by penny watson
Gabi scooted away from Kiana and shook her head vehemently. “They’ll make me go back. Wiebe tells everyone I’m naughty. That I’m a bad girl for running away. He tells people I’m clumsy, and that’s how I get hurt.” Her lower lip quivered. “He’ll lie to Oskar and they’ll send me back.” One fat tear spilled over the edge of her eyelid and slid down her bruised cheek. “I am not going back.”
Kiana felt a familiar tightness in her chest. A feeling from her childhood, the sickening knowledge that the adults who were supposed to care for you, protect you, watch over you, had abandoned their post.
“Where is your mother, Gabi? Can’t she help you?”
The girl sighed and stared down at her shoes. “She’s in heaven. Mama died last year.”
“How about aunties or uncles, a friend of the family? There must be someone who you trust.” Kiana knew what it was like to be a child all alone and forced to fend for yourself.
The look on Gabi’s face nearly broke Kiana’s heart. “No one,” the child whispered with fierce determination. “But I can take care of myself. As long as I stay away from Wiebe.”
Kiana took a deep breath. She didn’t care if this was one big, crazy hallucination. This child deserved better than to suffer alone, hiding from a man who should be protecting her.
“Gabi, listen to me. I swear to you, I will not let you go back to your stepfather. I know Oskar will help us. He’s a good man.” She realized as she said the words, it was true. She trusted Oskar to do the right thing. She knew instinctively that he would protect this girl.
Kiana held out her hand to Gabi. “Pinky shake, okay? I promise, you’re not going back to Wiebe. We’ll figure something out.”
Gabi stared at her hand for a long moment. Then she reached up and extended her pinky. They hooked fingers and shook.
“And I’ll help you, too, Kiana. I’ll keep you hidden so you don’t get in trouble with the Council.”
“The Council? Who is that?” Kiana wondered aloud.
“The Council of Seven. They enforce the laws of Glasdorf. They don’t like Suddies up here. No one is supposed to know we exist. No one is supposed to know that Santa Claus is real, and that he lives in the North Pole.”
Kiana rubbed her forehead. She felt a vicious headache coming on. “Do you know where Oskar lives? I really need to talk to him.”
The little girl nodded and held out her hand. “Come with me. I’ll make sure no one sees us.”
As Kiana stood and grasped the tiny elfin hand, a gust of wind encircled the two of them, whispering and giggling, sparking with light.
Oskar Klaus has a lot of explaining to do.
Ingo, Loki and Hie stared at the blackened remains of the theater and shook their heads. Plumes of blue smoke rose from the ashes and disappeared into the dark night sky. Around them, groups of elves whispered in distress, hypothesizing about how the fire had started and what would happen now. There was a general feeling of shock and fear coursing through the crowd.
It stunned Ingo to see so much destruction. The Plaza was a place for celebrations and laughter. On one end of the square was the Ladies Auxiliary Hall where the Silvester dance had taken place on New Year’s Eve. It made him feel queasy to think that something this lethal could have happened last night when Lys and the others were here.
Alena Klaus, wife to the Weihnachtsmann, attempted to soothe the most distraught elves, reassuring them everything was all right. Ingo watched as Oskar Klaus knelt down next to a small girl and whispered into her ear. She shook her head and gave him a hug. Ingo got a sick pang in his stomach, thinking about the spell he’d kast on the young man.
“Ingo, look over there,” Hie said, pointing to the edge of the crowd. “Guess who’s here?”
Wiebe Reiner stood alone, hands folded across his chest. He stared at the ruins with a smug look on his face, eyes narrowed in a self-satisfied way.
“Is the Honigbienchen with him?” Ingo asked. He didn’t see Gabi anywhere near Wiebe.
“I don’t think so,” Loki answered. “I only see him, the son of a bitch. Let’s go hassle him, what do you say?”
Ingo shook his head. “Let me handle this, Loki. Come on.” The three elves ambled through the crowd until they reached Wiebe.
“Fancy meeting you here. Again.” Ingo faced Wiebe, with his back to the plaza. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about the explosion, would you? Funny that you and Gabi were here earlier, and now the whole damned theater is burned to a crisp.”
