Lulu Bell and the Christmas Elf (4 page)

Back at the vet hospital, Dad carried Bonnie straight into one of the consulting rooms. He put her on the table.

‘Can you help me hold her, please, sweetie?' asked Dad.

Lulu stood on the opposite side of the table and held Bonnie still. Lulu's tummy was filled with butterflies.

Dad pulled on a pair of gloves and gave Bonnie a quick injection to sedate her. He began running his fingertips through Bonnie's fur. After a minute of careful searching, he paused.

‘Got it,' he said. There was a swollen grey tick buried in the skin on the back of Bonnie's neck. Dad took a pair of tweezers from the instrument tray. He used the tweezers to carefully lever the tick away from the skin. He dropped the tick into a stainless steel dish.

Lulu sighed with relief. Dad kept searching until he was sure there were no more ticks.

‘Will she be all right?' asked Lulu.

Dad looked worried. ‘It looks like that tick had been there for quite a few days. She's having trouble breathing.'

He rummaged in the cupboard and pulled out a bottle of serum. He gave Bonnie another injection. ‘This antitoxin should fight the tick poison.'

Bonnie stared at Lulu with big green eyes. The cat panted and wheezed.

Lulu and Dad worked together to make Bonnie more comfortable. Lulu combed the twigs and dirt out of her fur. Dad put her on an intravenous drip to give her some fluid. Then he propped Bonnie up on a rolled-up towel. That would make it easier for her to breathe.

Dad rang Roy to tell him that Bonnie was found safe.

A few minutes later, Olivia and Jo burst through the door. Their parents Roy and Amy came behind.

‘Where is she?' asked Jo.

‘Is she all right?' asked Olivia.

‘Oh, she's so skinny,' said Jo.

Bonnie meowed pitifully. The girls stroked her head. The twins were torn between happiness that Bonnie was found, and worry that she was so sick. Dad explained the treatment he had given her.

‘When will we know whether Bonnie is out of danger?' asked Roy.

‘We should know more in the next twenty-four hours,' said Dad. ‘But in the meantime, Bonnie will be having a sleepover at the vet hospital for a couple of days. I need to keep a very close eye on her.'

‘Will Bonnie be better in time for Christmas?' asked Olivia.

Lulu grinned at Olivia and Jo.

‘Of course she will,' said Lulu. ‘Isn't she being looked after by the best vet in the world?'

Lulu was right.

On the day before Christmas, Lulu went next door to check on Bonnie. It was very busy at the vet hospital. Lots of clients were getting pets checked before the holidays. Other pets were being picked up.

In the hospital ward, Bonnie was curled up in a basket in her cage. When she saw Lulu she stood up slowly. Bonnie rubbed her face against Lulu's hand and purred.

‘Oh, Bonnie. You're up and walking,' cried Lulu. ‘You're getting better.'

Just then Dad came in with a carry cage.

‘Perfect timing, Lulu,' said Dad. ‘Olivia and Jo are here to pick up Bonnie. Why don't you come in and see them?'

‘I'd love to,' said Lulu.

Dad scooped Bonnie up and popped her in the carry cage. Lulu followed Dad into the consulting room. The whole family was already waiting in there. The twins were bursting with delight.

‘Here she is,' said Dad. He lifted Bonnie out of the carry cage and put her on the examination table. ‘Still a little wobbly but definitely on the mend.'

Olivia and Jo beamed. They cuddled and stroked Bonnie. Bonnie purred with pleasure.

‘You'll need to keep her quiet for the next few days,' said Dad. ‘She needs lots of rest and nourishing food.'

Roy nodded. ‘That's really wonderful news.'

Olivia turned to Lulu. ‘We've brought you a little present, Lulu,' she said.

‘To thank you for coaxing Bonnie out,' added Jo.

Roy was carrying a box wrapped in coloured paper. He handed it to Lulu with a smile. ‘Part of it is for your dad as well,' he said. ‘We are so grateful to you both.'

Lulu loved getting presents. She carefully opened the box. Inside were two smaller packages. One was a cellophane bag full of home-made Christmas biscuits.

‘They're
Kerstkransjes
,' said Roy.

‘Dutch Christmas wreath biscuits,' said Jo. ‘You hang them on the Christmas tree by the ribbon.'

‘Then you eat them on Christmas Day,' added Olivia. ‘They're delicious.'

