and forth to keep Tor from plowing someone down.
Finally, the train stopped right in front of the pet store, where a small crowd had gathered, including someone from a local news station with a minicam on his shoulder.
Lucas gave Pru a quick look, and they sprinted around the train to get out of the line of view. Tor pulled them to the front, where he pranced a little, his gaze alert as kids started disembarking, then a new set boarded, filling up every seat quickly.
“He’s so focused on the train,” Pru said.
“I know. Which makes me wonder if the puppy is on it, or was.”
The whistle blew three times, and some bells chimed a familiar carol as the wheels started chugging along.
“Let me see those notes,” Lucas said.
“Gramma’s ideas?” She handed them over, shaking her head as she could only imagine what he’d say when he read what Gramma Finnie had written. “Brace yourself. My Gramma Finnie should come with a warning. Cuteness dead ahead.”
He laughed, the chuckle coming from his chest. “No kidding. She’s a living doll.”
A living doll? She blinked at him, not at all sure what to make of that compliment, which wasn’t anything she’d imagine would come out of his mouth. “Right? I adore her.”
“I can see why.” He glanced at the first note and smiled, flipping it up to read the next one. “How ’bout those candy canes, Pru?”
“You want one?”
He stepped back and glanced down the length of the train. “I want about thirty. And get your camera out.”
“Why?” she asked as she dug out a handful of little plastic-wrapped candy canes from her backpack.
He grinned at her. “We’re about to RACK up some points.”
Just then, a little boy, about the age of Pru’s cousin Christian, leaned out from the first train car to reach for Tor, who obliged by lowering his head for a pet.
“This is Tor,” Pru said, putting her hand on the dog’s head to show how friendly he was. “He’s a very special dog.”
“How come?” the boy asked.
“Because,” Lucas said. “He’s Mrs. Claus’s very own dog, and he has a message and gift from her.” He did a goofy little bow, then slapped a Post-it Note on the candy cane wrapper and extended it to the boy. “Good tidings from Mrs. Claus.”
The little boy looked up at him, his expression saying he had no idea what good tidings were.
“We call them…Tor Tidings!” Lucas added, cracking Pru up as she rushed to find her phone.
“Tor Tidings, Lucas?”
“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” he joked. “And let’s try and look inside each car as it passes, too.”
“Go ahead, Ashton,” the boy’s mother said when he glanced at her for permission. “Take the dog’s note, and let’s read it.”
He took the note and candy cane, ripping into the wrapper as his mother read the note. “It says, ‘Christmas in the heart puts Christmas in the air.’ Aww, so sweet. Thank you!”
“Thank Tor,” Lucas said. “He’s spreading Christmas cheer.”
The train started a slow chug, bringing the next car to Tor.
“This is brilliant.” Pru sang the word as she stepped back to take a picture of Lucas and Tor greeting the next little girl, who reached out a grabby hand.
“I want one!” the little girl called out. “I want a Tor Tiding!”
This time, Lucas stuck the Post-it Note to the tip of Tor’s nose, making the little girl release a gale of giggles as she got her candy cane, and Lucas got a look at the inside of the little car.
“Read it, Daddy!” she demanded, reaching for the note. Pru managed to get a picture right as she got the note.
“All right.” Her father took the paper and cleared his throat to make it official. “‘Peace on earth will come to stay when we have Christmas every day.’”
That got a little cheer from the onlookers who’d gathered to see what the extraordinary dog was doing. The next car came up to them with two little sisters in Christmas sweaters begging for their Tor Tidings from the tip of the dog’s nose. Their parents read the note, and the same thing happened with the next car, and pretty soon, it was like a chorus of Christmas by kids and their parents.
“‘Christmas waves a magic wand, and everything is beautiful!’”
“‘Holidays are about opening our hearts, not presents!’”
“‘Give hugs, not gifts!’”
“‘Christmas isn’t a season, it’s a feeling!’”
Pru snapped a dozen pictures, then took a video of a little boy petting Tor and getting a lick, his heartfelt laughter