Holly's Jolly Christmas (8 page)

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Authors: Nancy Krulik

BOOK: Holly's Jolly Christmas
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“Thanks.” Suzanne smiled brightly.
“How does Heather look in her costume?” Emma W. asked Suzanne.
“Not as great as I look in this dress,” Suzanne said, spinning around so the kids could see her new red and green dress. “But of course, she doesn’t need to look that nice. She’s only on stage for a minute or two. I’m going to be out here being a spokesmodel before the show and during the intermission.”
“You do look pretty,” Katie assured Suzanne.
“I’ll be back at intermission for more candy,” George assured her.
“Try our peanut brittle,” Suzanne suggested. She flashed George a model-y smile. “It’s delicious.”
“We’d better get inside if we want good seats,” Jeremy said.
“Yeah. We’ll see you at intermission, Suzanne,” Katie said.
“I’ll be here during intermission and all during tomorrow night’s show, too,” Suzanne assured her. “This is the perfect job for me.”
“That was a really good show,” Katie said later that evening, as she, Emma W., George, and Jeremy drove home with Katie’s grandmother and Nick.
“It was okay,” George said. “Except for when Heather cried.”
“They probably shouldn’t have used a real baby in the show,” Emma W. said. “A doll would have been better.”
“Definitely,” Jeremy said. “And I’m sure tomorrow Suzanne will be telling everyone that.”
The kids all laughed. They all knew Suzanne loved to say “I told you so.”
“Your scenery looked beautiful,” Emma told Katie. “I really felt like we were in the North Pole.”
“Thanks,” Katie said. “That’s exactly how we wanted it to look.”
“Wouldn’t it be great to be an elf in Santa’s Workshop?” George asked the other kids.
“Too bad that’s impossible,” Katie said.
“Is it?” Katie’s grandma asked the kids.
“Of course it is, Grandma,” Katie said. “We live in Cherrydale. That’s pretty far from the North Pole.”
“What if I told you that I could take you to Santa’s Workshop?” Nick said.
The kids laughed again.
“I’ll tell you what,” Nick said. “Tomorrow is your last school day before vacation. When school lets out, I’ll pick you kids up and take you to Santa’s Workshop.”
“You can’t
really
do that,” Katie said.
“Sure I can,” Nick told her. “Anything is possible at Christmastime.”
Chapter 15
“You can’t get to the North Pole in a car,” Matthew Weber told Nick the next afternoon.
Matthew was Emma W.’s little brother. He had tagged along with Katie and her friends on their North Pole Experience. That was what Nick was calling this exciting after-school trip.
“Well, how else would we get to the North Pole?” Nick asked Matthew. “We can’t walk there.”
“You have to fly,” Matthew said. “In a sleigh, pulled by reindeer.”
“Or at least in a plane,” George added.
“Ho, ho, ho,” Nick laughed. “I think this old car will get us there just fine.”
Katie didn’t really think Nick was taking them to the North Pole. But he sounded so sure of himself that Katie didn’t know what to believe.
“We’re almost there,” Nick said. “So you kids had better bundle up. It’s plenty cold up at the North Pole.”
Emma W. turned to her little brother. “You’d better put on your hat and gloves, Matty,” she said. “And don’t forget your scarf.”
“If I put all that on, how will Santa recognize me?” Matthew asked Emma.
“He’ll just know,” Emma assured him. “Santa’s smart that way.”
“How many miles have we gone so far?” Katie asked Jeremy.
“I don’t know,” he said.
“Don’t you have your pedometer with you?” she wondered.
Jeremy nodded. “It only works when you walk, not when you drive.”
“Besides, these are magical miles,” Nick said. “You can’t measure a trip to the North Pole in a regular way.”
Katie looked over at Matthew. She could tell the first-grader was soaking in everything Nick said. She didn’t want to tell him that Nick was only teasing. So she said, “Everything about Christmas is magical. Don’t you think so, Matthew?”
Matthew nodded. “Are we gonna meet the reindeer?” he asked Nick. “I want to see Rudolph’s red nose.”
“I don’t know if we’ll see Rudolph,” Nick told Matthew. “He might be resting up. It’s a big job leading a sleigh on Christmas Eve. But I think we’ll be able to see some other reindeer.”
“Cool,” Matthew said excitedly.
