The Christmas Sleigh Ride

The Christmas Sleigh ride

By Carolyn Haywood

A few days before Christmas Father said that he had a surprise for Betsy.

Betsy shouted, “I bet I know! It's a sleigh ride!”

“Yes,” said Father. “If the snow lasts, I have arranged for a sleighing party. It will be on Christmas Eve. You can invite five of the children from school.”

“Oh, Father!” cried Betsy, “it's wonderful! Will we go sleighing in the park?”

“Yes,” said Father, “in the park.”

Betsy invited Billy and Ellen and Christopher, Mary Lou and Peter. They were just as excited as Betsy was.

Betsy told the children about Father's sleigh ride when he was a little boy. She also told them about Father's dream.

“Oh, boy!” said Billy. “I wish I could go sleigh riding with Santa Claus, the way your father did.”

When Christmas Eve arrived, the snow was packed hard on the roads. It was so hard and frozen that it was shiny and made a squeaky noise. The night was clear and the stars seemed brighter than ever to Betsy.

By seven o'clock the children were all at Betsy's house. Father put them into the car and drove them to a livery stable near the park. In front of the stable there was a big sleigh with two horses. The sleigh had a high seat for the driver and two wide seats behind that faced each other.

“Now, Billy and Ellen can ride with the driver first,” said Father. “Then Christopher and Mary Lou can have a turn, and on the way back Peter and Betsy can ride up front.”

This satisfied the children and they scrambled into the sleigh. Father tucked the rugs around them. The horses stamped their feet and shook their heads. The sleigh bells jingled.

“Are you going to drive the sleigh, Father?” asked Betsy.

“Oh, my, no!” said Father, as he climbed into the back seat beside Betsy. “The driver will be here in a moment.”

“I wish we were going for a sleigh ride with Santa Claus, the way you did in your dream,” said Billy.

No sooner had Billy said this than the door of the stable opened. Who should walk out but Santa Claus! He was wearing a bright red suit and cap trimmed with fur and he had on high black boots. The sleigh bells around his waist jingled as he walked.

“Hello, boys and girls!” he shouted. “So you're going for a ride with me tonight!”

The children could hardly believe their eyes. They were speechless as Santa Claus climbed up into the driver's seat and took the reins in his hands.

“Gee up!” said Santa Claus to the horses.

The sleigh started with a lurch. They were off!

Billy was the first to find his tongue. He said, “Are you really Santa Claus?'

“Sure, me boy, I'm his twin brother,” replied Santa Claus, “and just as good. He'd 'a' come himself but he's having a big night tonight getting up and down chimneys.”

“Do you live at the North Pole?” asked Mary Lou.

“Not me!” said Santa Claus. “It's too cold. My whiskers freeze.”

“Don't you have to help your brother on Christmas Eve?” asked Christopher.

“No,” replied Santa Claus, “I never was any good getting up and down chimneys. Always seemed sort of roundabout to me, but me brother's all for it. Did it even as a little fellow. Never would come in through the door like other folks. It was the chimney for him from the first.”

The children laughed very hard and asked a great many questions. They were driving through the park now. It was very quiet. There was no sound but the sound of the sleigh bells. Betsy looked up at the tall trees. The stars peeped between the branches and winked at her. In the distance she could hear other sleigh bells. She burrowed down into the warm rugs and held Father's hand. She felt all happy inside. Betsy hadn't known that a sleigh ride could be so wonderful.

“Let's sing 'Jingle Bells,'” shouted Billy.

They all sang.

“Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way.

Oh, what fun it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh.”

“Let's sing, 'Two-horse open sleigh,' “said Christopher. “Because that is what this sleigh is.”

So they they all sang, “Oh, what fun it is to ride in a two horse open sleigh.”

All of a sudden the horses changed their gait. The sleigh jolted and Billy toppled right off the front seat. He went head first into a big snowdrift.

“Whoa!” cried Santa Claus, as he pulled up the horses.

The sleigh stopped and Betsy's father jumped down. He ran back to Billy. The children turned around to see where Billy was. All that they could see were two legs covered with dark green snow pants sticking out of the snowdrift. The legs were kicking furiously.

In a moment Father had pulled Billy out. He looked very much like the snow man in Betsy's garden.

Father brushed him off and they ran back to the sleigh.

“I fell out,” said Billy, when he reached the sleigh.

“You don't mean to tell me!” said Santa clause. “Sure, and I thought you were practicing diving.”

The children changed places in the sleigh. Christopher and Mary Lou sat up with Santa Claus while Billy and Ellen took seats in the back of the sleigh.

“It's funny,” said Christopher to Santa Claus, “but you talk just like Mr. Kilpatrick.”

“Yes, you do,” cried the rest of the children, “just exactly like Mr. Kilpatrick.”

“And who may Mr. Kilpatrick be?” asked Santa.

“Mr. Kilpatrick is the policeman who takes us across the street,” said Betsy.

“Oh, that fellow!” shouted Santa Claus. “Sure, I've seen him often. He's got a face like a dish of turnips and hair the color of carrots.”

The children laughed. “I don't think it's nice of you to talk about Mr. Kilpatrick that way,” said Ellen.

“Sure, there's nobody with a better right,” said Santa Claus.

“I think you are Mr. Kilpatrick,” said Mary Lou.

“Kilpatrick! What a name!” said Santa Claus. “Upon my word, I've killed flies and I've killed mosquitoes and one or two centipedes, but never have I killed any Patrick.”

The children shouted with laughter.

By this time the sleigh had reached a house. It stood by the road under tall trees. Lights shone from the windows. It was an old inn.

Santa Claus stopped the sleigh and everyone climbed down. A boy in the yard led the horses to a shed nearby. He put blankets over them.

Santa Claus led the way into the inn. There was a fire roaring the fireplace.

Betsy's eyes were as big as saucers. “Why, Father, it's just like your dream when you were a little boy,” she said.

In front of the fireplace there was a table. They all sat down at the table. Santa Claus sat at the head of the table.

“Are we going to have something to eat?” asked Billy.

We certainly are,” said Santa Claus. “What do you want to eat, Billy?”

“Hot dogs,” shouted Billy at the top of his voice.

“Yes, hot dogs!” shouted all of the children except Betsy. She was laughing so hard she couldn't say anything. At last she said, “Oh, Father!” and she began laughing again. “Do you remember the hot dogs in your dream?”

Father laughed, too. “Yes,” he said, “I remember.”

After the children had eaten their hot dogs and drunk big cups of cocoa, they went out to the sleigh. They felt all warmed up.

When they were settled, with Betsy and Peter on the front seat with Santa Claus, they started for home.

“Jingle, jingle, jingle,” went the sleigh bells. “Trot, trot, trot,” went the horses' feet.

Santa Claus joked with the children all the way back to the stable. There the children climbed out. They all shook hands with Santa Claus and thanked him for the lovely sleigh ride.

As they got into Father's car, they cried, “Good night, Santa Claus! Good night and Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas!” shouted Santa Claus. “Remember me to Mr. Kilpatrick!”

“Sure!” shouted Billy. “Remember me to your twin brother.”

Father dropped the children off, one by one, at their homes.

“Good night!” they each called. “Thank you and a Merry Christmas!”

When Betsy kissed Father good night, she said, “Father, was Santa Claus Mr. Kilpatrick?”

Father laughed. “Well, what do you think?” he said.