This is the story of a little girl named Jodie. Jodie lived with her parents, her big brother Will, and their golden retriever Sam on a ranch at the end of a long road deep in Wyoming's Big Horn mountains. The ranch was also home to three hundred forty nine head of cattle and usually about fifteen horses. Jodie even had her very own horse, a big, gentle pinto named Sawbuck.

For as long as Jodie could remember, every year she and her father would pick out a special day in the week before Christmas to ride out into the back country to find the perfect Christmas tree. When she was too little to ride that far on Sawbuck, her dad would hitch two big sorrels to a sleigh and they would glide out into the woods wrapped up in cozy, warm blankets with a big thermos filled with cocoa. They would sing Christmas carols as they went and at day's end always would glide back into the yard with a beautiful pine tree tied securely behind the sleigh or behind dad's big Arabian stallion Cimarron.

This year, though, things would be different. Early in December a letter came for her dad. Jodie watched as he read the letter. His usually cheerful face started changing as his eyes moved over the words. He started looking sad, then a little worried. He was silent for a few minutes after he finished reading. Jodie's mom came to the kitchen table where he was sitting and stared at him. She asked him what was wrong. She'd also seen the quiet, sad look. Jodie's dad said that the letter was from his brother in St. Louis. Uncle Ray would be going in to the hospital for some surgery and needed him to come be with him for a couple of weeks, maybe a little longer.

"Jodie," he said, "this will mean we can't go find the tree this year. I'll have to leave first thing tomorrow and might not be back until Christmas."

Jodie told him, "That's okay, dad. I know Uncle Ray needs you to be there for him. Besides, I think I'm big enough to go get the tree by myself this year."

Jodie's mom started to say that of course she wasn't big enough for that, but her dad stopped her with just a look and said that if she were very careful to watch the time and the trail she probably could get them a pretty fair tree. She'd grown up so much in the past year that she'd earned the right to take on some new responsibilities. Even her mom had to agree that she was a lot of help, not only in the big log ranch house but also out on the ranch itself.

So it was settled that this year Jodie would single-handedly rustle up the family's Christmas tree.

Jodie carefully kept track of the weather forecasts as the days passed. She knew that it wouldn't do to plan a trip into the back country if a storm was coming. And since school didn't break for Christmas until a few days before, the trip would have to be on a weekend. On the Friday just over a week before Christmas the weather report called for sunny skies and temperatures around freezing, just perfect for a trip into the back country. And it was supposed to stay that way all weekend. Jodie asked her mother if she'd heard yet when Dad would be back. "Not yet, honey. He'll be back by Christmas for sure, but he hasn't let on exactly when." Jodie told her that it looked good for getting the tree the next day. Her mom said that she'd better get her saddlebags packed up tonight and that there would be a fresh thermos of cocoa ready to go in the morning. Jodie smiled at her mom and then Mom took her into her arms and gave her a big hug, saying that she may be growing up but she was still her little girl. Jodie said "Aw, Mom," but inside she felt awfully happy.

Saturday morning dawned sunny and pleasant, just as the weather report had said. Jodie beat the sun up and had Sawbuck all saddled up and ready to go when Mom called her to breakfast. Sure enough, there was a thermos bottle of cocoa ready and waiting for her when she finished eating. Jodie put on her warmest flannel shirt before getting her jacket on, since she knew that sunshine in the winter mountains had a habit of not being as warm as it might. Then she kissed her mom goodbye and headed for the barn and Sawbuck.

Jodie and Sawbuck rode out along the western tree line and the closer they got to Windless Canyon the more eager Sawbuck was to really put on some speed. Jodie had to keep reminding him that they had a long way to go so he shouldn't tire himself out just yet. During the summertime Jodie and Sawbuck came up here nearly every day and Sawbuck would run like the wind and just have a wonderful time being a horse. Often Jodie would stop him, slip out of the saddle, and just let him play by himself for awhile. He always came back because, just as Jodie loved him, he loved her too. But now, with a foot or more of snow on the ground, Jodie knew that he had enough work to do just to carry her up into the canyon where they'd find the perfect Christmas tree.

Pretty soon they came to the little creek that they would follow deeper into the canyon to a place with a nice stand of pines. Even though there had been snow on the ground for over a month the creek was open and she could see the water flowing strongly. Sometimes she and her dad had found the creek covered over with ice and snow but not until much later in the winter. She turned Sawbuck to the right a few feet from the creek and they continued up the small trail that ran alongside. Soon she started seeing a few small pines scattered around the trail, and up ahead could see the tops of some very large pines. It was time to really start looking!

After about ten minutes of seeing nothing but either little tiny trees or huge lodgepole pines she was beginning to worry that she might not find what she was looking for. Then suddenly she came upon a trail that ran off away from the creek into a small side canyon. She turned Sawbuck down that trail and pretty soon started seeing some trees more like what she was looking for. Here was a stand of pines that had grown up since the forest fire her dad talked about that burned out a small part of Windless Canyon the year her big brother was born. All of the trees were between six and ten feet tall, just the perfect size range for a beautiful Christmas tree!

Jodie climbed down from Sawbuck's back and, taking his reins in her hand, started walking along the trail, looking for just the right one. This one was about the right height, but had a big gap right in the middle. That one was a perfect-looking tree, but it wasn't even as tall as she was. Finally she came to the top of a small hill and, looking down in front of her she saw it, standing all by itself in the middle of a clearing. It was about three feet taller than Sawbuck and, no matter how many times she walked around it, she couldn't find any gaps to ruin the fullness of the tree. She tied Sawbuck's reins to a small bush at the edge of the clearing near the trail they rode in on and unstrapped the saw from the back of her saddle.

Apologizing to the tree for taking it from the clearing, she began to saw through its trunk just above the bottom branches. Her dad had taught her that if a pine was cut above the first branches it would one day grow back. Soon the saw had done its work and the tree was laying on its side in the snow. Jodie took the saw back to Sawbuck and strapped it to the saddle once again. Then she took the rope from the saddle and tied it around the trunk of the tree just above the lowest branches and, satisfied that she was ready to head home decided to have a nice cup of cocoa.

Finishing the cocoa, Jodie returned the thermos to her saddle bag and then tied the other end of the tree rope to her saddle. She then took some sugar cubes from her pocket and gave them to Sawbuck. Sugar cubes were one of his favorite treats. Climbing back into the saddle, Jodie and Sawbuck headed back down the trail towards the little creek, the Christmas tree following along behind them. They rode along next to the creek until they came once again to the tree line, then turned toward home. Sawbuck's ears perked up as they came over the last little hill and Jodie spotted the barn and the ranch house. The pale December sun had just disappeared over the Big Horn mountains and the warm glow of the lights in the ranch house drew them eagerly toward home.

Jodie's mom was watching from the kitchen window as she and Sawbuck, trailing the Christmas tree, came into the yard. At the corral gate Jody got down from the big, gentle pinto and untied the tree from her saddle. She led Sawbuck through the gate and into the barn, where she took the saw and the thermos off of the saddle, then took the saddle and blanket off of Sawbuck's back. She led Sawbuck to his stall, where she brushed him down while he had a nice long drink of water. She took off his halter and gave him another of his favorite treats, a nice red apple.

Dragging the tree behind her, Jodie walked up to the house then stood the tree in a snowbank next to the back door, where her mom could look it over before supper. Then she opened the door and the warm air of the house met her together with the smell of one of her favorite foods, tacos. Her mom came into the back hallway and gave her a big hug and then they went out to look at the tree. Her mom told her it was about the nicest Christmas tree they had ever had and even her big brother Will, coming home from his Saturday job in town had to agree.