Holly's Jolly Christmas (9 page)

“Hi, Katie,” Tom said. “Let me help you up.” Tom lifted her into the sleigh.

A few minutes later, Katie and her friends were all snuggled together under a thick, wool blanket. Nick was sitting up front with Tom.

“Is everybody ready?” Tom asked.

“Yeah!” The kids all cheered at once.

“Then let’s giddyup!” Tom said.

Chapter 16

Woosh!
The wind blew hard as the sleigh made its way down the path. Katie was glad the blanket blocked out this wind. That meant it was a real wind—not the magic kind. Katie didn’t want to miss a minute of this sleigh ride because of a silly switcheroo!

“I feel just like Santa,” George said. “Except we’re not flying.”

“I’m cold,” Matthew told his big sister.

“We all are,” Emma told him. Then she pulled him a little closer to keep him warm. “But think about the reindeer. They’re not even wearing coats.”

“They have thick fur,” Tom reminded Emma. “They’re plenty comfortable in this weather. Don’t you worry.”

Nick said, “Imagine pulling a sleigh with Santa and a bundle of toys all around the world on Christmas Eve.
Phew.
”

“I think Santa’s job is even harder,” Katie told Nick. “He’s the one carrying that heavy sack and squeezing down chimneys. The reindeer are just running in the air.”

“I’ve never run through the air,” Emma said. “Maybe it’s harder than regular running.”

“I can name all the reindeer,” Matthew shouted out. “There’s Dasher, and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet, and Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph.”

“Exactly,” Katie told Matthew with a smile. “And they all pull the sleigh as a team. But there’s only one Santa.”

“I love getting presents from Santa!” cried Matthew.

Katie and her friends all laughed at that. Little kids could be so funny sometimes. They were also right a lot of times. After all, who doesn’t love getting presents?

The sleigh ride was over way too soon. Before they knew it, the kids were back at the gingerbread shack.

“Did you have a good time?” Mr. Frost asked the group.

“The best,” Jeremy assured him.

“It was amazing,” Katie agreed.

“The reindeer were so fast,” George added.

“I have to pee,” Matthew said.

Emma W. laughed. Then she turned to Mr. Frost. “Where’s the bathroom?”

Mr. Frost pointed off to the left. “In the building just behind the candy cane maze.”

“The candy cane what?” Katie asked.

“It’s a giant maze,” Mr. Frost explained. “All the paths are marked with huge metal candy canes and licorice sticks. And at the end of the maze is Santa’s Workshop. He just might be in there working with the elves.”

“That sounds like fun,” George said.

“It is,” Mr. Frost assured him. “But I’m warning you, it’s pretty tricky!”

“Not for me,” Jeremy said. “I’m great at mazes.”

“Give it a try,” Mr. Frost told him.

“All right!” Jeremy cheered. He ran off. Emma W., Matthew, and George followed closely behind him.

“You want to come, too, Nick?” Katie asked.

Nick shook his head. “These old bones need some hot chocolate.”

Katie frowned. Soon, Tom and Mr. Frost would go back to work. That meant Nick would be all by himself.

“Do you want me to stay here with you?”

“No, Katie,” Nick said. “I’m fine. You go with your friends. I’ll meet you back at the cottage.”

“Okay,” Katie said. She didn’t have to be told twice. She took off in the same direction as her friends. “Hey! Wait for me!” Katie called. But her friends were too far ahead to hear her.

Brrr.
Suddenly, Katie felt a cold breeze on the back of her neck. This might not be the real North Pole, but it sure felt like it. She pulled her scarf a little tighter around her neck.

But that didn’t help. A little wool scarf couldn’t protect Katie from this wind. After all, the breeze she felt was no ordinary wind. It was the magic wind!

The magic wind picked up speed after that. It blew harder and harder, circling around Katie like an icy tornado. It was so cold, Katie was afraid she was going to freeze into a human snowgirl.

And then it stopped. Just like that.

The magic wind was gone. And so was Katie.

She’d turned into someone new.

But who?

