by Bella Falls
“Leave the rest for tomorrow and I’ll come back to help,” my grandmother offered, picking Peaches up in her arms to keep the kitty who wrapped herself around our ankles from tripping her on her way out.
“But tomorrow’s Christmas,” I protested. “We’re supposed to go to your house and celebrate.”
Mason put his arm around me and kissed the top of my head. “I’ll stay and help her clean.”
The idea of having some privacy with my boyfriend created warm and fuzzy butterflies, but they got swatted at by the demons of doubt over what he might try to ask or give me if we were left alone.
I conjured a yawn and stretched my arms. “You know, Nana’s right. It is late. Let’s leave it.” Ignoring his knowing glance, I walked the two of them to the door. “I’ll see you both in the morning.”
Nana smirked and kissed me on the cheek. “The two of you come over and I’ll fill you up with a fantastic Christmas breakfast.” With a wave, she left the two of us standing in the doorway.
Mason pulled me into a long, warm hug, rocking me back and forth. “I’ve missed you,” he whispered into the top of my head.
Relaxing into his embrace, I breathed in his familiar scent. “Me, too. I don’t like not knowing what kind of work you go off and do sometimes.”
He gave my forehead a peck and leaned back, still keeping his arms around me. “I know. And I won’t do it that often, but this time, it was really important.” Brushing a strand of hair away from my face, he cupped my cheek. “But it’s so good to be back.” Without another word, he planted his lips on mine.
By the time he finished kissing me, I’d forgotten all about why I wanted him to leave. With a goofy grin on my face, I asked him to stay over.
“No can do. Despite being happy to see you again, I’m actually pretty exhausted. Plus, I need to get home and put out something for Santa to eat when he drops by. Let’s both get some rest so we can really enjoy tomorrow.”
I held onto Mason’s hand to keep him from pulling away. “Are you sure? I mean, since we’ve never seen him in person, how can we be sure there really is a Santa Claus anyway. Stay.”
He chuckled and kissed the tip of my nose. “You’re a witch who lives in a Southern town with all kinds of supernatural beings. How can you not believe in Santa? I’ll see you in the morning.”
Using all my strength, I tugged on him until he stumbled into me. Wrapping one arm around him, I pointed above us until he glanced up and noticed the mistletoe. “One more kiss. It’s the law.”
He rubbed his nose against mine. “Ah, the often missed mistletoe law. Well, since it’s my job to uphold the law…”
We kissed for another few heated moments before he managed to pull himself away. “Can’t end up on Santa’s naughty list. “Goodnight, Charli.” Blowing a kiss my way, he headed out into the warm night.
Revved up and energized from all the smooching, I spent the next half hour cleaning up the house. If Beau made it home anytime soon, I’d ask him to help get the rest of the stuff so we could go to bed with everything put back in its place.
A knock on the front door interrupted my last trip to the trash can with a bag full of torn wrapping paper. My heart rate sped up, hoping Mason had changed his mind. When I answered the next more insistent knock, the appearance of the person in front of me stopped me cold.
A man with a white beard wearing a red velvet suit secured with a black patent leather belt around his rotund belly and a matching red hat on his head stared back at me.
“Charlotte Vivian Goodwin, I’m in desperate need of your help tonight.”
Chapter 4
“You aren’t who you look like you are, are you?” Despite my attempt at sounding like an adult, my voice squeaked like a kid’s.
The man in the Santa suit huffed. “I don’t have time to prove anything to you, so you’re just gonna have to believe me when I say, yes. I am exactly who you think I am.”
My mouth gaped open. “You’re Saint Nicholas.”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Kris Kringle.”
“Charli, I’m gonna need you to pull yourself together, darling.” He tapped his nose and erupted in determined guffaws, his velvet-covered paunch jiggling like a bowl full of jelly. When he finished, he eyed me over his glasses sliding down his nose. “Yes, I am all the names they call me all over the world. I’m Santa Claus.”