Each round biscuit had a hole in the middle. A length of red ribbon was looped through the hole. The biscuits were decorated with chocolate and nuts. They looked very pretty.

‘Thank you,' said Lulu. ‘I'll hang them up as soon as I go home.'

She tore the tissue paper off the last present. It was a pair of red wooden clogs. The toes were turned up just like Lulu's elf slippers. Lulu lifted one of the shoes out of the box.

‘A present from Holland,' said Jo.

‘We call them
klompen
,' said Roy. ‘In Holland the children put their
klompen
out filled with hay or carrots for
Sinterklaas
's big white horse.'

‘
Sinterklaas
is the Dutch name for Santa Claus,' Olivia explained. ‘If the children have been good,
Sinterklaas
fills the clogs with lollies. We thought you might like them.'

Lulu smiled at the girls. ‘Thanks. They're beautiful.'

Lulu tried the clogs on her feet. They fit perfectly. She did a little jig to make the clogs clomp.

‘Come on, girls,' said Roy. ‘Let's get Bonnie home.'

He turned to Lulu and Dr Bell. His face dimpled with a smile.
‘Vrolijke Kerstmis,'
said Roy.

‘Merry Christmas,' replied Dad.

As soon as Dad finished work, it was time for more Christmas celebrations. Every year the families of Shelly Beach had a Christmas Eve party at the beach.

The sun glowed golden in the late afternoon. It sparkled and glimmered on the blue sea. Yachts with white sails danced on the gentle swell. A pink-beaked pelican swooped and landed on a weathered wharf pylon.

As so The Bell children jumped out of the car. They chattered with excitement. All three kids were already dressed in swimming costumes, rash vests and sun hats. Gus carried a big red ball. Rosie carried a bucket and spade. Lulu carried the cricket set and her boogie board.

They ran down to the sand. Mum and Dad followed with the picnic basket and beach chairs.

Lots of their friends were already there. Molly was paddling in the water with Tien and Sam.

Lauren was building a sandcastle with her parents and brother. Some of the teachers from school were chatting, including Miss Baxter, Miss Donaldson and Miss Martin. Jo and Olivia arrived with Roy and Amy.

The kids raced into the water, dragging their boogie boards. They jumped and splashed and swam and surfed. Dad set up the cricket stumps and organised a huge game of cricket. Everyone played and laughed. They sang Christmas carols.

Molly, Olivia and Jo made up a new Christmas carol. It went like this:

Lulu laughed and clapped.

After the games, the parents set up a delicious picnic to share. There were bread rolls with roast chicken and salad. Tien had made rice paper rolls and prawn dumplings. Amy had baked an apple tart.

Lulu and Rosie gave their presents to their teachers. Each box held jars of lemon butter, jam and apple sauce, with bags of shortbread and a special card painted by the girls.

‘How wonderful, Rosie! Thank you,' said Miss Martin. ‘This all looks so delicious. And I love your painting.'

‘I wrote a special letter to Santa,' said Rosie. ‘I asked him if I could have
you
for Christmas.'

Miss Martin laughed. ‘Thank you, Rosie. I am very flattered that you want me for Christmas.'

Lulu sighed. ‘Rosie is sad that she won't have you as a teacher next year.'

Miss Martin crouched down next to Rosie. ‘I'm sad that I won't have you in my class next year too, Rosie. I'll miss you. But you've grown up so much this year. You're doing so well that you're truly ready for year two.'

Rosie nodded slowly.

‘And you can visit me in my classroom any time you want to,' added Miss Martin. ‘You could help me with the new year one students. Some of them will be very nervous coming into my big year one class.'

Rosie giggled. ‘No-one would be nervous coming into
your
class.'

Miss Martin grinned. ‘You know I can be
very
scary.'

The sun began to set in the west. It streaked the sky with a wash of crimson and gold.

Mum hugged Lulu close as they admired the view. ‘Isn't it beautiful? It's Christmas Eve,' she whispered. ‘Time to go home and hang up the stockings.'

Lulu jumped up and down. ‘Mum, do I have time to write a new letter to Santa?'

Mum laughed. ‘Yes, honey bun.'

‘Me too,' said Rosie.

Everyone was sandy and salty and tired. They packed the car and drove home. All the houses were decorated with Christmas lights. It looked like fairyland.

