Winter Wonderland #5 Read online

  “I found Comet in . . . um . . . the garden,” she began. “He must have wandered in . . . from that empty field next to the road or something,” she went on, gaining confidence as she remembered that ponies were sometimes tethered there. “Comet looked cold and hungry, so I decided to bring him into the barn.”

  “He was pretty clever to come here, wasn’t he?” Viren went up to Comet and stroked his nose. “Poor thing. I bet you couldn’t get to the grass, because of all the snow.” He turned back to Preeti. “How come you know his name?”

  “I don’t,” Preeti fibbed. “I called him Comet because . . . I’ve . . . um, always liked that name.”

  “I like it, too. It suits him,” Viren decided. “Comet can stay here, can’t he? It’s nice and warm, and we can feed him straw and stuff.”

  “Ponies eat hay. Straw’s just for their beds—” Preeti started explaining when Comet neighed eagerly.

  “I would like to live in here, very much. It is a safe place.” He pricked his ears as he swept the barn with keen eyes.

  Preeti did a double take. What was Comet doing? He had just given himself away in front of Viren!

  But her little brother appeared not to have noticed anything odd. It was very strange.

  Trying to gather her wits, she said, “Well—I don’t suppose anyone’s going to come looking for Comet until the roads are clear. And he does need somewhere to shelter from the—”

  “So we can keep him? Cool!” Viren interrupted. “Great! I’ll go and tell Mom and Dad and Grandma. I’m going to get a brush so I can groom him. We’ve got a pet pony! We’ve got a pet pony!” he chanted in an annoying singsong voice, jumping around.

  Before Preeti could protest that Comet was actually her friend and that he definitely wasn’t anyone’s pet, especially not Viren’s, her little brother had slipped outside. She went to the door and saw him scuttling back to the house through the tracks she’d made earlier.

  “I’m going to tell everyone about Comet. I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces!” he shouted over his shoulder to her.

  Preeti gave a sigh and tried not to feel too disappointed. She’d been really excited about doing that herself. Even if she could only say that Comet was a normal pony who had turned up looking for food and shelter.

  She turned back to the magic pony. “Now that Viren’s decided that you belong to both of us, we’ll never get rid of him. He’ll be trailing around with us all the time.”

  “Viren seems like a nice little boy,” Comet neighed.

  “But he can be a real pest,” Preeti said, shaking her head slowly. “Everyone lets him do whatever he wants. So he’s totally spoiled.” But something else was bothering her. “How come he didn’t seem to hear you speak to me just now?”

  Comet wrinkled his lips in amusement. “I used my magic so that only you will be able to see and hear me. To anyone else, I will seem like a normal pony.”

  “Really?” Preeti felt herself cheering up. Viren might have laid claim to Comet, but only she had been trusted with her new friend’s wonderful secret!

  “Comet had better live in our barn until the weather breaks and we can find out who owns him,” Mrs. Nimesh was saying as Preeti came back into the house. “I know it’s not an ideal stable, but it’ll only be for a short time.” She smiled at her daughter. “It looks like you have a pony to take care of, after all, Preeti!”

  “Yay! Isn’t it great?” Preeti felt her grin stretch from ear to ear.

  “And I do, too. Comet’s half mine!” Viren insisted.

  Preeti wisely kept silent.

  Her mom went to make a quick phone call to the local pet center and leave their address and phone number, in case Comet’s owner turned up.

  Preeti was totally confident that no one was going to claim her secret magical friend.

  “We’re keeping the pony. We’re keeping the pony!” Viren pretended to be riding around the kitchen. Clicking his tongue, he made clopping noises as he galloped out of the kitchen and thudded up the stairs.

  Preeti decided to go back down to the barn to tell Comet the good news about him being allowed to stay. Besides, she wanted to settle him in properly. She was halfway there when she heard a familiar voice.

  “Wait for me! I’m coming, too. I want to help!” Viren insisted.

  “Okay, then, but you have to do as I say,” she told him.

  He frowned. “Why?”

