One Stormy Christmas

One Stormy Christmas

December 1972

I looked out of the window at the ever deepening snow. I sipped my hot chocolate. This was going to be a difficult one, with all this bad weather this year.
“Where do you want these last sacks?” came the squeaky voice of Ronald wheeling an equally squeaky barrow full of sacks.
“Stack them behind them boxes, just there, Ronald.” I said pointing to some boxes just behind my seat.
“Okey Dokey,” Ronald’s squeaky sing song voice answered.
Just then, the doors to the stables were flung open. A freezing gust of air and snow came rushing in. My trusty mounts stamped about, shaking their heads, thinking it was time for the off.
“Steady! Steady with you, its only a bit of snow and wind. You should be used to that.” I said as I held their bridles,  and stroked their necks.
“Prancer, come on now settle down will you. Prancer by name and prancer by nature, aren’t you?” I soothed has I stroked Prancer to calm him down.
“I wish you a merry Christmas, wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy new……….” A little figure sang has he closed the stable doors behind him, and then made his way through the stables to the office.
“I see Bernard’s in fine voice today,” I remarked to Ronald.
“Fine voice! You don’t have to listen to him all day.” Ronald answered and then added. “ I know that some people can kill a song, but Bernard keeps doing it all day every day. We’ll hear nothing but the first few bars of ‘I wish you Merry Christmas’ from now until he clocks off! AAAAaaaaH!”
“Oh,” I said, looking back at the snow through the window.
It was no good putting it off any more. The weather was not going to improve and I had a tight schedule to keep. Handing my empty cocoa cup to Ronald I said. “Time to get the show on the road, my old friend. Could you get the doors for me?”
“Okey Dokey.” was his reply as he skipped and toddled over to the stable doors. As he got there he stopped, turned and ran back across the stables to the office. As he opened the door I could hear the faint sound of ‘I wish you a merry Christmas and…..’ before the door closed again behind him, he came running over to me. Breathing heavily, his rosy face looked up at me and he said. “You don’t want to forget this,” As he handed up to me my Book.
“Thank you Ronald.” I said with a little laugh. “ I’m getting a little forgetful after all these yours on the same job. If I had forgot the Book I would have been in a right pickle, wouldn’t I?”
Ronald nodding his agreement and toddled off to the stable doors again.
The weather was atrocious. You could not see your hand in front of your face. But, by some magic, Prancer had an inbuilt sense of where he was, and where he was going. I let him take the lead and we were soon at our first call. Pulling my hat down and my coat tight, I checked the Book.
“The Jones family. I believe they have had a new arrival, ah, yes.” I mumbled to myself has I got their Christmas things together.
With a sack in one hand and a box in the other I made my way to their house.
“Let me see now. One sack of potatoes, and three pints of milk.”