“Who are the suspects?” I asked. I agreed with Bart that this was probably not a correct and final list of suspects, but we had to start somewhere.
“Jack Frost, Krampus, and Blitzen. All three of them have have worked with Santa in the past, and could be upset with him for some reason. That could be the motive,” said Taradiddle. She puffed out her chest and stood a little taller, adding, “I’ve read that motives are very important to discover early on.”
“That’s true,” I said. She was reading a book on how to be a detective, and she was the one we had to rely on to be our contact?
Santa was probably doomed.
I wasn’t very familiar with Jack Frost or Krampus, but I knew about the reindeer. Since he was the one that caused Santa to leave in the first place, he seemed like the best one to check with first.
“Take us to Blitzen,” I said.
Chapter 4
Bart and I followed Taradiddle to the outskirts of town, where we found a giant stable filled with hay. The three of us walked inside, where we found nearly a dozen individual stalls. Signs hung from above each of the stalls with the names of the individual reindeer. Each stall had a large mattress and TV, along with various personal items. Aside from that, the place was empty and quiet.
“Woah, they each have their own TV?” asked Bart.
“It can get pretty boring during the off season,” nodded Taradiddle. “They have regimented work outs every once in a while, but aside from that they have a lot of down time.”
“Where are they?” I asked.
“I figured they would be here,” said the elf, checking each stall. “Looks like I was wrong. They must be at the bar already.”
“The bar?” I asked. “But… isn’t it Christmas Eve? Don’t they have to fly tonight?”
“That was one of the items they wanted Santa to agree with,” said Taradiddle, leading us out of the stable and down a few buildings over. “There has always been a strict no drinking and flying rule, but they felt that it wasn’t fair.”
“It does seem pretty dangerous. Are they sure this is a good idea?” asked Bart.
“None of the beverages here have any alcohol in them, if that’s what you’re worried about,” said the elf. “Just very, very high levels of sugar.”
“Why couldn’t they drink that and fly later, then?” I asked.
“You’ve never seen a reindeer after a few bowls of chocolate infused eggnog topped with a half pound of sugar, have you?”
I was pretty sure I’d never seen a reindeer in any capacity before. Or that drink.
We came up to a large building called High Elf-esteem, which was the only stone building we had seen in town so far.
“Here we are,” said Taradiddle, pushing the doors open.
Inside was a giant open floor, with some tables and chairs lining the edges of the room. Dozens of reindeer occupied the space, along with a handful of elves. All of the reindeer had large bowls nearby, while the elves held mugs of sugary goodness in their hands.
“This place is super busy most days and nights,” said Taradiddle. “It’s pretty slow today because of the big night ahead. It’ll be pretty wild tomorrow, though.”
A group of reindeer and elves near the door burst out in laughter as a reindeer finished a joke. Maybe they would know where Blitzen was.
I walked over to them and gave a small wave. “Hi, my name is Zoey.”
“A human?” asked the reindeer that told the joke. “We don’t get too many of you up here. The name’s Prancer, nice to meet you.”
He offered me one of his antlers, which I awkwardly shook, smiling nervously. It felt like I was meeting a famous movie star, but weirder. I hadn’t considered meeting Santa’s reindeer a possibility until an hour earlier. Five year old me would be freaking out right now.
“Do you happen to know where we could find Blitzen?” I asked.
“Why do you want to talk to Blitzen?” asked one of the other reindeer suspiciously.
“We think he stole Santa,” said Taradiddle, as she and Bart joined us.
“What?!”
All of the reindeer and elves, stopping their side conversations and staring at the elf.
That wasn’t probably the best thing to open with.
“We wanted to ask him a few question,” I said. “We don’t know if he kidnapped Santa, we just wanted to talk.”
“I can’t imagine why he would’ve taken Santa,” said Prancer. “The boss agreed to everything we wanted, and seemed more than happy to. I guess Blitzen did storm off afterwards, which was a little strange…”
“Do you know where he is now?” I asked.
