The following morning, Abraham made sure he was up first. He started to walk softly to the barn, and stopped suddenly in surprise when he saw several shepherds look with adoration at the new baby. Something told him not to disturb them, and he returned to the inn to start business for the day.

In the evening, when the guests had retired and Martha was still working, Abraham approached the barn quietly.

‘Everything all right in here?’ he asked gruffly.  The traveller looked rested, and came over and held Abraham by the arms.  ‘Thank you my friend, I don’t know how we can ever repay you. You gave us shelter, a place for my son to be born.’

Abraham turned and looked at the lady and babe, both gazing at him serenely. There was a maelstrom of emotions inside of him as he turned back to the man. He would have fainted if the traveller was not still holding him. Pleadingly, Abraham looked deep into the man’s eyes.  The traveller, squeezed his arm reassuringly, ‘You must be a father as well, to look after us the way you have done.’

Abraham dropped his head in shame, he could not reply, confused he mumbled so that they could hardly hear him, ‘may I see the baby please?’

The traveller had not let go of Abraham’s arms and he gently led Abraham over to his wife and the manger in which the baby lay. Abraham could feel his feet get heavy; he needed the reassurance of the traveller’s grip on his arms to approach this child. At the manger, Abraham looked down at the child, serene and radiant. He could feel his heart fill with joy, erupting out of the cold dark box in which he had buried it. Tears of joy flooded his eyes and he prostrated himself in front of the child. Sobbing hard, the turmoil of his emotions was stilled by the gentle hand of the lady on his shoulder.  Abraham stood and faced the traveller and his wife, ‘It is I who cannot repay you. I am not worthy enough for you to visit my humble home.’

‘My friend,’ the traveller replied, you have sheltered and fed my new family, when no-one else would.’

Abraham lowered his eyes in shame, ‘It was my wife who helped you, not I.’

The traveller gently lifted Abraham’s face, so he could look in his eyes. ‘Then both you and I have had the fortune to marry good women.’

Abraham could feel the weight of many years misery lift from his heart. He felt invigorated and young again. A thought occurred to him, ‘You said I must have been a father; that was before I told you that my wife was the one who looked after you.’

‘I just assumed the young man working around the inn was your son. He looks to be a fine young man.

Abraham was too bemused to reply, he simply embraced the traveller ‘Anything you need, please, let me know. You must stay here as long as you need, and don’t worry about anything, we’ll look after you as best we can.’

Abraham turned and quickly left the barn. He could see Levi struggling with two jars of water. ‘You, boy!’ he bellowed, ‘What do you think you are doing?’

Levi stopped, frozen in fear. Martha came out of the inn to see what all the noise was about. She did not know whether to laugh or cry, for coming up the path was Abraham, carrying the jugs of water, with Levi walking beside him. Levi no longer looked scared, just confused. Martha could hear Abraham’s voice, the tone in which he spoke to Levi was gentle and loving, just as she remembered it when they were first married.

‘Levi, you are too young to work so hard. After we get this water into the house, we shall see about getting you some food.’  Levi continued to gaze at him, not quite sure if he was dreaming or not.

‘From today, you will live in this house as my son, and I will not have any son of mine working like a servant. I am the innkeeper, not you.’

He stopped short in front of Martha and put the water jugs down. ‘Wife, I have told Levi he is to consider himself our son.’

Martha did not reply, but looked him in the eyes. They were no longer small and hard, but warm; they were the eyes of the man she had married many years ago. He blushed under her scrutiny and said quietly, ‘You brought this boy into our house. You always told me that you would give me a son.’

He knelt in front of her and took hold of her hands, ‘Can you find it in your heart to forgive a stupid, stubborn man who has been too blind to notice my wonderful family.’  He looked up at her. She could see his eyes moisten. He stood and pressed his lips to hers, the kiss soft and sweet. He pulled away slightly, ‘I have to make amends to the guests in my house.’

At first, the guests were highly suspicious when Abraham tried to return their money and invited them to occupy his personal rooms to reduce the overcrowding.  Some were even frightened by the apparent change in this man, and were worried that he had been possessed by a daemon. Martha joined her husband, and together they managed to reassure the guests of their good intentions. Martha and Abraham sat up all night on the porch. That night they did not need a bed chamber to keep them warm.

After a few days, the traveller, his wife, and son left the barn. Other guests left too, and life settled down to a comfortable, happy rhythm. If not the most luxurious inn, it was certainly the happiest.

As the years passed, the inn became famous for its generosity. People knew that they could go there, even if they had no money and nowhere else to go. Abraham never made a fortune, but he considered himself the richest man in the world.  Martha was happy, the man she had known had come back to her, and she had a son of her own to raise. Levi found that he had two loving and kind parents.

Martha and Abraham had many happy years together, each night sitting on the porch of their inn, never running out of things to say to each other. They never forgot the travellers who had stayed in their barn and talked about them often.

Eventually Martha passed on, and although Abraham missed her terribly, he found some comfort in knowing that anyone as kind and gentle as Martha would go straight to heaven and was with God. Abraham carried on as best he could, offering hospitality to people who needed it, just as Martha would want him to.

A year after she died, Abraham was sitting on the porch as he did every night, still conversing with Martha. He found himself thinking about the night the traveller with the pregnant wife had stayed in his barn. A shuffling of tired footsteps from the dark interrupted Abraham’s thoughts.

‘Do you need lodging?’

The man did not reply. Abraham looked at the man; it took a long time for his old eyes to recognise the traveller.

‘I travel by myself today. I have come a long way to see you again.’

‘It is good to see you. I have thought about you often over the past years. I wish my wife was also here to meet you again.’

Abraham struggled out of his chair and embraced the traveller. The traveller smiled at Abraham and took his hands. ‘It is time for both of us to go meet our wives. It is a long journey, and I thought that you might like to travel together.’

Abraham stood straight, his body no longer old and infirm, the traveller giving him strength. ‘Yes I would like that very much.’ Arm in arm they walked past the inn and the barn, into the peaceful darkness.

© 2007 Gareth P Jones – Do not reproduce without the author’s written permission.
Gareth is a member of St. Wilfrid’s Community.  He writes:
“The idea which evolved into the “Innkeeper’s Gift” came to me on a flight to Chicago in December 2005. A combination of altitude, red wine and finishing the in-flight magazine crossword set the mood for a contemplation of the nativity. For me, the gift of shelter from the Innkeeper was as significant as the gifts from the Magi, and it seemed that the story was worth
investigating.  I developed the idea and entered the Sunpenny Christian Short Story competition as a means of getting the story to an audience (in which he won the second prize!).   This story is significantly  different from other things I have written but the message it contains makes me very fond of it”

Thank you, Gareth, for agreeing to publication of this very moving story on our Church Website.