Magic Reindeer: A Christmas Wish

  Sue Bentley’s books for children often include animals, fairies and wildlife. She lives in Northampton and enjoys reading, going to the cinema and watching the birds on the feeders outside her window. She loves horses, which she thinks are all completely magical. One of her favourite books is Black Beauty, which she must have read at least ten times. At school she was always getting told off for daydreaming, but she now knows that she was storing up ideas for when she became a writer. Sue has met and owned many animals, but the wild creatures in her life hold a special place in her heart.

  Sue Bentley

  A Christmas Wish

  Illustrated by Angela Swan

  PUFFIN

  To our animal friends everywhere. We love you.

  PUFFIN BOOKS

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Books Ltd 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc. 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

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  puffinbooks.com

  First published 2009

  Text copyright © Sue Bentley,

  Illustrations copyright © Angela Swan, 2009

  All rights reserved

  The moral right of the author and illustrator has been asserted

  Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

  ISBN: 978-0-14-195930-6

  Prologue

  ‘I’m coming too!’ Starshine cried, galloping towards the ice bridge after the White Crystal reindeer herd. As he lifted his head, his chocolate-brown eyes flashed with determination.

  It would be a long journey through the night sky to deliver presents to children all over the world. But Starshine had been practising by leaping high over the snow-covered trees into the night sky, and galloping among the stars. He knew he was ready to join the other reindeer.

  Moonlight gleamed on the young reindeer’s fluffy white coat and glowing gold antlers and hooves. The tiny gold snow-globe he wore on a chain round his neck tinkled softly.

  ‘Yay!’ Starshine cried, as with a twitch of his short tail he soared upwards into the night sky.

  Just ahead of him galloped his older brothers Moonfleet and Dazzler. The herd stretched into a single line as they sped ever higher, leaving a silvery trail of hoof-prints behind them in the air.

  Starshine panted a little as he strained to keep up.

  Suddenly there was a bright flash and an enormous reindeer with a wise expression appeared next to him. He had a thick golden neck-ruff and magnificent spreading antlers.

  ‘Father!’

  Starshine puffed out his little chest. How proud of him the reindeer king must be.

  ‘I know that you are eager to run with us, Starshine. But you are not yet ready for this task. Turn back now,’ the king said gently in a deep, soft voice.

  ‘But I am strong and fast!’ Starshine protested. ‘Please let me go with you!’

  The king shook his head, his deep amber eyes gleaming with affection. ‘That is not possible, my son. We have a long way to go and many presents to deliver. I am afraid that you would hold us up.’

  ‘I won’t,’ Starshine began, ‘I promise –’

  ‘That is enough,’ the king said firmly. ‘Return to Ice Mountain Castle, Starshine. We will speak of this later.’

  The young reindeer bowed his head. ‘Yes, Father.’

  He hung back a little as his father rejoined the herd. They disappeared into the night and their trail of shimmering silver hoof-prints began to grow fainter.

  Starshine glanced dejectedly over his shoulder. His icy home world was just visible far below him. Why did he have to return to their castle just because he was the youngest? It wasn’t fair. Moonfleet and Dazzler had all the fun.

  He’d prove to them all that he could keep up! On impulse, the young magic reindeer leapt forward again. His breath came fast as he galloped through the star-pricked blackness.

  But where was the trail? He couldn’t see a single glowing hoof-print. Starshine trod the air in panic; his legs felt so heavy.

  ‘Help! I’m lost!’ he bleated. But there was no one to hear him.

  The golden snow-globe round his neck began to glow. There was a flash of dazzling bright light, and a starry mist of silver and gold surrounded him. Starshine snorted weakly as he felt the magic envelop him and float him gently downwards…

  Chapter

  ONE

  ‘Marie Zaleski?’ the class teacher called, looking up from the register.

  ‘Yes, sir!’ Marie answered. She blushed as there was a ripple of laughter from the girls sitting at the desk opposite.

  ‘You’re supposed to say, “Here, Mr Carpenter”,’ Shannon James jeered. ‘But he wouldn’t understand you anyway!’ Shannon was the most popular girl in class. She had shiny dark-brown hair and a pretty heart-shaped face.

  Marie went even redder. She had lived in Poland for most of her nine years and spoke perfect English. But Shannon took every opportunity to tease her about her accent.

  ‘I like the way Marie talks. It’s different,’ said a boy’s voice from the desk behind her. It was Chris Robins, a lively boy with a cheeky expression who was always messing about.

  Marie turned and darted a quick, shy look at him.

  ‘Yeah, right!’ Shannon crowed, grinning. ‘You would say that, Chris!’

  There was another burst of laughter nearby. As Chris joined in, Marie sank down in her seat. Maybe he’d only been pretending to stick up for her, so he could tease her even more. She shook her head slowly as she thought that she didn’t understand these kids. They often said one thing and meant another.

