by J L Gillham
The trio step back into the hallway as I pass through the doorway.
“Sorry to disappoint,” I say, although I am anything but sorry.
“Catch.” Finn throws me a towel. I don’t recognize the dark gray and white striped pattern on it.
“Thanks,” I say, then laugh. My clothes are soaked, and I am going to wait until I get back to my room to change them. So, I wrap the towel around my hair.
“Since you’re already wet, want to join us in the hot tub?” Aurora is still wearing her backpack, a towel that looks just like the one Finn lent me peeks out.
“Why not?” I answer, while tightening the twisted towel still resting on my head.
Nicky and Aurora begin walking away. “The hot tub it is then,” Finn says. But instead of moving, he stands there waiting for me.
“Meet you there,” I say, tugging on my wet top. He must realize I need to go change into a bathing suit. Nicky turns and motions for Finn to join him.
“Meet you there,” Finn says, then catches up to the others.
After changing into my bathing suit, I slide into my fleece-lined boots, wrap myself in a robe, and grab Finn’s damp towel so I don’t forget to return it to him. Five minutes later, I walk through the door of the miniature log cabin. Inside there’s little more than the shelf of towels and a storage closet, and the hot tub that Nicky, Aurora, and Finn are sitting in. Fog rises from the water. It steams the windows of this small building.
Nicky and Aurora are seated across from each other, both lost in conversation. Finn dunks himself, then raises his head and shakes his hair. Aurora pauses mid-sentence, sticks her tongue out at her brother, then finishes what she was saying to Nicky.
They don’t seem to notice me as I slip off my boots. Then I hang up my robe on one of the metal hooks attached to the wall. “Ahh,” I say, while lowering myself into the water. I dip my hair into the tub, still damp from the simulation. Better to be wet with hot than cold water.
As the jets churn the water and bubbles surface, I close my eyes. Nicky and Aurora’s conversation ceases. Then we all sit in blissful silence.
A few minutes later, Aurora speaks. “You know, I think I’d pair the white dress with a pink, no, yellow sash. Which color do you think would look better?”
When no one answers, I peek and realize all eyes are on me. “Oh, um, sorry. What were you talking about?”
Aurora goes into more detail about her newest dress she’s designing. Her hands fly through the air, animating whatever she’s describing.
“Here, let me show you.” Aurora climbs out of the hot tub. After wrapping herself in her towel and meticulously drying off her hands, she pulls a notebook out of her backpack. I watch as she flips through half the pages.
“This one.” Aurora holds up a drawing of a spring dress. It looks like something a young woman would wear as she walks through a field of red poppies in the spring.
Though I can make it out, I want to see the intricate details. “Just a second.” I rise from the water. My body is so warm I don’t put my robe on. As I debate about colors, I glance back toward the hot tub.
“This water is pretty toasty. Does it have a temperature limit?” Finn asks as he climbs out and sits on the rim, the lower half of his legs still submerged in the bubbling liquid.
Nicky taps at the hot tub’s thermostat on the small screen, but it doesn’t seem to be working. Then he reaches for a floating bobblehead of the typical looking Santa.
“What’s this?” Finn asks snatching the toy up.
Nicky holds his palm out. “It’s a thermometer.” Instead of tossing my brother the bobble head, Finn holds it high in the air.
“Why do you need a second thermometer?” Aurora asks, looking up from her drawing.
“You don’t. It was just a silly gift my mother gave my father for Christmas at least three years ago,” I answer as I watch Finn and Nicky wrestle for the bobble head.
“Boys,” Aurora teases and rolls her eyes. I chuckle.
The game of keep away comes to an end when the miniature Santa goes flying through the air and smacks into the wall next to a towel hook.
“Oops,” Finn says as he jumps out of the water and scrambles to pick up the object. “I’ll have to apologize to your Dad.” Finn holds out the bobblehead to me. I take it and see it’s broken.
“That’s okay. Dad won’t even notice it’s gone,” I say, tossing the toy into the trash.
Nicky must either get sick of being the lone man or tired of his skin getting wrinkled from too much time in the water. He climbs out of the hot tub but leaves his right foot in to swirl the water, like a whisk in cake batter.
