Page 106 of Run, Run Rudolph
Chapter 31
~ Haden ~
“Wake up!”
I woke to the sound of Tamara’s voice, and saw her marching out from behind the sleigh and its protection. I blinked away the sleep, scrambling to catch her, but she was already well beyond my reach and was hollering her command across the barn.
The building was quiet and still warm. There was no fighting, no sleigh reconstruction sounds, and the mysterious Christmas tree was blinking in the corner.
The reindeer, who’d been curled up sleeping on the floor, lifted their antlered heads as Tamara marched toward them. Mrs. Claus appeared out of a stall. She was smirking.
I caught up with Tamara, already not liking whatever was about to happen.
“Well, there you are.” Mrs. Claus’s tone was commanding, smooth, and in control. It sent shivers down my spine, and I instinctively took Tamara’s hand.
“We need to take care of Christmas,” Tamara said with authority. “It’s everyone’s holiday and?—”
Mrs. Claus snapped her fingers. The air around Tamara and me turned cold, then warm again, then cold, as dancing shadows filled the periphery of my vision. I wrapped my arms around my girlfriend, trying to shield her from whatever magic had us in its binds.
The world around us faded away.
Chapter 32
~ Tamara ~
For a moment, I thought I’d lost consciousness, even though I could still feel Haden’s hand tightly clasping my own. Everything had gone black, the temperature flashing between pleasantly warm, and the harsh cold of a western Canadian winter.
Then it remained icy, the world almost too bright for me to open my eyes. Squinting, I took in our new surroundings. We weren’t in the barn. Nor were we in the four-in-the-morning darkness of my yard. We appeared to be on top of a long, sheared off mountain slope, the wind picking at our shirts, the sun already high in the sky.
“Are we on Rundle?” I asked, referring to the angled mountain that served as an iconic backdrop for the small town of Banff, Alberta. I’m not sure why I thought we might be there, other than the sheared off slab of rock that went on forever, and the snowy drop offs that surrounded us. Wind was wisping off the edges of the mountain, creating clouds along the cliffs.
I’d hiked up here one summer with a guy from Calgary, completely exhausting myself. It had been our first and last date. In fact, at the time, it had made me miss Kade and his love of parties because I could opt out whenever I wanted, simply by sitting in a quiet corner and reading a book on my phone.
“Maybe. How long did we sleep? It’s already day.” Haden, his hand still clasped in mine, shifted, moving his body like a wall, ready to shield me from whatever we were to face. Or maybe he was just trying to protect me from the biting wind. Either way, I curled into him, accepting his warmth.
Here on the mountain, we seemed to be in a makeshift courtroom. To my right, sitting in a snowdrift, was a judge’s stand, and in it, stood Mrs. Claus. She was wearing a black robe over her red and white outfit, seemingly unbothered by the strong, cold wind. To the left were two empty desks covered with a light dusting of snow. And standing on either side of Haden and me were shadowy figures I couldn’t quite focus on. Whenever I tried looking directly at them, they shifted, always seeming to remain just within the edge of my periphery.
Black magic.
There were no lawyers or a jury. It was the two of us humans, shivering in front of Mrs. Claus, the judge.
“Tamara Madden and Haden Powell,” Mrs. Claus said severely, and I swore there was a hint of joy in her voice. “You have been summoned to the Magical Court of Rules. You have been placed on the naughty list for tampering with the magical world, interacting with its inhabitants without proper permission, as well as interfering with the holiday known as Christmas. On these accounts, you are hereby sentenced?—”
“Stop!” I hollered, startling Haden, my teeth chattering. “We didn’t do any of that with intention. We have been trying to help. Hitting Rudolph was an accident because of a weak shroud beyond my control, and I’ve been?—”
“You have also been brought here on the charges of brutality and kidnapping. The severity of these charges increases, due to the proximity to Christmas. The serious endangerment of Mr. Claus will also not be ignored, nor will your summoning of creatures from the North Pole with the intent of preventing and delaying Christmas.”
“You have it all wrong!”
“You are welcome to present your evidence at this time.”
“Evidence?” Haden asked me, his face turning white.
“There is no evidence, and she knows it,” I complained under my breath. The tips of my ears were starting to lose feeling, and my nose felt ready to fall off. Even if we survived this unfair trial, we’d go home with frostbite.
“We would like to speak to a lawyer,” Haden declared, wrapping me further in his warm embrace as I shuddered against the brutal, biting cold.
A lawyer? How we were going to find someone who understood what was going on and help us?
