by Foley, E. G.
“‘We?’” Archie asked pointedly.
But Humbug merely frowned and still wouldn’t give an answer about his intentions.
At last, the floating ice floe bumped up against the frozen edge at the entrance to the tunnel. They jumped off and thanked the whale profusely, waving farewell.
The whale answered in kind as it dove deeper to somersault underwater, turning back out toward the open sea; its huge tail surfaced, flicking them with sea foam that froze instantly on their clothes as it waved goodbye.
“What a wonderful creature,” Isabelle breathed. “I shall never be talked into wearing a whalebone corset after that.”
“Me neither,” Dani said.
Jake looked askance at her with a bit of a smirk, amused at the thought of the tomboyish carrot-head ever being grown up enough to need a lady’s corset, of all things.
“I reckon we go this way?” Archie pointed up the mysterious ice tunnel. Now that they were sheltered from the wind, his usual cheer was quick to return. “I can’t believe we’re about to meet Santa! Hurry up!”
“Well, Humbug? Are you coming, or is this where we part ways? You’re small enough to slip out around the edge of the tunnel entrance there. If you want to go, we won’t stop you, true to our word. Of course, that means I can’t collect the reward. It’s too bad,” Jake said. “That wish would have meant a great deal to someone out there.”
“Who?” the elf shot back with a defensive scowl.
“A six-year-old boy I know named Petey.”
“Who is he to you?” Humbug asked, trying once more to sound sarcastic—but failing.
Jake couldn’t answer the question. His voice had evaporated at the thought of his young friend spending yet another Christmas in that dreary place.
Staring at Jake, Dani answered for him. “Petey was a kid at the orphanage with Jake. Practically worshiped him.”
“Orphanage, you say?” Humbug echoed as his eyes widened slowly.
Jake cleared his throat and looked away. “Well, it’s your choice.”
Humbug stared down the tunnel. “I guess I could just show you where the elevator is.” He turned away impatiently. “Well, come on, if you’re coming!”
The grumpy elf trudged off ahead of them.
They exchanged surprised glances that Humbug had not fled yet. Then they followed him.
As they walked up the dim, bluish ice tunnel, Dani turned to Jake, wearing a smile from ear to ear. “I’m so proud of you!”
“Oh, shut up,” he mumbled with a blush.
She laughed. “I figured out your wish.”
“Don’t say it! You might nix it.”
Not that Santa was going to give him the reward unless Humbug willingly chose to turn himself in. After all, Jake had given his word to let the little miscreant go if he’d cooperate.
Soon, the tunnel ended in a formidable pair of tall iron doors, but cattycorner to them stood a smaller pair of shiny brass ones.
The latter turned out to be the elevator, which they discovered when Humbug pushed the button set into the wall beside it at elf-height, down around their knees.
“What’s through there?” Archie asked, nodding at the big doors while they waited for the elevator.
“That’s the doorway for the sleigh to come through,” Humbug said. “The reindeer training area is behind it, and the stables. Reindeer give off a surprising amount of heat. They live on the lower floor beneath us because of course heat rises. Just another way we keep the place warm.”
“I see.”
The elevator doors opened with a bing!
They stepped in and immediately noticed Christmas music playing softly. Humbug winced; Jake and Archie glanced at the elf and each other in amusement.
Then the brass doors slid shut, and the elevator trundled upward into the great dome.
Humbug seemed nervous about what sort of punishment he might receive for deserting his post. But as the elevator rose, and the threat of doom faded behind them, the kids grew breathlessly excited to see Santa’s famous operation.
Few people ever did.
Jake’s heart pounded, and he could not help himself—as soon as the elevator glided to a stop, he rushed out the moment the brass doors parted.
The others followed suit.
“Wait for me!” Humbug said in annoyance.
But the four of them had already crossed the red-carpeted waiting area outside the bank of elevators. They reached the brass railing that overlooked the huge, open area below and stared in amazement.
Nobody said a word.
As the warmth flooded back into their frozen extremities, they watched the busy scene before them, speechless with wonder.
