Christmas Treasure (14 page)

“Oh, Fiona!” Sarah swooped toward Caitlin. “Naughty girl!” Just as she was reaching over to wipe Caitlin’s face
with her napkin, she accidentally bumped a full glass of water with her elbow. The glass teetered for an instant, then spilled all over Mrs. Atwood’s good linen tablecloth.

“Oh, no!” James cried. He leaped up from his chair and began to blot the water with his napkin. “Boys,” he said to Douglas and Eliot. “Help, here!”

The boys jumped up to help their father. The Atwoods jumped up to remove the haggis platter. Lisa jumped up to help whoever needed help. In an instant their nice quiet dinner had turned into bedlam, with everybody standing up blotting water or removing dishes or trying to wipe Caitlin’s face.

“I’m so sorry, Eleanor,” Sarah said, handing Caitlin to James and helping Mrs. Atwood dry off the table. “I’m a clumsy lummox!”

“Oh, don’t apologize,” said Mrs. Atwood. “Accidents happen.” She gave one quick, mournful glance at her once beautiful table, then smiled. “Why don’t we eat dessert in the den? I’ll serve the plates in the kitchen and we can eat in front of the fire.”

“Jolly good plan,” said James, still wiping bits of haggis from Caitlin’s face.

Everyone relocated to the den. Mr. Atwood turned the television set back on, and soon Eliot and Douglas and James were clustered in front of another football game. Mrs. Atwood and Sarah sat in front of the fire planning a trip to the National Gallery in Washington, while Caitlin and Fiona took turns bonking each other on the head
with a red plastic hammer. Lisa sat on the sofa and watched everything. The party seemed to be swirling around her. Finally she stood up.

“Mom, if it’s okay with you, I think I’ll go to bed,” she said, barely hiding a yawn. It had been a long day for her. She’d gone to school, then had helped Carole and Stevie at the toy collection booth. After that she had mostly tried to figure out what her Scottish cousins were trying to say. Suddenly all she longed for was a little peace and quiet.

“Have you shown Douglas and Eliot where everything is?” Mrs. Atwood asked.

“Yes,” Lisa replied. “They know where to find anything they need.”

“Good. Then sleep well, dear.” Mrs. Atwood gave her a warm smile.

“Thanks for all your help, Lisa,” Sarah Ross added. “You’ve been a wonderful host.”

“Thanks,” Lisa said, this time with a yawn. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

She walked upstairs, longing for the quiet of her own room.
This must be how Max feels at the stable
, she thought as she opened her bedroom door.
There’s Deborah and Maxi and Mrs. Reg and Red O’Malley and all the horses and all the riders.
Lisa gave another big yawn as she collapsed onto her bed.
No wonder he looks so tired all the time!

“B
RRREEEEEEAAAAACKKKKKKKK
.” L
ISA
’
S EYELIDS
flew open. For an instant she didn’t know where she was. All she knew was that something, somewhere, was being horribly murdered!

“Brrreeeeeeaaaaackkkkkkkk!”
The noise rang out again. She blinked. Suddenly the room came into focus and she realized that she was in her bedroom, in her own bed. But what was that awful noise?

“Wwwrrraaaaannggghhh!”
Now the noise was different, worse somehow. She got up and threw on her robe. She couldn’t imagine how, but somebody was downstairs in her house killing some helpless animal.

“Stop!” she yelled as she raced down the stairs. “Whatever you’re doing, stop!”

She hurried into the living room, but no one was
there. She ran down the hall, but it, too, was empty.
“Wwwrrraaaaannggghhh!”
The noise rang out again, this time from the den. Whatever slaughter was taking place was happening in there! She ran as fast as she could and flung open the door. There, standing with one foot resting on the raised hearth, was Eliot. Cradled in his arms was not some helpless animal, but a set of plaid bagpipes!

“Morning, Lisa!” he said cheerily.

Lisa blinked. “Are you the one making that awful noise?”

Eliot frowned. “What awful noise?”

“That loud agonized wailing that sounds like a goose is being strangled,” Lisa replied.

Eliot’s cheeks grew red. “Well, uh, yes, I guess I am.” He lowered the pipes and shrugged. “I’m a piper in the Clan Ross Pipe Band at home, and it’s important that we stay in practice. I’m sorry. I thought my mum told you I would need to practice.”

