A Shiloh Christmas (25 page)

When I go back in, Dad's turning out the light in the kitchen, and I thank him again for the desk lamp/radio he and Ma gave me. “It's really cool,” I tell him.

He gives me a one-arm hug. “Now all you need is a room,” he says. “Won't be long. We're working on it. G'night, Judd.”

“Have yourself a good one,” Judd says in reply.

He settles himself in the recliner, brings up the footrest so he can lean way back. I go to the bathroom and put on my pajamas. When I come out, I turn off the Christmas tree lights and crawl under my blanket there on the couch. The living room's dark except for the glow of our icicle lights coming in the windows, and a small square of yellow/orange from our potbellied stove.

Radio's still playing softly in the corner. Ma had it on all day so we'd have music during company dinner, and we like every little bit of Christmas we can get. Each one of us has got a favorite carol. Mine is “We Three Kings,” 'cause you can hear someone using wood blocks to sound like camels' hoofs. Dara Lynn likes “O Holy
Night” just to see if the soprano can hit the high note without it wiggling.

Ma slips into the room and turns the radio off.

“Time for sleep,” she whispers.

So I listen to the concert I got right here—the fire hissing and spitting; Judd Travers snoring in and out, in and out; and Shiloh's wheezy little breaths. And I figure this is about all the music I need.

Books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

SHILOH BOOKS

Shiloh • Shiloh Season • Saving Shiloh

THE ALICE BOOKS

Starting with Alice • Alice in Blunderland

Lovingly Alice • The Agony of Alice

Alice in Rapture, Sort Of • Reluctantly Alice

All But Alice • Alice in April

Alice In-Between • Alice the Brave

Alice in Lace • Outrageously Alice

Achingly Alice • Alice on the Outside

The Grooming of Alice • Alice Alone

Simply Alice • Patiently Alice

Including Alice • Alice on Her Way

Alice in the Know • Dangerously Alice

Almost Alice • Intensely Alice

Alice in Charge • lncredibly Alice

Alice on Board • Now, I'll Tell You Everything

ALICE COLLECTIONS

I Like Him, He Likes Her

It's Not Like I Planned It This Way

Please Don't Be True

You and Me and the Space In Between

THE BERNIE MAGRUDER BOOKS

Bernie Magruder and the Case of the Big Stink

Bernie Magruder and the Disappearing Bodies

Bernie Magruder and the Haunted Hotel

Bernie Magruder and the Drive-thru Funeral Parlor

Bernie Magruder and the Bus Station Blowup

Bernie Magruder and the Pirate's Treasure

Bernie Magruder and the Parachute Peril

Bernie Magruder and the Bats in the Belfry

THE CAT PACK BOOKS

The Grand Escape • The Healing of Texas Jake

Carlotta's Kittens • Polo's Mother

THE YORK TRILOGY

Shadows on the Wall • Faces in the Water • Footprints at the Window

THE WITCH BOOKS

Witch's Sister • Witch Water

The Witch Herself • The Witch's Eye

Witch Weed • The Witch Returns

PICTURE BOOKS

King of the Playground • The Boy with the Helium Head

Old Sadie and the Christmas Bear • Keeping a Christmas Secret

Ducks Disappearing • I Can't Take You Anywhere

Sweet Strawberries • Please DO Feed the Bears

BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

Josie's Troubles • How Lazy Can You Get?

All Because I'm Older • Maudie in the Middle

One of the Third-Grade Thonkers • Roxie and the Hooligans

BOOKS FOR MIDDLE READERS

How I Came to Be a Writer

Eddie, Incorporated • The Solomon System

Night Cry • Beetles, Lightly Toasted • The Fear Place

Being Danny's Dog • Danny's Desert Rats

BOOKS FOR OLDER READERS

Walking Through the Dark • A String of Chances

The Dark of the Tunnel • The Year of the Gopher • Ice

Send No Blessings • Sang Spell • The Keeper • Walker's Crossing

Jade Green • Blizzard's Wake • Cricket Man

ATHENEUM BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Text copyright © 2015 by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Jacket illustration copyright © 2015 by Mike Wimmer

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

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OOKS FOR
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OUNG
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EADERS
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds.

A Shiloh Christmas / Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. — First edition.

pages cm

Summary: “Marty and his best friend, Shiloh, are on another adventure. Marty learns when a secret is too dangerous to keep, and that hate can spread like fire.”—

Provided by publisher.

ISBN 978-1-4814-4151-3 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4814-4154-4 (eBook)

[1. Dogs—Fiction. 2. Family life—West Virginia—Fiction. 3. Clergy—Fiction. 4. Prejudices—Fiction. 5. Christmas—Fiction. 6. West Virginia—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.N24Sgc 2015

[Fic]—dc23 2014040082