The simple statement both elated and irritated me. On the one hand, if he really was who he said he was, what a thrill to meet the real man in person. But, if he turned out to be the predictable fraud he probably was, then he didn’t deserve another second of my time.
“Prove it,” I declared. “What did my mom give me for Christmas when I was eight years old.”
The man closed his eyes and sighed. “A doll. And your father gave you a dollhouse he’d made himself. Right now, they both reside at your grandmother’s house.”
I sucked in a breath of disbelief, gawking at him in awe. “True.” Doubt reared its ugly head. “But that could be a good guess for a lot of little girls.”
The man crossed his arms. “True. However, I also know that you switched out the gift you were going to give your brother twice. Once, when you decided not to give him the pinecone ornament you’d made and instead put a big ol’ cockroach in a box and wrapped it up.”
My stomach dropped at the memory. “Nobody knew I’d done that. Not even Mom or Dad,” I exclaimed in a quiet whisper.
“That’s because you realized your love for your brother far outweighed being angry at him. So, you snuck downstairs in the middle of the night and swapped the gifts so he’d open the ornament in the morning.” The man straightened to full height. “It’s how you saved yourself from landing on my Naughty list for the next year.”
I shook my head, still unwilling to buy into reality. “No one knew about that. I never told a soul.”
The man tapped the side of his head and winked. “Santa magic. Also, I know Matt hangs that old ornament on his tree every year. There. Now do you believe in me?”
I opened my mouth to demand another piece of evidence, but closed it fast, deciding in that very moment to let go of my doubt. I nodded my head up and down. “I believe.”
He sighed with relief. “Good. Now we’ve got that straight, let’s get down to business. I need to hire you.”
It took me a second to realize my mouth hung open again. I cleared my throat and tried my best to gather my wits. “For what?”
Santa frowned. “To help me find my reindeer. They’re all gone, and if I don’t get them back, I won’t be able to deliver all the gifts on time.”
My head spun and I did my best not to seem to befuddled. “Are you saying you lost your reindeer? And that they’re real and not just some story or myth?”
“Are we going to go through that again?” he asked with a tinge of annoyance in his voice. “Yes, the reindeer are real. Yes, I need them to help me drive my sleigh tonight.”
Walking out onto the porch, I glanced around. “Which I don’t see here.”
“Of course you don’t,” he exclaimed. “No reindeer means I can’t travel in my sleigh.”
My brain catching up to the situation, I shifted into a more business mode. “Do you have any clue where they might have gone? Having a general idea of their location would help me pinpoint my talents.”
Santa closed his eyes in exasperation. “Not exactly. You see, Jingle and Jangle got into the stash of special eggnog saved for after delivering the presents. In their inebriated state, they left the barn door wide open.”
“And Jingle and Jangle are—” I paused for him to confirm my suspicions.
“The elves in charge of the reindeer,” he confirmed with a nod of his head. “I’ll be dealing with them once you help me fix things.”
I drew in a deep breath and shrugged my shoulders. “Well then, I guess you should hold my hands and let’s see if I can actually help you at all.”
For the first time since his
arrival, he broke into a genuine smile. “Thank you. I figured out of everyone I could call on for help, you and your special magic would be the answer.” He held out his hands.
Taking them in mine, I noticed their warmth right away. “I’ll need you to put all your focus on finding your reindeer once I start the tracking spell,” I explained.
“No problem.” He squeezed my hand and waited.
Drawing in one more breath, I did my best to tamp down the thoughts of how I would explain the craziness of the situation to anyone else and centered myself. With my eyes closed, I concentrated. “It’s Christmas Eve, and Santa’s here. Help me find his lost reindeer. To little children, it really matters where those reindeer might have scattered. To locate each, we’ll look high and low. Around the world we may have to go. It doesn’t matter where or how, just help us find the reindeer now.”
The amount of power that jolted through my body startled me, and my eyes popped open. “Sorry,” Santa apologized. “My own magic might be affecting the spell.”
