Christmas in Enchantia

by Darcey Bussell

  “Mine doesn’t either,” said Sugar.

  “Well, we’ll all keep thinking of a way to rescue the elves,” Delphie promised. “But if you could just deliver the invitations that would be a really good start.”

  “Which of us should go where?” asked the autumn fairy.

  Sugar magicked up a map of Enchantia and opened it out on the floor before tapping it with her wand. The map quickly divided itself into five sections, each one labelled with a different fairy’s name.

  “Brilliant!” said the winter fairy. “Let’s get going!”

  Delphie looked at the piles of invitations on the table and realised a problem. “The envelopes are very big,” she said. “How are you going to carry them all?”

  The winter fairy smiled and pirouetted. “Easy. We will use our fairy magic of course!” She touched her wand to the envelopes on the table and they immediately shrank down to postage stamp size.

  Delphie gasped. “Now they’re easy to carry,” the winter fairy smiled, starting to put the envelopes into her bag. “We can make them bigger when we deliver them!”

  “That’s brilliant,” said Princess Aurelia and Delphie agreed.

  “Who’s going to deliver King Rat’s invitation?” asked the King. “His castle is in the east so I suppose that means it’s you,” he said looking at the map and then looking at the autumn fairy.

  She looked worried and scared. “Oh.”

  “We don’t have to invite King Rat, do we?” Princess Aurelia said. “He’s the one who’s trying to spoil Christmas for everyone.”

  “Oh, but we do have to invite him, Aurelia,” said the Queen, standing firm. “That’s what we decided – that everyone had to at least be asked. I’m sure he won’t come, but if we give an invitation to everyone else we have to give one to him. It’s the spirit of Christmas and the spirit of Enchantia.”

  “Bad things happen when you don’t invite people,” sighed the King. “We made that mistake at your christening.”

  “But he’s so mean!” protested Princess Aurelia.

  “I… I don’t want to go to his castle,” said the autumn fairy in a small voice. “He scares me.”

  Delphie knew that feeling only too well, but she didn’t like seeing the autumn fairy looking so unhappy. “Don’t worry.” She glanced at Sugar. “Sugar, could you use your magic to take me to his castle and I’ll deliver him his invitation? Maybe when I’m there I’ll also be able to have a look around and see if I can find the elves?”

  “I could use my magic,” said Sugar. “But I can only take you as far as the woods outside his castle and then what would you do? You can’t just go walking up to his home and put an invitation through the door. You’ve stopped King Rat’s plans so many times in the past he would be bound to tell his guards to catch you and throw you in his dungeons!”

  Delphie realised that Sugar had a point. But she couldn’t let the poor autumn fairy go.

  “I know!” said Princess Aurelia suddenly. “If you really have to do it, what about Sabrina?”

  “Of course,” said Delphie, thinking of the leader of the swans from Swan Lake.

  “She’s here in the castle,” Princess Aurelia went on. “We invited her and the other swans for Christmas. She flew you away from King Rat’s castle before, didn’t she? So maybe she would fly you back there now?”

  Delphie nodded eagerly. But now Princess Aurelia was starting to speak again.

  “You could throw the invitation through the letterbox,” she said. “Then have a look for the elves, but escape before the guards could get you.”

  “Do you think she would do it?” asked Delphie eagerly. It had been an amazing experience flying on the giant swan’s back before and it would be a brilliant way to get to the castle.

  “I’m sure she will,” said Princess Aurelia. “I’ll go and ask her!”

  She ran off and a few minutes later came back with a beautiful swan beside her. “Hello, Delphie,” Sabrina said softly as Delphie ran over. “Princess Aurelia has told me you need my help.”

  “Yes, please!” said Delphie. “I’m going to deliver King Rat’s invitation so none of the fairies have to do it. Will you take me there?”

  “Of course I will,” said the giant swan.

  “I’ll come too,” said Sugar. “We can deliver my invitations first.”

  “Then what are we waiting for?” said Delphie, with a shiver of excitement. “Let’s go!”