I turn back to Aurora. “What about purple?” There is a hint of lavender in some of the scattered swirls making up the drawing of the skirt. Finn plops down next to us, leans his head against the wall, and closes his eyes.
“Oh, I like that.” Aurora digs into her bag and begins doodling with a purple-colored pencil. A few minutes pass in silence. “Have you ever thought of...” Before Aurora can finish, she’s interrupted.
“Yow!” Nicky says as he yanks his foot out of the water. He falls over the edge of the hot tub and lands on the floor.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
“Did a crab bite you?” I tease.
“Snow!” Nicky shouts.
When I glance at Aurora, she seems as confused as me. I look back at my brother. Then I see Finn open his eyes. He glances from my brother’s contorted face to Nicky’s foot. A moment later, Finn helps Nicky up and the two of them amble outside where Nicky sticks his foot into the snow.
“What happened?” Aurora rushes past me and is by Nicky’s side a moment later. I rise and join them.
“I boiled the frog,” Nicky whispers.
“How did a frog get in the hot tub?” I ask in confusion.
“The best way to boil a frog is to slowly turn up the temperature,” Finn answers in a tone that is more serious than I expect. “And in this case, the frog was Nicky’s foot.”
That’s when I take a good look at my brother and realize he’s taking deep breaths and wearing a pained expression. Nicky lifts his foot from the snow. It’s covered in splotches with different shades of red. I gasp as the realization that all four of us could be covered from foot to shoulders in matching splotches if we hadn’t gotten out of the hot tub earlier.
“How did this happen?” I ask, taking a step closer to Nicky so I can get a better look at his burns.
Finn walks to the hot tub. I hear a few of the dinging sounds as he pushes buttons. The jets turn off. “The temperature shouldn’t be able to get above one hundred and four degrees.”
“There’s no way Nicky would have this kind of burn if that is correct,” Aurora says as she scribbles on a sheet of paper, then rips it out of her notebook. To my surprise, the girl even pulls a small tape dispenser out of her bag. After Finn slides the hard cover over the water, his sister tapes the note labeled “Broken! Danger!” onto the top.
“Do you mind?” Nicky asks Finn. Once both boys have on coats, Nicky slips his arm around Finn’s shoulder. Together they make their way to the nearby door to Homebase. Aurora and I gather all the belongings then trail behind.
Once in the main building, I pass by two elves deep in conversation. “Excuse me,” I say as I approach them. In as brief a conversation as possible, I tell them about the hot tub. They promise to drain the water and do a thorough inspection, then head off.
We make it to the infirmary. Aurora and I linger at the entrance. Nicky lies down on a cot after pressing the large red button on the wall by the bed. The sign above it reads “Push for help.”
Since there isn’t often a patient in here, the room is not constantly manned. However, I know it won’t be long before Dapple arrives.
A few minutes later, the elf rushes through the door. With a glance at Nicky, his frown turns into a forced smile. Maybe he’s already trying to put his patient at ease with a calm demeanor.
�
�Stuck your foot in the stove again?” Dapple teases. This gets a giggle from Aurora, but Nicky only sucks in a deep breath. Dapple walks over to the medicine cabinet and begins rummaging around. Glass jars clink.
“Princess Claus, would you mind getting him a pitcher of cold water?” Dapple closes the cabinet, then returns to Nicky. The elf’s arms are full. He carefully places each item on the table next to Nicky, including a cup.
I do as asked, filling the pitcher and pouring some into the cup.
“And, maybe a sandwich,” Nicky adds. Aurora gives Nicky a thumbs-up sign.
Dapple rubs Nicky’s foot with some sort of gooey salve. “I’d like him to sleep here tonight.”
“Looks like the boys’ sleepover will be in the infirmary,” Nicky says, then grimaces.
“Sleepover?” I ask. Before the simulation, I wondered what Aurora and Finn were doing here. Now it makes sense.
“Sleepover,” I repeat, answering my own question.