With an incredible amount of clarity, I knew exactly where the reindeer had escaped to. “Well, I think it might be the exact amount of extra juice needed. I have good news and bad.”
“I’ll assume the good news is that you know where they are,” he replied. “But what’s the bad news?”
Knowing I could use him to locate the reindeer anytime I needed to, I let go of Santa’s hands. “They’re not all in the same place. Or country. Or continent.”
“Frosted Fruitcake!” he huffed.
Nobody would ever believe I heard Santa Claus swear. Choosing not to bring attention to it, I focused on the important task. “How are we going to get to each of them?”
He blew out a long breath. “Getting the two of us wherever we need to go isn’t going to be a problem. So long as we can do it in the next few hours. Once we go past the last minute of Christmas Eve, my powers will start to wane to rebuild for next year.”
With a sense of urgency fueling me, I vibrated with excitement. “Then we should get going.”
Santa nodded in agreement and held out his arm for me to take. He waited until I hooked my arm through his. “I’ll let you choose where we go to first. Once you do, let me know, and we’ll both take a step forward.”
After I chose one of the golden threads that would pull me toward the first reindeer, I signaled to Santa and raised my foot. The creaking wood of my porch disappeared and I stumbled onto cold snow, almost falling until Santa caught me and kept me upright.
“Whoa there. I know it can be a little disorienting.” He held me around my shoulders until I stood steady on two feet.
Trying not to freak out, I breathed in the frigid air, letting it chill my lungs and clear my head. A little hint of mint and chocolate lingered around us, and I wondered if it marked the presence or use of the kind man’s powers. Although the difference in temperature should have shocked my system, I stood in appropriate winter attire complete with boots, a cozy sweater, a warm coat, and a pair of Fair Isle knitted mittens with matching scarf. And hat based on how warm my ears and head were. I swallowed my shriek of amazement at the transformation and strength of Santa’s abilities and got to work.
The glowing golden thread stretched out in front of me. I barely needed it to feel the pull of the first reindeer’s location. “It’s this way, I pointed, glancing up at the first street sign we passed that read St. Nicholas Drive. The road we walked paralleled a highway, and a large white building with red stripes painted on parts of it lit by flood lights appeared up ahead.
I read the painted words over the door. “Santa Claus House, North Pole.” Furrowing my brow, I wiped my eyes to make sure I’d read the letters right. “Are we back at your place?”
“No, this is the North Pole in Alaska.” The real Santa pushed his glasses up his nose. “They’ve set up a place for people to bring their children to pretend it’s my place. To be honest, they actually help keep my magic alive by helping others to believe.”
We walked past the front of the building and I gawked at the festive murals painted on the wall. Whoever ran the place put a lot of care into it, and I imagined the children who visited would leave with their belief fully intact.
“We shouldn’t stand out in the open like this,” Santa warned. “Let’s find wherever the reindeer is hiding.”
With Santa allowing me to take the lead, I walked between the main building and a large painted statue of what they thought Santa looked like. Comparing it to the real thing, I figured they’d done a good job for its enormous size. We followed the path of lit up animal tracks in the snow and came across a sign that pointed in the direction of the Antler Academy. The sound of deep grunting and huffing carried in the air the closer we got to the fenced in area.
When we turned the corner, we witnessed one of the animals stomping its front hooves on the ground, making noises at the reindeer on the other side of the fence.
“Dasher, I should have known that was you! Quit trying to be all romantic with this poor lady.” Santa approached the two reindeer with his gloved hands held out.
The female reindeer inside the pen lifted her head and nuzzled into the man’s touch. Dasher stomped the ground.
“Yes, I understand that I am proverbially blocking you. But you’re the one who decided to take your vacation a little too early.” Santa flourished his fingers, and a cookie appeared in them. “Now, let’s get you back home.”
Dasher grunted a response and lowered his head to show his antlers.
“Don’t you go sassing me, young man. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were the one who unlocked the lockbox with the spiked eggnog in it. Come on, Dasher. Time’s wasting.” Santa waved the cookie in front of the reindeer’s muzzle.
