MISSOURI WATCH: THE PEOPLE IN THE CITY WERE AFRAID...

And it came to pass that Joseph and his espoused wife, Mary, being great with child, came unto their own city to be taxed. And lo, a star appeared in the East.

The family had just moved into a home in a neighborhood some distance from their older, more dilapidated residence, and both had expressed the hope that, in this new location, they would find the peace and happiness that had eluded them since they had married and produced their first child. The day they moved their belongings into the new home, the husband told his wife he had a good feeling about the neighborhood and the neighbors who helped move the family's meager furniture into the rented tenement in one of Missouri's great cities.

And thus it came to pass that the horns wailed and Joseph and Mary were in confusion, for the city was strange unto them. The people of the city were afraid. And they ran to and fro. And Joseph feared for Mary his wife.

As evening settled in, just as the family was finishing a cold dinner the all-too-familiar wail of a siren broke their silence, and the couple stopped talking as each tracked the sound as it came closer and closer toward where they were seated. Without making so much as a sound, both the husband and wife gave a sigh of relief as the sirens passed their home and headed up the street. "See, I told you, we would be safer here than in the old place," the husband said smiling. But both were bothered when the noise seemed to hover just a few short yards beyond their home. Trying to reassure his wife, the man said,

"It's good to know the police are around to protect us." The woman was silent, a sign she disagreed with her husband. And lo the star approached from the East toward the city. And in the city this sign was viewed with wonder and alarm. And husbands sought their wives. And mothers sought their children. And some remained in the houses, sorely afraid, seeking comfort in each other. And some ran into caves they had dug in the earth. And they, too, were sorely afraid.

Within a few minutes, when the noise of the sirens had died down, there was another noise, this one as familiar as the earlier wailing of the sirens. The sound was all too familiar, for it was the sound of gunfire being exchanged, and while at first there had been only a few rounds, within a short time the gunfire increased until it became impossible to hear a moment of silence between rounds. The wife grabbed the clenched fist of her husband and said urgently, "I'm afraid. And I was afraid this would happen. I was scared this place would be as bad as the last one, and if it is, then we are in just as much danger here and we were back there, and we wouldn't owe all the money it took to make the move." The woman continued to talk, almost without stopping, as her distraction turned to frustration and then her frustration turned to fear. "I knew this would happen" she said over and over, moaning, then crying, then almost wailing. "I knew this would happen." At last the husband spoke, "Now, woman, you hush. Everything is going to be all right. Stop your crying, you'll wake the baby, just like you used to waken him at the old place." But the woman would not be silent, and she continued talking, aimlessly, almost out of control, as the gunfire continued and soon there were more sirens and still more gunfire. The noise from outside had, indeed, awakened the baby and he began crying, and the mother went to his side, picking him up and holding him, soothing him by whispering his name and stroking his small body.

And in the city, Joseph and Mary took refuge in a doorway. But an officer came unto them and spoke unto them, saying that they could not remain in this place. And they must seek shelter in a cave.

The gunfire a few yards away seemed unending as the mother sought to soothe her child and the father grew more and more anxious. Maybe, he said to himself, we did make a mistake moving here. Maybe this neighborhood is no better than the last one, maybe it's worse. "Stay away from that window," the husband said, noticing for the first time that his wife was holding the baby right in front of the window. "Move away, woman, move away!" he screamed. But his warning came too late and there was a loud noise, happening so fast that it was impossible to know what was occurring. Within a second, there was a second noise, then a scream and the mother fell to the floor, still holding the baby in her arms. Terrified, the man looked at the bodies outstretched on the bare floor, shouting his wife's name in a tone of disbelief. "Mary! My God, the baby!" he cried.

And thus it came to pass that Joseph and his wife, Mary, sought entrance to a cave. But their way was barred by a man armed as if for war. And he spake angrily unto them, saying: "There is no room in the shelter."

~Jack Stapleton of Kennett is the editor of the Missouri News and Editorial Service.