack of potatoes that the boys swiped from a greengrocer in SoHo. It was a real team effort this time. Jamie can still remember a time when he wouldn't have considered a sack of potatoes a big haul. However, that was a long time ago. So long ago that the image of father and mother almost faded and the memory left is only vague.

"Jamie?", whispers a voice into the silence. He recognizes a shadowy shadow in the semi-darkness of the bridge and needs a moment before he can assign the bright voice. "Lacie?" he whispers back. The girl detaches herself from the shadow of the wall. "The others aren't here yet?", she notes as she rubs her arms and stamps her feet to at least keep warm. He shakes his head, sighing. Hopefully everything has gone well. "No, but when the big tower clock strikes three times, we'll make our way to the hiding place. That's the deal with Laurence," he mumbles cautiously. He is not allowed to call his brother Laurie in front of the others, the older one doesn't like that at all. They are not even brothers in front of the others. That has its reasons. He knows that. It hurts sometimes though.

He looks at her blatantly. She's the newest member of their gang and the only female one. Jamie thinks she's pretty. She has dark curls and flowery blue eyes. But that's a disadvantage for her sometimes. Laurence and Jack picked her up the night her little brother died. He’s been frozen to death. It happens a lot through the cold month. Whenever he thinks about it, it seems like an endless happiness that Laurence and he are still together. Although Laurence claims there are other reasons for letting Lacie join, for example that every gang needs a girl, Jamie knows that his brother felt sorry for her. She was alone and lost that night. As lonely as they had been a while ago. That's why he took her in, even though he had always been against girls in the gang before. Nevertheless, he's right. Girls are great in a gang. They're much better at creating distractions than boys. She proved that again today.

When the clock strikes three, neither Laurie nor Jack are at the meeting point. Jamie can't help himself but feels a little helpless. Lacie looks at him with a knowing look before she tells him, "Come on, let's go. The others are probably waiting for us. And maybe Jack and Laurence are already in hiding, just wondering where we are." Unlikely, he thinks. Laurie always keeps his side of the bargain. Anyway, he wants to believe that. So they're on their way. The stash is a former warehouse in Fisher's End. The gang's been living in it for a good six months. They are sharing it with a few rats and other vermin. They used to roam almost every night, always looking for a new place to sleep. In addition, they have been constantly getting into fights with William and his boys, who consider practically the whole SoHo district as their hood. That's why they not only robbed the greengrocer but also the gang with the captured sack of potatoes, at least according to William's completely abstruse logic. In any case, the warehouse is their refuge and since they are there and have a night's lodging, many things have become easier. Only today the trouble could not be avoided. Tomorrow is Christmas Day and Laurie has decided to do something good for them all. Kinda as a feast. The potatoes. Potatoes are great. You can cook them in the fire and they'll keep you full for a long time. There was only one problem; they don't have a greengrocer in the neighborhood, so they had to go into William's territory. That was the only snag on the plan. If the police catches up with you, they'll throw you in jail. If William and his men catch you, they'll beat the living shit out of you. Or worse. Jamie's praying. He involuntarily grabs Lacie's hand for the rest of the way. She looks at him in surprise, but says nothing. He won't let go of her until they get to the warehouse. As long as her ice-cold hand is in his, he feels better.

Only Robin and Freddy are in the warehouse, no sigh of the other two. "There you are," exclaims Freddy as they climb through the window. "Aren't Jack and Laurence with you?" Robin wants to know and Jamie immediately feels the need to go and find them. "Obviously, they're not. Or do you see them somewhere?" Lacie answers snorting and silences the two of them. They would never admit it, but they have an insane respect for her. He retreats to a corner of the warehouse while Freddy and Robin let Lacie tell them a little bit about their action while they had to stay here to watch out for the hiding place. She sums up the situation pretty well. She also says that Jack and Laurie actually wanted to be here already. The concern for their friends is clear by her words. She hopes they'll be here soon. "I'd rather not imagine what'll happen if they don't come." By the end, he can hear Robin sighing and Freddy theatrically calls out, "What a pity for those poor potatoes, my friends."

As soon as he settles down, Corny sneaks in. Corny is one of the rats that Freddy always feeds. It’s the one with the white dot in the middle of its face. "I have nothing to eat for you," he mumbles in the sleeve of his worn-out shirt. The rat doesn't seems impressed by that statement at all. Corny surprisingly often seeks the company of the children. At first Lacie was afraid of him but now she feeds Corny as often as Freddy does. Sometimes Corny just stays with them although the rest of the rats are quite shy. Even now, Corny only looks at him from big button eyes as if he understands. Jamie sighs. "Why can't I stop worrying?" he wants to know from the pet. But that's an answer the rat owes him. "Man, are you talking to the rat?" Freddy calls to him from across the hall. "Oh, shut up," it rings straight from Robin, who gives him a shove. "You do it yourself." The lads mean well and want to cheer him up, but he feels not the least bit comforted.

