November/December 09 PonyCare - Christmas Crisis

By Margaret Evans

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“Supper!”

Mom watched with an ache in her heart as Anita and Matt raced from the barn to the house full of fun and excitement. This wasn’t going to be easy…

“Hurry up Matt!” Anita shouted to her brother as he rattled around in the hay loft.

“Coming,” he called, dropping the lid of a storage box with a thump. “There’s lots of cool stuff up here. How come we haven’t emptied this box before?”

“Dunno,” said Anita as she scrubbed Penny’s feed bucket and then measured her grain. “Dad put it up there.” She frowned as she thought of him. “I hope he’s okay.”

Matt jumped down the last step of the ladder and stared at her. “What’s wrong with him?”
Anita shrugged. “He just doesn’t seem himself.”

“He’s always busy at work,” said Matt defensively. “He’s got stuff to do.”

Anita was quiet. She knew that. But as she tidied the tack room, put away the grooming tools, and swept the floor, she had a ominous sense of something about to happen.

“Supper!”

Mom’s voice jolted her from her dark thoughts. With a hug for Penny, she ran to the house with Matt.
“Where’s Dad?” Anita asked as they sat down at the table.

“On his way home.” Mom studied the children carefully. “He had to finish some things before…”
They looked at her.

“Listen,” said Mom, putting down her knife and fork. “Work has slowed down a lot at the mill. Dad is being laid off for a few months. That means we’re all going to have to be very careful with money. We won’t be able to spend money on a lot of the things you’re used to.”

“Is that why Dad’s been sort of funny lately?” Anita asked.

“What’s laid off mean?” asked Matt with a feeling this was bad.

“Dismissed from work,” said Anita.

This was bad.

Mom nodded. “What with the recession and the forestry industry all but shut down, the plant has lost lots of sales. Some workers were laid off last month but now the management staff is being cut back.”

“Won’t Dad have a job at all?”

“He’s got some contacts but…” Mom hesitated. “Don’t worry. My job is safe and if we are all really careful and we don’t spend much on Christmas this year we’ll be fine. ”

“Dad’s not alone,” said Anita. “Jenny at school said her mom had been laid off. She can’t go to her ballet lessons. And I don’t need riding lessons. There’s lots of stuff I can practice with Penny at home.”

“I can sell my old skates,” added Matt. “Will I still play hockey?”

“Yes,” Mom nodded. “Your season fees were paid in the fall.”

“Me and Penny can do stuff,” said Anita, thinking out loud. “Maybe I can help at Blue Meadows with the lessons or mucking out or share Penny with the little kids. They don’t have any ponies as experienced as Penny.”

“Let’s see how it goes,” Mom sighed and leaned over to give her children a hug. Just then, Dad came wearily through the door. Anita leapt up and hugged him tight.

On Saturday, Anita went for a ride with her friend Jill. It was a few weeks before Christmas and lots of people were going to the mall for gift shopping. Normally she and Mom would be window shopping. But not today. Besides, it was a perfect riding day. Although it was cold, the clouds had lifted enough to allow the sun to shine.

“We’re not buying presents this year,” said Anita as she told Jill what had happened to her dad.

“You don’t have to buy them when you can make them,” grinned Jill. “You like doing crafts.”

Anita smiled. Jill was like that. She always came up with simple solutions to things.

“Let’s all of us make presents only from the stuff at home,” Jill suggested. “My mom will be so into that. She doesn’t have a lot to spare for Christmas this year either and I used some of my allowance to help pay the farrier.”

“This is definitely the year of the costless Christmas!” Anita grinned.

Jill laughed with her as she urged Sugar into a trot up the path. Penny picked up the pace behind her. Recent winds had dropped a few boughs of trees and they skirted around them carefully, then jumped a few old logs pushed aside from the path as they continued upward. At last they arrived, invigorated, at the lookout. They stopped, pulled out snacks and a drink, and let the ponies nuzzle through the snow to try and find bits of grass.

“Sandie will like our idea too,” said Jill. “Her mom had her hours cut back.”

“How d’you know that?”

“She told me last night when I called her about riding with us today. Remember Sue at Blue Meadows? She’s got that gorgeous champion Morgan. Sandie said she had to sell him because her mom was laid off and her dad had an accident and can’t work for six months. She’s devastated.”

Anita gasped. Suddenly Dad’s layoff didn’t seem quite as awful. But the more she thought of Sue, a wave of cold washed over her. What if something else happened and they had to sell Penny? The idea was horrifying. She could feel tears welling just at the thought of it. Jill glanced at her. She guessed what Anita was thinking and wished she hadn’t told her about Sue. She checked Sugar’s girth and mounted.

Anita hesitated, still lost in dark thoughts. She pulled up Penny’s head, checked her tack, then mounted and turned toward home. They took the longer trail that came out by Triple Creek then followed it back to town. Anita’s mind raced and she forced herself to focus on ideas to help her family.
As they trotted along, Penny’s hooves crunched on fallen pine cones. There were lots of them covering the thin snow on the sheltered trail and Anita had a flash of an idea. Halting her pony, she dismounted and picked up a handful.