Jake could not believe he was just one flight of stairs away from the global headquarters of Christmas itself.
“Do you see him anywhere?” Dani whispered, scanning the crowd.
“No.” Jake knew that she meant Santa Claus, of course.
“It’s so beautiful,” Isabelle murmured.
“Blast it, can’t see.” Archie took off his spectacles, which were fogging up now that he’d come inside where it was warm.
Jake didn’t even want to blink to avoid missing any of the astonishing sights.
Christmas trees decorated every way a person could imagine ringed the wide-open space. The pillars that held up the dome of Santa’s Great Igloo were candy-striped, the air smelled of cinnamon pinecones, and the whole place was crawling with elves, who sped about at their duties, kicking up red-and-green sparkles as they worked. They were stacking brightly wrapped boxes into seven towers, headed, Jake guessed, for each of the seven continents.
But leave it to Archie to ask the logical question. For when the boy genius put his de-fogged glasses back on, he frowned in his particular, thoughtful way. “How in the world is Santa going to fit all those presents on his sleigh? Physics makes the whole thing impossible.”
“Magic sack, obviously,” Humbug answered. “The presents appear in the sack just when they should, one house, one family at a time.”
“Really?” Dani exclaimed.
“Well, it’s the only sensible way to do it, isn’t it? He’s not going to carry that whole mess with him halfway round the world all night. He’s an old man. Think about it!”
“Ohhh,” they said.
“Besides, that’s how he sees everybody,” Humbug mumbled. “Not countries’ worth, not by the thousands. Individuals. That’s how he knows which list to put you on.”
“So he knows everybody? How?” Jake asked skeptically.
“No idea,” Humbug said with a shrug. “He just does.”
The elf fell silent, gazing at the everyday goings-on of the life he had left behind.
Isabelle looked askance at him. “How proud you must’ve been to be part of all this.”
“Yes, but he wasn’t joking,” Dani said. “This does look like a ton of work.”
Humbug seemed to struggle for words. “It is. But…you know, like Santa always says…”
“What does he say?” Jake pursued, arching a brow.
“That it’s better to give than to receive.” Even as he said the words, Humbug melted. Staring at the busy scene below, two big tears welled up in his eyes as he realized how wrong he had been.
The elf’s whole expression changed.
His wizened face softened with kindliness, his cheeks grew rosy, and a glow of gratitude stole into his eyes, mingling with the tears of regret there. Most shocking of all, a tremulous smile began to spread across his grumpy little mouth.
“Humbug?” Jake asked gently. “Are you all right?”
“I do want to go back!” he burst out with a sniffle. “Even if Santa does put me on reindeer stall-mucking duty. This is my home. This is where I belong, and besides, whoever heard of a Halloween elf?” He no sooner said the words than, all of a sudden, the Snow Maiden’s makeover spell broke, poofing him back magically into his Christmas elf clothes. “Ha, ha!” He looked down at himself in am
azement.
At that moment, one of the other elves saw him standing there. “Humbug?” The other elf stopped in his tracks. He pointed at him. “Look, everybody! Humbug’s back!”
Everybody looked.
When the elves saw their missing comrade standing there, joy flooded over their little, long, pointy-nosed faces. They abandoned their work with eager shouts of relief and came rushing over, scores of them.
“Oh, Humbug! You’re all right! We thought you were dead!”
As the elves stampeded toward them, barely taking notice of the children, Jake leaned down to Humbug and whispered behind his hand: “Maybe there’s no need to bother Santa with the details of your little Halloween Town plan.”
“Really?” Humbug asked hopefully.
He nodded. “We’ll forget about all that, if you will.”
The elf gazed at him gratefully. “Thank you, Lord Griffon. You’re not actually half bad.”
Then the swarm of excited elves flooded onto the landing, crowding around and cheering that their missing mate had returned, safe and sound.
“Everyone will be so relieved to hear you’re alive! Santa’s going to want to throw a party when he sees that you’re all right!”
“We elves do love a party,” a small gent in a green coat informed the staring children.