  “Because I’m older and I know how to look after ponies,” Preeti said firmly. “Deal?”

  Viren groaned, but when he saw that she was serious, he shrugged. “Deal.”

  Comet looked up as they came in. “Greetings, Preeti. Greetings, Viren,” he snorted.

  “Hi, Comet!” Viren sang out, rushing straight over to stroke him.

  Preeti smiled at Comet. “We’ve come to make you a comfortable stable.”

  She showed Viren how to spread a thick layer of straw to make a cozy bed.

  “Easy-peasy!” He gathered armfuls of straw, but he dropped more than half of it and left wisps and clumps all over the floor.

  Preeti decided that it was easier to just let him get on with it and then clean up afterward. She knew from experience that her brother would get upset if she pointed out that he was making a mess.

  “Right. Finished!” Viren said proudly a few minutes later. He dusted off his hands. “I’m going to build a snowman now! Come and help me, Preeti.”

  “I still have to finish up in here. You go ahead and I’ll follow you in a minute,” she said.

  “Well, hurry up then.”

  Once her brother had gone outside, Preeti filled a bucket with water and then found some old netting and managed to rig up a makeshift hay net.

  Comet nibbled at the hay with his strong young teeth. “It is very warm and safe here. Thank you,” he whinnied.

  “You’re welcome!” Preeti smiled, pleased that Comet liked his cozy new stable.

  “Preeti! Where are you?” Viren bawled impatiently from the garden. “I’m getting bored by myself.”

  “I’m just cleaning up!” Preeti called to him. She sighed. What a mess!

  She was just about to start tackling it when she felt a strange tingling sensation flowing down to the ends of her fingers. Bright violet sparks ignited in Comet’s silky mouse-brown coat, and his dark gray mane crackled with tiny lightning bolts of power.

  Preeti’s eyes widened. Something very strange was about to happen.

  She watched in amazement as every last scrap of the scattered straw twitched up into the air. Swoosh! Crackle! It swirled around for a few seconds before gathering together and forming the shape of a large straw robot. Rustle! He marched across the barn to where the straw bales were stored and jumped on top of them.

  With a soft whispering sound, the straw robot collapsed into a neat heap, just as every last bright spark faded from Comet’s coat.

  “Wow! That was amazing!” Preeti said. “It would have taken me ages to clean all that up. Thanks, Comet.”

  “You are welcome. Now you can go and have fun in the snow, too.” Comet leaned forward to push his satiny nose into her hands.

  Preeti’s heart melted as the magic pony huffed warm grass-scented breath over her fingers. She felt a surge of fondness for him. Comet hadn’t been here for long, but she already loved him to pieces.

  As Preeti made her way through the garden, it finally stopped snowing. The sky was milk-white above the rooftops.

  Viren was on the small lawn outside the sitting-room window. He was puffing and panting as he piled armfuls of snow into a big mound.

  “That took you forever,” he complained moodily. “I bet you wanted to stay there with Comet, so you had him all to yourself. He’s mine, too, you know!”

  “Actually, I was cleaning up the mess you made!” Preeti exclaimed. She bit back an even ruder reply as she silently counted to ten. “Never mind. Let’s build this snowman,” she said more calmly, bending down to scoop up some snow.

  Thump!
A snowball hit her on the arm.

  “What a shot!” Viren crowed.

  “Hey!” Grinning, Preeti threw one back at him.

  Suddenly, they were pelting each other with snowballs. In all the fun of the fight, Preeti forgot for a while to be mad at her brother. Her breath was steaming out in the cold air, and her cheeks began to glow.

  “Truce!” she gasped finally as another snowball hit her on the head, and powdery snow dribbled inside her coat collar. “We’d better stop now or we’ll never finish this snowman!”

  “Okay,” Viren agreed. “But I won!” His cheeks were flushed, too, and his dark eyes shone mischievously.

  “If you say so,” Preeti said.

  “I do!” he shot back, having the last word.

  They made a big pile of snow and patted it into shape. Soon they had the snowman’s body. Preeti showed her little brother how to roll a snowball around so that it gathered snow, and it soon grew to the right shape and size for a head.