Wiebe continued to stare at the remains of the theater, ignoring Ingo. “Gabi left her coat here, that’s all. We grabbed it and were on our way.” He turned to Ingo and flicked an annoyed glance at his friends. “Go ahead and ask her. She’ll tell you the same thing.”
“Where is she?” Hie asked.
Wiebe grumbled. “How the hell would I know? She’s always running off and getting into trouble, that one. Damned nuisance. When I don’t want her about, she’s bugging me, and when I need her for somethin’, she’s nowhere to be found.”
Loki took a menacing step forward. “I’d say it’s quite the coincidence that you were here right before a mysterious explosion. And what kind of father doesn’t know where his child is? Huh?”
Wiebe snarled at the elf, and then Loki suddenly squealed.
“Ow! What the hell?” He shook his hand in obvious pain. Ingo grabbed his hand and held it up. A scorch mark still smoked on the back of his hand.
Wiebe clucked with mock sympathy. “I guess the fire’s still sparking. Got burned, did you?”
Hie shook his head. “I don’t see any sparks from the fire. That’s odd.”
Wiebe smiled at the trio of elves and shuffled away into the gathering.
Ingo closed his eyes and placed his hand over Loki’s. He whispered a few words.
Loki sighed with relief. “Thanks, friend. It feels much better. I don’t see any stray sparks either. Maybe we should get out of here.”
Ingo grimaced. “There aren’t any stray sparks. I can sense Dark Magik here, but for the life of me I don’t know how. The Bändigers outlawed that a long time ago.”
Hieronymus blanched. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think Wiebe had something to do with it. But he’s no Bändiger. He practically failed out of school.”
“Yah. You’re right about that. His grades sucked, and he was always getting into trouble,” said Loki.
Ingo glanced into the crowd where Wiebe had disappeared. “This just keeps getting more perplexing. And I’m worried about the girl. She looked afraid this afternoon, and now she’s gone.” He rubbed his eyes wearily.
“What are we going to do, Ingo?” Hie gestured to Oskar Klaus. “I think we should tell O what we saw today.”
Ingo nodded. “I agree. Although I’ll admit I’m somewhat nervous to talk to him.” He bent his head. “I wonder if the spell is working already?”
Loki put his arm around Ingo’s shoulders. “One thing at a time, my friend. Let’s talk to Oskar, and then we’ll head back to the Bibliothek to work on the spell. Anyway, Oskar looks a mite too busy right now to be worrying about a girl. He’s got his hands full.”
Ingo shot his friend a wan smile. “Good advice. How’d you get so wise?”
Hie laughed. “It must be all the beers he drinks at the bar. Dag’s words of wisdom soaking in.” Hieronymus and Loki laughed at the joke.
Ingo stared at the smoldering ruins and cringed. Something didn’t feel right. Whether it was his own guilty feelings about the Zottig Herz or not, he was determined to investigate. Firing up his Bändiger skills would be a welcome change from the helplessness he’d been feeling at work lately.
Time to see if he could live up to his old reputation.
Oskar steered the sleigh into a narrow courtyard and parked next to his cottage. He and his brothers had their own homes in Glasdorf. Nicholas’ place boasted a state-of-the-art kitchen, Sven’s had a wood-working studio in the back, Gregor’s looked like a spread in Modern Home,
and Wolfgang’s was decorated with photos of his world-wide friends and family. Perched on top of a steep slope, Oskar’s cottage offered an excellent snowboarding opportunity. He could jump out of bed, open the back door and snowboard down the hill. Unfortunately, he wasn’t in the mood for boarding right now.
The fire had really shaken him up. The devastation was staggering. He and Boris needed to solve the crime quickly—he didn’t want to disappoint his father or the Council. The fact that they entrusted him with such a huge responsibility was humbling, but nerve-wracking as well. The Klaus Family took their commitment to the elves very seriously. An ancient pact between the elves and his ancestors ensured their survival and protection.
“Christ, Boris, I hope we can figure out what’s going on. I don’t like the idea that a rogue elf is terrorizing Glasdorf.”
Boris jumped down from the sleigh. “Don’t worry, Boss. I’ll head over to Dag’s and ask around. See if anyone’s been acting funny lately. Or more pissed than usual.” He stroked his beard and glanced at Oskar. “Do you think it was a random act of violence, or someone’s really irked with you? Funny that the explosion started in your office.”
