"Jus' act tired and everythin' will be jus' fine," Jacob muttered as they stepped onto the porch.

"That is easy, I AM exhausted!" Adam replied his eyes bloodshot.

The house was filled with the aroma of blueberry pancakes and fresh homemade Maple syrup, made from their own Maple trees. The kitchen reminded Adam of a scene that he had seen on TV on the show "The Waltons" when all of the family would sit at a picnic style table, all in their assigned seats. It was funny, but his family was the same way. Everyone had their own spot and even though it had been almost ten years, his spot was still in the same place--- in between Jacob and Jason. Adam had never thought about it before, but he sure did miss the old dining room table chairs at home about that time. Benches were very uncomfortable when you felt like just lying down on the floor and never getting up. Their grandmother said grace and soon everyone was eating and passing the good food around for all to enjoy. Jason kind of liked this part of being back home. The Sunday morning breakfast tradition of eating together before church. He was thinking of past visits when he heard his name being mentioned in a conversation.

Jason immediately looked up. "What did you say Grandma?"

"I was telling your mother that it would be nice if you, Adam and Jacob would go and get our Christmas tree for this year," Grandma said from the head of the table.

"Oh, that would be easy Grandma. I have been wanting to go into town," Jason replied, putting butter on his blueberry pancakes. At that statement, the whole table became very quiet. Then Carl Kramer broke out into a big smile along with Jason's other aunts and uncles.

"Town?" Why would you go into to town for the Christmas tree?" Grandma asked in a confused manner.

"Well, don't the Boys Scouts sell trees in one of the stores' parking lots?" Jason asked. He felt a sense of embarrassment as he made the statement. He knew that there was something he was missing.

"Store tree! I don't think so Jason Matthew Kramer. Not in this house, it would not be..." She muttered, but she was cut off by her grandson.

"Tradition. It would not be tradition," Jacob answered with a sigh. He knew what was coming next. His body ached and it was not what he was planning to do with his Sunday, but arguing with Grandma was not a good idea. Again, the parents of the room chuckled, knowing what chore the youths had before them on the cold day in December.

"What is going on? How hard can it be to go out and chop down a tree from somewhere?" Adam piped in sarcastically. He was getting annoyed at the chuckling of his aunts and uncles as well as his own parents. But Grandma was just as serious as she could be. "I saw a million of them along 35 on our way down here."

"ADAM! Don't you dare!" His mother gasped. "Those belong to the state and that will get you in jail for the holidays real fast."

"Not to mention, embarrass your family! Oh Good Lord, I can see the glances that we would get in church as I speak!" his Aunt Katherine exclaimed.

"Your great grandfather planted several trees back by the old family cemetery. He planted them so we would have a special tree each year for Christmas. So every Christmas, someone tracks to the site to cut down one of the trees and in the spring, we plant five more in its place. It is a family tradition and a way to give a gift beyond the grave. So it is not just any old tree from where ever you can get one. It is our family Christmas tree," Grandma responded.

"So where is this place?" Adam asked.

"Do ya have a pair of comfortable boots with ya?" Jacob asked his cousin.

"Yeah."

"Well, yer' gonna need em'." Jacob said as he downed his glass of orange juice. "And if I wuz you, I would be getting' my stomach full because it is goin' to be a long walk."

Adam and Jason first looked at each other quizzically. Then they looked up at their grandmother. Her eyes sparkled with joy and pride.

"I bet then are just making this into a big production. You know how Jacob exaggerates about things," Adam whispered to his older brother.

"I sure hope you are right, that recliner was not too comfortable," Jason whispered back. But somehow, he had a feeling that there was more to this "voyage" than what was being told. And judging by the way that his grandmother was smiling at the three of her grandsons, he knew that failing the mission was not an option.

After fighting sleep in church, the boys set out to get the family Christmas tree. They drove up and down the winding gravel roads, along the ridges and through the hollows where the clear streams had carved their homes. Adam saw plenty of pine trees along the road and tried to convince his brother to pull over their rented Blazer and cut down one of them. But Jason just ignored his brother, even though he thought of the same scheme.

