It was the night Mama and Daddy volunteer at the homeless shelter in the big gym at their church. The people in their small town who didn’t have homes came there to sleep and have a hot meal. Emma Lea usually stayed with Grammy and Grampop while her parents served dinner and talked with their homeless guests. But Grammy was sick and Grampop was out of town. Mama started to call Aunt Meg to baby-sit but Emma Lea stopped her.

“I’d like to go with you.”

Mama wanted to say no. Emma Lea knew the ‘no’ look on her face.

“Well,” Daddy said. His face had the ‘maybe’ look. But his voice sounded like ‘yes’.

“Please,” she said before they could answer. “You said it was safe. The people who come are checked at the office before they’re sent to the gym. They’re not dangerous – just people having hard times. You said it was important to let people who don’t have homes know that we care about them. You said . . .”

“We also said that it makes us sad to hear their stories,” Mama said. “It’s difficult to see people without homes and families, living outside on the streets in the cold.”

“It’s always hard to leave,” Daddy added. “We always wish we could do more.”

“I want to do more too.”

“Aunt Miriam is bringing her guitar tonight,” Mama remembered.  “We’re going to sing holiday songs.” She and Daddy exchanged ‘yes’ nods.

“Yes!” Emma Lea said for them.

Daddy helped Mama finish covering the salad and wrapping the casserole in foil while Emma Lea changed her clothes.

She had an idea. She found her special tote bag and wrapped her teapot in a clean dishtowel and tucked in a tin of sweet, herbal tea. There was room in the tote for her soft animals: Jason Cuddle Dog, Mr. & Mrs. Hedgehog and Theodisia Teddy Bear. Emma Lea thought she might have an opportunity to share her toys and her teapot. Her magic teapot. Her toy animal friends loved her tea parties and sing-alongs.

When they arrived at the gym, the other volunteers had set up the tables. Someone had brought freshly cut green branches and long strings of ivy to decorate. They smelled fresh and clean and made it look like a cozy winter party. The big gym was divided into different areas like rooms of a house. There was an area close to the front door set up for the dining room.

In another part of the gym there were tables set with board games like a living room. In the back of the gym there were screens set up where the homeless guests could have some privacy and sleep on cots in sleeping bags.Aunt Miriam had chosen one of the corners for their sing-along area. She was tuning her guitar and sorting through the song sheets.

The leader of the volunteers was one of Emma Lea’s neighbors, Mrs. Henderson.

“We want to offer more than a safe place to sleep and a hot food,” she explained to Emma Lea. “We use real plates and utensils, not paper and plastic. When they come here, we want to give them the feeling of a home and family.”

It did feel safe to Emma Lea. She wasn’t afraid.

“What’s in your bag?” Mrs. Henderson asked.

“This is my teapot and some of my favorite tea – cinnamon-mint.” She let Mrs. Henderson peek underneath the towel.

“That’s lovely. What a wonderful thing to share.”

It wasn’t long before the guests arrived. Mama and Daddy greeted them at the door and helped them settle in with their backpacks and bedrolls. Aunt Miriam stayed with Emma Lea and told her about some of the people who were coming through the door. She knew the names of the regular guests and enjoyed telling her young niece their stories. Some were sad stories but some were also funny. Most of the guests were men. A few of them were women. But she helped Emma Lea understand that these men and women weren’t so different from everyone else.

“That’s Big Bob. He’ll want to show you his coin trick. You’ll like it.”

A tall man wearing a heavy blue coat and frayed knit cap stood in the doorway. He looked tired and his shoulders were hunched forward. But he still towered over Emma Lea. He greeted Aunt Miriam with a hug and she introduced him.

“Big Bob comes to visit every night. He always brings a new story or song to entertain us.”

“Can I show this little one my trick?” he asked.
Aunt Miriam nodded.

“Yes, please,” Emma Lea answered.

He was quick with his fingers and made them look magical, pretending to pull a coin from behind her ear.
Aunt Miriam started playing her guitar and Emma Lea sang along. They were the simple songs. Everyone knew the words and sang or hummed along as they prepared for dinner.

Aunt Miriam stopped a song very suddenly. Emma Lea followed her eyes toward the front door. Mama and Daddy were greeting some new guests, a young mother and her two children. One was a baby wrapped in a blanket and the other a little girl about Emma Lea’s age. Mama waved to Emma Lea to come meet the new girl.

“Her name is Alice. Can she stay with you while we help her mother get settled?”

Emma Lea had never thought of families with children living on the street without a home.