“What’re you doing?” Jill asked.

“I’m doing what you said,” she grinned. “Making crafts. Starting with these for Mom’s Christmas present.”

Riding home, Anita told Jill of her idea. By the time they rode up the driveway, they had a dozen simple ideas for everyone. Later that evening, Anita shared the idea with Matt. He was instantly curious, wondering what he could do to make presents for the family.

That evening, after giving Penny her night feed, Anita and Matt stayed in the barn and rummaged around looking for things that had the potential for a second life. They found some old clay gardening pots that Anita knew she could fill with something Christmassy and decorative.

“Hey, look here!” Matt yelled as he pulled an old rocking chair from a dark corner in the hay loft. It was next to the storage box and had been buried under a pile of old sheets.

“Wow!” exclaimed Anita. “We can restore this and put cushions on it! Dad would love it! What’s in the box?”

Picking through, they found blocks of wood, a bag of screws, some dried raffia, a roll of lace along with other sewing stuff, a bag of old-fashioned clothespins, a pair of gardening gloves, and, at the bottom, a carpenter’s apron dad had lost ages ago. Anita pulled it out and upended it as dust and a collection of spruce needles fell out. It must have been found outside then tossed into the storage box. It was as stiff as the blocks of wood. But as they laid everything out, Anita saw all of it morphing into become something special to put under the Christmas tree that Dad had dug up from the garden.

“Anita, Matt, you in here?” Dad’s voice shouted.

“Coming!” they yelled back in unison.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing.”

“With you two, there’s no such thing as nothing.” Dad peered up the steps. “Why are you in the hay loft?”

Matt glanced at Anita then quickly pushed two hay bales through the floor opening so that they landed next to Penny’s stall.

“Getting hay…?”

They scrambled down the steps to confront the inquisitive, comical look on Dad’s face. “C’mon. It’ll soon be time for bed,” he said.

“From now on ‘til we say, you’re not allowed in the barn.” The statement from Matt caught Dad by surprise, but he just smiled to himself and said nothing.

Over the next week, Anita and Matt were furiously busy in the barn, much to the growing curiosity of their parents who had been clearly told to Stay Out. While Anita washed and cleaned the clay pots and filled them with dried grasses and some of the pine cones, Matt sanded the dirt off the rocking chair. Anita found a comfy cushion in the den and sewed ribbon to the corners as ties to keep the cushion in place. Then they polished and buffed the chair until it shone.

She gathered up the spruce needles and, using raffia, sewed them end to end in a spiral to make coasters. She washed two mason jars and filled them with pine cones. Then she found short strings of white Christmas tree lights and laid them inside the jars. Finally she sprinkled potpourri into each jar and covered the openings with some lace tied with ribbon, allowing the plug ends of the light strings to hang out so they could be plugged into wall sockets. They would look pretty and smell nice.
Meanwhile, Matt went to work with a block of wood and the saw.

“What’re you doing?” Anita asked curiously as Penny lifted her head from her hay and watched Matt sawing furiously.

“You’ll see,” he answered as he sawed off a corner of the four-by-four inch block. “Do we have glue?”

“In the tool room,” Anita called back from the tack room where she had started scrubbing the leather carpenter’s apron with saddle soap. She was busy at work when she looked up and noticed Penny biting at her upper leg. She stopped what she was doing to check her.

“Oh no!”

“What’s the matter?”

“Penny’s cut her leg. How on earth did she do that?”

Anita examined Penny’s leg more closely. The cut was long but not too deep. It had crusted over and the hair was matted. Anita got a bucket of hot water and a sponge to clean the wound. She cut away the hair to expose the gash and saw that it had swollen.

“She okay?” asked Matt.

“I’ll take her outside and hose her leg,” said Anita. “Then I’ll put some antiseptic gel on it.”

“I hope she doesn’t get an infection like last year,” said Matt. “Mom and Dad can’t afford vet bills.”

Anita was fearfully aware of that as she hosed the leg and then dried around the wound before applying the gel. But the memory of last year’s bacterial infection nagged as she put Penny back in her stall and watched her resume eating.

She finished cleaning the apron and hung it in the loft to dry. Tomorrow she would massage it with conditioner to soften the leather and make the pockets pliable. But she couldn’t stop worrying about Penny.

The next morning before school, Anita got up extra early to hose Penny’s leg again. It was still dark and luckily it wasn’t snowing. Anita was really tired. She had been awake most of the night wondering how Penny had cut herself, worrying about the work needed to finish the gifts, and feeling anxious about Dad. Now, stifling a yawn, she looked at Penny’s leg. It was clean but it was still slightly swollen. She resolved to check the paddock right after school.

“Anita, what on earth are you doing?” Mom rushed up as Anita started to recoil the hose. “It’s still dark.”

“Penny cut herself yesterday,” she started to explain. “I was just hosing…”

“Now?” Mom gasped. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want…” Suddenly exhaustion overwhelmed her. “I can look after Penny myself!”

