Joe looked out the window as the snow swirled in the wind. Please, please, please, call it off. Please. He listened to the muffled sounds of his mother and father talking as they listened to the radio.
The familiar voice, bringing joy to kids throughout Rhode island, wafted up the stairs as he lay in bed.
“No school Foster-Glocester. No school Barrington. No school Bristol.”
Please, oh please, call it off.
“No school East Providence.”
What? What? They skipped us!
“Sorry there, folks. I missed one. No school Cumberland.”
Joe stopped listening; the rest didn’t matter. In seconds he was dressed and down the stairs. Running to the table, he wolfed down his breakfast.
“Be nice if you would move that fast when you have school,” his mother said.
“Ah, the simple pleasures of youth,” his father sighed then headed off to work. “No rest for the cops though, we go no matter what. See you all later. Oh, almost forgot. That bag of deer feed is in the garage. Do I want to know why your grandfather had me pick that up?”
Joe swallowed the last of his milk and smiled. “Nah, Chrissy and I want to put some feed out for the deer since it’s been so cold. That’s all.”
His father stared for a moment. “Yeah, right. Okay, we’ll assume the best. Have fun.”
Joe brought his dish to the sink and ran for his boots. “I’ll be back later, Mom. Did you need anything before I go?”
“Now I am worried. Up, dressed, put the dishes away with me asking, and you want to know if I need anything. Something’s up here and I see the hand of your grandfather mixed up in this.”
Joe stood still, not sure what to say.
“But, no, I don’t need you for anything. Just be home before dark and whatever it is he’s got you doing, please be careful.”
“I will.” And he was out the door.
Ten minutes later, dragging a sled with the deer feed on it, he met up with Chrissy.
“Where are we gonna find these reindeer?” she asked.
“We don’t. The find us. Now help me pull this thing, it’s heavy.”
Dragging the sled behind them, they struggled up a small hill in the woods. Joe kept stopping to look around.
“What are you looking for?”
“Dunno, my grandfather said look for the reindeer signs but I don’t know the difference between reindeer hoofprints and other animals.”
Chrissy joined in the search, looking on the ground for something helpful. She stopped and turned, looking up at the treetops.
“You ain’t gonna find reindeer hoofprints in the trees. They fly, they don’t climb.”
“Listen, smarty pants, there’s a reason your grandfather asked me to help,” she pointed up and behind Joe. “It’s because I’m smarter than you.”
Joe spun around and hanging from the trees was a big sign.
“Hi, Joe. Start the trail here.”
“What the…” Joe starred at the words.
“Not animal signs, real signs. Obvious once you think about it. I bet we walked right past others. I should have known better than to listen to you. So now what?”
Joe pulled out a small knife and cut a hole in the bag. Grabbing a handful of feed, he tossed it on the ground then headed back to the barn.
“I’ll pull the sled, you scatter the feed so it leads them to the barn.”
“Okay, but they’ll just eat the feed and run off when it’s gone,” Chrissy said, grabbing a handful of feed.
“We’ll see,” Joe said. “We’ll see.”
An hour later, they stood outside the barn, the trail of feed winding its way back into the woods.
“Now what?” Chrissy said, huddling against the wall of the barn trying to block the wind.
“Now, we wait.” Joe said. “But let’s go inside. At least it will be better than out here.”
“Not much, there are—” Chrissy stopped pointed over Joe’s shoulder. “Joe, look.”
Converging through the woods, following the trail of feed, came eight reindeer. They walked to the door of the barn, all lined up, and waited.
“You think they want to go inside?” Chrissy asked.
“I guess so. My grandfather said to just follow their lead, they know what to do.” He walked between the reindeer, petting their heads, then stood at the door. “Ready?”
“I suppose,” Chrissy said, making her way to his side. “But I don’t understand why they want to go inside this place. It’s so full of holes and….” Once again, she stopped mid-sentence.
As the door swung open, the inside was lit by a roaring fire. Elves stood by waiting to lead the reindeer into their warm stalls. The parts of the sleigh were all organized on the floor.
Chrissy blinked twice, not believing what her eyes were seeing.
One elf came over to Joe
“So, you’re the lucky one I see. You’ve much to learn Joe.” He turned to Chrissy. “And you, young lady, you’re the most important part of this. You have much to learn as well. But that can wait. Now we need to get the reindeer ready for training. You’ve done well, so far. But take care on your travels from now on.” He glanced around the room. “The spirit of doubt will soon learn of your presence. Be on guard.”
He let them back to the door and hustled them back out into the weather. “Take care now and come back as soon as you can.”
Closing the door behind them, the barn once again took on the appearance of an abandoned shell.
Part VI Building a Sleigh (Deluxe Model)
P.S. If you’re interested in the previous one from Christmas Past here’s a link. Please share this and this new story with all your family and friends.