  ‘Right, class. Quiet down,’ Mr Carpenter ordered, closing the register. ‘Open your history textbooks, please. We’ll carry on reading about how the Victorians celebrated Christmas. After morning break we’ll start making classroom decorations.’

  ‘Sir?’ Shannon put up her hand. ‘Is it true that this year’s play is going to be a musical?’

  ‘That’s right. We’ll be choosing people to play the lead roles tomorrow or the day after,’ the teacher explained.

  ‘Great!’ Shannon jiggled about excitedly. ‘I’m going to be Mary, Baby Jesus’s mother!’ she said confidently.

  Mr Carpenter smiled. ‘Are you sure? That’s a big part with some difficult songs.’

  ‘Shannon’s got a really good voice, sir!’ Chris called out. ‘You wait until you hear it!’

  Shannon grinned smugly as there was a cheer from her classmates. Marie didn’t know whether she ought to join in. She decided not to, in case she drew more at
tention to herself, and bent over her textbook instead.

  On one page there was a picture of a Victorian family standing round a prettily decorated Christmas tree with colourful wrapped presents at its base. Outside the window, carol singers stood in the snow. It looked like the perfect family Christmas.

  Marie sighed unhappily, wishing that her family could all be together for this first Christmas in England. But her dad had stayed behind in Poland because his sister was sick. Marie and her mum were staying with Gran and Gramps Winfield, and Dad was hoping to join them soon.

  Marie glanced out of a nearby window where the playing fields were just visible through lashing rain. Everything was grey, damp and miserable. The morning seemed to drag on forever. But she cheered up a bit after the break when they started on the decorations.

  Marie loved making things and she was really good at it. Folding up some white paper, she carefully cut out shapes along the fold lines. When she opened the paper it turned into a pretty garland of lacy snowflakes.

  As she dabbed on glue and sprinkled on dustings of silver glitter, she thought of Poland. It had been snowing when they left. Everything was gleaming white. The air was crisp and so cold it made your nose prickle to breathe. This snowflake garland reminds me of home, she thought.

  And then she remembered, with a pang, that this was now home.

  Deep in thought, she didn’t notice Chris creeping up behind her with a rubber-band stretched across his fingers like a catapult.

  ‘Hey! Marie!’ he called. ‘That’s a really cool decoration!’

  Taken by surprise, she whipped round, just as he twanged the band at her. It pinged on to her forehead, just above her eyebrow.

  ‘Ow!’ she cried and, to her horror, felt tears stinging her eyes even though it didn’t actually hurt that much.

  ‘Good shot, Chris!’ Shannon crowed.

  But Chris’s face fell. ‘Sorry. It was a joke. I didn’t mean –’

  Marie didn’t want to hear it. She’d had enough of these horrid, unfriendly kids.

  ‘Yes you did!’ she cried, her temper rising. ‘Why don’t you just leave me alone?’ Jumping to her feet, she ran towards the door. ‘I… I need the toilet,’ she murmured to the surprised teacher as she hurtled past him.

  She only meant to go and sit in the cloakroom until she calmed down. But somehow her feet kept right on going, taking her outside and across the playground. She spotted the bike sheds, which were out of sight of the classrooms, and dived into the nearest one.

  ‘I hate it here! I wish we’d never come!’ she panted to herself, wiping away tears with the back of her hand. It wasn’t fair. Why couldn’t her mum have found a brilliant new job in a children’s hospital in Poland instead of here?

  Marie made a decision. She was going straight home to Gran and Gramps Winfield’s house. And she was never coming back to this dumb school where everyone was too busy to bother with a new girl.

  Maybe Mum will let me have lessons at home, she thought, as she prepared to make a dash for the school gate. She rocked forward on to her toes. One! Two! Thr–

  Suddenly there was a bright flash of light, and a mist made up of millions of tiny gold and silver stars filled the bike shed. Marie noticed glittery stars forming and twinkling on her skin.

  ‘Oh!’ She screwed up her eyes, trying to see through the strange shining mist.

  As it cleared Marie noticed a fluffy white reindeer with a softly glowing coat and little golden antlers and hooves walking slowly towards her. Round its neck it wore something that looked like a tiny gold charm on a delicate chain.

  It gave a scared little bleat. ‘Can you help me, please?’

  Chapter

  TWO

  Marie’s eyes widened as she stared at the cute little reindeer in utter astonishment. She had no idea what it could be doing here in the school bike sheds, but she was pretty sure that reindeer couldn’t talk.

  ‘Hello there,’ she said softly, thinking she must be imagining it all. ‘Where did you come from?’

  The reindeer’s sensitive white ears flickered and she saw that it had big chocolate-brown eyes. ‘I have just arrived here. I was following my herd when I became lost. What is this place?’

  Marie did a double take. She felt like pinching herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. But the little reindeer was looking intently at her, as if expecting an answer.

  ‘This is… um, Chiltern Park Junior School,’ she told him.

  ‘I do not know this place. I think I am a long way from home,’ the reindeer said thoughtfully. ‘My name is Starshine of the White Crystal Herd. What is yours?’