“Do you guys know what you call a reindeer wearing earmuffs?” George asked.
“What?” Jeremy wondered.
“You can call him anything,” George answered. “He can’t hear you!”
Everyone laughed. Especially Nick. He let out a hearty, “Ho, ho, ho.”
A few minutes later, Nick turned off the main road. Suddenly, the kids found themselves driving through a snowy winter wonderland. Crystal-like icicles hung from the trees. And the smell of pine drifted in through the car windows.
“We’re here!” Matthew squealed excitedly. “This looks just like the North Pole in my picture book.”
“You’re right, Matthew,” Nick said. He parked the car and opened the door. “Welcome to the North Pole, kids!”
As Katie stepped out of the car, she saw a big red and white striped sign. It read: North Pole Winter Fun Park.
“It’s an amusement p . . .” Katie started. But then she stopped herself when she caught a glimpse of Matthew’s face. His eyes were open wide. He was so excited. He thought they were at the real North Pole. Katie didn’t want to ruin that. “It’s amazing!” she corrected herself quickly.
A small man with big, brown eyes walked over to greet them. He was wearing a pair of green overalls, a red shirt, and a red and green ski jacket.
“Welcome to the North Pole, kids,” he greeted them. “I’m Mr. Frost. I’ll be your guide to Santa’s Workshop.”
“Wow!” Matthew said. “We’re going to the workshop!”
“Are we going on a sleigh ride, too?” Katie asked Mr. Frost excitedly. Then she blushed. She sounded just like a little kid.
But Katie’s friends were just as excited as she was.
“You sure will,” Mr. Frost assured her.
“I’ve never seen a real reindeer,” Jeremy said.
“Me neither,” Emma added.
“I need some hot chocolate,” George said. “It’s cold up here at the North Pole.”
Mr. Frost smiled. “It sure is. There’s hot chocolate over there in that little cottage. Why don’t you go over and get yourself some?”
The kids all looked up at Nick.
“Is it okay?” Katie asked him.
“Go ahead,” Nick replied. “Mr. Frost and I have to arrange for that reindeer ride you want.”
“Are we going to fly in a sleigh?” Matthew asked.
“We won’t be flying,” Mr. Frost told him. “Only Santa can do that. But you’ll be in a sleigh and reindeer will be pulling you.”
“That sounds fun, too,” Emma W. said.
As Nick and Mr. Frost spoke, Katie and her friends trudged through the snow to the little cottage. It looked just like a gingerbread house, with candy canes around the windowsills, and gumdrop designs on the doors. And when they opened the door, the smell of sweet hot chocolate came blasting out at them.
“This place is amazing!” Jeremy exclaimed, as he hurried over and poured himself a big cup of hot chocolate.
“I could eat this whole house,” George said. “If the gumdrops weren’t wood and the candy canes weren’t made of plaster, that is.”
Katie giggled. Everything George said always came out sounding so funny.
Suddenly, the kids heard bells outside the little cottage. Katie ran over to the window to see what was going on out there. Her face lit up with excitement.
“Those are sleigh bells!” she exclaimed. “And the sleigh is being pulled by three real reindeer. You should see how huge their antlers are!”
The kids all rushed outside for a closer look. Nick was standing beside the reindeer. He was feeding them sugar cubes.
“Can I try?” Katie asked.
“Sure,” Nick said. He handed her a sugar cube.
As Katie held her hand up to the reindeer’s mouth, she noticed something odd. “He has fur on his lips,” she said.
Nick nodded. “That protects his mouth from the cold. You’d need a fur coat over your mouth, too, if you lived at the North Pole.”
“That’s why I have my scarf pulled over my mouth,” Katie told Nick.
Nick smiled. “Exactly. But you have to admit, a reindeer would look pretty funny in a wool scarf.”
Katie giggled at the thought of it.
“Reindeer are so amazing,” Emma W. said.
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Nick told her. “Wait until you’re dashing through the snow, in a reindeer open sleigh . . .”
The kids all laughed at Nick’s funny version of “Jingle Bells.”
The driver of the sleigh, a tall, skinny man in a long overcoat, hopped down from his seat. He tipped his hat and bowed to Katie. “Pleased to meet you. I’m Tom.”
“I’m Katie,” she answered.

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