“Over there,” he said, pointing to the back corner with his hoof.
“Thanks, Prancer, I appreciate it,” I said, walking away.
Unlike the rest of the bar’s patrons, who were all grouped together and having a good time, Blitzen sat alone with his bowl, staring grumpily at a TV screen.
“Blitzen?” I asked,
“Go away,” he mumbled.
“I just had a few questions.”
“Not talking to anyone,” he said, staring at the TV.
“Is this The Real Secretaries of New York?” asked Bart, looking up at the screen.
“It… it is,” said Blitzen.
“Is Courtney still working for Brad? I’m a few episodes behind, but the she needs to leave him as soon as possible,” said Bart, tail flicking behind him.
“You watch Real Secretaries?” asked Blitzen, raising an eyebrow.
“Of course! It’s the best reality TV on right now!”
“Exactly! No one here gets that!” said Blitzen, a smile spreading. “You know what? I suppose I can talk. Just until this commercial break is done, though.”
“Thank you,” I nodded, winking at Bart. His reality TV obsession finally came in handy.
“Thanks for returning Santa’s hat, too,” said Taradiddle to the reindeer. “He’d be pretty bummed without it when we find him.”
“Wait a minute,” I said. “Blitzen had Santa’s hat?”
“Yes,” nodded Taradiddle. “Why do you ask?”
“You didn’t think that was an important piece of information to mention when I asked you to tell me everything?”
Taradiddle pulled out her notepad again, scribbling into it. “Santa’s… hat… maybe… important…”
“Stupid Dasher. Guy never keeps his mouth shut,” said Blitzen, glaring off at another reindeer on the other side of the room. I followed his gaze and saw a large reindeer chatting up two smaller, feminine looking ones. The big reindeer looked over at Blitzen and gave him a wink and a nod.
“Why do you have his hat?” I asked.
“Look,” sighed Blitzen. “I stormed off because I was sick of all the other reindeer always getting their way and being primadonnas. When we threaten to strike over these little things, it makes us all look bad. After calming down, I came back and while I was walking I found Santa’s hat. There was no sign of the boss, though.”
“Why didn’t you look for him?”
“I did, but it was snowing badly and covered his tracks, okay?” huffed Blitzen.
“Why were you trying to hide the fact that you found it?”
“Obviously it makes me sound suspicious,” shrugged the reindeer. “Look, the shows back on. I’m done talking.”
I wasn’t sure if I bought his story. If he didn’t like the others being primadonnas, why would he storm out? That was even more dramatic. Plus, it’s very suspicious that he was found with Santa’s possession and then tried to hide that fact. It didn’t seem like he was going to budge for now, though.
“I think we’ve gotten all we can here,” I said, turning back to Taradiddle.
“Where to next?” she asked.
“Let’s go talk to Krampus.”
Chapter 5
We ventured off into the mountains on the other side of the North Pole. I wasn’t really prepared for a major hike, but now wasn’t really the time to complain. I wa
nted to get this over with as soon as possible.
“What do you think about what Blitzen said?” I asked Taradiddle.
“He said he didn’t do it,” she shrugged. “Not much more to investigate, really.”
“How long have you been the head of security?” asked Bart.
“Just a couple of centuries. I know that makes it sound like you aren’t in good hands, but I’ve had a lot of experience in my short time!”
“Like what?” I asked, genuinely curious.
“You ever hear of the case of the Missing Cookies of ‘57?”
“Let me guess, it was Santa?” said Bart.
“Ah, so you have heard of it,” she nodded. “That one only took about a year and a half to figure out.”
“That’s really something,” said Bart flatly.
“What’s the fastest case you ever solved?” I asked. I was hoping there were some the took less than a year, and ideally less than a day.
“Hmm,” she thought. “I think I managed to solve the Disappearing Milk case of the 1850’s in about 405 days. I won’t say who it was, though. He was very apologetic.”
Bart and I shared a look. The more time I spent with Taradiddle the more I realized why we were needed.