Then another little fellow threw his arm around Humbug’s shoulder. “Let’s go tell the boss you’re back!”
But they didn’t even have to.
On the next landing up, a door marked ‘Office’ banged open. A fat old man with a white beard rushed out and peered over the brass railing.
Dani gasped aloud.
All the elves pointed eagerly to Humbug.
“Look, sir—look who’s come back!”
Humbug stared up at his former employer in chastened uncertainty. Jake held his breath, wondering if Humbug would be immediately punished or if the ‘boss’ would accept his runaway elf back at all.
But while Jake braced himself for Santa’s wrath, the red-suited man boomed out a short, jolly laugh, then he came bounding down the steps with the agility of a much younger (and slimmer) man.
“Ho, ho, Humbug! Sweet snowfields, you’re safe!” Before the elf could protest, the big man scooped him up in a Santa-sized hug.
All the elves were cheering, but Jake could only stare.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Santa Central
“Well now, Humbug, who’s this you’ve brought to see us?” Santa rumbled, releasing the chastened elf from his bear-hug. Rosy-cheeked and beaming, the old man wiped away a quick tear of happiness over his missing elf’s return.
His show of emotion astonished Jake. Clearly, the towering fellow was just an old softie.
Santa looked from Humbug to them, then he gave the elf a nudge. “Manners, shortling. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?”
Dani furrowed her brow and leaned to whisper in Jake’s ear: “If Santa really knows everyone, why’s he asking who we are? Shouldn’t he already know?”
The jolly old elf laughed aloud, overhearing, much to Dani’s horror. “Ho, ho, I was only being polite, Daniela Catherine!” he said merrily. “Some people find it off-putting, you see, that I already know so much about them before we’re introduced.”
Dani turned as red as Santa’s trousers and stammered, “Sorry.”
Jake did not envy her in that moment. He made a mental note to keep his sarcastic comments to a minimum, for it seemed that Father Frost had terribly sharp ears for such an old man.
Santa waved off the carrot-head’s embarrassment with one of his big, callused hands. “It’s all right, lass. Never fear, your spot on the Nice list is secure, my dear Dani O’Dell.”
“Whew,” she said under her breath.
“And how is that funny little dog of yours? What’s his name…? Ah—Teddy!” he suddenly remembered.
Dani was astonished. “Yes, Santa, Teddy is his name. He’s doing well, sir. Th-thank you for asking.”
“Give him my best.”
“I-I definitely will,” Dani said in wonder.
“So then.” Now that it was out in the open that no introductions were actually necessary, his twinkly blue eyes traveled across their faces with fond amusement. “Here are the young heroes I should thank for bringing my lost elf safely back to me. Gentle-hearted Miss Isabelle; brilliant Master Archie; brave Lord Jake; steadfast Miss Dani; and, of course, the renowned Claw the Courageous.”
“Becaw.” Red gave Santa one of his noblest bows.
“Welcome, Crafanc-y-Gwrool. An honor to finally meet you, as well.” Santa bowed back to the Gryphon while the children beamed and stood a little taller, warmed indeed by such wonderful compliments on the very heart of who they each were.
“You understand Red, Santa?” Isabelle asked in surprise, looking from the old man to the Gryphon. “You can talk to animals, too?”
“Why, my dear, they are among some of my most interesting acquaintances,” he declared with a wink.
“Mine, too!” she answered.
“Ahem, so, right,” Jake said, ready to get down to business. “I believe we saw a notice in the Clairvoyant, sir. Something about a Christmas wish to be granted as a reward for bringing Humbug back?”
He laughed merrily at Jake’s brisk reminder. “To be sure. I take it you’re the one who’d like to claim the wish, m’boy?”
“I am, sir,” he said boldly.
“Very well. We will see right to it. But first, I, er, see you’ve met my granddaughter.” He glanced down at their strange, high-fashion clothes. “My apologies if Snowy was at all…unpleasant to you. She’s a good girl, really. Mrs. Claus says she’s simply going through a wee bit of a rebellious phase.”
