Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the setting for a short D’Artigo family holiday episode, where elaborate meal preparations and a runaway turkey turn a familiar celebration into a domestic farce. The story falls between Crimson Veil and Priestess Dreaming; the latter begins on the tail end of the Thanksgiving scene.

Place in the Story

The episode is told from Camille’s point of view and is positioned between two novels rather than as part of the main sequence of events in either one. Its holiday preparations establish a moment of family life before Priestess Dreaming begins, making Thanksgiving both a seasonal occasion and a hinge between the stories.

The Holiday Preparations

On the eve of the celebration, the household is already busy preparing food. Iris hurries around Hanna with a stockpot of soup for that night’s dinner, while asking whether the potatoes have been collected and urging someone to start boiling eggs for deviled-egg canapés. Hanna carries a pan of biscuits overhead as she maneuvers around Rozurial, who brings a bushel of apples for Delilah D’Artigo to peel. Apple pie is on the menu, and cherry pies are nearly ready to come out of the oven.

Trillian confirms that he has bought the potatoes, but left them in the car and must go back for them. His question about whether russets will do gives the preparations their practical, conversational scale: the holiday is assembled through errands and shared kitchen work as much as through the grand menu.

The Runaway Turkey

The preparations culminate in an encounter with a turkey outside the house. After its final gobble, Camille sees it turn, its eye catching the light from the house, and warns it to hurry away before a dragon, a puma, a panther, and an angry house sprite come after it. The bird seems to understand: it cocks its head, then ambles into the forest.

Rather than pursue the turkey, Camille gets into her car and drives to the supermarket. Her dry conclusion that it is just another typical D’Artigo Thanksgiving makes the escape the episode’s comic counterpoint to the carefully organized feast: even a holiday built around cooking can end with the central ingredient making its own getaway.