“Anyway, we’re here!” cheered the elf.
A few dozen yards away from us was a cave carved out in the shape of a skull.
“That looks inviting,” said Bart sarcastically.
“Really?” asked Taradiddle. “I always thought it looked a tad scary.”
“I was joking.”
“Oh! Good one!” laughed Taradiddle, slapping her knee and staring expectingly back at Bart. He looked up at me uncomfortably.
“Why is it in the shape of a skull?” I asked. “Isn’t everyone up here all friendly and filled with the Christmas spirit?”
“Not Krampus,” said the elf. “He doesn’t really like visitors, or people, or… actually, I don’t really know what he likes.”
Not wanting to waste anymore time, we walked into the mouth of the skull. The cave lead us into a large room, filled with nice pieces of furniture, a TV that was showing a basketball game, and a small kitchen in the back. The TV was suddenly paused, and out of the corner of my eye I saw movement from a bed off to the side.
A beast like creature got to his feet and approached us. Covered in brown fur, it had hooves and the horns of a goat, but stood on two feet like a human. Its tail hung a few inches from the ground, and its eyes were a dark shade of brown.
“A human?” asked the beast in surprise. I noticed its fangs as it talked. “I haven’t seen one of you in years.”
“Zoey, this is Krampus,” said Taradiddle.
“Nice to meet you,” I smiled.
Krampus eyed me up and down. “You… you aren’t scared of me?”
“Not really,” I shrugged. I could see people finding him scary, but after dealing with ghosts, vampires, and werewolves, I wasn’t too concerned.
A hint of a smile appeared on his face as he took my hand and shook it. “How interesting. I assumed everyone feared me. Has the world of humans begun to see me as a force of good?”
“Uh… Maybe?”
“What do you mean ‘maybe?’” he asked, squinting.
I didn’t know how to put this.
“To be honest, I’ve never actually heard of you before,” I smiled apologetically.
“You’ve never heard of me.”
“Right,” I said, shifting on my feet uncomfortably.
“I don’t think you should’ve said that,” whispered Bart. “He seems sensitive.”
“This is what’s wrong with the world,” sighed Krampus, throwing his hands up and walking over to a chair. “Everyone just wants to hear all the happy things. Santa this, elves that. Look at the pretty reindeer. The true meaning of Christmas has been lost. I bet you three don't even know what it is.”
“Love and happiness?” guessed Taradiddle.
“Birth of a baby?” I asked.
“Guys, come one,” said Bart. “It’s gotta be presents.”
“No, no, no,” groaned Krampus, taking a seat. “The real meaning of Christmas has always been justice.”
“Justice?” the three of us said together.
“Yes, justice,” nodded Krampus. “Think about it. Santa makes a list of who’s bad and who’s good. Based on how a child acts, he or she is either rewarded with a gift or punished with nothing or coal. This is the way it has always been until recently! Now parents don’t want to see their kids crying, or something. Maybe if they weren’t bad all year, I wouldn’t have to give them coal? I’m helping the parents out, but they take it as some sort of child abuse!”
“He makes a good point,” nodded Bart, wandering over and inspecting the cave.
“Do you know how many children’s lives I’ve changed for the better?” continued the beast. “Too many to count! If I came to a house one year and a kid got switches, do you know how many got switches a second year? Hardly any! They completely changed behavior, thanks to me. Why, whole households of children would change their tune if just one kid was punished!”
That was an interesting way of looking at, I thought. I wasn’t sure if I agree having a demon-like creature coming into your home on Christmas wanting to your punish your kids was a great selling point, but I’m sure it changed some behaviors.
“What’s in this sack?” interrupted Bart, sniffing at a sack near the bed Krampus was on earlier. The bag was a simple red color, faded through the years.
“That’s my inverted gift bag,” said Krampus. “Santa’s gives gifts. Mine gives coal and switches. Feel free to grab something from inside, but you’ll have to keep whatever comes out. I’ve got more than enough coal and wood to last me a few years.”