At home it was time for the final Christmas preparations. The children changed into their pyjamas and cleaned their teeth. They wrote their new letters to Santa. Then the whole family gathered in the lounge room.

‘First, we'll hang up the stockings,' said Mum. Lulu's nanna had made them each a red stocking. Their names were sewn on in cloth letters. Mum handed them out.

Lulu, Gus and Rosie hung their stockings on the mantelpiece. Dad helped Gus to hang his because he was not quite tall enough to reach.

‘Now I think we should put out a little snack for Santa, to say thank you for bringing presents,' suggested Mum.

‘And a little something for the reindeer,' added Dad. ‘They've flown a long way.'

Lulu and Rosie danced with excitement.

‘Apples?' asked Rosie.

‘Carrots,' said Lulu. ‘I'm putting some carrots in my
klompen
.'

The three children ran to the kitchen.

Gus found a bunch of carrots in the fridge. Rosie fetched a glass of apple juice. Lulu carefully placed a piece of choc-chunk shortbread on a plate. She put a little bag of biscuits beside it for Santa to take home to Mrs Claus.

The children arranged the snacks on the wooden chest in front of the couch. Rosie ran outside to the garden. She brought back a frangipani flower and added it to the plate. Lulu and Gus put a carrot into each one of her clogs and placed it by the fireplace. Then they laid out their new letters to Santa.

Rosie looked warily at the fireplace.

‘Dad, is Santa going to come down the chimney into our house?' asked Rosie.

Everyone looked at the fireplace.

‘Straight down the chimney with a big sack of presents,' said Dad.

Rosie frowned. ‘It's a bit scary to imagine someone coming into the house in the middle of the night,' she said.

Dad lifted Rosie up in the air and swung her around. He pointed to Asha and Jessie. The two dogs were lying right beside the fireplace, their heads flopped on their paws.

‘Do you think those big, brave dogs would let anyone scary into our house?' asked Dad.

Asha woofed at the sound of her name. Jessie smiled her big doggy smile. Rosie shook her head.

‘Of course not,' said Dad. ‘The dogs only let really lovely people into the house, don't they?'

Rosie nodded and smiled. Dad put her down again.

Lulu wasn't scared but she was very curious.

‘I'm going to wait up for Santa and say hello,' she said. ‘I want to say thank you.'

Mum laughed. ‘Santa won't come down if anyone's awake. He knows if you've been naughty or good. And he
knows
if you're pretending to sleep.'

Lulu looked at the chimney. It seemed a bit narrow for a person to climb down.

‘How does Santa fit down the chimney with such a big tummy and a huge sack?' asked Lulu.

Gus nodded. ‘My piggy might get stuck in the
chimbley
.'

Mum leaned down and kissed Lulu on the forehead. She looked into Lulu's eyes and smiled.

‘It's magic, Lulu,' said Mum. ‘Christmas magic.'

Mum tucked everyone into bed and kissed them goodnight. Lulu lay in the darkness for what seemed like hours. She was going to wait up for Santa no matter what. It would be so exciting to see him. Lulu was sure Santa wouldn't be cross if she was awake. He seemed so cheerful and jolly.

Lulu's ears strained to listen for strange sounds. Reindeer landing on the roof. Or the noise of someone sliding down the chimney. But all she could hear was the low murmur of Mum and Dad talking in the kitchen.

She closed her eyes for just a second. But when she opened them it was light. It was Christmas morning.

The house was quiet and still. Lulu jumped out of bed. She raced to the doorway and peeked into the lounge room. The room looked very different.

The glass on the chest was empty. The letters were gone. There was nothing on the plate except golden crumbs. Chunks of chewed-up carrot were scattered on the floor beside the red clogs.

The three sacks were no longer hanging on the mantelpiece. Instead they lay stuffed and overflowing on the floor beside the hearth. And under the Christmas tree was a pile of presents wrapped in green and turquoise paper. Lulu felt her heart jump into her mouth.

‘Rosie, Gus,' she cried. ‘Wake up.'

Her brother and sister straggled in, yawning. They stood in the doorway and stared.

Lulu looked at her brother and sister with shining eyes.

‘Santa's been,' Rosie said.

‘Yay,' cried Gus.

‘And I think this is going to be the best Christmas ever,' said Lulu.