Oskar rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know. Elves are pissed at me all the freakin’ time. We work it out and move on. I can’t imagine anyone so peeved they’d fry the theater.”
“Make up a list of every elf you’ve rumbled with in the last couple of months. Then I’ll check them out, one at a time.” Boris leaned down to inspect the trunk door on the sleigh. “Huh. That’s funny. This door isn’t latching properly. Let me get some tools.” He kicked it once, but it fell open again.
“Hullo! Anyone home?” Oskar and Boris looked up as a trio of elves entered the courtyard.
“Ingo, that you?” Boris ambled over to the elf and clasped his arms. “Good to see you, friend. You too, Loki and Hie. Quite a night, isn’t it?”
Ingo nodded, his face creased with worry. “Oskar, I’d like a word with you, if you don’t mind.”
Oskar approached the elves and noticed Ingo’s rigid stature. He looked nervous as hell. “Everything okay? What’s wrong, Ingo?”
“Hie, Loki and I rode by the Plaza earlier today and saw something sort of strange. Thought we’d better let you know.”
“If you have a list of fire-starting suspects, we’ve got someone to put at the top!” Loki shouted as spittle flew from his mouth.
“Calm down, Lok. It’s true, Oskar, we’re worried about Wiebe Reiner. And his stepdaughter, Gabi,” Hieronymus said.
Oskar and Boris glanced at each other.
“How about Wiebe? Are you on his shit list, O?” Boris asked.
“Well, he was cheating on his time card and I busted him. He got sent to the Council for a Tag der Rache. I think he got double shifts for a while as a punishment.”
Ingo nodded. “Oh, he’s pissed all right. I talked to him at Dag’s on Silvester, and he was plenty angry, Oskar.”
“We saw him earlier today at the theater. He was there with Gabi. They were leaving the Plaza. When we asked him what he was doing, he ignored us and took off with the girl.” Hie shot Oskar a pained expression. “She looked miserable. Something’s not right.”
“Damn.” Oskar blew out a breath and turned to Boris. “Anything on your radar about Wiebe?”
Boris barked out a laugh. “Are you kidding? He’s a surly son of a bitch. Complains about everything all the time, but I thought he was harmless. Haven’t heard much about the stepdaughter. When Marta died, there were no other relatives, and so she stayed with him. He grumbled about it, but I thought it was his typical whining.”
“That’s not all!” shouted Loki. “We just saw Wiebe at the Plaza, watching the fire go out. When we confronted him about his suspicious activity this afternoon, he blew it off. Said Gabi had run away and he didn’t know where she was.”
Ingo cleared his throat. “Look at this, Oskar.” He lifted Loki’s hand to show him the scorch mark. “This burn appeared on Loki’s hand, and I could sense some Dark Magik at the time.”
“How did you sense it, Ingo? Are you a Bändiger?” Oskar inspected the burn.
“Yah. Don’t use it much now, since I’m working the wood. But there was no mistakin’ it today. Something weird is going on.”
Boris slapped Ingo on the back. “Thanks for letting us know, friend. Oskar and I will get to the bottom of this. First elf I’m questioning is Wiebe, the little weasel.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll let my mom know about Gabi. She’ll check in with her and make sure the Honigbienchen is all right.” Oskar reached out to shake Ingo’s hand. “I really appreciate you stopping by.”
Ingo swallowed and shook Oskar’s hand. “Glad to help.” He hesitated, then asked, “Uh, how was the party in New York? Did you meet any nice models?”
Oskar laughed. “You elves love your gossip, don’t you? Nope, the supermodels were a bust.”
Ingo looked greatly relieved, for some strange reason. Hie and Loki patted him on the back.
“Hmm,” Boris murmured with a raised brow. “Then, who’s the girl?”
“Not a supermodel,” Oskar answered, wondering what Kiana was up to right now. I wish I hadn’t left her so abruptly. Damn it. This whole arson problem is going to put a big crimp in my social life.
He noticed Ingo, Loki and Hie all looking at each other with funny expressions. Ingo in particular seemed pale. Geez, those elves need to mind their own business.
