Clark swept his little Gretyl into his arms and held her so tightly as to never let her go. William rushed over and smothered his sister with his kisses. “ Gretyl my sister”, William announced proudly. Then, seeing another figure in the shadows, he grabbed her by the hand and pulled her into the room. “Josette my friend”. The room was stunned. The girl that William held onto so tightly appeared to be no more than twelve years old, yet the soul of an old woman looked out from her eyes. She hugged William and whispered greetings to him in French.

Santa interrupted, “Everyone, this is Josette, the young girl who has watched out for William and Gretyl for the last three years. Without her, none of the children would be here today. “ William and Gretyl,”he said, “ were kidnapped by a M. Emile Letourneau….a prominent French businessman who, it seems, held great jealousy and envy of a more successful man named Clark von Tonner. ” The family stood, spellbound, as Santa continued the story. It seemed that M. Letourneau was so envious of Clark that he wanted, for himself, everything that Clark had. With the money that he received as ransom, he purchased Clark’s castle and went to live there with William, Gretyl and the orphaned servant girl, Josette. Angered that his new possessions brought him no happiness, he lost interest in the children and took extended trips abroad, leaving the younger children in the care of Josette. From one of those trips, he never returned. Rumours abounded that he had met his end at the hands of a wronged business partner, but they were never confirmed. Josette was a resourceful girl, for her nine years, and worked odd jobs to support them. As the twins grew older, they were able to do small things to help. They were all the family that each other had and wanted never to be separated. Josette had heard about the wonderful life that could be found in Canada…a place where poor people were fat and people could fulfill their dreams, regardless of their family background. Over the years and months, she hatched a plan to escape to Canada. She saved enough money to buy train tickets for herself and the two younger ones to go to Bordeaux and, from there, they stowed away on a ship to Montréal. After the difficult journey to North America, they foraged in the streets of the city until a welfare agency found them and took them in, billeting them in the northern town of Jonquiere. When they overheard someone talking about adopting them out to different homes, the children fled. William lost sight of the others and was picked up by the RCMP. When Josette discovered that William had been taken, she didn’t know what to do. She was afraid of what would happen to her if she returned to the foster home, but, after several weeks of sleeping in an abandoned house and foraging for food, she became more desperate that they would never see William again. Cold and hungry, she and Gretyl went to the police and told them the whole story. By this time, William was out west in British Columbia. When the story had finished, Clark looked into little Josette’s wistful eyes and whispered a “Thankyou”. He knew, in that moment, that, where he had hoped for one daughter to come home, there were now two. Santa put his hand on Clark’s shoulder and said, softly, “Merry Christmas, my friend.” This was a moment that expanded into heaven itself….one that Clark would live in for the rest of his life. The Beginning