A Cowboy for Christmas Read Free

Parker came to check on them and then put out the lamp so they would go to sleep. Once she was sure they were all bedded down and quiet, she left the room and closed the door behind her.
    “Danny . . .”
    Danny heard the whisper and recognized that it was Tommy. “Go away.”
    “No, Danny, here.” The young boy poked him in the shoulder.
    Irritated, Danny threw his covers off and rolled over, ready for trouble, only to discover the youngboy had somehow managed to sneak a piece of bread out of the dining room.
    “I brought it for you.” Tommy held the bread out to him. “I thought you might be hungry after working all day and not getting any dinner.” He liked Danny and had looked up to him for the way he took care of his brother. He’d always wished he had a big brother just like him.
    “Thanks.” Danny was truly touched by his unexpected act of kindness. If Tommy had gotten caught sneaking food out of the dining room, he would have been punished. Danny took the offered bread and began to eat it.
    “I’m gonna miss Nick,” Tommy said. “I can’t believe he’s gone.”
    Danny knew Nick and Tommy had played together whenever they could. “Neither can I,” he told him.
    They looked at each other in silence for a moment and then Tommy went on to bed, knowing he’d get in trouble if anyone caught him up and moving around.
    Danny finished eating the bread and then lay back down. He pretended to be sleeping, but, in truth, he was waiting until he was sure everyone was asleep. Only then did he risk making his escape. With great stealth, he gathered his few belongings. He took the pillowcase off his pillow and used it to stow his things. Very quietly he climbed out the window and dropped to the alleyway below.
    He couldn’t stay at the orphanage.
    Not anymore.
    He wasn’t sure how he was going to do it, but he was going after his brother, and once he’d found him, they would leave this town and never come back.
    Filled with resolve, Danny moved off into the night to begin his search.
    The following morning, the boys were shocked when they woke up to find Danny gone. When Miss Helen learned that he’d disappeared, she immediately sent some of the adults out to try to find him, but Tommy and the other orphans had a feeling they would never see Danny again.
    It was one week later, on Christmas Eve, when Tommy was awakened by the sound of a pebble hitting the window to the bedroom there in the orphanage. Excitement filled him for a moment, for he believed he might be hearing Santa and his reindeer, but then another pebble hit the window and he knew it wasn’t Santa coming to the orphanage.
    Tommy crept from his bed to push the curtain aside and look out into the dark alley. Since he knew it wasn’t Santa, he hoped it would be Danny coming back. He’d missed the older boy.
    “Tommy!” came Nick’s hushed call when his friend appeared in the window.
    “Nick?” He recognized Nick’s voice and was shocked to see him hiding in the alley.
    “Get Danny for me!”
    “Danny? I can’t!”
    “Why not?” Nick came out of his hiding place and moved closer. He wanted so much to see his brother. He needed to be with Danny.
    “Danny’s not here!” Tommy called back.
    Their conversation woke some of the other boys, who came to join Tommy at the window. “What’s going on?” one asked.
    “It’s Nick. He’s back, looking for Danny,” he told them quietly.
    “What do you mean Danny’s not here?” Nick was shocked by the news. “Did he get adopted, too?”
    “Wait there,” Tommy told him, and he started to sneak out of the sleeping room.
    “What are you doing?” one of the older boys asked, knowing he would get in trouble.
    “I gotta go talk to Nick. I gotta tell him what happened.”
    With that, Tommy left the room, and after putting on his coat, he moved silently down the hall to slip out the back door. He found Nick waiting for him and saw several of the other boys hanging out the window watching