Winter Wonderland #5 (2 page)

“Look at that!” her dad exclaimed. “The snow must be almost ten inches deep. Your school’s definitely going to be closed, and I think I’ll be walking to the hospital.”

Mr. Nimesh was a doctor. Luckily, his hospital was only a few streets away. He
went back into the bedroom, and Preeti heard him talking to her mom.

“A snow day. Cool!” She clapped her hands in delight. She enjoyed all of her classes. But if it came to school or playing in the snow with her friends—it was no contest.

Another bedroom door opened and a small boy exploded into the hall. His dark hair was shiny, like Preeti’s. But where hers was long and straight, his was short and curly.

“Snow! Snow! Snow! Have you seen it?” Viren cried, whirling around and waving his arms like a human windmill.

“Yeah! Of course I have!” Preeti said, rolling her eyes. “Didn’t you just hear me and Dad talking about it?”

At six years old, Viren was three years
younger than his sister and small for his age. But he made up for it by having more energy than a box of frogs. He finally stopped spinning for long enough to make a face at her.

“I’m going to build a snow dinosaur in the garden!” he exclaimed, crossing his big brown eyes. “You can help me if you want.”

“I’m not sure what I’m doing yet,” Preeti replied. “I might call Lisa and Hayley, and ask them to come over.”

“Lisa and Hayley are totally boring!” Viren sneered. “All they talk about is clothes and silly girly stuff on TV.”

“No, they don’t!” Preeti defended her two best friends. “You’re just annoyed because they don’t want to hang out with my extremely annoying little brother,” she
said with slow emphasis.

“I don’t want to hang out with them, either!” Viren stuck out his tongue, darted back into his bedroom, and slammed the door.

“Boys!” Preeti sighed as she went to get dressed in warm clothes and boots. Her grandma was making breakfast when Preeti came downstairs into the big
eat-in kitchen. It was a big light room, with a table and chairs and comfy sofas set near patio doors that looked out onto the garden.

Sunetra Nimesh wore a pale green sari, and her graying dark hair was pinned into a neat bun at the back of her head. Small stud earrings twinkled at her ears. She looked up with a warm smile. “Good morning, darling.”

“Hi, Grandma!” Preeti sang out, sitting at the table and helping herself to the delicious freshly made chapatis. She loved it when Grandma made these for a special treat. They were much tastier than their normal breakfast cereal.

Preeti was looking forward to the next few days. This was almost like having a winter vacation! As she ate, she began
making plans. Maybe she’d dig the old sled out of the barn. Then she, Lisa, and Hayley could all go to the nearby park. There was a big hill there, and it would be fun to have races down the snow-covered slope.

She decided that she’d call them as soon as she finished breakfast.

“I wonder what the weather forecast is.” Grandma switched on the TV.

Preeti looked up as the announcer began speaking.

“Heavy snow is expected for the next two weeks. People are advised not to travel unless it’s absolutely necessary. Many roads are impassable, and most schools and many businesses are closed. There are no buses running at the moment . . .”

“Oh.” Preeti’s shoulders drooped. Hayley and Lisa both lived miles
away, all the way across town. They weren’t going to be able to get to her house. “It’s not going to be much fun staying home from school if I’m all by myself,” she said glumly.

“It is lucky that you and Viren can play with each other,” Grandma said, pouring her a glass of milk.

Yeah, just great—not!
Preeti thought. The last thing she felt like doing was babysitting her little brother.

“Good morning.” Mrs. Nimesh greeted them both as she came in with Viren.

Preeti saw that her mom was wearing a sweat suit instead of the usual skirt and jacket she wore to the law firm. She guessed that she’d decided to work from home today.

Preeti excused herself and stood up. “I think I’ll go to the barn and check on the pets. It’s freezing outside, and they might need extra bedding.”

“Aren’t you glad that we haven’t bought you that pony you wanted?” her mom commented. “Imagine having to muck out in this awful weather.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Preeti said at once. She meant it, too. She knew she’d do anything for a real pony of her own. She and Lisa and Hayley talked about them all the time.

“I’ll help you!” Viren said, grabbing a
chapati and leaping up.

Grandma put a hand on his arm. “No, you will not. Stay there now. Eat,” she urged. “Your sister can feed those rabbits and guinea pigs.”