“We’ll get your sandwich!” Aurora says, a little too excitedly. She grabs my hand and begins tugging me the wrong way.
“The kitchen is to the right,” I say, redirecting her.
“Oh.” She lets go of my hand and we head in the correct direction. Ten minutes later, the two of us return. Aurora is carrying a wicker basket. “Time for an indoor picnic.”
Once we’ve all eaten in awkward silence, I mention getting out of our wet clothes. After Aurora and I have each showered and put on pajamas, we both sit on my bed. Aurora looks around the room and then back at me. “So...” she doesn’t finish her thought.
I have no idea how to entertain her. It’s been years since I had a friend over, and those playdates were planned by Mom. “What would you like to do?”
“How about a tour? I mean, I’ve been here numerous times, but it’s usually to play snowball soccer outside.” She stands.
That’s easy enough. Plus, it’ll give me a chance to see how Finn and my brother are doing. I know we only left them a half hour ago; however, a tinge of unease settles over me as I think about my brother in pain. That protective older sister feeling isn’t only unfamiliar, it’s unfathomable. “Maybe we can bring the boys a dessert, too.”
We walk down one corridor then another. After passing what is probably the twentieth nutcracker, Aurora stops. Unfortunately, it’s at the nutcracker next to the dining hall, the one that leads to the hidden tunnel. Aurora does a curtsy, pretending to spread out an imaginary skirt. “Well, hello, good sir. Yes, you may have this dance.”
“These things always creep my out,” I admit, then giggle. Like knights manning their posts around the castle, our nutcrackers stand guard around Winter Wonderland.
“Do they really crack nuts?” comes a voice behind me.
I turn and see Finn approaching. He’s got a lazy grin on his face. When Finn reaches us, he pulls down on the right arm, the lever. The nutcracker’s gaping mouth opens and then snaps shut. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
Both Aurora and I laugh. Mine was to cover the relief that he didn’t give away the secret of the hidden tunnel that we discovered together.
“We were going to see if you two wanted dessert,” I say and motion toward the dining hall. Hopefully, he’ll get the hint that I don’t want to linger. While I know it’s far from likely Aurora would stumble upon the trick to opening the secret passage, I don’t want to take any chances. My secrets are like wet towels and I am the overstuffed dryer, unable to add even one more.
THE NEXT MORNING, I wake to the sound of snoring. “Tiny, out of my room!” I put the pillow over my head to drown out the noise.
“What?” asks the groggy person next to me. I sit up ramrod straight and then remember my sleepover.
“Oh, sorry, Aurora,” I say.
She stretches and after a loud yawn mumbles, “Any chance you get room service?”
“Only if I were a real princess,” I tease. We get dressed. Aurora puts on a sweater that has a gingerbread man eating a cookie on it with the word “Cannibal” stitched into the top. I was about to scan my wardrobe when I stop. “Drat.”
“Nothing to wear?” Aurora rummages through her bag. Instead of another silly sweater, she unfolds a rose-colored cashmere top and offers it to me.
“It’s beautiful, but...” I pause and eye the sweater. “I wouldn’t want to damage it.”
Aurora swishes her hand in the air, like she’s signaling that’s not possible. “I saw that pink hat you had on yesterday before your simulation,” Aurora says with a pinch of humor in her voice. She wiggles the garment one last time.
I grin and take it.
“Besides, I bet my brother will love you in it.” Aurora glances at me and winks.
Once I’ve slipped the smooth material on over a white tank top with lace that peeks out of the bottom, I gather all my courage. “Do you think Finn might like me?” I try to sound nonchalant. I wait for an answer while spritzing myself with my perfume.
“Uh, duh.” Aurora giggles. “You should have heard him before we left to come here. He went on and on about whether or not he had time to get Mom to give him a haircut.”
“Really?” I’m glad he didn’t. I love catching him tucking the strands behind his ear, and I can’t imagine it shorter.
“The real question is, do you think you like him?” She grabs a scarf from my closet and wraps it around my neck.
I bite my lip, regretting asking. What does it matter? I don’t have a crush on him anymore. And although he’s working his way back into being a friend, boyfriend material includes trustworthiness.
