Free Star of Wonder by JoAnn S. Dawson

said.”
    It had taken quite a bit of effort on Willie’s part to talk Mr. McMurray into allowing even two ponies to graze in the pasture
     all day and night with his cows. “Hayburners!” he had called the ponies. “And eating up my profits, they are.” Willie had
     explained to the girls that Mr. McMurray was being very generous as it was, and although Mr. McMurray had grudgingly agreed
     to allow them to turn Star out in the pasture for a short time each day, he would have to come in to either his stall or the
     paddock at night.
    “I know what we can do!” Mary exclaimed. “Let’s fix up our hay fort and swing on the rope swing in the barn! We haven’t done
     that for ages!”
    “Good plan!” agreed Jody. “Then we can listen for Willie to turn out the cows and go watch Star when he does!”
    So the girls dashed to the top of the barn hill and took a firm hold on the immense sliding barn door that led to the enormous
     hayloft of Mr. McMurray’s dairy cow barn.
    “Ready, one, two, three!” they shouted in unison, and the door began to slide slowly open as they pushed with all their might.
     Pigeons flew overhead with a whirring of wings as the girls entered through the narrow opening their effort had afforded them.
     They stood quietly in the cavernous structure, which was lined on either side with neatly stacked mountains of hay and straw,
     and blinked as their eyes adjusted to the dim light.
    “Gosh, Jode, I think the last time we were up here was when Willie showed us the sleigh!” Mary exclaimed.
    “That reminds me—next winter when it snows, it’ll be Lady’s turn to learn how to pull it!”
    Jody said excitedly. “Remember, she was so pregnant with Star at Christmas that Willie said she could learn next time!”
    “Yeah, and we were so dumb we didn’t even know why Lady was so fat!” Mary chuckled.
    “Hey, let’s go in the grain room and see how the old sleigh’s doing!”
    To the left of where the girls stood was a room built into the side of the barn, where wheat, barley, and oats were stored
     in individual bins, waiting to be ground into feed for the dairy cows.
    Mary creaked open the rickety door and the girls went in slowly, peering around at the cobwebbed corners and taking in the
     smell of the variety of grains. In the furthest corner of the room, the canvas-covered form of the sleigh could be seen in
     the faint light. Mary and Jody tiptoed toward it, feeling the need to be quiet and still in the stuffy room. Just as they
     were passing the last bin of wheat on their right, a fat brown groundhog darted out of the barley bin on the left and stood
     up on his hind legs, chattering a warning to get out of his room!
    “AAAGHHH!” Mary screamed, so startled by this sudden apparition that she turned and tripped over Jody, and they both fell
     in a heap on the dusty floor. Disturbed by Mary’s scream, a suddenly awakened barn owl swooped down just inches from the girls’
     heads and flew out the door, its giant wing knocking over a grain shovel with a clatter on its way out. Mary and Jody screamed
     again and crawled on their hands and knees as fast as they could go until they reached the relative safety of the barn floor
     and sat shuddering, holding each other’s hands.
    “I don’t think I want to see the sleigh that bad,” Mary whispered, forgetting her good grammar for the moment. Then the girls
     looked at each other sheepishly and burst out laughing.
    “You should have seen your face!” Jody giggled. “You looked like you saw a ghost!”
    “I thought I did!” Mary laughed. “And you should talk—you were as white as a sheet!
    But anyway, enough of this foolishness, time’s a-wastin.’ Willie will be done milking soon, and we haven’t even started on
     our fort! But look, the swing is still there, same as always!”
    The swing of which Mary spoke was simply a long braided rope with a large knot tied on the end, hanging straight down from
     the rafters of the