“No.” Lisa gave a relieved sigh. “I guess that was one little detail she must have forgotten to mention.” For a long moment, Eliot and Lisa just looked at each other. Then they both began to laugh.

“I’m sorry,” Lisa giggled. “But you looked so surprised when I came in here and found you with that thing.”

“I’m sorry, too,” laughed Eliot. “I didn’t expect you’d come bursting in here in your nightgown trying to save a goose from certain death!”

They laughed until Mrs. Atwood and Sarah Ross came into the den.

“What’s so funny?” asked Lisa’s mom. “We heard you laughing all the way in the kitchen.”

“Oh, Mom, don’t ask,” said Lisa, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Let’s just say that my appreciation of Scottish music has grown overnight.”

“Well, why don’t you both come and get some breakfast and we can talk about what we’re going to do today.”

Eliot and Lisa walked into the kitchen, where everyone else was sitting around the table eating breakfast. Mrs. Atwood had fixed oatcakes and kippers, little smoked fish that everyone ate in Scotland. Skipping the dark-colored kippers, Lisa grabbed an oatcake and sat down between Douglas and James.

“Okay, Lisa, here’s the plan for today.” Mrs. Atwood looked at Lisa and smiled. “Your father got four tickets for the football game this afternoon, but it doesn’t start until three. Sarah and I want to take the twins shopping while your father and James look at some new computer equipment. That leaves Douglas and Eliot with nothing to do until the game. Can you think of some activity you three might enjoy together?”

“I could take them to Pine Hollow,” Lisa suggested. She looked at Eliot. “That is, if Eliot can tear himself away from his bagpipes.”

“What’s Pine Hollow?” Eliot asked with a laugh. “I don’t want to jump into anything rash.”

“Pine Hollow’s a stable. I ride there at least three times a week,” explained Lisa. “They’ve got lots of horses and beautiful trails.”

“Sure,” said Eliot. “I could put my pipes down for that.”

“Okay, then.” Mrs. Atwood smiled. “Lisa, why don’t you three walk over to Pine Hollow, and then you can take the boys over to TD’s for a treat. We’ll pick you up there just in time for the game.”

“Great,” said Lisa. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard all morning.”

Later, after their parents had gone off on their own adventures, Lisa and Douglas and Eliot walked up the curving road to Pine Hollow. The air was cold, and their footsteps echoed on the pavement.

“Do you guys ride horses in Scotland?” Lisa asked as they neared the stable.

Eliot shook his head. “Mum used to a little, but there’s only one old horse in our entire town, and he only gives rides to little children in the summertime.”

“Looks like there’s more little children in that one riding ring than in our entire town.” Douglas pointed to the front paddock, where Max was conducting a class of about twenty very beginning riders.

“Actually, that’s a bigger than normal class,” Lisa said. “Max has been awfully busy lately.” She walked faster. “Come on. I want to introduce you to everybody.”

They entered the warm dimness of the stable. Lisa felt
good to be at Pine Hollow again. She loved the sweet smells of saddle soap and hay and the soft sound of horses eating. She’d been so busy helping her mother at home and Stevie and Lisa with the toy drive that it seemed as if she hadn’t seen Prancer in months, although it had really been only a couple of days. She introduced her cousins to Mrs. Reg and Red O’Malley, then pulled them down one aisle. “Come this way and I’ll introduce you to the horses.”

“This is my friend Stevie Lake’s horse, Belle,” she said, stopping in front of Belle’s stall. Belle was eating, but she poked her head over the stall door and gave Lisa a friendly nicker through a mouthful of hay.

“She’s pretty,” Eliot said. “Does she always talk with her mouth full?”

“Actually, she does,” Lisa said with a chuckle. “It’s a habit she gets from her owner.”

Just then Starlight stuck his head over his stall door and gave a loud whinny. “This is Starlight,” Lisa said, moving on to the next stall. “He belongs to my friend Carole Hanson, who knows more about horses than anybody. All three of us have a club together, called The Saddle Club.”

“How does one join?” asked Douglas.

“Well, it’s pretty easy. All you have to be is willing to help the other club members out at all times and be crazy about horses.”