Chapter 17

Katie blinked twice and looked around. She was standing in the snow at the North Pole Winter Fun Park. Right in front of her was the little gingerbread house where she and her friends had gotten hot chocolate. Okay, so now she knew
where
she was. But she still didn’t know
who
she was.

It was weird. Although Katie was outside, she didn’t feel cold right now. In fact, she was kind of warm and comfortable. Like she was cuddled under a wool blanket. But she wasn’t under a blanket.

Katie looked down at her feet. Uh-oh! Instead of her pink and white boots, Katie was staring at two hairy front hooves. How gross was that?

Wait a minute. Hooves? Katie didn’t have hooves. They weren’t something fourth-grade girls stood on. Fourth-grade girls had feet.

But
reindeer
had hooves.
Hairy
hooves. Just like the ones Katie was staring at right now. And that could only mean one thing.

The magic wind had switcherooed Katie into one of Mr. Frost’s reindeer! Katie believed in getting into the Christmas spirit as much as anyone—but this was ridiculous!

Katie licked her hairy reindeer lips. Boy was she thirsty. And before she could stop herself, Katie suddenly lowered her head and antlers and began licking at the snow on the ground.

Hairy lips?
What a yucky thought. Still, Nick was right. Her reindeer lips weren’t chapped at all, despite the cold snow. That hair sure came in handy.

Suddenly, Katie felt someone petting the back of her neck. “Kids, this is Randy the reindeer,” she heard Tom say. “He’s leading our sleigh tonight.”

Katie turned her head and gulped. A bunch of little kids were in the sleigh. And did Tom just say she was supposed to lead it? How did you do that? She had no idea where to go. Tom was making a big mistake.

But there was no way to warn Tom that Randy the reindeer wasn’t up for the job. It wasn’t like she could actually talk to him or anything. After all, Katie wasn’t Katie right now. She was a reindeer. And Katie was pretty sure that even though Tom loved reindeer, he couldn’t actually
speak
reindeer.

“Okay, is everybody all bundled up?” Tom said as he climbed onto his seat at the front of the sleigh.

“Yeah!” Katie heard the children shout.

“Then, giddyup!” Tom cheered.

And with that, they were off. Katie started walking slowly at first. It was hard getting used to the strange sensation of pulling a sleigh over slippery, icy ground.

Luckily, her hooves were like big, hairy snowshoes.

After a few minutes, Katie got the hang of it. Her hooves began to move faster and faster through the woods. The sleigh was heavy. However, with the other reindeer helping, it wasn’t as hard to pull as she thought it would be. And it felt so good to be running, to feel the cold air rushing around her. Her hairy lips broke into a smile. Even though she was hooked up to a sleigh, she felt really free, and really happy.

And then, suddenly, she smelled something in the air. It wasn’t a smell she recognized, but the smell frightened her. It wasn’t anything she could put her finger (or her hoof!) on. She just sensed that something was wrong.

Katie’s reindeer ears perked up at a howling sound coming from behind. Her reindeer heart began to pound harder.

A wolf! There was a wolf in the woods somewhere. And he sounded hungry. That wolf would probably like a yummy reindeer dinner right about now. Or maybe some juicy little children!

Katie gulped. Either way, this was nothing to “ho, ho, ho” about!

Chapter 18

At first, Katie didn’t even realize that the loud noises were coming from her throat. She didn’t even know reindeer could make noises. But there she was, grunting a warning to the other reindeer behind her.

Grunt. Grunt. Grunt.
“There’s a wolf in the woods!” she called to the other reindeer

“What’s the matter, Randy?” Tom asked.

Katie couldn’t answer him. She could only grunt. So that’s what she did.

Grunt, grunt.
“We have to get out of here!”

Katie’s hooves picked up speed. She was running as fast as her reindeer legs could carry her. But it wasn’t fast enough. She could still hear that wolf.

Arooooo!
He sounded like he was getting closer.

Katie had to get off the path. From the corner of her eye she spotted another path that forked off just to her left. If she could just make the turn fast enough, she could get out of the way of the oncoming wolf.