“Come on, Ingo. We’d better go. Oskar and Boris have a lot of work to do,” said Hie, tugging on his friend’s sleeve.
Ingo nodded. “Oskar, if there’s anything we can do to help, please let us know.”
“Yah! And tell your mother, if she needs help finding Gabi, we’d like to volunteer,” Loki added.
“I will. Thanks a lot.” Oskar slumped down in the front seat of the sleigh as Boris led his friends out of the courtyard. He rubbed a weary hand over his face and sighed. He wanted this problem solved as fast as possible, so he could get back to Manhattan and see Kiana again. Funny, his plans to go to Mammoth were now permanently sidetracked by a prickly, conflicted librarian.
Too bad she isn’t here right now. It would be great to hash things out with her. After their date at Café Pho, he knew she was easy to talk to, and genuinely concerned and thoughtful about his viewpoint. He didn’t care that she was still struggling with her attraction to him. One moment she was pushing him away, the next kissing him with wild abandon. Oskar had every confidence he could earn her trust eventually.
He’d never had a woman to his place in Glasdorf for obvious reasons, but he thought Kiana would fit right in. She would love his book collection for sure, and would probably be charmed by the village of Glasdorf. He could imagine teaching her to snowboard in the backyard, then warming up in front of the fire afterwards. Maybe if he was really lucky, he’d finally get to explore that sexy little mermaid tattoo.
A rustling sound in the back of the garage caught Oskar’s attention. Probably one of Dad’s dogs. Then he heard some whispering and decided to investigate. He slid out of the sleigh and quietly worked his way to the back of the garage, weaving in and out of stacks of snowboards and skis. The whispering grew louder. His curiosity was piqued. Who the hell was hiding out in his cottage?
Behind a snowboard rack tilted on the back wall came the telltale murmurs, one high pitched and child-like, the other husky and low, but definitely feminine. The hairs stood up on the back of his neck.
He knew that voice.
Oskar flipped down the rack, startling his visitors. A little elfin girl squeaked and jumped into the woman’s lap.
Dumbfounded, he gawked at his guests.
“Let me guess. You just happened to be in the neighborhood.”
Kiana rubbed Gabi’s back, attempting to soothe the frightened girl. “That wasn’t very nice, Oskar. You scared her!”
“Excuse me? I’d like an explanation. How the hell did you get here? I know you didn’
t take a cab.” Oskar shook his head in disbelief.
“You’d like an explanation? Ha! That’s a good one. I’d like an explanation, too, if you don’t mind. According to my little friend, we’re in the North Pole, where Santa lives. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
Oskar grabbed her hand and hauled her to her feet. Gabi scurried behind her. “Let’s try this again. How did you get here?” He cocked his head and tried to sneak a peek at Gabi. “And who’s your little friend?”
Kiana took a deep breath. “I heard you talking about going up on the roof when you got the emergency phone call. I thought that was strange, so I decided to go up and have a look around.” She reached back and gave Gabi’s hand a reassuring squeeze. The girl refused to budge.
Oskar crossed his arms. “You were spying on me?”
“What!? Of course not. You just took off very abruptly. One minute we were… well, you know, and then… the next minute… you were running down the hallway…” her voice trailed off.
Oskar shot her a look. “Oh, I remember what we were doing. You were telling me you weren’t interested while we made out in front of your door.”
She gasped. “Ha! You’re the one sending mixed signals, not me. Begging for a date, then taking off with no explanation.”
Oskar’s jaw dropped and he stalked over to her. “Mixed signals? You are the queen of mixed signals, Miss Fake Eyeglass-Wearing, Bun-Sporting, Ugly-Ass Outfit, French Kissing Master of Disguise. And, you are not answering my question. How did you get here?” He grabbed her upper arms and glared into her face.
Her eyes narrowed and she yanked away from his grasp. “I found your beater sleigh on the roof top. And your little, cigar-smoking friend. I panicked and crawled into the trunk. I guess I passed out. When I regained consciousness, I found myself here.” She gestured with outspread arms. “My companion insists we are in the North Pole, which I find very hard to believe. I’m also a little confused about the… uh… elf-like people here. Are they wearing costumes? Just what is going on, Oskar?”