Jesus, Santa, & Grady Dale

A Camelot West Virginia Christmas Tale

Jesus, Santa, and Grady Dale Orkney: the holiday team-up you didn’t know you needed. Can Orkney magic—and a little Appalachian faith—bring a fractured family back together for Christmas?

In this Camelot West Virginia holiday tale, the Orkneys open their crowded, imperfect home to heartbroken teen Audra Van Winkle after her father throws her out in a drunken rage. It’s Christmas Eve, emotions are raw, and nothing about this holiday feels merry.

Determined to do the right thing, Arvin Lee Orkney makes a last-ditch effort to confront Audra’s father—only to make everything worse. By night’s end, Audra’s little brother has been cast out too, and what was already a fragile Christmas threatens to fall apart completely.

But just when it seems beyond saving, six-year-old Grady Dale Orkney steps in with the kind of faith only a child can wield—deploying heartfelt prayers, a letter to Santa, and a quiet belief that somebody, somewhere, is listening.

Can a child’s faith, combined with Orkney tough love, pull a broken family back from the brink?

Set years before the events of Camelot West Virginia, this charming and heartfelt short story takes readers back to a Christmas that forever changed how the Orkneys understand family—and offers the very first glimpse of the quiet, unexpected magic of Grady Dale.

Download this cozy, emotionally rich holiday short today.

Orkney Love is so big, even virtual voice can’t ruin it

I detest virtual voice. That said, this story is super short, so other than the usual 9….1-1 weirdness, there aren’t too many sketchy bits. A fee, but from contextual clues, it is easy to know who is speaking.

Orkneys are such great “living” examples of Jesus’ love. I want to hug them all. These stories never fail to make my throat close up at least once, because Cyn M is reeeally good at showing how we can behave better, in love and joy, and FAITH.

The DOWNSIDE is typical ( beyond virtual voice, I mean, which should go without saying. That’s usually a 1 star or less for me): Hearing an Orkney story always makes me wish I had discovered the town of Camelot after Cyn had written 15 of these (and moved beyond virtual voice recordings) before discovering them. It’s hard to read them one joyously plod at a time. Faster, Ms. Mackley. Faster!