No Small Thing by Natale Ghent

Author:Natale Ghent [Ghent,Natale]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4434-0146-3
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Published: 2003-09-10T04:00:00+00:00

chapter 11

a chance meeting

The sun is already low in the sky, throwing long grey shadows across the yard. A snowplow thunders down the street, pushing the snow to one side and spraying salt everywhere. Smokey shakes his head. The little pine cones dance around on the ends of the ribbons. I unhitch the sled and remove the harness. I lean the sled against the side of the house, then remove the Gorilla’s noseband, stuffing it in my coat.

Through the living room window I see Ma and Queenie and Cid pulling out decorations from our old Christmas box and placing them carefully on the tree. The fire is leaping in the fireplace, the orange flames illuminating the tree and everyone’s faces. If you didn’t know any better, you would say that we were the happiest family in the world. You wouldn’t know about frozen pipes and hydro bills and such. You’d think we were near perfect, decorating the tree, waiting for our father to come home from work and tell us about his day.

I watch through the window, until Smokey nudges me in the side with his muzzle. I run my hand down his neck, then lead him to the sidewalk and into the street. The plow has left a clean swath on one side of the road. I lead Smokey close to the curb just in case a car should come along. It’s near dinnertime, and all the houses are lit up and cheerful. As we walk along, Smokey’s gentle movement lulls me deeper in thought. His breath is warm, the steam curling around my hand. We are going along like this when I hear a familiar voice call my name.

“Hey, Nathaniel!”

I turn to see Cheryl Hanson coming towards me, a big smile on her face. She walks right up to me, her eyelashes lightly frosted beneath her green cap, her heart-shaped face rosy and beautiful from the cold. My heart stops beating in my chest and my mouth goes instantly dry.

“Is this your horse? She’s beautiful.”

“He’s a he, actually,” I say, trying to keep my voice from cracking.

“What’s his name?”

“Smokey.”

“Did you do this?” She points at the ribbons and tinsel.

I can feel myself start to blush. “My little sister. She treats him like a Barbie doll sometimes.”

“I think it’s really pretty. May I pet him?”

She looks at me so sweetly. I tell myself to stay calm. “Sure. He’s gentle. Like a big dog. Here …” I hand her a piece of apple from my coat pocket. “You can feed him if you like. You’ll be his friend for life.”

Cheryl takes the apple and holds it up. Smokey tries to grab it with his mouth, and Cheryl pulls her hand away in fright.

“No, like this.” I show her how to hold her hand flat so that Smokey won’t nip her accidentally.

She holds the apple out again, only this time with a flat hand like I showed her. Smokey nuzzles the apple, then takes it, crunching it noisily.

“He really likes it!” Cheryl says, laughing.

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