Christmas Pony

Arlen Blumhagen

Description

The Anderson twins had asked for a pony for Christmas since they were five. At the age of twelve their dream comes true. They get their pony, and are two of the happiest kids on earth!Their joy is short-lived, however, when their precious pony wanders off into the wilderness. The children's sadness turns to horror when they try to find their beloved colt, only to become lost themselves, wandering in the mountains with a frigid Montana winter night bearing down on them.Are the kids savvy enough to survive the December night? Can their parents endure the night, not knowing what's happened to their children? Will the pony be found, or fall victim to some mountain predator?The Christmas Pony is a heartwarming story, filled with excitement, danger, and adventure.

Informations

• Publié par: Untreed Reads
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 0001
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781611874723
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Christmas Pony
By Arlen Blumhagen

Copyright 2012 by Arlen Blumhagen
Cover Copyright 2012 by Ginny Glass and Untreed Reads Publishing
The author is hereby established as the sole holder of the copyright. Either the publisher (Untreed Reads) or author may enforce copyrights to the fullest extent.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold, reproduced or transmitted by any means in any form or given away to other people without specific permission from the author and/or publisher. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to the living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Also by Arlen Blumhagen and Untreed Reads Publishing
Mount: A Mountain Man’s Adventures
The Killings in Boulder Valley
Green Beans & Murder (part of the Untreed Reads anthology
The Killer Wore Cranberry: A Second Helping )

http://www.untreedreads.com
Christmas Pony
By Arlen Blumhagen
The Anderson twins, like just about every other kid ever raised in Montana, had asked for a pony since they’d been five. What made the Andersons different was the fact that they lived a few miles outside of town on about three acres of land, so there really wasn’t any good reason why mom, Alice, and dad, Alan, couldn’t…pony-up, if you will. Allison and Aaron Anderson figured that out about age seven, and had been relentless since.
Not only did they ask for a pony for their birthday on February 10th, and of course every Christmas, but they also asked for a pony as a Fourth of July present or maybe a Halloween treat. When Mom or Dad asked them to take out the garbage or mow the lawn, the standard answer was, “sure…for a pony.” Then they went and did their chores, because Mom and Dad could only be pushed so far.
Alice and Alan Anderson were more understanding than most when it came to their kids’ nagging for a pony. The majority of the time they would patiently smile and ignore the kids, and on present-giving events they would usually get something horribly practical and useful like clothes. The Andersons were both teachers at the high school in town, so they didn’t have much in the way of “fun money.”
And then it happened. After a couple years of planning and saving, plus Alan working a deal with a local farmer to help him on weekends in return for feed, the Anderson twins received a pony for Christmas! If they’d known the trouble, the horror, that lay ahead, they most certainly would’ve gone with a puppy.
* * *
It was Christmas 2010, and the Anderson twins were twelve years old. Because ole man Jennings, who they’d gotten the pony from, was going to the city to see his daughter for Christmas, they got their present on December 22nd. The fact that they got the pony a couple days early certainly didn’t dampen the twins’ excitement.
When they saw the Jennings’s pickup head down their driveway pulling a horse trailer, then they noticed the ear-to-ear grin and bright red cheeks of their mom, they knew. Allison’s and Aaron’s eyes met, and they knew. They yelled and screamed and jumped up and down until the pickup and trailer rolled to a stop beside the small corral that had always stood empty back behind the house. There was a one-stall livestock and tack shed beside the corral that housed Alan’s ATV.
“You kids hush now,” Mr. Jennings warned as he reached for the horse trailer door. “She’s just a colt, and is liable to be a bit skittish.”
The kids quit screaming, but couldn’t help but continue to bounce up and down like a couple of jumping beans out of control. Mr. Jennings went into the trailer and led out the most beautiful pony either of the kids had ever seen. She was a dark reddish-brown that seemed to glow under the winter sun. Her mane and tail were two shades darker than the body. At that moment Allison and Aaron didn’t care if they ever got another present for anything, ever again. It wouldn’t matter, because they had a pony and would be happy for the rest of their lives; or at least until the next day.
* * *
As the first hint of the coming dawn slowly spread across the big sky of Montana, Allison and Aaron were getting dressed-long underwear top and bottom, warm jeans, and sweatshirts. They tiptoed quietly downstairs, so they didn’t wake Mom or Dad, and got into their winter attire-snow boots, snow pants, stocking cap, gloves, and parka. Then they slipped out the backdoor and raced the three hundred feet up to the corral and shed. Dad’s ATV was parked outside.
The door was open between the stall and the corral, and as soon as the kids’ boots hit the lowest rail of the fence, the pony came strolling out.
“Hot damn, we got a pony!” Aaron exclaimed.
“Don’t swear.”
“Ahh shut up.”
“You shut up.”
“We got a pony!”
“Yeah…we got a pony.” There was something akin to disbelief in Allison’s voice. Then a second later her face lit up like a noon sun and an explosion of laughter escaped. “Ha-ha…we got a pony!”
The two jumped down, unlatched the gate, and entered the corral. The pony didn’t come running over like the kids hoped, but it didn’t shy away when they approached either. Despite the cold, the twins took off one glove each, and after letting the pony get a good “get to know ya” sniff, they started petting her, rubbing her nose, under her chin, and along her neck.
“What are we going to call her?” Both kids were giggling with excitement, and Allison had to ask her question around her laughter.
“Sox.” Aaron didn’t hesitate.
Allison checked the pony’s lower legs. “She’s all one color, she doesn’t have socks.”
“No, stupid.” Aaron had to shake his head. Girls could be so dense sometimes. “Not socks, ‘S-O-X’ as in Red Sox.”
“You’re stupid.” Allison too shook her head. Boys could be so frustrating sometimes. “And naming her after a dumb ole baseball team is stupid too.”
“So what do you want to call her?”
Allison’s eyes were as bright as her smile. “Lady Gaga.”
“What!” Aaron’s disgust was evident. “And you thought Sox was stupid?” He shook his head violently. “There is no way we’re naming her Lady Gaga! No way!”
“We’ll let Mom decide.”
“No sir!”
“Why not?”
“Cause she’s a girl.”
“You’re so stupid!” Allison tossed her head and headed for the gate. “I’m going to get the curry comb and brush her.”
“I have to pee.” Aaron followed his sister through the gate then stepped around the corner of the shed.
“You’re gross!”