Lifting his lips open, Dasher took the cookie with great care in his teeth and chewed on it. The scent of ginger and cinnamon filled the air, and in a flash of glittering light, the reindeer disappeared. Santa patted the female left behind on her head and spoke in a quiet tone to her.
When he joined me, he acted as if talking to reindeer was the most normal activity in the world. “I promised her I’d send Dasher back after Christmas. She seems like a promising date for my randy reindeer.”
“Sure.” If Santa Claus was real and could zap us to locations all over the world, then of course reindeer went on dates.
“Hey,” an alarmed voice interrupted us. “We’re closed. You shouldn’t be back here.”
A young man ran at full speed to confront us. I tugged on Santa’s sleeve to get him to run away with me, but he stood his ground. “Don’t worry.”
“Did you hear me? I said we’re closed.” The surprised guy eyed Santa up and down. “Wait, that Santa suit’s too nice to be one of ours. You don’t work here, do you?”
“No, I don’t, Seth,” Santa replied with way more calm than I possessed.
The young man took a step back. “How do you know my name?”
Santa chuckled, and the pleasing sound relaxed me. “That’s not important. What matters is that you’re a hard worker and helper to keep all the little boys and girls that visit here very happy. You deserve what’s coming to you.” With a grin, he lifted his gloved finger and touched Seth in the middle of his forehead.
All concern vanished from the young man’s face and he grinned with glee like a kid on Christmas morning. “Thanks, Santa.” Turning around, he headed back toward the main building.
“What did you do to him?” I asked, still prepared to make a run for it in case Seth came back.
“You think this is the first time I’ve ever gotten caught?” The older man bumped my shoulder with his. “He’ll go home in a kind of euphoria tonight and find that the necklace he wanted to give to his girlfriend but couldn’t quite afford is waiting on his kitchen table. Then he’ll put out some cookies and a glass of milk, fully ready to believe in me all over again. Tomorrow, the memory of our encounter will fade.”
“That might work on little kids, but he
’s an adult. Won’t he tell anyone?” I pointed out.
“He’ll find that if he tries to, the memory fades a little quicker. This is not my first time at the rodeo, Charli.” Santa held out his arm. “Let’s go find us another reindeer.”
Chapter 5
We arrived at the next destination in the middle of chaos. Cars and scooters zoomed past us on the sidewalk, and crowds of people walked the streets. They talked in a foreign language at a high volume, gesturing with their hands in the air. Although the night sky was dark, life buzzed around us with vim and vigor.
“Where are we?” I yelled at Santa, jumping back to avoid getting hit by two young people riding a scooter on the very edge of the street.
He glanced down at his suit, which had changed into a longer jacket, and fingered the green, white, and red-striped apron tied around his waist. “By the looks of it, we’re somewhere in Italy.”
Excitement blossomed in my chest. I’d always wanted to visit the country but hadn’t made it there yet. I wanted to run around and see the historical sites, drink espresso, and eat amazing food. A group of women in fashionable clothes and high heels approached, and when the one on the end saw me, she stifled a giggle. I glanced down in shame at my own appearance, gasping at what I found.
Instead of the warm winter clothing Santa’s magic had clothed me in before, I wore a long skirt, a dark shawl around my shoulders, and a plaid apron. My hands patted my entire body, and I found my head wrapped in a scarf. “What am I wearing?” I screeched.
Santa stopped trying to orient himself and gazed at me. “Oh, by your long pointed nose and the broom laying behind you, I’m guessing my magic assumed you’d be playing the part of La Befana, although the timing’s off a little. She’s an old witch who visits children during Epiphany, giving them candy and sweeping their houses. If they’ve been bad, she’ll leave a lump of coal.”
I couldn’t stop my hand from touching my elongated schnoz. “Well, that sounds a little like other stories about you, but how about we convince your magic that I don’t want to look like an old hag?”