Preeti grabbed her coat from the mudroom and went outside. The air smelled cold and clean, with a chalky freshness. An icy wind was now blowing, and cold snowflakes stung her face and stuck to her eyelashes. She wondered if Lisa and Hayley were missing her as much as she was missing them.

Preeti pulled up her collar as she trudged through the deep snow. Her boots sank almost up to their tops as she picked her way slowly to the huge old barn at the edge of the garden. Beyond it was a blurred white view of open fields
and woods. Opening the barn door, she went inside.

A warm smell of clean animals met her. The far end of the barn housed her dad’s lawn mower, workbench, and gardening stuff. Three large cages stood against one wall.

“Hi, guys!” Preeti said, bending down to talk to the bunnies and guinea pigs.
“Guess what. It’s snowing outside! It’s a good thing you’re all cozy in here.”

The little animals came snuffling up to the wire mesh to greet her. Her favorites were two handsome guinea pigs, called Chandra and Surya. Surya had golden fur that grew in swirly rosettes. And Chandra had petal-soft silver-tipped gray fur.

Preeti filled water bottles, tipped food into bowls, and replaced soiled bedding. Luckily she had recently stocked up on food. A friendly local farmer had sold them a huge bale of straw and a bunch of hay. So no matter how long the snow lasted, she knew that the animals would be warm and well fed.

She had just finished cleaning up when there was a bright flash of violet light and a shimmering cloud appeared
in the center of the barn. Preeti saw twinkling crystal droplets forming on her coat sleeves.

“Oh!” She narrowed her eyes as she tried to see through the strange multicolored mist. Had some kind of weird ice storm blown into the barn?

As the mist began to fade, Preeti saw that a pony was walking toward her. It was sturdily built, with a well-shaped head, a pretty light-grayish-brown coat, and a darker gray mane and tail.

“Can you help me, please?” it asked in a velvety neigh.

Preeti felt her mouth drop open as she stared at the pretty pony in complete shock. She must have been so amazed at seeing it just appear in their barn that she was imagining things. There was no way a pony could talk!

“Where did you just come from? How did you get in here?” she murmured aloud to herself.

The pony flared its nostrils and lifted its head. “I have just arrived here from far away,” it whinnied.

Preeti did a double take. “Y-y-you really c-c-can talk? But . . . but how come?”

“All the other magical Lightning Horses in my herd can talk,” the pony told her proudly. “My name is Comet. What is yours?”

Preeti still couldn’t believe this was really happening. It was like something out of a fairy tale. She felt like pinching herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

“I—I’m . . . um, Preeti Nimesh,” she found herself saying. “I live here with my parents, my grandma, and my little brother, Viren.”

Comet dipped his head in a formal bow, and his dark gray mane swung forward.
“I am honored to meet you, Preeti.”

“Er . . . me too,” Preeti, said, wondering if she should curtsy or something. She settled for bowing her head in a jerky little movement. “Did you say that you came from far away? Like a different town or something?”

“A lot farther. I live in another world, on Rainbow Mist Island, with my twin sister, Destiny.”

“Really? Cool! Is she outside in the snow?” Preeti asked, fascinated, about to go back into the garden and look for another talking pony.

Comet shook his head. “Destiny is here in your world, but she is in hiding. She fled here after the Stone of Power was lost during a game of cloud-racing. This stone protects our Lightning Herd from the dark horses who want to steal our magic. I found it, but Destiny had already run away. I have come to find her and take her home.”

Preeti swallowed hard as she stared at the amazing pony, who, she noticed, had beautiful glowing deep-violet eyes. He looked like a Highland pony she had seen in one of her magazines.

Everything Comet had told her
sounded so strange and magical. She was still having trouble taking it all in. But one thing in particular fascinated her.

“You say you were cloud-racing? But how . . .”

Comet’s large eyes widened. “Stand back, please,” he snorted.

Preeti felt a warm tingling sensation flowing down to her fingertips as bright violet sparks bloomed in his mouse-colored coat, and more shimmering rainbow mist billowed around him. The sturdy Highland pony was gone, and in its place was a pale-cream pony with a long flowing mane and tail that sparkled like spun gold thread. But it was the spreading gold-feathered wings springing from his shoulders that took Preeti’s breath away.