Rascal's Festive Fun Read Online Free PDF

down as though he approved.
    Lila took a photo of him on her phone, laughing.
    “I’m going to make a snow-dog now,” Ellie said, wandering further down the garden to find some fresh snow.
    But snow-dogs were difficult, it turned out. The paws kept falling off. And it was gettingcolder and colder. Lila and Max had already gone inside, and finally she decided it must be close to lunchtime. She looked round for Rascal, but he must have gone in with Lila and Max.
    “Oh, I was just going to call you, Ellie!” Mum told her, as she opened the door. Then she frowned. “Where’s Rascal?”
    “He came in with the others…” Ellie said.
    Mum shook her head. “No, he’s definitely not here.”
    Ellie looked back out across the garden worriedly. Had Rascal got out somehow? What if the snow had drifted, and he was stuck, buried in the snow?
    Then she smiled. “Wait a minute,” she told Mum, and ran to check the dogloo.
    Sure enough, there he was. His white bits were blending into the snow, so only his little brown ears stood out in the dim, snowy light inside. Rascal was fast asleep in his own little snow-house.

Chapter Nine
Mince Pies for Rascal
    Ellie wrapped up most of her presents on Christmas Eve. She’d given Christy and Lucy their presents the day before, when they went over to Christy’s house. Luckily, Christy lived close enough to walk – Mum didn’t like driving in the snow. They’d made an enormous snowman in Christy’s front garden.
    Ellie looked happily at the little pile of presents on her bedroom floor. She had made the wrapping paper herself, and usedglittery Christmas stickers instead of tape. She’d printed out some more photos of Rascal in his hat and used them as gift tags, with some glitter on the hat, and they looked gorgeous. She was ready to put them under the tree, just in time for tomorrow!
    “Come on, Rascal!” She picked up the pile, and went to the door, but a worried yip behind her made her stop. Rascal was trying to follow her, but he’d been playing with the roll of ribbon, batting it around with his paws, rolling over with it, chasing it under the bed… Then he’d sat down for a little rest, and somehow the ribbon had wrapped around all four paws.

    Ellie put the presents down on her bed. “Maybe I should put you under the Christmas tree!” She giggled. “You look just like a present, Rascal! You just need a bow on your head.” She undid him carefully, and rolled the ribbon up again, while Rascal pranced around her, happy to be free. The house was full of good smells, and interesting things kept arriving.
    Ellie led him downstairs to put the presents under the tree. There were so many! And lots of them had her name on. She’d felt them, but she couldn’t tell what was inside. Proudly, she added hers to the pile, and then wandered into the kitchen to see what Mum was doing.
    “Oh, yum, more mince pies.”
    “Well, Max and Lewis between them polished off the rest of the last batch,” Mum explained, as she cut out the pastry circles, “and I thought you might want to leave some out for Father Christmas tonight.”

    Ellie nodded. “And carrots. Have we got any?”
    Mum nodded towards the vegetable basket. It was practically overflowing. “The reindeer wouldn’t like some sprouts as well, would they? I think your dad got a bit carried away in the supermarket.”
    “Mum, no one likes sprouts. Not even reindeer. Or Dad! Why did he buy so many?”
    “Sprouts are a Christmas thing. We’ll all just have a couple…” Mum sighed. “And who knows what we’ll do with the other fifty or so…”
    There was a strange creaking noise from the living room, followed by a worried whine, and Ellie looked at Mum in horror.
    “Rascal! I left him in there alone!”
    Ellie raced back into the living room, to find the Christmas tree leaning at a very weird angle. Rascal had tinsel wrapped right the way round his middle, and one of the candy canes that Gran and Grandpa had sent was