Buck Lawson and his cousin Sanders trudged through the six inches of snow that had fallen

on the simple streets of Germantown.

It was a rare thing to see that kind of snow in North Carolina.

But seeing as how it had fallen on Christmas, the boys felt no need to complain.

It seemed like the perfect day for it.

In fact, it was pretty much the perfect Christmas, Buck thought to himself.

The wiry 16-year-old had enjoyed a breakfast with his family, and when he left on an

errand to town, his sister and mother were busy starting on Christmas supper.

His sister Marie, and boy she could cook, was making a special raisin cake for the family.

Buck's mouth wandered just thinking about it.

Even Buck's father had been in a bright mood that morning.

Buck's father, Charlie, could be a difficult man.

He was prone to bad tempers and fits of rage, and could be harsh and even violent with

his family.

Buck knew that he often stepped out of line and probably deserved some of the spankings

that he had gotten as a child, but he also felt that his father often took things too far.

Not long ago, he'd stood up to his father, and the two of them had gotten into a real

knocked-down brawl. That had been an ugly day. Buck still remembered the way that

his mother had cried and how scared his younger brothers and sisters had been. That was

worse to Buck than his father's anger. But one thing was sure, Charlie hadn't hit Buck again.

He hadn't hit Buck's mother or his brothers and sisters

again either. That was worth the scrapes and bruises from that terrible day.

...