  The four season fairies set off and Delphie and Sugar climbed on to Sabrina’s soft white back. Calling goodbye to the royal family, Sabrina, Delphie and Sugar swooped out of the palace and across the courtyard.

  It was a perfect day for flying. The sky was blue, the winter sun was shining and a blanket of snow covered the fields beneath them. The branches of the trees sparkled with frost and everything in the land seemed to glitter and shine. It was amazing to soar through the sky above it all.

  Whenever they saw a house or a castle beneath them, Sugar would swoop down and pop an invitation through the letterbox.

  While she was delivering an invitation to Prince Charming’s castle, Delphie couldn’t help but notice there seemed to be an awful lot of big, prickly cactus below them. She hadn’t seen them on her other trips to Enchantia, but before she could ask Sabrina about it, Sugar was flying back up to them. “There’s just one invitation left – King Rat’s!”

  “I guess we’d better go and deliver it then,” said Delphie, thinking about King Rat’s dark and smelly castle and not feeling quite as brave as she had done in the Royal Palace.

  Sabrina sensed her nervousness. “We’ll fly down quickly,” she said reassuringly to Delphie. “I’ll head straight for the guards on the door and hopefully they’ll jump out of the way. Then you can just drop the invitation down beside them.”

  “OK,” said Delphie trying to be brave. “I want to look out for the elves too though.”

  They flew over the forest towards King Rat’s castle, and when they got to the edge of the trees Sabrina swooped down. The castle was to their right and Delphie could see two of King Rat’s fierce mouse guards standing by the huge front door. There were three big sleighs near them. Delphie wrinkled her nose at the smell of old rubbish that lingered in the air.

  “I’ll have to stay here,” said Sugar. “I won’t be able to fly if I go out of the forest and into his grounds.”

  “Here goes then!” said Sabrina. “Hang on tight, Delphie!”

  Delphie clutched Sabrina’s feathers. The swan burst out of the trees, beating her huge wings as hard as she could.

  As they swept past the big window towards the front door, Delphie looked in, wondering if there would be any sign of the elves. There wasn’t. There was just a massive Christmas tree with a few bits of old bedraggled tinsel slung carelessly over it.

  Sabrina flew straight towards the guards as if she was going to attack them. They yelled and threw themselves on the ground.

  “Now, Delphie!” Sabrina cried as she flew over the two mice.

  Delphie chucked down the invitation. It landed on the doorstep. One invitation safely delivered!

  As Sabrina soared upwards, the guards scrambled to their feet, yelling and shaking their fists. “Get the bows and arrows!” one shouted to the other.

  “If they’re getting bows and arrows we’ll have to go,” said Sabrina quickly to Delphie.

  “But what about the elves?” Delphie said. “I wanted to have a look for them.”

  “It’s too risky,” said Sabrina.

  Delphie gave in. “OK.” She didn’t want Sabrina to be hurt.

  “You did it!” cried Sugar as they reached the forest again and circled back to meet her. “You delivered the invitation.”

  “We did,” Delphie said breathing out a sigh of relief. “But we didn’t see any sign of the elves and then the mice were threatening to get out their bows and arrows.”

  “Oh dear, well I guess we’d better get back to the palace,” said Sugar. “We can try and thin
k of a plan to rescue them when we’re there.”

  Back at the palace, the friends sat down in front of a roaring log fire with the royal family and told them what had happened. The King ordered hot chocolate with marshmallows sprinkled on top and iced gingerbread biscuits for everyone. Delphie sat in a comfy armchair with Sabrina beside her and sipped her drink.

  “Well, the other fairies should be back soon from delivering the invitations,” said the Queen. “So at least the banquet will go ahead now.”

  “But we still have to rescue the elves, Mother,” said Princess Aurelia. “We can’t possibly have a party knowing the elves are King Rat’s prisoners. We’ve got to free them!”

  “Of course we do,” said the Queen. “But how?” She looked at Delphie.

  But Delphie didn’t know.

  “And there’s the missing Christmas tree too,” said the King. “It’s not going to be much of a banquet without it.”

