Chapter Six - A Gift

"Grandpa! Look!" a little girl's voice echoed through the forest. "Rabbit tracks!"
"Oh no!" said Rudy. "I have to get out of here immediately... before she spots my glowing red nose! I know how to find your brother, Chip!" he whispered before he disappeared into the forest as quick as a wink.
"There are some reindeer tracks and some chipmunk tracks here too, Grandpa!" the little girl said excitedly.
"Chip!" whispered Webb. "Come on! We have to hide! Now!"
Both of them headed straight for a hollow log just in front of Chippy's home, as quickly as they could. There was just enough snow on the ground to show their tracks, but Chippy was hoping that the leaves would hide their whereabouts.
"Look Grandpa! See what I found!"
The little girl had spotted Rudy's mask, as she bent over to pick some dried flowers. It looked like a brown furry bag with two long ties on it. "May I keep this?" she asked, as her grandfather came closer. "I know just what I am going to do with it. I will fill it with flowers, nuts and cones to give to Grandma," she said aloud, not waiting for him to answer.
Chippy was startled. This was the same man that he had met earlier beside the fence. He could see that the man was carrying something in a big bag.
"Those are rabbit tracks all right," the elderly man said. "Oh, here ..." he continued, looking more closely at the ground. "Yes, these are chipmunk tracks." He was quite pleased at how well his grand daughter had learned to track wild animals.
"See Grandpa!" The little girl pointed to the reindeer tracks. "Reindeer!"
"You are right," the elderly man said, kneeling down to look at the deep prints that Rudy had left in the partly frozen ground. "These are fresh too. They have not had time to freeze yet."
"Let's put the food for the animals out here," the little girl said, as she reached up for the bag that her grandfather was carrying. He nodded and handed it to her. "Peanuts for the chipmunk! Lettuce for the rabbit and salt for the deer."
"Good. I wish I had a present for Grandma though," her grandfather said sadly. "We can feed the animals, but I couldn't buy her a present today. I didn't get enough money for the produce that I took to market on the truck today."
"Maybe that is the truck that Chimmy was on?" whispered Chippy to Webb, suddenly experiencing a glimmer of hope once again.
"Sh!" whispered Webb. "They might find us!"
It was very dark in the hollow log, but somehow it seemed to be nice and warm too, as Webb's furry coat was protecting both him and Chippy from the cold wind. Somehow the darkness seemed to surround them like a blanket. Chippy suddenly realized that he was no longer afraid of the dark.
"Grandpa!" said the little girl excitedly. "Do you think that we could give this to Grandma for Christmas too? Do you think that she would like it? It is really pretty. It even has a red bow on it!"
Webb and Chippy peered out of the end of the hollow log to see what she was holding. It was the wreath that Rudy had brought for Chippy.
"Where did you find that?" the elderly man asked in amazement. "Maybe someone lost it?"
"I don't think so," said the little girl joyfully. "I think Santa must have been here already. It was over there hanging on that tree. He must have left it for us."
"Too early..." replied her grandfather. "Well.....maybe.....I don't know. But I do know one thing. Grandma will love it. It is going to be the best Christmas that she has ever had."
The little girl handed it to her grandfather. Happily, the two of them walked back through the forest toward the fence. Every once in a while she stopped to pick up a flower, a nut or a cone to add to her treasures.
"Grandpa," the little girl asked, as they walked along. "Do you think that you could tell me the Christmas story?"
"A long time ago, shepherds in a field saw a star....." the grandfather replied as they disappeared from sight.
Chippy and Webb were both totally amazed at what they found when they left their hiding place.
"That was a really good trade!" said Webb.
"Look at all of the food!" Chippy said. There were peanuts everywhere.
"There is just one more thing that we need to have happen in order for us to have a perfect Christmas," he thought sadly.
"If only we could bring Chimmy home for Christmas," he said aloud.
"Let's make that happen!" said Webb.
"I think Rudy might just be able to do that," he thought to himself. He knew that Rudy had reindeer radar, but he was not about to give away Rudy's secret.
"Yes," agreed Chippy, as he started to gather all of the peanuts that had been left on top of the hollow log. He was determined to have the best Christmas ever too and not even one of those peanuts was going to be wasted.
"If Chimmy comes home, we are going to be ready", he decided, as he picked up one of the flowers that the little girl must have dropped. It seemed to blink at him when he held it up to the moonlight, as if to tell him that Chimmy was really coming home.