Christmas at Stony Creek Read Free Page A

above the ground.
    She was safe. Pip hugged her stick to her side asshe lay there, panting. Thank you, Uncle Hank. Thank you .
    As Owl’s angry voice faded in the distance, Pip’s heart slowed and became calm. When all was quiet, she poked her head out of the hole and looked around.
    The sack was lying empty on the ground.
    Only minutes before, it had been so full. Pip crawled out of the hole and picked up the limp sack as gently as if it held a sleeping baby.
    Because of her, Aunt Pitty’s precious gift was gone.
    What would Aunt Pitty think of her? And how could she bring herself to tell her mother what she’d lost? Pip realized then what she had to do.

chapter 7
“It Was the Trap”
    T hat night, when everyone in the house had gone to bed, Pip crept quietly into Will’s bedroom. “Will,” she whispered, “are you awake?”
    She climbed onto his bed and felt her way along it in the dark until she came to his feet. He was lying on his back, staring into the night.
    “I’m awake.” Will’s voice was flat.
    Pip drew her legs up inside her nightgown for warmth. “I need to know about Land’s End,”she said softly. “You have to tell me.”

    “I don’t want to talk about it.”
    “But you have to. It’s the only place left,” Pip said. “There’s lots of food at Land’s End, isn’t there?”
    For a minute she thought he wasn’t going to answer. Then, “Mountains of it,” Will said in a reluctant voice. “Crumbs under the table…crusts between the floorboards…dried bits of egg stuck to the seats of the chairs—”
    He stopped.
    “I have to go up there. You know I do.” Pip’s voice was calm. “Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. We don’t have anything to eat.”
    Will was quiet.
    “You need to tell me everything,” Pip said fiercely.“Where to go. What to look for. About Cat.”
    She stopped. She had never asked Will this question before. “It was Cat who killed Uncle Hank, wasn’t it?”
    The room was so still she heard someone moan in her sleep on the other side of the wall. Nibs, maybe. Or Nan.
    “No, it wasn’t Cat.” Will’s voice was barely a whisper. “It was the trap.”
    Will started to talk.
    He told her how quiet and strange the huge kitchen had felt in the moonlight. How he and Uncle Hank had started across the floor, searching for crumbs. How they’d heard a noise and started to run for cover under a cupboard.
    Suddenly Uncle Hank had stopped. “He told me to go on,” Will said in a whisper. “He said he would be with me in a minute.” Will’s voice broke.
    “Shhh…” Pip patted his feet the soothing way Mama would have done. “Hush,” she said. Will was quiet for a minute, and then he started again.
    Uncle Hank had turned and headed off toward the windows, alone.
    That’s when a movement caught Will’s eye. Cat was crouched in the doorway, ready to spring. Before he could cry out a warning, Will said, a deafening noise filled the room.
    A trap rose into the air as its jaws snapped shut.
    There was a cry from their uncle.
    Then silence.
    “I ran.” Will’s voice was full of shame. “When Cat’s nails sank into my leg, I thought I’d never see home again. Then Uncle Hank gave one last cry, and Cat turned. He let me go. Uncle Hank saved me, Pip,” Will said in a hushed voice. “I made it back through the crack in the wall and onto the porch.”
    Will’s voice stopped. Pip was almost afraid to breathe.
    “I can’t go back there,” he said. “I can’t.”
    “That’s all right.” Pip looked up at the window. She could see the moon shining down through the branches of their tree. “I’m not afraid to go by myself,” she said.
    She wished in her heart that it were true.

chapter 8
“I’ll Go Tonight”
    I t was Christmas Eve. The house was filled with the smell of pine. Pip and Kit had dragged home all the pine branches they could find. They draped them over the fireplace. They hung them from the doorways. They spread them, soft and thick as a