“Yes I know, but…”

“I didn’t know she cut herself until last night,” Anita started to sob. “We can’t afford the vet. But if I keep it clean and put on the gel and stop Penny from hurting herself and make stuff at home and…”
Mom reached out and hugged Anita tight as she cried. Penny nuzzled her head for treats.

“Things aren’t that bad, Anita,” she said reassuringly. “If Penny needs vet care, she’ll get it.”

“But what happens if Dad doesn’t get work and you get laid off?” she sobbed. “Sue had to sell her horse at Blue Meadows. What if…”

“We’re not selling Penny.” Mom’s voice was firm. “That is not going to happen.”

Anita buried her face in Penny’s mane as mom looked at the wound. “Great job, Anita! This is going to be fine. It’s clean. It’s not bleeding. You’ve healed stuff far worse than this by yourself before.”
Anita sniffed, her eyes red from rubbing. Mom massaged her shoulders and tried to lighten the moment.
“What was that last thing you said about making stuff at home?”

Anita looked up at her quickly, saying nothing.

“Or is that attached to the Stay Out order?”

Despite herself, Anita grinned intriguingly. Buoyed by Mom’s firm reassurance, Anita finished Penny’s chores then left for the last day of school before the holidays.

“We forgot something for Squirt and Tiddles,” Matt said as they rode the bus home, “and wrapping paper.”

“They can have turkey on a nice plate,” said Anita. “Penny can have raw carrots. Let’s bring everything in from the barn Christmas morning and cover it all with towels and sheets instead of wrapping presents. They wouldn’t dare peek.”

“Are you kidding!” howled Matt. “Dad’s worse than me!”

“And Gramps is worse than Dad!” Anita remembered with a groan. But she was excited that their grandparents were coming. “We’ll have to change the Stay Out sign to a Hands Off sign.”

On Christmas morning, Anita and Matt crept to the barn well before dawn. After hosing and treating Penny’s leg, Anita fed Penny hay to keep her quiet. Then, as quietly as possible, Matt and Anita transferred their gifts to the house.

In the bedroom upstairs, Dad woke up and listened intently. Muffled sounds and noisy hushes made Squirt whine and Mom woke up with a frown.

“What’s that noise?”

“Elves.”

“What elves?”

“Barn elves.” Dad slung a pillow at her. “The hay loft type.”

“Oh,” Mum paused and listened. “D’you think we’re hearing the results of the Stay Out order?” Curiosity almost overwhelmed her. “What on earth have they been up to?”

Right then, Grandma Lindie emerged from the spare bedroom.

“Am I hearing things or is there a mild commotion going on?”

“You think?” Mom grinned, grabbing her housecoat. “Time for coffee before it’s a big commotion. Coming?”

“Anita seemed better last night,” said Grandma in the kitchen. “She was really anxious last week.”

“Overtired, worried about her Dad, homework, and Penny cut herself,” nodded Mom. “Today will be a diversion for all of us.”

“HAPPY CHRISTMAS!”

Anita and Matt burst into the kitchen along with Dad and Gramps.

“We’ve got surprises!” Matt couldn’t contain his excitement.

“Not before we all eat breakfast,” Mom said with a grin as she flipped bacon strips while Grandma whipped up eggs. “You know the Christmas rule.”

“Eat first. Play all day. Ride when you want.” Anita, Jill, Meridy, and Sandie had already planned a short Christmas day ride before all the families joined together for their traditional supper.
The tree sparkled with multicoloured lights as the children led everyone into the living room.

“That’s where my table cloth disappeared to!” gasped Mom, staring at the covered secrets. Anita whipped it off, folded it, and gave it back ceremoniously.

“This is our Cost Free Christmas for you all,” announced Matt proudly. “We made all the gifts so we wouldn’t have to spend any money like you said.”

As they handed out gifts, they explained how each was made or restored. The parents and grandparents were overwhelmed with all the work and thoughtfulness that had gone into the gifts.

“Here Mom,” Anita grinned, handing her the newly softened carpenter’s apron filled with seeds, small garden tools, the pair of gardening gloves from the loft, and the clothespins to pin the gloves on the apron.

“This was Dad’s in the old garage,” Mom exclaimed. “I haven’t seen it since you were born!”

“That’s ‘cause it was in the hayloft.”

“Here Dad,” Matt grinned as he uncovered the rocking chair. It gleamed with all the wood conditioner and polish, and the colourful cushions were perfect.

“That was ours when we were first married!” exclaimed Grandma. “I rocked you to sleep in that, Betsy. Where…?”

“In the hayloft!” the children chorused.

Matt picked up the last gift, the block of wood, and gave it to Dad. He had glued the sawn off corner to the side and chiselled “A chip off the old block” into the wood.

“Gramps always calls me that,” Dad said sheepishly.

Dad was thrilled. It was the best gift ever. Then, amid the laughs and hugs, he stood to make an announcement.

“Speaking of wood chips, Werner at the plant called yesterday. They’ve got that overseas lumber deal. I’m back at work after New Year’s!”