“Knock, knock,” came a shout from the door.
“Who’s there?” Rodger jumped out of his chair and shouted back at the door with a grin on his face.
“Pokey.”
“Pokey who?”
“Pokey the Hedgehog! Now stop joking around and open this door, it’s freezing out here.”
Sam and Elannah giggled together at Rodger, who, chuckling to himself, opened the door.
A hedgehog entered huffily. “You always think you are funnier than you actually are,” Pokey grumbled. But Elannah could tell he wasn’t truly upset and that he liked the joke really. She thought that this was something they probably did on a regular basis. Sometimes simple amusements were the best.
“Is that badger-style hot chocolate and freshly made chocolate chip cookies I smell?” Pokey brightened and his pointy nose twitched in pleasure. “Can I have some please?”
“Absolutely. Come on in, but keep the snow outside,” Rodger joked.
“Elannah, Sam, this is my good friend Pokey the Hedgehog. These fine children are the two I was telling you about, Pokey.”
“A pleasure to meet you, Pokey,” Elannah and Sam said together.
Sam thought that Pokey looked an awful lot like the soft hand puppet he had at home, whose name was also Pokey the Hedgehog.
When Sam and Elannah were little babies in the cot, their parents had played a game of peek-a-boo with the puppet Pokey, who scrunched himself up tightly into a ball and covered his face with his arms, popping up now and again and saying, “Boo.” This had been the source of many giggling fits for both Elannah and Sam, and so, in remembrance of such fun, Sam instantly liked this other Pokey the Hedgehog too.
“You are just in time,” Rodger pronounced.
“Just in time? For what exactly?” Pokey said suspiciously. Sam noticed his spines lifted up on the back of his head when he frowned.
Whilst Pokey sipped his cup of badger-style hot chocolate, the three friends told him all about their plans to make the Bridge Troll’s first Christmas party a very special one.
“Are you going to help us too?” Sam asked him.
“I most certainly will. Someone has to keep an eye on Rodger the Badger or who knows what mischief will befall…” Pokey left the end of his sentence unsaid and tapped the side of his long pointed nose in a knowing way, as if the unmentionable was much more terrible than any description could be.
“Right then. The tree first, as you said, Elannah. After which I will leave you in Pokey’s company while I bring it back here and get on with the party food preparations.”
Their two friends walked to the front door and whispered quietly with each other. Pokey nodded vigorously in reply to Rodger’s mysterious question.
Elannah wondered what they were so secretive about, and her curiosity was very much aroused.
“Can I help?” she asked, looking for a way into the secret.
“You both can.” Rodger turned and said, “Hold out your arms and close your eyes, both of you.”
Sam was very quick to act, as he knew this often led to the dishing out of presents and assorted other goodies. Elannah smiled and complied but in a way that helped her to practise one of her dancing poses and improve her balance.
The door opened and a cool breeze blew in gently.
Sam opened one eye, trying to see what was happening.
“No peeking!” Rodger admonished him, and Sam quickly shut his eye again.
“Here we are,” Pokey said, and Elannah and Sam both felt some cold, wet snow dumped onto their outstretched hands.
“Hey!” they cried in surprise.
“Only joking.” Pokey laughed. “You can open your eyes now.”
It took them both a second to realise that the snow was not the only thing they had brought in from outside. Rodger the Badger was standing to one side, and propped up against him were two sledges—one pink and one blue.
They were round and made of solid wood. Their undersides gleamed and were noticeably highly polished, and there were padded handles with a seat in the bowl of each sledge.
“Wow.” Sam couldn’t believe his eyes. “Are they for us?”
“Merry Christmas to both of you. Pokey and I have been making them together for you, and he had just finished the final touches before he came over this evening.”
“Thanks very much, they look like fantastic fun.” Elannah laughed. She loved playing in the snow and particularly liked to sledge down the hills near their house. These looked like very fine sledges and were the perfect size for each of them. “Can we try them out?”
This book is now available from Amazon your local book store.
Have fun
Sean
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