Just then, the telegraph starts making noises. I rise and walk over to it as the machine churns out a note.
“What’s that?” Aurora asks, springing up from her spot on the bed.
“A note from a friend.” I don’t have to look at it to know. Cole is the only person who ever messages me. I skim through the letter. It is brief, apologizing for not writing much lately, but looking forward to seeing me on December 26th. I grimace.
It would’ve been nice if he was here tomorrow to celebrate my birthday. However, I forgot to tell him to add a few days to the beginning of his visit. I also forgot to clear it with Dad since my birthday is also the day of my coronation, which no one but family and the elves are invited to.
I shove the note into my back pocket. “Ready?” I ask, with all the cheerfulness I can muster, hoping Aurora doesn’t ask me any questions. What am I supposed to say?
Up until Aurora and I started hanging out recently, the only person I’d consider a real friend is Cole. Every time he and his parents visit, Winter Wonderland feels like a real home, not just Santa’s workshop. The only annoying part of their vacation here every year starting the day after Christmas was the looks Cole and I got from both sets of parents. It was like they’d planned our wedding since before we were born.
Part of me always assumed we’d end up together—first friends, then something more. But as we get older, that transition hasn’t happened. And how I wish it would. Then maybe my feelings for Finn would wither.
We head to the dining hall. Once inside, I notice a low chatter of elves. As we pass by a table, I hear two discussing their work schedules.
“As long as I meet my quota for today, I won’t be behind on teddy bear making,” the first one says.
“I’m already behind,” grumbles another.
“Over here!” Nicky shouts. He doesn’t stand, but he does wave his arms in the air. Nicky and Finn are sitting across from each other, so no matter which chair I pick, I’ll have to sit between both boys. I let out a huff, debating on skipping breakfast or not. The last thing I need is for Finn to catch me with food in my teeth.
I smooth down my hair, wishing I’d spent an extra couple minutes brushing it. Once my message from Cole arrived, I’d rushed Aurora and I along.
I don’t see my parents. Either they’ve already eaten or they will soon. I decide to hurry so I can avoid seeing them. Yesterday’s conversation about not
being allowed to leave Winter Wonderland to travel still stings.
“How are you?” I ask Nicky as I pass the cranberry juice to Aurora.
“It was only first-degree burns, so not too bad.” Nicky shrugs.
I glance under the table to see Nicky’s foot wrapped in bandages. That’s when I catch sight of a crutch leaning against the nearby wall. “It must be somewhat bad if you need that.” I point at the crutch.
“Dapple says to try and stay off of it for a few days.” Nicky takes a sip of his drink.
“Hi, kids,” Dad says as he approaches the table. He ruffles Nicky’s hair. “Make sure to keep off that thing.” Since Dad doesn’t pull up a chair, I figure he and Mom finished breakfast already. I wonder what Mom is up too.
“Good luck tomorrow night,” Aurora says.
“Thanks. I’ve lost track of how many years I’ve had the fortune of being Santa Claus.” Dad chuckles.
It takes everything in my to not roll my eyes. I’d call my legacy a misfortune.
“Princess Claus, would you please do your brother’s chores this morning?” Dad asks.
“Sure,” I respond too eagerly, hoping he doesn’t bring up yesterday’s conversation.
Nicky’s eyes widen. “Really?” he mumbles, not bothering to cover his mouth which is half full of food. He stares at me for another moment, then returns his attention to the basket of raspberry scones.
“It’s okay,” I say.
Just then, Jolly approaches. “Duty calls,” Dad says, then he gives me a quick kiss on the cheek. “You guys have fun today.” With that, he turns and walks with Jolly toward the exit of the dining hall.
As they walk away, I can barely make out the beginning of the conversation. “Still no luck with finding out what happened to cause the crack in the dome,” Jolly says. Then he adds, “Or how to fix it.”
I slump down into my chair. I could answer that first question. The real dilemma is how to answer the second one. Maybe if I’m lucky, Dad or one of the elves will be able to figure it out. I glance back at Dad as he follows Jolly out of the dining hall.