“We slept in our car last night,” Alice told her. “But it was very cold.” Emma Lea listened to her story about losing their home while Aunt Miriam played another song. But she could tell that Alice was having trouble talking.

“Do you know this song, Alice?” she asked. She thought that singing might help.

Alice nodded and sang softly. Emma Lea could barely hear her tiny voice. They sang two more songs before dinner. Emma Lea chose places for herself and Alice and helped her fill a plate with some of the homemade food in the kitchen. She could tell Alice was very hungry. They ate dinner quickly and then chose cookies and apples for dessert.

When dinner was over the volunteers cleared the tables to wash the dishes. Emma Lea remembered her teapot. She set up her tea set, the teapot and cups, on a table close to Aunt Miriam. She was playing her own music without words. It was gentle and relaxing. Mama poured the hot water to brew the sweet-smelling tea. Emma Lea invited Alice to join her.

“Would you like to have a cup of tea with me?”

Alice’s smile was quick and bright. “I’ve never had tea from a real teapot before.”

“I call this my Magic Teapot,” she told Alice. “It’s not magic like Aladdin’s lamp. There aren’t genies that make your wishes come true. But sometimes, when you share a cup of tea with someone you care about, wonderful things happen.”

Emma Lea poured the tea and introduced Alice to her toy friends. Alice pulled a doll out of her own backpack. “Her name is Rose.” They sipped their tea and nibbled cookies and giggled like they were on the playground.

Mrs. Henderson spotted them, “Well, what do we have here?”

“A tea party!” the girls both said.

“Land ‘o mercy. Just like when I was a girl. May I join you?”

She brought her own teacup. Emma Lea let Alice pour tea for her. They pretended to be three elegant ladies in their best dresses and white gloves. It was easy to imagine long, lace dresses and hats with flowers and feathers.

Alice’s mother joined them after she put the baby to sleep. “Your mother told me about your teapot. Your magic teapot.”

“We have enough tea left for you, Mommy,” Alice said. Mrs. Henderson got another cup and saucer. The tea table was getting crowded.

“You’ve created some magic for us tonight. Thank you, Emma Lea.”

It was time for Aunt Miriam to put her guitar away. The board game players had already compared their scores and cheered for the winners. The tired guests were snuggling into their sleeping bags and the volunteers were packing their empty dishes to take home. Alice helped Emma Lea pack her teapot. It was difficult for the two new friends to say goodbye. Emma Lea remembered what her father had said about wishing he could do more.

Mrs. Henderson was talking privately to Alice’s mother. Mama and Daddy were waiting close by.

“What’s happening?” Emma Lea asked.

They saw Alice’s mother nod her head and hug Mrs. Henderson.

“She said yes!” Mrs. Henderson told them and made a thumbs-up sign and explained to Alice. “I have a little cottage behind my house. My mother lived there until last year. It’s been empty since then and I’ve been lonely. I’m inviting you and your family to live there.”

“Yes,” Alice answered as quickly as her mother.

“But there’s one thing you have to do as part of our agreement.” Mrs. Henderson took Alice’s hand. “I want you to have tea with me just like we did tonight.”

Mama and Daddy and Emma Lea knew that everything was going to be OK for Alice. And now, it would be better for Mrs. Henderson, too.

“I wish we could make some magic for everyone here tonight.” Emma Lea told her parents.

Big Bob was walking by. “You made more magic than you know, Little Emma Lea.” He stopped to pat her on the head. “When we live out on the streets, we feel invisible. People walk by and don’t even see us.”
It was a small town and Emma Lea remembered seeing him. He wasn’t invisible. She had seen him riding his bike and collecting cans that had been thrown out on the street. She had seen him sitting on the bench in the town square feeding the birds. She had always known that he was one of the homeless people but she had never asked about him before.

“I think,” Emma Lea stopped to choose her words carefully, “you’re not invisible. I see you in the park and I like the way you feed the birds. I would have told you, but I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”

Big Bob waved his hand and pretended to pull another coin from behind Emma Lea’s ear. “Right you are. Be very careful.” He showed her how he could spin the coin on the palm of his hand. “And next time you see me, it’s fine if you just smile like you’re smiling tonight.”

“That’s easy.”

“If you come back here with your parents, may I have some of your special tea?”

“Yes!” she said. “And next time will you show me a new trick?”

“You be’cha.”

Mrs. Henderson locked the door behind them. Everyone inside would be safe and warm tonight.

By Babette Donaldson

© Blue Gate Books