Authors: Nancy Krulik

Holly's Jolly Christmas (10 page)

BOOK: Holly's Jolly Christmas

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Quickly, she made a sharp left turn, dragging the whole sleigh with her down a cold, snowy path.

“Whoa!” Tom shouted. “Whoa, Randy. This isn’t the right way.”

But Katie wouldn’t stop. She ran faster and faster.

“No, Randy! This road hasn’t been plowed yet!” Tom shouted louder. He pulled on the reigns, trying to stop Katie and the other reindeer. But it was too late now. The other two reindeer had heard Katie’s warning grunts. They knew that meant they had to run.

And run they did. For a minute, Katie’s hooves were moving so quickly, she felt like she really was flying. Just like Dancer or Prancer or Rudolph!

Bam!

And then, suddenly, she stopped short. The sleigh behind her would not move, no matter how hard she and the other reindeer tried to pull. It was stuck.

“What’s wrong?” one of the kids in the sleigh called up to Tom.

“We’ve hit a little snow bank, folks,” Tom told the passengers. “Nothing to worry about.”

“What do you mean
nothing to worry about
?” a girl said. “We’re stuck out here in the cold, and we can’t get out.”

“I’m freezing,” another girl said. She sounded like she was going to cry. “And it’s getting awfully dark.”

Tom flicked the reindeer reigns. “Come on, Randy,” he said. “You and the other reindeer have to give it all you’ve got.”

And that’s what Katie did. She took a deep breath, and tried to pull the sleigh. The other reindeer pulled as hard as they could, too. Still, the sled didn’t move an inch.

“We’re really stuck,” one of the kids said nervously.

Katie could sense that Tom was nervous now, too. It was getting colder and darker by the second. The children in the sleigh were upset. One sounded as though he was going to start crying.

Not that Katie blamed him. She would have cried too—if she could. But reindeer didn’t cry. And Katie
was
a reindeer. A big, scared reindeer. A big, scared, STUCK reindeer.

Suddenly, Katie sensed something coming toward them. Was it the wolf again? No! The sound was different.

A moment later, a snowmobile appeared along the path. It stopped a few feet from the sleigh. A man got off and walked over toward the sleigh.

As the man came closer, Katie’s hairy lips broke into a big smile. She knew that man. It was Mr. Frost. He’d driven the snow mobile out here to find the sleigh.

Hooray!
They were saved.

“You’ve been gone so long, I figured I better come looking for you,” Mr. Frost said as he walked over to the sleigh. “How did you wind up on this path, Tom?”

“I don’t know,” Tom admitted. “Randy just took off all of a sudden. He must have been spooked by something.”

Katie tried to nod her head. She wanted Tom to know he was right.

“That’s never happened before,” Mr. Frost told the passengers in the sleigh. “These reindeer have been here most of their lives. They know how safe it is here. The whole park is fenced in. Nothing can get in here to hurt them.”

Katie frowned. She hadn’t known that. She thought everyone might have been attacked by a wolf. She’d gotten everyone stuck in a snow bank for no reason at all. And now Tom could be in trouble. After all, he was responsible for controlling the reindeer and keeping the passengers safe and on the right path.

“I honestly don’t know what happened, Mr. Frost,” Tom said, shaking his head. “One minute everything was fine, and the next minute Randy was taking us on a wild ride.”

“Well, I’m just glad you’re all safe,” Mr. Frost said.

“Let’s get you back where you belong,” Mr. Frost said to the passengers. “Let me help you out of the sleigh. That will make it much lighter. Then Randy and the other reindeer will be able to pull it out of the bank.”

One by one the passengers got out of the sleigh. Then Tom flicked the reigns. Once again, Katie and the other reindeer tugged at the sleigh. And this time, it moved!

“The sleigh’s out of the snow bank,” Tom called to Mr. Frost.

“Okay!” Mr. Frost replied happily. “Now let’s load these kids into the sleigh and take them back to the gingerbread cottage. I think they’re ready for some hot chocolate!”

“We sure are,” one of the girls agreed.

“Keep the sleigh on the main path all the way back,” Mr. Frost said to Tom.

“I’ll try,” Tom assured him.

So will I
, Katie thought to herself.
I’m not getting stuck again!

Chapter 19

A little while later, the children were returned to their parents. The reindeer were unhitched from the sleigh and back in the barn. Everybody was where they were supposed to be.

Except Katie, of course. She was still Randy. And that wasn’t the way things were supposed to be at all.

“Here you go, Randy,” Mr. Frost said. “Have some nice mushrooms.”

Katie happily nibbled the food from Mr. Frost’s hand. She was glad reindeer were vegetarians, just like she was.

