Issie and the Christmas Pony by Stacy Gregg Page A

worst. Issie wished she could have saved him. She wished Mystic could have been her horse.
    â€œIf he was mine,” Issie said out loud, “I would love him so much, he would be my horse forever, and he would love me too and stay with me and never, ever leave me.”
    Some kids believe in magic at Christmas time, but Issie Brown was not one of them. As she turned over in bed that Christmas Eve and switched out her light,she felt like the whole Christmas thing was over for her. She was ten, after all, and maybe that meant Christmas had lost the power to surprise her.
    She couldn’t have been more wrong.

11
The Christmas Present
    Issie’s family had always opened their presents the moment they woke up on Christmas Day, a tradition that made both Stella and Kate extremely jealous.
    â€œMy mum makes us all wait until my cousins arrive before we open ours,” Stella had grumbled when Issie told her this.
    â€œOhmygod! My house is even worse!” Kate complained. “We have to eat lunch first!”
    Well, that wasn’t how they did Christmas at Issie’s house. The rule was that you opened your presents as soon as you got up. And so, when Issie woke at 7 a.m., still feeling kind of Grinchy, she decided the best thing to do was to put on a brave face, try and cheer up and kick the day off by unwrapping a few presents.
    â€œActually,” Mrs Brown said when Issie came into the kitchen, “we’re not doing the presents yet.”
    Issie’s face fell. “What?”
    â€œSince it’s just you and me this year, I thought it would be more fun to wait until the others get here,” said Mrs Brown.
    â€œWhat others?”
    â€œTom is due before lunch.” Mrs Brown paused. “And I’ve asked Stella and Kate to pop over here, so we need to wait for them too.”
    Issie was surprised by this. “You asked Stella and Kate? Aren’t we just going to meet them down at the beach like we normally do?”
    â€œI thought you’d be pleased that your friends are coming over,” said Mrs Brown.
    â€œI am, but…”
    â€œGood! They’re due at ten. You can watch TV until they get here while I finish my mince pies.”
    More bad Christmas TV! Issie turned on the telly. There was another Muppet special. And several movies featuring Santa. She settled on Miracle on 34th Street , which she hadn’t seen before, and lay on the sofa while her mother clattered around in the kitchen. The film was almost finished bythe time Avery turned up. He was holding two presents, one under each arm, and for the first time since Issie had met him, he was wearing ordinary clothes instead of his usual cheesecutter cap, boots and jodhpurs.
    â€œMerry Christmas!” he said, passing Issie her present. Issie took the package and gave it a squeeze. It was soft and quite light. Her first present of the day! She was about to open it when Avery suddenly reached out a hand and snatched it back from her.
    â€œOn second thoughts,” he added, “you can’t have this yet. I’ll give it to you later.”
    It was bad enough having to wait to open your presents-but now they were being taken back again! Issie was totally bemused by this, but she didn’t have the chance to ask Avery what was going on because at that moment Stella and Kate arrived.
    â€œOhmygod! I don’t believe it! Issie! Isn’t this exciting?” Stella squealed. Avery and Mrs Brown both froze and Avery shot her a look that made Stella immediately shut up. “Ummm…I mean it’s so exciting all of us being here and opening our Christmas gifts together. That’s all I was saying,” Stella added, looking uncomfortable.
    â€œWow!” Issie looked at Kate. “Is everyone going to act super-weird today?”
    â€œThere’s nothing weird going on,” Kate said, looking nervous. “What do you mean weird? It’s not like we’ve all got a big