At night, Lacie comes to him. She sits with him without a word. It's still freezing cold and her body heat is good for him. Tired, he lets his head sink to her shoulder. He has tried to sleep, but the thoughts circle too much. "Do you know what I wonder sometimes?" she suddenly whispers. He shakes his head when he realizes she can't see it. "No," he replies quietly. "What?" "It’s about all the people around us, you know? Do they know it’s Christmas?” Jamie sits up. "I don't understand," he mumbles. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know," she returns but then begins to explain: "You know, people always seem busy and nervous before the Christmas day. They’re rushing through the streets and seem to have no time for anything. It's all about the most beautiful Christmas goose, the prettiest tree and the best clothes for church, but it's never about Christmas at all. And I wonder if they ever really get the idea of Christmas."

Will it ever be Christmas then? He looks at her with awe and Lacie goes on. "I was like that too. I remember the year Daddy was so sick that he lost his job at the factory and Mama had hardly any sewing jobs. There was simply no demand for sewing. And we had to spare so many things in this year. There was no tree, especially no goose, and no presents. I was so sad, Jamie. My father had promised me that year that I would get the doll I had wanted for so long. And now I got neither the doll nor any presents."

He could understand the disappointment so well. When they came to uncle and aunt after the death of their parents, Christmas was not a real Christmas for him. The parents had just been dead a few weeks when Christmas Eve came and the relatives didn't missed a chance to make it clear that they weren't eager to stuff more hungry mouths. They also let the brothers feel this in every possible way. When Christmas Eve came and his aunt said there were no presents for them, because the money left by mother and father had to be enough to feed them for the next few years, it was bitter, but Laurie comforted him. Until his cousins unpacked a parcel of tin soldiers and Jamie instantly started to cry loudly. He knew the figures. Yeah, he'd picked them out himself. He had gone to the toy store with his father shortly before his death and he had chosen the soldiers himself. He recognized the parcel and the soldier with the blue sign, which his father had had put in the parcel just for him. How proud he had been that day and he had been looking forward to the gift. Now he saw it in the hands of others. Laurie, who had been with him that day, drove up immediately and attacked the cousins. There was a fight and screaming too. Uncle and aunt soon after this scene made sure that Laurie was taken to the penitentiary. They said he was dangerous and prone to violence. It would be a long time before the two brothers saw each other again.

He is torn from the past as Lacie continues to tell. He has probably missed something, but he doesn't want to ask her to start over and so he picks up his ears even better. "... they had been arguing a lot in that time, and were desperate. My mother cried a lot and Dad often yelled with us. Additionally no presents for Christmas this year either. Somehow, everything seemed terrible. Of course, my father wanted to comfort me and my mother suggested that since he couldn't do much more than rest in the armchair, he should read a few chapters from our story book. So my father read to me and my brother, something he had never done before, it was just beautiful. Then my mother sang a Christmas carol while she was making dinner and she was laughing with my father again and it was all so peaceful. Ryan suddenly said, "Now it's Christmas.” My little brother understood what it was all about. Much better than I did, Jamie. It's not about money. Not about presents or all the things you don't have. It's about family and enjoying what you have. It's about just being happy. Then it'll be Christmas."

Jamie swallows. Yes, that sounds plausible and now he also knows what Lacie meant when she asked if people actually know it's Christmas. People are funny, he thinks. They never really seem to be happy, although they have every reason to be. They prefer to get angry about what isn't than to enjoy what is. Lacie's right. He sighs as he puts his head back on her shoulder. "I see," he mumbles tiredly. "Do you think it'll be Christmas for us this year?" he wants to know. He can't see it, but he hears the smile literally in her voice. "Yes. I believe it."

The next morning he’s awaken by a loud commotion. Freddy screams something across the hall. Robin answers loudly and Jack calls something in between. Jack! All of a sudden, he is wide awake. He drives up and inevitably wakes up Lacie, who had fallen asleep halfway up the hall.

"What happened?" she asks, still drunk asleep, as she tiredly rubs her eyes. "We're back," whistles an extremely good-humored Laurie, even before Jamie can say anything. He’s up on his feets immediately and falls around his brother's neck before he can say anything else. He is so happy to see him that he cries. He can't stop it. "Are you crying, little brother?" Laurie whispers into his ear, as he clings tightly to him. "You didn't think I was just gonna leave you alone, did you?" "You fool. Where have you been," he just replies. But before he can hear the answer, his eyes fall on Lacie. She smiles knowingly. With her lips she forms silent words. "Now it's Christmas."