Santa's Puppy by Catherine Hapka

Author:Catherine Hapka
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HMH Books

14

Merry Christmas Baby

“Now what?” Ivy said.

Holly sighed. Okay, so it was cool that Santa’s puppy was right here in Poinsettia, and there were portals to the North Pole, and all the rest of it. It was as if all the stuff Ivy was always talking about had suddenly started coming to life! And Holly definitely wanted to help Peppermint Bark get home. Still, she was getting tired of wandering around outside. Her fingers were cold inside her cute purple gloves, and she could hardly feel her toes.

“No biggie. Peppermint Bark can stay outside,” she said. “We’ll run in, grab some food, and take a look around for portals.”

“No!” Chris said. “We can’t leave him out here alone.”

Ivy nodded. “True. Leash laws, remember?”

“Fine.” Holly still didn’t see the problem. “So Chris can stay out here with him.”

“Forget it.” Chris unzipped his puffer coat. “I’ll just sneak him in under my jacket.”

Holly laughed. “Really? Talk about a belly like a bowl full of jelly . . .”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’ll work,” Ivy said. “He’s too big. Somebody will notice, and then we’ll get in trouble.”

“So what?” Chris sounded stubborn, like always when he didn’t get his way. Holly had seen it a zillion times.

She opened her mouth to respond. But just then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone—or something?—dash out from behind a dumpster and disappear into the crowds moving through the archway. Whatever—whoever—was moving too fast for Holly to get a good look, but it was red and green and small and looked an awful lot like whatever she’d seen in the bushes earlier . . .

“Hols?” Ivy prompted.

Holly blinked, telling herself she was seeing things. Or maybe just going nuts. Hanging out with fantasy-loving Ivy and believes-anything Chris was going to her head.

“So if somebody catches us sneaking a dog into the Junction, they might banish us for the rest of the day,” she told the two of them. “And that means no looking for portals in there.”

“And no lunch,” Peppermint Bark added, licking his chops. “I think I smell Christmas cookies.”

Chris crossed his arms, looking more stubborn than ever. “I’m not waiting out here. And neither is Peppermint Bark.”

“So what do you suggest?” Holly challenged her brother, fed up. “Listen, if you’re going to be like that, Ivy and I have better things to do. Right, Ives?”

Ivy didn’t respond. When Holly looked over, her friend was staring off into space. For a second Holly wondered if Ivy had seen whatever Holly had just seen.

But no. Holly recognized that look. Ivy always got all spacy like that when she was thinking hard—“lost in her own imagination,” some of their teachers called it. Holly poked her on the arm.

“Huh?” Ivy blinked at her. “Hey, I think I have an idea . . .”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.