“I’m good,” said Bart. He took a few steps back, as if the bag would start spitting out coal any second.
“What is it that you’re here for, by the way?” asked Krampus, looking at me.
“We’re looking for Santa,” I said. “The belief is that someone kidnapped him. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
“You think I did it?” scoffed Krampus. “Because I'm a big demon looking creature?”
“N-No, it's not like that,” I said. I didn't want him thinking I was profiling him.
“Of course I didn't do it. It’s not Santa’s fault that I’m not welcomed anymore. He always made a great teammate. I was never a fan of giving kids gifts they actually liked,” said Krampus, shuddering at the thought. “Didn’t seem natural.”
That was a bit disconcerting, but I wasn’t here to fix his psychological issues.
“Have you heard or seen anything that might help us?” I asked. “Maybe someone else that might have taken him?”
“If I had to bet, it would be Jack Frost,” said Krampus with a shake of his head. “That fiend is always running around, playing tricks on people. I wouldn’t be shocked to hear that he’s pranking all of the North Pole by making you all think Santa won’t be back in time for Christmas.”
“We were going to check there next,” I nodded. “Thanks for your help. Sorry to bother you.”
“It’s not a problem. Feel free to come back any time you’d like to debate the philosophical meaning of Christmas, and how the world is going down a horrible path!”
I smiled politely and turned to leave. That didn’t sound like a fun time. Not at all.
Chapter 6
“You didn’t have any more questions for Krampus?” asked Taradiddle as we cut back through the North Pole. Jack Frost lived on the complete opposite side of town, closer to where we talked with the reindeer earlier. I asked Taradiddle why we didn’t talk to Jack before Krampus to save walking time, to which she said I never asked about the most efficient path. Fair enough.
“None that were worth listening to him ramble on some more,” I said. Aside from his general disposition, I didn't think Krampus was the one to take Santa. It wouldn't have fit with his view
s of justice. “At this point, I’m leaning a little bit more towards Blitzen being the one who took Santa, or at least was involved.”
“Why are we going to Jack Frost, then?” asked the elf. “Shouldn’t we just go confront Blitzen?”
I shook my head. “No. We want to examine all the potential leads first before doing that. Besides, while Blitzen didn’t seem totally trustworthy and was the one who had Santa’s hat, I’m not positive it was him yet.”
“I can see why Warren chose you to help us! You’re very good at this.”
“Thanks,” I smiled.
“Are you lead detective in your town?”
“Not exactly…”
“More like, not at all,” laughed Bart.
“What do you do?” asked Taradiddle, confused.
“I actually own and run my own grocery store. It’s call Foster’s Market.”
We walked past a few wooden buildings as Taradiddle looked down at the snow, deep in thought. “So, for humans, managers at grocery stores are the ones who solve crimes?”
“No. Well, not usually. I kind of just do this on the side. Particularly when it involves something out of the ordinary or paranormal.” Saying it out loud, I started to realize how strange it all sounded.
“So grocery stores deal with the paranormal a lot. Got it!”
I smiled and nodded. It wasn’t like she was going to be going around to random human grocery stores anyway. Or at least, hopefully not.
We approached a giant building, covered with snow. It had several spires that reached higher than almost any of the buildings in town. It reminded me of a castle. On closer inspection, the building itself seemed to be made completely out of ice.
“Is this Jack Frost’s place?” I asked.
“You guessed it!” smiled Taradiddle, before her smile faltered some. “I should probably warn you. Jack Frost is a bit eccentric.”
“In what way?” I asked. I had heard about Jack Frost a little as a kid, but it normally involved him going after your nose.
“As Krampus said, he really like to play pranks and tricks on just about everyone. Even Santa isn’t safe from his jokes. Once, he had Santa over for some hot cocoa, but there weren’t any marshmallows!” exclaimed the elf, her jaw dropping and eyes going wide. “Can you believe that?!”
Twistchapel Witch Cozy Mystery Box Set: Books 1-4 plus Christmas Short Page 28