  “Couldn’t you just put up another tree?” said Delphie

  The King sighed. “I wish we could. But we won’t be able to find one. King Rat was so determined to ruin Christmas for everyone that he turned all the Christmas trees left in the land into cactus plants.”

  Delphie stared. So that was why she had seen so many of them.

  “Our tree didn’t turn into a cactus,” said Princess Aurelia. “It just disappeared. It’s a special Christmas tree that has belonged to our family for hundreds of years. It grows in an enormous pot in the grounds and the gardeners bring it in every year. As midnight strikes on Christmas Eve it gives a special present to everyone who lives in the household where it is. It’s always something they need.”

  “This year when the gardeners went to bring the tree in they found that it had gone,” said the Queen. “We were very upset, but we thought we would get another one so at least people would have a Christmas tree to look at …”

  “And that was when we found out that King Rat had cast a spell to turn all the Christmas trees into cactus plants,” said the King.

  “I wish we knew where our lovely tree was,” said Princess Aurelia sadly.

  “I think I might know,” said Delphie, remembering the magnificent tree in King Rat’s castle. “I think King Rat’s got it!”

  “What?” said the King, Queen and Princess Aurelia.

  Delphie explained what she had seen through the window.

  “He must have taken it so that he and his guards could all get presents from it,” said Princess Aurelia. “We have to get it back!”

  Delphie looked at Sugar. King Rat had the elves and the palace’s tree. There was only one thing for it. “We have to go back to King Rat’s castle and this time go inside,” she said, standing up.

  Sugar nodded. “I’ll take us to the edge of the woods outside the castle and then we can try and think of a plan!”

  “Good idea,” said Delphie. “We simply can’t let him ruin Christmas!”

  Delphie and Sugar landed among the trees near King Rat’s castle, their feet crunching on the frosty snow. Three large sleighs were still standing outside the doors and the two guards were still there. Delphie’s heart beat fast. The mice looked even scarier now she was on the ground and not on Sabrina’s back. Their teeth were sharp and pointed and long swords hung from their leather belts. Their black eyes darted around suspiciously.

  “How are we going to get past?” she said in a low voice. “We can’t just walk up there and you can’t use magic to get us inside.”

  “And what are we going to do if we do get in?” said Sugar. “How will we ever find the elves and escape with the Christmas tree without being captured?”

  Delphie wracked her brains. Suddenly she heard the sound of light footsteps in the snow behind her. She jumped in fright and swung round, expecting to see a guard.

  But it was a deer with a spotted coat and large dark eyes. Her ears twitched as she stared at Delphie and Sugar.

  Sugar held out her hand and the deer came closer. “Please will you help me?” she said timidly.

  Delphie only felt a flicker of surprise that the deer could talk. Most of the animals in Enchantia seemed to be able to speak out loud. “What’s the matter?” she asked.

  “My fawn is stuck. We can’t free him. I heard you talking and came to see if you might be help.”

  “Of course we’ll help,” said Sugar, looking at Delphie who nodded. Getting into King Rat’s castle could wait.

  The deer bounded away, stopping a little way down the snowy track. “He’s this way! With the rest of my herd.”

  Delphie and Sugar followed, their feet sinking into the snow. Luckily Delphie’s magic ballet shoes always kept her feet warm in Enchantia, even when it was icy cold. They followed the deer to a clearing and stopped.

  Delphie caught her breath. A large herd of deer were standing around a small fawn. He was tangled in a bramble bush. Its long thorny branches wrapped round his legs. A stag was using his antlers to try and push the brambles away, but they were caught too tightly. The fawn’s eyes were wide and frightened as he bucked and struggled, trying to get out, but all the time making himself more and more caught up.

  “I’ve found some help!” bleated his mother.

  The other deer looked round as Delphie hurried forward. “We’ll get you free,” she said to the baby.

  She crouched down near the fawn and began to untangle the branches. The thorns scratched and tore at her fingers but she took no notice, gently pushing the fawn away as he tried to nuzzle her. Sugar came and helped. With two of them working it didn’t take long and soon the brambles were untangled and the fawn was free. He bounded away from the bush in delight.