“How about just plain daft?” asked Eliot with a grin.

“Huh?” Lisa frowned.

“He means crazy,” Douglas translated for his brother.

“Well, that, too, I suppose.” Lisa laughed. “Come on down this way. I want to show you the horse I ride all the time.”

They walked past several stalls until they reached Prancer. The big bay mare was slurping water when they stuck their heads over her door.

“Hi, Prancer,” Lisa called softly. “Hi, girl!”

Prancer looked up with a dripping chin and nuzzled Lisa’s head. Lisa patted her neck, which felt surprisingly warm. “Gosh, Prancer, you feel like you’ve just been ridden!” she said.

“Is no one else supposed to ride her?” Eliot rubbed Prancer on her nose.

“Well, no,” Lisa replied. “She’s a schooling horse, so anybody who takes a lesson here can ride her, but Max doesn’t usually use her on Saturday morning.”

“She’s quite lovely,” said Douglas. He scratched Prancer behind her ears. “Maybe someone came along and saw her and just had to ride her.”

“I suppose.” Lisa sighed. Most of the time she considered Prancer her horse. Times like this reminded her that Prancer belonged to the stable, not to her, and that always made her a little sad. “Anyway,” she said, giving Prancer a final pat, “I ride her most of the time, and I’m sure she likes me riding her the best!”

“Absolutely,” agreed Eliot.

Lisa showed Douglas and Eliot the rest of the stable. They touched the lucky horseshoe and walked up the hill to where all the trails began. Then Lisa realized that it was time to take them to TD’s.

“I guess you’ll have to meet Max some other time,” she said as they hurried back through the stable and out to the road beyond. “Maybe we can come back in a day or two and take a trail ride.”

“That would be super!” Douglas said. “Almost as much fun as football!”

They walked through the cold bright air to the shopping center. The parking lot was crowded with cars, and Lisa could see Stevie and Carole tending their toy drive box in front of TD’s.

“Oh, good,” she said as she and Eliot and Douglas crossed the street. “You can meet my friends Stevie and Carole. They’re the ones sitting behind that big cardboard box.”

“Is this some sort of new American craze?” teased Eliot. “Box-sitting?”

“No,” giggled Lisa. “We’re helping collect toys for needy kids at Christmas. Someone stole all the toys the Marines had already collected.”

Douglas frowned. “That’s a pretty shoddy thing to do.”

“I know,” Lisa agreed. “And Carole’s father was in charge of the whole thing.”

Just then Stevie stood up and waved. “Hi, Lisa! Come on over!”

Lisa waved as she and her cousins hurried across the parking lot. “Hi, Stevie. Hi, Carole,” she said as they stepped onto the sidewalk. “I’d like to introduce my cousins. Stevie and Carole, this is Eliot and Douglas Ross, from Glenochy, Scotland.”

“Hi.” Stevie grinned. “Welcome to the States.”

“Hi,” Carole said, smiling warmly at the guys.

“Hi, girls,” Eliot and Douglas said together. “Lisa’s told us a lot about you,” added Eliot with a grin.

“Oh?” said Stevie. “Like what?”

“Let’s see.” Eliot squinted with one eye. “That Carole’s the horse expert and you talk a lot, or is it that Carole talks a lot and you’re the horse expert, or is it that you’re horse daft, and she’s all daft or maybe all of you are all daft?”

“Huh?” said Carole and Stevie together.

“Daft means crazy,” explained Lisa with a laugh. “Eliot and Douglas speak something that sounds like English, but it isn’t really. It’s some kind of weird language where all the words mean something else.”

Stevie grinned at the two boys and spoke slowly. “Do you know what the word
ice cream
means?”

Douglas winked. “Does it mean a frozen dairy product that’s served in a dish or a cone with all sorts of delicious stuff on top?”

“Yes!” Stevie cried. “You’ve got it! We’re communicating!”

“Then I vote that we take a break from the toy
campaign and go inside TD’s and get some ice cream,” said Carole with a shiver. “I’m so cold right now that ice cream might even warm me up!”

They pulled their box and sign inside TD’s and sat down at their favorite booth. Their usual waitress soon made her way to the table with her order pad.