Magic Reindeer: A Christmas Wish (4 page)

Shannon noticed and didn’t look pleased.

What’s she got against me anyway?
Marie thought. To her surprise, she found that she wasn’t quite as upset by the girl’s meanness as usual. Having Starshine around made all the difference.

‘My magic did not make everyone happy. Shannon was not very nice to you. I have done wrong. Perhaps I am not ready to be a proper White Crystal Reindeer,’ Starshine said, looking crestfallen.

Marie reassured him in a soft voice. ‘Yes, you are. You meant well. You just went a bit over the top with your magic.’

Starshine blinked at her. ‘What is “over the top”?’

‘It means… um, a bit too enthusiastic,’ Marie explained.

‘I understand. I think that is what my father and older brothers would say,’ Starshine said sadly. His ears drooped and his chocolate-brown eyes lost a little of their twinkle.

Marie could see that he was missing his family. She made sure no one was looking, before drawing him into her lap. As she stroked him, her heart went out to her little friend.

‘I know how you feel. I miss my dad like mad. Maybe we can help each other not to feel so lonely?’

Starshine nodded and nuzzled her hand with his tiny velvet-soft muzzle.

Chapter
FOUR

‘Hi, Gran! I’m home!’ Marie called as she entered the hall after walking home from school.

Marie hung up her coat and took Starshine out of her school bag.

‘This is a good place to stay until I find my way home,’ he said, looking around.

Gran Winfield appeared in the kitchen doorway. She spotted the magic reindeer before Marie had a chance to smuggle him upstairs. ‘Hello, love! What have you got there?’ she asked.

‘N-nothing!’ Marie said in a panic, before she remembered that Gran could only see Starshine as a tiny toy reindeer. ‘I mean… erm, one of the kids in class gave it to me.’

‘Well, that’s nice,’ Gran said, smiling warmly. ‘It’s a very cute toy. What dainty little antlers and hooves! I’m glad you’re starting to make friends.’ She went to fill the kettle.

Marie followed her into the kitchen. She wondered what Gran would have said if she knew that her
only
friend was a magic reindeer. But, of course, she would never tell anyone Starshine’s secret.

Then her mum arrived home from work and they all drank hot chocolate and ate biscuits in the kitchen. Gran was saying how she wished they’d had a chance to decorate the house before Marie and her mum came to stay. ‘It’s so scruffy-looking. It hasn’t been done for ages.’

‘It’s fine, Mum. Don’t worry about it,’ Mrs Zaleski said.

Marie had Starshine on her lap and she was carefully slipping him little bits of biscuit. She noticed that he had pricked up his ears and was listening closely to Gran.

‘The older lady is not happy with her house,’ the little reindeer snuffled thoughtfully.

‘Mmm. A lot of grown-ups say stuff like that.’ Marie whispered, patting him absently. She was thinking about the cosy bed she would make for him in her room.

She tucked Starshine under her arm, drained her mug and put it in the dishwasher. ‘I’m going to do my homework,’ she announced to Mum and Gran, before trudging upstairs.

Marie’s small bedroom overlooked the front garden and street. Beside the bed, there was just space for a wardrobe, bookcase and chest of drawers. A doll’s house, which Gran had found at a car boot sale, stood on the chest.

Starshine was on the bedside rug, watching as Marie fished about in the wardrobe for a shoebox.

‘I thought you could sleep in this!’ she said, folding a woollen scarf up and putting it in the box. ‘And you can snuggle up with me at night.’

Starshine immediately leapt into the box and lay down, folding his legs beneath him. He looked so cute that Marie couldn’t help smiling.

‘I like it here, but human houses are very warm,’ he panted, showing his little pink tongue.

Maria remembered that he came from a world of ice and snow and wasn’t used to central heating in houses. ‘Oh, sorry! You must be absolutely boiling. I’ll open my window.’

She did so and a blast of cold air filled the small room. Starshine lifted his head and his nose twitched with pleasure as he snuffed it up. ‘That is much better. Thank you, Marie.’

‘No problem,’ Marie said, hiding a shiver as she reached for an extra jumper. She didn’t mind wearing extra clothes to keep warm, if it meant Starshine was comfortable.

She had a sudden thought. ‘You must be really hungry. Those bits of biscuit won’t have filled you up. I can hear Mum and Gran in the sitting room. I’ll sneak back downstairs to the kitchen and see what I can find. Back in a minute!’