“What a night,” Mr. Frost told Tom. “It’s our busiest one yet.”

“It was definitely not the best time for Randy to go on a joy ride,” Tom agreed.

“When Christmas is over, I’m going on a long vacation,” Mr. Frost said. “It’s been so busy here, I haven’t even gotten to decorate my own house. I’ll bet my place is the only one in Cherrydale without lights or decorations.”

“Now, that’s a shame,” Tom said.

Mr. Frost sighed. “Well, come on,” he said. “We have more customers waiting for sleigh rides. At least I think we do. I hope the parents of those kids didn’t scare people off by telling them what Randy did.”

Katie frowned. She hadn’t meant to cause Mr. Frost trouble. She was just running from a wolf.

“Having a runaway reindeer is bad for business,” Mr. Frost continued. “I think Randy should stay here in the barn at least for tonight. Give him time to settle down.”

Oh no!
Katie thought. Poor Randy. He was getting the blame for something that had been Katie’s fault.

“The other reindeer seem okay to go for another run,” Tom told him. “I’ll hitch them back up. We’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

With that, Tom and Mr. Frost left the barn. Now Katie was all by herself, chomping on the mushrooms Mr. Frost had left for her.

But Katie wasn’t particularly hungry anymore. She felt bad for Mr. Frost. And she was also worried. It was dark out. Nick must be really upset that Katie was still missing.

Katie had sure caused enough trouble for one night.

Just then, Katie felt a cold breeze blowing on the back of her long, thick reindeer neck. She looked around the barn. The windows weren’t open and the doors were shut tight. So where was that draft coming from?

It didn’t take Katie long to figure that one out. Suddenly that cold breeze became a wild, blustery, icy wind. It was a wind that didn’t have to come through doors or windows. This was the magic wind!

The magic wind grew stronger and stronger, blowing wildly around Katie. It whirled and swirled like an Arctic tornado. Katie shut her reindeer eyes tight, and tried not to cry.

And then it stopped. Just like that. The magic wind was gone.

Katie Carew was back. And so was Randy. He looked at Katie and let out a little grunt.

“Don’t be afraid,” Katie said, reaching up to pet Randy’s furry head. “You’re okay. And so am I.” She frowned slightly. “Other than this terrible taste in my mouth. I ate too many of those mushrooms. I think I need a candy cane.”

A few minutes later, Katie got exactly what she needed—a yummy, red and white peppermint candy cane. Nick was enjoying one as well. He seemed very happy—especially now that Katie was back where she belonged.

“You had me worried there, Katie,” Nick told her as he added a few more marshmallows to his hot chocolate. “I had no idea where you’d gone. You should have told me you weren’t going to try the maze.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” Katie apologized. There didn’t seem to be anything else to say.

“The maze was so much fun, Katie,” Jeremy piped in. “How come you didn’t try it with us? Were you afraid you’d get lost or something?”

Katie sighed. She
had
been lost in a maze tonight. A maze of paths out near the woods. And that maze was blocked by snow banks, not metal candy canes. But of course she couldn’t tell Nick or Jeremy about that. They wouldn’t believe her even if she did. Katie wouldn’t have believed it either if it hadn’t happened to her.

Still, she had to say something. “I was walking around for a while, and then I was out at the barn petting a reindeer,” Katie told Jeremy and Nick.

There. That was
kind of
like the truth, anyway.

“Leave it to you to want to spend your whole night with the reindeer,” Emma W. said kindly. “You’re the biggest animal lover I know.”

“Okay, you guys,” Nick said. “I think we should get going. Mr. Frost has a lot of evening customers coming now. They’re going to want some hot chocolate, too.”

“Is Mr. Frost going to be working all night?” Katie asked Nick.

“At least until midnight,” Nick told her. “That’s closing time.”

Katie frowned. Midnight. That was really late. No wonder Mr. Frost hadn’t found time to decorate his house.

She looked around. There was still a line of customers waiting to go on sleigh rides. “Look at all those people,” she said. “I’m glad I didn’t scare them away.”

“You?” Nick asked. “Why would you scare them away?”

Oops.
“I mean, I’m glad they’re not scared to go on a sleigh ride in the dark,” she said quickly.

“You didn’t get to see Santa,” Matthew said, interrupting Katie’s conversation with Nick. “But I saw him. His workshop is right at the end of the candy cane maze. When I got there, Santa was making toys with his elves! I got to sit on his lap and everything.”

Katie smiled. She was glad Matthew had changed the subject.

“Do you want to see him?” Matthew asked her. “I could show you where he is.”

BOOK: Holly's Jolly Christmas

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