  “Should we give him a face?” she asked.

  “Not yet,” Viren said, his eyes sparkling. “We have to make some legs.”

  “Legs?” Preeti raised her eyebrows; then she remembered his earlier plan to make a snow dinosaur.

  They made four stumpy legs and put them on so they stuck straight out from the snowman’s body. They looked a little weird, but Viren nodded in satisfaction. He began forming two small triangular ears on the top of the head and shaping the face into a longish muzzle.

  “That’s the funniest-looking dinosaur I’ve ever seen!” Preeti said, starting to laugh.

  Viren frowned. “It’s not a dinosaur. Can’t you tell what it is?”

  “Give me a clue!” Preeti said, putting her head to one side.

  “Just a minute.” Viren went and scrabbled in the snow beneath a small tree and then returned with a handful of twigs. He jabbed a clump of them between the lumpy ears and placed the rest of them in a line that marched down the back of the neck.

  “Now can you tell what it is?” he asked.

  “A snow alien?” Preeti spluttered.

  Viren scowled with annoyance. He put his hands on his hips. “No, you dummy. It’s a snow pony! Obviously!”

  “Obviously—not!” Preeti replied—it looked like a very odd pony to her.

  “I’ve made a friend for Comet. I’m going to tell him,” Viren said, heading back toward the barn.

  “I’ll come with you,” Preeti said, breathing on her gloves to warm her cold fingers. “Then I think we should go and get some hot chocolate. I’m freezing.”

  “Okay. Maybe Comet’s cold, too. We could bring him some hot chocolate.”

  “Ponies only drink water,” she told him, not really concentrating. “And he’ll be fine in the barn. He said that he likes it there, because it’s cozy and warm.”

  “How did Comet tell you that?” Viren scoffed. “Ponies can’t talk!”

  “Um . . . no, of course they can’t. I was . . . er, just thinking that’s what he’d say if he could talk,” Preeti said hastily, realizing that she was going to have be more careful about keeping Comet’s secret.

  “It’s so cool having a pony to look after,” Viren declared excitedly. “I’m going to spend every moment I can out here with Comet. I might bring my sleeping bag out so I can sit and read to him. And I could . . .”

  Preeti’s heart sank as Viren chattered on. The way her little brother was taking over completely was really annoying and presented her with a big problem.

  “I can’t see how I’m going to slip away by myself so we can search for Destiny,” she whispered to Comet. “He’s even talking about camping out in the barn!”

  Comet’s deep-violet eyes twinkled, and he swished his gray tail. “I believe in you, Preeti. I know you will think of a way,” he neighed confidently.

  As evening fell, the snow began falling again, and it soon covered the tracks Preeti and Viren had made through the garden earlier. The news on TV showed pictures of people stranded on highways, and planes unable to take off from airports. Everything was at a standstill.

  “The trouble is, we’re not used to this weather in this part of the country,” Mrs. Nimesh said, switching channels with the remote control. “If we were, there’d be special measures in place to deal with it, like enough snowplows to clear the main roads.”

  Grandma glanced out of the sitting-room window at the snow pony on the lawn. It seemed to glow faintly in the moonlight. “He is very beautiful. He could be there for a long time in this freezing weather,” she commented.

  Preeti was curled up in a chair, reading a book of pony stories. She loved the feeling of being warm and cozy inside the house when everything was white and frozen outside. Comet was safe in the barn, and there would be no school for a while, so she could spend a ton of time with him.

  If only she could think of a way of distracting Viren for a few hours, everything would be perfect.

  She looked up to smile at her grandma and saw that she looked a bit worried. “Is something wrong?” she asked.

  “I was just thinking about Mr. Linford. He lives alone and his relatives are very far away. I hope he will be all right.” Mr. Linford was an elderly gentleman whom Grandma had met while she was giving lessons in Indian cooking at the local community center. They often met to talk and share a pot of tea.

  “Does he live very far away?” Preeti asked.

  “No. It is only three minutes away by car. But, of course, I cannot drive to see him.”