“You can say that again,” Archie muttered under his breath.
“She didn’t harm you?” Santa asked in concern.
“No, sir. She might have at the end there,” Jake informed him, “but we got away.”
“Ah, but of course you did.” He held his round belly as he let out a broad laugh. His humor was infectious. “I daresay the five of you together are quite unstoppable. Still, she can be quite a bully.” Santa shook his head. “Takes after her aunt, you know. My elder sister,” Santa added, almost whispering with a glance over his shoulder. “The Blue Hag of Winter.”
Dani nodded. “We heard about her.”
“Well!” Santa declared. “I will not tolerate my granddaughter following in the Winter Witch’s footsteps. I shall certainly pay a visit to the castle and have a very stern word with her about her behavior.”
“Don’t be too hard on her, Santa,” Archie spoke up. “She’s just really, really bored.”
“Hmm, I will take that under advisement, Master Archie. For now, the least I can do is try to make it up to you by putting you back the way you were. Unless you prefer these, er, modern fashions?”
“Oh, no, please do put us back!” Isabelle said in relief. “That is—if you don’t mind, we’d be ever so grateful, sir.”
“Certainly, my dear.” Santa chuckled. “I wasn’t sure. I can never tell what strange new thing you young people will be wearing from one year to the next.”
Fine talk coming from a man in a red suit, Jake thought. But for his part, he’d be glad to be rid of the Prince Charming look.
Then Santa snapped his fingers, and gold sparkles flew out from his hand. The tiny lights traveled toward the kids, leaving trails like glowing tendrils.
The tiny golden-orange lights wrapped around each one of them and whirled around their bodies from head to toe, swirling faster, round and round, until…
Poof!
Suddenly, they were back in their own clothes.
“Ha!” To Jake’s relief, his hair flopped right back over his eyebrow where it should be, his frosty ski-jump hairdo was no more. With a habitual toss of his head, he flipped his forelock out of his eyes so he could see.
Then he turned to look at the others and grinned.
&
nbsp; “Aw, where’s your purple hair?” he teased Dani.
She brought a length of her hair in front of her eyes to make sure it was back to its usual orangey autumn red.
She laughed in relief along with the others. Everyone was glad to be looking like their normal selves again. They thanked Santa for putting them back, but he had things to do.
“Children, I must have a brief meeting with Mr. Humbug. I believe we still have a few matters to sort out.”
“Uh-oh,” one of the other Christmas elves said in a small voice. Scores of them were still crowding around, looking on.
Humbug lowered his head.
“You shortlings need to get back to work,” Santa chided. “We’re on a schedule here, or have you forgotten Christmas is less than six hours away? Mrs. Claus catches you loitering like this…”
He didn’t need to finish the sentence.
They swarmed back to their duties.
“Except for you, Crystal!” Santa called.
A knee-high girl elf with a white pom-pom on the end of her hat stopped and came back. “Yes, boss?” she asked in a squeaky little voice.
Santa held up his finger to signal her politely to wait, and turned to Jake. “This won’t take long. As soon as I’m done speaking to Humbug, you and I can have our meeting about your reward. Till then, Crystal will lead you all to the kitchens.”
The girl elf nodded, hearing her assignment.
“Mrs. Claus will give you a nice snack while you wait. You are our guests. Please make yourselves at home.” Then Santa turned to Humbug and gestured toward the office. “Shall we?”
“Yes, sir,” Humbug said obediently, head down.
Good luck, Dani mouthed at him.
“This way, please!” Crystal beckoned cheerfully. “If we hurry, we can still catch the train!”
“Train?” they murmured to one another, but there was no time to waste. They ran after Crystal, who whooshed down the few stairs off the landing and started to zip off ahead of them with the same blinding speed Humbug had demonstrated in the bakery.
“Wait!” Dani cried.
“Oh, sorry! I forgot—human speed.” She giggled self-consciously and stopped to wait for them.
Although she slowed down from there, the kids still had to hurry to keep up. Jake wondered how the speedy elves avoided tripping in their curly-toed shoes.