  ‘I-I’m Marie. Marie Zaleski,’ she stuttered, still not quite believing that she was actually talking to a reindeer. This was like something out of the Polish folk tales her dad told her.

  Starshine bent his knees and dipped his head in a formal bow. His golden antlers left a trail of sparkling bright light in the dim bike shed, which swiftly faded as he straightened up. ‘I am honoured to meet you, Marie,’ he snorted softly.

  ‘Erm… likewise,’ Marie said, dipping her chin politely. ‘Where did you come from? And how come you can talk, if… um, you don’t me asking,’ she added, keeping very still so that she wouldn’t frighten this amazing creature away.

  Starshine flicked his little mop-like white tail. ‘All the White Crystal Reindeer can talk. We live in Ice Mountain Castle in a faraway world, with my father and mother who are our king and queen. I have two older brothers, Dazzler and Moonfleet. I am the youngest reindeer in the herd –’ Starshine lifted his head proudly ‘– but I am ready to do my duty and deliver presents all over the world to make people happy.’

  Marie was fascinated. She was still trying to take this all in. The little reindeer’s world sounded so strange and magical. Something he said puzzled her, though. ‘You deliver things all over the world? But how…’

  ‘My magic snow-globe helps me. I will show you,’ Starshine snuffled, backing away.

  Marie felt a warm prickling sensation flowing down the back of her neck as what she had thought to be a tiny gold charm on the chain round his neck began to glow and get bigger. An image appeared inside the clear crystal globe.

  Marie leaned forward curiously. She saw an amazing icy world of endless snow-covered peaks, blue glaciers and frozen seas. Topping a massive cliff of ice was a tall building with spires and turrets. It looked like a sparkling cathedral made of glass.

  She saw Starshine – a tiny white shape standing on an ice platform. He glowed so brightly with golden light that Marie had to shade her eyes to look at him. Sparks glinted in his fur and his chocolate-brown eyes twinkled with gold. Around him were lots of older reindeer, all with sparkling white coats, large golden antlers and golden hooves.

  As she watched, a line of reindeer appeared in the sky above the castle, leaving a trail of sparkling golden hoof-prints behind them. They swept downwards and landed beside Starshine.

  Marie realized that she was watching events that must have already happened before Starshine came to her world.

  ‘Wow!’ she breathed in total wonderment. She had never seen anything so beautiful in her entire life. Starshine was cute and pretty with his fluffy white coat and dewy eyes, but in his own world – surrounded by that dazzling halo of golden light – he was a magnificent sight. ‘Is that really where you live with the White Crystal Herd?’

  Starshine nodded, his brown eyes now shadowed by homesickness. ‘Yes. That is Ice Mountain Castle,’ he told her with a little catch in his voice. ‘I followed the others when they left on a trip, but Father told me to go home. I thought I was strong enough to keep up. But I grew tired and became lost. My magic snow-globe brought me here.’ Starshine dipped his head and looked up at her with big sad eyes. ‘I miss my family very much. Will you help me find my way back to them?’

  Marie’s heart melted. She knew how it felt to be lonely and miss someone you loved who was far away. ‘Of course I’ll help you. What do I have to do?
’

  Starshine flicked his little white ears and seemed to cheer up a bit. ‘We must watch the night sky together for a trail of sparkling hoof-prints. It will be invisible to most people in this world, but you will be able to see it if you are with me or very close to me.’

  ‘All right. We’ll keep a look-out for it,’ Marie said. ‘Maybe Mum and Gran and Gramps could help us too? I can’t wait to tell them about you!’

  Starshine lifted his head. ‘I am sorry, Marie. You can tell no one about me or what I have told you.’

  Marie felt disappointed that she couldn’t confide in anyone. But then she thought about how awful today had already been and that it might be nice to have a special secret of her own. She felt proud that Starshine had chosen her to help him. At least now she had a real friend who understood exactly how she felt.

  ‘You must promise me, Marie,’ Starshine insisted, blinking at her with his intelligent eyes.

  Marie nodded readily. She felt determined to do all she could to keep Starshine safe and help him return to his magical ice-world and his family. As she was wondering whether to leave for home now and take Starshine with her, a girl walked into the bike shed.

  It was Shannon James.

  ‘Mr Carpenter sent me to find you. I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Why are you hiding out here?’ she asked.

  Marie panicked. Any minute now Shannon was going to see the little magic reindeer! She had to do something. Spreading her arms wide, she did a funny little shuffle sideways that hid him from view. She hoped he’d get the message and quickly hide behind the rows of bikes.

  The other girl gaped at her in surprise. ‘What are you doing?’

  Marie continued to skip about and wave her arms. ‘Dancing. I’m trying to… er, keep warm,’ she fibbed hastily. ‘I came out here for some fresh air. But I forgot my coat and it’s a bit cold.’ She swirled round in a circle and saw with surprise that Starshine hadn’t moved. He was watching her, his mouth twitching with amusement.