"We need the adventure," Jason would say to his younger brother. "Besides, I have a feeling that Grandma would just find out somehow."

"I want to be away from the house any ways," Jacob's voice said from the backseat. He was all stretched out, trying to catch a few winks before the big hike that he knew so well.

"Why? I thought you was tired?" Jason asked quizzically. "I thought I was never going to get you to stay awake during the sermon! Between you and Adam, I never heard a word of it."

"You didn't miss anythin' any ways," Jacob muttered. "No, Mom is going to go and get my jeep after church."

"What is so bad about that?" Adam asked. He was leaning against the window, spying at all the pine trees that were growing here and there in the woods.

"She is gonna stop at the Weston's house on the way home. She is spittin' mad over the spikin' inceedent," Jacob said in a low voice. "Then I'll be the laughin' stock of Sugar Crick again."

"In-ci-dent, you mean?" Jason corrected Jacob. The heavy Appalachian accent really got to Jason after hearing it for a day. The problem was, however, that he knew that he would go back and talk the same way to his friends in California.

"Don't start Jason!" Jacob said with an attitude. It was then that he realized where they were on the road. He had been barking out directions from the backseat, basing his orienteering on the houses and hills that he knew so well. "Pull over by the fence on that strip of grass."

Jason did exactly as Jacob had instructed. Soon Jacob was leading the boys up and down the ridges and hollows in the cold winter air. No one said a word for the first mile of the hike, but Jacob soon broke the silence. "It is going to snow tonight."

"How do you know?" Adam called back, snuggling up into his Carhart jacket. He was glad that their Grandmother had sent them the warm coats last Christmas, even though they did not get too much use from them in California. Jason had a dark green one and Adam's was navy blue. He had heard that it was the warmest coat you could buy and that all the hunters used that brand. Now he knew why! Too bad I don't have gloves that are this warm he thought to himself.

"I can smell it," Jacob snorted back.

Adam stopped and sniffed the air. "How do you smell snow? All I smell is pine."

"That is cos' yer too used to smellin' that salt air. I can even smell the Ohio River from here. But trust me, it is gonna snow. I can smell it."

Adam just looked at his brother Jason, who was trying to hold back his laughter. They did not want to upset their cousin, but each of the boys had to wonder about him sometimes. The boys tracked on for about another hour when an old cemetery came into view. Behind the old markers and fence, Jason and Adam could see the many scotch pines trees that sung a whistling song to the boys' ancestors in their final resting place. Adam took a moment to look at the old stones, that were white and barely even readable from the years of acid rain and erosion. Jason also looked around the old cemetery that held their mother's family, including their great-great grandparents. It was too bad that the trail to the cemetery was lost in the flood of 1997. Now their family created another cemetery closer to their grandmother's farmhouse because the trail could not be rebuilt. Jacob, in the meantime, was wasting no time at all. He had already picked out a big 12-foot Scotch pine and started cutting it down. By the time the boys realized that Jacob was not in the cemetery, Adam and Jason saw him emerge from the grove of trees with the family Christmas tree dragging behind him.

"Well, what are ya waitin' fer? The way back is not getting' any shorter and I am starved!" Jacob said as he just kept walking past his cousins and back down the hill. Adam and Jason just grinned at each other and then quickly ran to help him haul the tree.

They were just about to leave the clearing in the woods that held the cemetery when they heard a noise behind them.

Jacob stopped in his tracks. Adam could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up. All three boys looked around, but saw nothing in the small field. They were about to start walking again when they heard the leaves on the forest's floor rustle. All three boys knew it could not be the wind because the air was still and cold. An occasional gust of wind would blow, but it was not at that time. All that could be heard was the stillness of the forest around them. Jacob just shrugged his shoulders at Jason, who was standing beside him, and started to take a step. Adam, who was holding the top of the tree and looking up towards Jacob and his brother, started to go forward as well. But felt something in the middle of his back. He stopped dead in his tracks, afraid to turn around. He knew that something was there. His gut told him that he was not alone, but he was afraid to turn around and see what. Adam let go of the tree and stood there froze in terror. Jason and Jacob felt the back of the tree fall and immediately spun around to see what was wrong, but they were frozen in their spots.