Free Magic Elizabeth by Norma Kassirer Page B

little shuddering gasp behind her.
    “It’s Shadow!” cried Sally. For there he was, sitting quite placidly on the high seat at the front of an enormous red sleigh. The runners of the sleigh rose in magnificent curves from the barn floor. “The sleigh in the diary!” Sally said.
    The sleigh was standing between the two lines of stalls, illuminated from above, as if on a stage, by wavering ribbons of light that descended from holes in the roof of the barn. The sleigh itself was delicately frosted over with dust and silvery cobwebs. It looked enchanted to Sally, for it seemed to shine with a light of its own. A little silver step at the side of the sleigh winked invitingly.
    Sally looked down at Emily, who was now standing at her side, staring up in wonder at the beautiful sleigh. Her tongue darted out and touched her upper lip.
    “Don’t be afraid,” said Sally. Emily certainly seemed to be a very timid little girl, she thought. “It’s only Shadow up there. He’s a very nice cat.”
    “I’m not afraid,” Emily said. “I’m not afraid with you, Sally. It’s pretty. It’s a very pretty sleigh,” she added gravely.
    “Let’s get up into it,” said Sally, feeling very brave.
    “All right,” agreed Emily.
    “I’ll go first,” Sally offered.

    She placed one foot on the silver step, and holding on to a projecting edge of the sleigh, lifted the rest of herself up to the step and then to the floor of the sleigh. The sleigh gave a profound sigh as she stepped into it, as if it, like the barn doors, had not been disturbed in years. Sally reached down and took Emily’s hand and helped her up. Tiny cobwebs snapped soundlessly as they moved. The black leather seat was covered with a network of tiny cracks, so that it looked like a map of some heretofore undiscovered land. A fat white spider, who had perhaps been sleeping up there, scuttled away along one of the cracks and disappeared over the side of the seat. They sat down on the splitting seat and looked up at Shadow, who blinked down at them from the driver’s seat, his green eyes glowing.
    “Come on down, Shadow,” Sally said. “I want you to meet Emily.” Just as if he had understood, Shadow jumped down and sat between the two girls, rubbing against their sides in a friendly manner and purring. Sally stroked his fur. Emily hesitated only a moment before doing the same. Sally introduced Emily to him, and Emily took his paw and said gravely, “How do you do, Mr. Shadow.” Shadow purred his reply. Emily brushed her cheek against his head. “He’s nice,” she said.
    Sally nodded. “I used to be afraid of him,” she said, as if that had been a very long time ago. Andindeed, it did seem to be. She told Emily about the diary, and about the other Sally and her cats. “This must be the very sleigh she rode in,” she said, “on Christmas Eve. And I’ll bet that she had Elizabeth with her.”
    “Who’s Elizabeth?” asked Emily.
    “The doll. The doll I’m going to find.”
    “I hope you do,” said Emily. “But how will you find her?”
    “I guess I’ll just have to think very hard. And I’m going to look all through the attic for a clue, if Aunt Sarah lets me go back up there. You see, Elizabeth was on the top of a Christmas tree, and they were all singing, and when they looked again, Elizabeth was gone. And there was no one else in the room at all. It’s very mysterious.”
    “It’s a real mystery,” agreed Emily. “Maybe the cats saw what happened to her.”
    They laughed. “Do you think they did, Shadow?” Sally asked. “Did Mrs. Niminy Piminy see what happened?”
    As if in reply, Shadow pricked up his ears and then leaped gracefully down from the sleigh to the barn floor. He sat looking up at them, one ear cocked as if he were listening to something.
    “Sally!” a voice called. Shadow looked once at the two girls and then hurried to the barn doors.
    “Here I am,” Sally called. Just as Shadow reachedthe doors, the crooked