  “Why don’t you walk there and visit him?” Preeti suggested. She had a sudden brain wave. “Maybe Viren will go with you.”

  Grandma smiled. “That is a kind thought. I think I will call Mr. Linford now.” She left the room and Preeti soon heard her talking to her friend.

  “How is he?” she asked when her grandma returned a few minutes later.

  “Mr. Linford said he is fine for now,” Grandma told her. “But he is rather worried that he cannot get out of his house to get to the store for milk and bread. Perhaps we could visit him, in a day or two, and take him some groceries?”

  Mr. Nimesh looked up from where he sat reading his newspaper. “The sidewalk is very icy, Mother. Please take great care if you go out walking.”

  Grandma nodded worriedly. “Ice is a problem. Well, perhaps this cold spell will not last. Those TV weathermen do not know everything.” She shook her head slowly as she went into the kitchen.

  Preeti watched her go. She hadn’t really thought about the problems that snow could bring. She realized now that this weather wasn’t fun for everyone, especially older people.

  She read for a bit longer and then stifled a yawn as she closed her book. It was getting late, and she decided to go and see Comet before she went upstairs to bed. Viren had left the room a little while ago, and she thought she had heard him going upstairs. He was probably already in bed, asleep.

  But the moment Preeti went into the garden, she spotted fresh tracks in the snow that led to the barn.

  Viren hadn’t gone to bed at all. He had sneaked out again to see Comet. She couldn’t suppress a prickle of resentment. It was starting to look as if she’d never be alone with Comet.

  Then she had an idea. There was only one thing to do

  Preeti woke with a start to find the bedroom still dark and the house silent.

  She dressed quickly, being extra careful not to make any noise, and crept downstairs. Grabbing the nearest coat, she threw it on and then thrust her feet into a pair of worn old boots before tiptoeing outside.

  The bright moonlight cast midnight-blue shadows across the snow and made it easy to see as she went down to the barn.

  Comet gave a soft neigh of welcome as she slipped inside. “You are alone?”

  “Yes, at last! Hi, Comet.” Preeti reached up to stroke his silky cheek. “We’ve got lots of time to go out looking for Destiny before everyone wakes up! Let’s go!”

  “Thank you. Climb onto my back, Preeti.” Comet tossed his head with eage
rness, his eyes flashing.

  Preeti nervously climbed up and sat astride him. It had been forever since her last riding lesson, and anyway, she wasn’t used to riding bareback. But the moment she twined her hands in his thick gray mane, Comet’s warm magic seemed to spread around her, and she felt completely safe and secure.

  Comet moved forward and in two strides reached the closed barn door. “Wait! I’ll open it . . .” Preeti began.

  Then she gasped as, with a flash of bright violet sparks, Comet gave a mighty leap and floated through the door in a swoosh of glittering mist that left the door unchanged. They were soon galloping across the snow, the magic pony’s shining hooves barely brushing the white surface and leaving no tracks.

  Preeti laughed aloud with delight as they sped along in the silver moonlight, with snowflakes gently falling around them. Excitement raced through her. Comet was amazing to ride, so smooth and thrilling. His magic surrounded them, and no matter how fast they raced along, she felt perfectly safe.

  The magic pony’s head turned left and right as he rushed onward. His keen eyes were searching for any sign that Destiny had come this way.

  “Hold tight!” Comet warned.

  He flashed over silent roads in the blink of an eye, and stores and houses passed by in a blur. They shot past factories and buildings until they came to the edge of town. An expanse of snow-covered fields stretched ahead of them.

  “Look!” Preeti cried after a while, pointing to a field with a shelter at one end. Tractor marks led across the snow to a bale of hay that four hardy little ponies with thick winter coats were eating. “Maybe Destiny is disguised as one of those.”

  Comet checked his stride and slowed as he cantered over to investigate. But none of the little group was Destiny. He trotted away sadly.

  “I hope Destiny is hiding somewhere safe,” Comet nickered, his head drooping. “The dark horses will steal her magic if they can.”