Starshine’s chocolate-brown eyes lit up. ‘That is good. My tummy is rumbling.’

Luckily the kitchen was empty. Marie opened the fridge and looked inside and then realized that she wasn’t sure what reindeer ate. They were vegetarians, weren’t they? On impulse she grabbed a carrot and a couple of sticks of celery and then reached into the fruit bowl for an apple on her way out.

Back upstairs, Starshine eyed the fruit and vegetables warily. Reaching out, he sniffed the carrot and then took a tiny nibble. He nodded slowly, looking surprised, and then sampled the apple and celery. ‘Delicious!’ he snorted, his eyes sparkling as he chomped the lot. ‘I like human food.’

‘What do you usually eat?’ Marie asked him.

‘Grass, moss and small plants we find by scratching away the snow,’ he told her.

Marie thought hard. She supposed he could eat the grass on the school playing fields, but Gran’s garden didn’t have a lawn. What was he going to eat at night and weekends? Mum or Gran were going to notice if she kept pinching stuff from the fridge to feed him.

‘I know! There’s a pet shop on the way to school. They’ve got a special offer on bags of hay. I can buy a small bag tomorrow and smuggle it home in my school bag.’

‘What is hay?’

‘Dried grass, I think,’ Marie said. ‘It’s what lots of animals eat, like… um, horses and rabbits.’

Starshine nodded, licking his chops. ‘Hay sounds good.’

Marie gently stroked his fluffy coat and warm little antlers. Starshine nudged her very softly and licked her fingers. His breath smelt warm and spicy like Christmas pudding. She felt a surge of affection for the tiny reindeer.

Just then she heard the phone ring downstairs in the hall.

‘That might be Dad!’ she said excitedly. ‘He often calls at this time. Let’s go and see!’

Starshine nodded his head.

Tucking him under her arm, Marie shot down the stairs two at a time and grabbed the phone.

‘Hello,
aniołku
,’ said her dad’s voice.

‘Hi, Dad!’ She loved the way he always called her his ‘angel’. ‘How are you? How is Aunt Jolenta?’

Mr Zaleski told Marie that her aunt was doing quite well, but he still couldn’t leave her yet. They chatted for a few minutes. Marie told him about school and how things were a bit better, but she didn’t mention Starshine. He told her he missed her and then asked if she’d put her mum on the phone.

‘
Kocham ci
, Marie.’

‘I love you too, Dad,’ she said with a lump in her throat. ‘Come home soon.’ Her mum had come into the hall and was standing beside her. Marie turned and passed her the phone.

As she wandered into the sitting room where Gran was collecting up her library books and putting them in a bag, Marie blinked away tears. Now that she had Starshine for a friend, she didn’t mind nearly so much that she still hadn’t made any friends at school. If only Dad could be here, then everything would be perfect.

‘Do you two want to come to the library with me?’ Gran asked when Marie’s mum had finished talking to her dad.

Mrs Zaleski nodded. ‘I could do with a change of scene. What about you, Marie?’

‘I think I’ll stay here,’ Marie decided, plonking herself on the sofa. She fancied curling up with Starshine and watching some TV.

But he had other ideas.

As soon as the car pulled out of the drive, Starshine leapt off the sofa.

The moment his tiny hooves touched the carpet, he instantly grew to his normal size. ‘I know a way to make Gran happy with her house!’

Marie felt a warm prickling sensation at the back of her neck as his gold snow-globe shone with power, and a sparkling gold and silver starry mist appeared.

Something very strange was about to happen.

Chapter
FIVE

Marie watched in total astonishment as the magical starry mist swirled around the room.

Rumble!
All the furniture disappeared and the walls stretched upwards into jagged icy peaks and a white domed ceiling.
Crackle!
Ice sculptures, tables and sofas carved into the shapes of swans appeared.
Rustle!
Mountains of gold pillows plopped on to the sofas and a shining golden carpet unrolled across the floor.

‘Oh!’ Marie gasped, horrified.

‘Do you like it? It is just like a room in Ice Mountain Castle,’ Starshine said proudly.

‘It’s… um…’ She searched for the right word. ‘Different?’ She didn’t think this was what Gran had in mind.

Just then there was the sound of a car outside on the drive. Marie rushed over to the window. ‘It’s Gran and Mum! They must have forgotten something! Quick, Starshine, put everything back as it was!’