  “Thank you!” he said, putting his head down and kicking his heels up in the air. “Thank you very much!”

  His mother made a bleating noise and nuzzled him over and over again before looking gratefully at the girls. A stag, who seemed to be the fawn’s father, walked forward and bowed his head. “Thank you very for freeing my son,” he said in a deep voice.

  “That’s OK,” said Delphie. “I’m just glad we could help.”

  “What are you doing here in the woods?” the stag asked.

  “We’ve come to try and rescue some elves and a Christmas tree from King Rat,” said Sugar.

  The stag nodded. “Ah, that explains it. Three nights ago we heard the sound of sleighs and saw them pulling sacks towards the castle by King Rat’s mice. There seemed to be something inside the sacks, struggling and shouting. I hope you can rescue them.”

  “Thanks,” said Delphie, turning to wave as she and Sugar hurried back through the woods.

  Now that they had rescued the fawn, Delphie’s thoughts returned to how they were going to get into the castle. There’s no way of simply sneaking past, she thought, looking at the guards on the door. We’ll have to get them to let us in. But how? She frowned. Maybe if they were delivering something, something that King Rat wanted …

  Quickly an idea formed in her head. “Sugar!” she hissed. “King Rat eats Christmas food, doesn’t he?”

  “Of course,” said Sugar. “The food and the presents are the only bits of Christmas he likes!”

  Delphie grinned. “OK then. I think I might have an idea. I’m going to need you to do some magic!”

  A minute later, Sugar was dancing through the snow. She waved her wand and there was a flash of silver light. A wooden sledge appeared with a massive towering pile of freshly baked mince pies. Sugar pointed her wand again and a second sledge appeared. This one was carrying an enormous iced Christmas cake with three tiers and a robin on top. It was almost as big as Delphie!

  “Perfect!” said Delphie clapping her hands together as the delicious smell of mince pies and cake surrounded them.

  “So we’re going to pretend we’re delivering food from the town bakery, are we?” said Sugar, waving her wand and magicking herself up a cloak and scarf too.

  “That’s the idea.” Delphie nodded. “Pull up your scarf and put your hood up, then hopefu
lly the guards won’t recognise us. We’ll be able to get inside the castle and go and explore!”

  “It’s a great idea!” said Sugar. “But we must be careful.” She took hold of the rope on the sledge of mince pies.

  Delphie picked up the other rope and they set off out of the forest.

  As the two mice saw them trudging across the snow with the sledges they started to point and nudge each other. They drew their swords. Delphie took a deep breath and marched on. I’m not scared, I’m not scared, she told herself, burying her face deep in her scarf and hoping they wouldn’t recognise her.

  “Halt!” the taller of the two guards shouted. He was skinny and bony with a wart at the end of his nose. “Who are you? And what do you want?”

  Delphie cleared her throat. “We’re from the Enchantia bakery. Christmas delivery for King Rat.”

  The other guard, a smaller fatter mouse, edged forward smelling the mince pies. “Hey, Sarge, these smell good. Do you think King Rat will let us have some?”

  The tall bony guard’s nose twitched, but he continued glaring suspiciously at Delphie. “We haven’t been told about any delivery,” he said, waving his sword menacingly. “We’d have been told!”

  “The message can’t have got through to you,” said Sugar quickly. “Please let us in!”

  The fat mouse nodded eagerly. His whiskers were millimetres away from the tray of mince pies. “Yeah, go on, Sarge!”

  The tall mouse hesitated, but then shook his head. “No!”

  A window above the heads flew open. “I can smell something! What can I smell?” snarled a voice. They looked up and saw King Rat looking out! His crown was gleaming on his greasy black fur. His red eyes glittered as he stared at Delphie and Sugar.

  Despite the cold, Delphie could feel sweat prickling down her back. What if he guessed it was them?

  “A cake! Mince Pies!” King Rat said as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. “What’s going on?”