Read Online Holly's Jolly Christmas by Nancy Krulik - Free Book Online

rubbed her shoulder. “You have no idea how hard it is.”
    The kids all looked at her funny.
    “I mean, we humans have no idea,” Katie said quickly.
    “Hey, do you guys know what reindeer have that no one else has?” George asked the kids.
    “What?” Jeremy replied.
    “Baby reindeer!” George exclaimed. He started to laugh.
    Everyone else laughed, too. Except Katie, that is. She was too busy watching Mr. Frost sell tickets to his guests. He looked so tired. As tired as Santa and his reindeer must feel on Christmas morning.

Chapter 20
    “Deck the halls with boughs of holly,” George and Emma W. began to sing.
    “Shhh . . . we don’t want to wake him,” Katie whispered. It was early on Thursday morning. Katie and her friends had gone with her grandmother and Nick to deliver a special gift for someone they really liked.
    “Mr. Frost was up really late last night.” Katie hung some silver tinsel over a bush in his front yard.
    “Won’t Mr. Frost be surprised,” Katie’s grandmother told her.
    “I can’t wait until he wakes up and sees what we’ve done,” Katie said. “He didn’t have time to decorate his house himself.”
    “ We barely have time to get it done,” Emma W. said. “Christmas Eve is tonight.”
    “We’ll get it done,” Katie was sure of that. She looked around the front yard. George was hanging Christmas balls from the branches of a maple tree.
    Emma W. and Jeremy were helping Nick string tiny, white lights on all the pine trees. Suzanne was hanging a paper wreath of cut-out handprints on the front door.
    “This looks beautiful!” Katie exclaimed.
    “It’s a winter wonderland all right,” Suzanne agreed. “And my wreath is the crowning touch.”
    Katie laughed. Suzanne never changed. And that was okay. Katie liked her the way she was. Usually.
    “The wreath does look nice,” she told her best friend. “I’m sorry you couldn’t go with us yesterday.”
    “It’s okay,” Suzanne said. “I was busy at the Community Center selling candy again. I think I must have broken a world record for selling peanut brittle.”

    “I’ll bet you did,” Katie told her.
    “Okay, are we ready to get Mr. Frost out here?” Nick asked the kids.
    “Oh yeah!” Katie and her friends shouted back.
    “Then let’s do it!” Katie’s grandmother said.
    The kids all ran up to Mr. Frost’s front porch. They began to sing.
    “We wish you a merry Christmas. We wish you a merry Christmas. We wish you a merry Christmas, and a happy New Year!”
    Suddenly, the door opened. Mr. Frost stood there in his robe and slippers. He blinked a few times and looked out at the group of kids on his front porch.
    “Isn’t it a little early for carolers?” he asked them.
    “We wanted to catch you at home,” Katie told him. “You’re always working in the afternoons and at night.”
    “That’s true,” Mr. Frost said with a smile. “This is a pleasant wake-up surprise.”
    “Oh, that’s not the only surprise,” Nick told him. “Take a look.”
    The kids moved out of the way to give Mr. Frost a better view of his front yard.
    “Oh my!” Mr. Frost exclaimed. “This is so beautiful.”
    “Do you really like it?” Katie asked.
    “I do,” Mr. Frost told her. “In fact, this is the best Christmas surprise I’ve ever had. You know, in all the years I’ve owned the North Pole Winter Fun Park, I’ve never once been able to decorate my house.”
    “You don’t have time to enjoy the holiday yourself,” Katie said.
    Mr. Frost nodded. “Taking care of a park is hard work. Those reindeer need a lot of care.”
    “But it’s worth it,” Katie told him. “They’re really happy.”
    Everyone looked at her strangely.
    “I mean, they seem so happy,” she said to her friends. “And the people who come to the North Pole Winter Fun Park are happy, too.”
    “Well, today, I’m the one who is happy,” Mr. Frost told the kids. “Now why don’t you all come inside? I’ll make some hot chocolate.