Read The Dawn of Christmas for Free Online

“Hello?”
    His breathing altered, and the fingers on one hand moved.
    “Do you know where we are?”
    He seemed to reach for something. She put her hand in his, and he tightened his fingers as if needing reassurance that someone was here. She used her free hand to touch his face, hoping to coax him to respond. “It’s okay. I’ve got help on the line. Do you know where we are?”
    He stirred, even opened his mouth, but she could hear no words.
    She moved her ear closer to his face again.
    “Zook … Road. Three miles … north of … Cherry Hill … intersection.”
    Tears welled in Sadie’s eyes. “Excellent!” She caressed his face as she reported this to the operator. The woman on the other end of the line repeated it back to her.
    “Yes. That’s right.”
    The woman didn’t respond.
    “Hello?”
    Nothing.
    “Hello?”
    Sadie looked at the phone. No lights were on. She punched several buttons but heard no sound of any kind.
    The man raised a hand.
    She clutched it and lowered it to his side. “Stay still, please.”
    He shivered, and she frowned. It was hot and muggy, but he breathed and trembled as if he were freezing. Sadie went to her horse, removed Bay’s saddle, and plunked it to the ground. She grabbed the blanket and unfolded it while walking back to him. After covering him with it and tucking it around him as best she could, she sat beside him.
    “Help’s on the way.” Since his arms were under the blanket and he responded well to touch, she stroked his cheek. Thank heaven, his shaking had eased.
    Under the glow of the moon, she saw him close his eyes. His body went limp. She jabbed her fingers into his neck, feeling a faint rhythm. “Hey! Wake up!” She screamed in his face. “Can you hear me?”
    But he didn’t budge, and his pulse seemed to fade.

A female voice commanded Levi to wake up. He pried his eyes open.
    The outline of a woman hovered over him. She held a cell phone in one hand. Did angels wear jeans and boots and carry a phone?
    She seemed perturbed with the phone as she kept pressing numbers. He tried to speak but only managed a moan.
    She crouched beside him. “Stay still. Completely still. Okay?”
    He wanted to get his hand free of the blanket, but when he tried, she lowered the cover and firmly intertwined her fingers with his. “It’s okay. Help is on the way.”
    “You’re no angel.”
    She laughed. “I’m afraid my father would agree with you completely, especially if he arrives at my grandmother’s place to discover I’m not there.”
    “He’ll be worried.”
    “No. He’ll know I’ve gone riding. He’ll just be angry.” She released his hand and eased his arm to his side. “What’s your name?”
    His head pounded. He had to concentrate to answer her. “Levi.”
    “I’m Sadie.” She sat down next to him.
    “Amigo … my horse … Is he hurt?”
    “He’s spooked but appears fine. I think he needs a name change, however, because that horse is no friend of yours.”
    Her sense of playfulness brought him some much-needed relief. He mustered his strength to talk. “I can’t. I have no idea what the Spanish word is for ‘enemy.’ ”
    “Believe it or not, it’s
enemigo
.”
    “You’re making that up.”
    “One might think that, but I promise it’s true.” She shifted. “Do you live around here?”
    “On Hertzler Drive.”
    “Is that near Hertzlers’ Dry Goods?”
    His head throbbed, and he closed his eyes.
    “Levi, look at me.”
    He tried but couldn’t find the strength. Her hands cradled his face.
    “Levi,” she sang his name. “Open your eyes.” She paused. “Levi,
now!
”
    A sensation of being pulled from the bottom of a pond tugged him awake. “It’s not nice to yell at people you just met.”
    “If you don’t open those eyes, I’m going to slap someone I just met.”
    It wasn’t easy, but he made himself look at her.
    “Good.” She smiled. “I was asking where you live.”
    “A mile or so from the dry