Page 91 of Run, Run Rudolph
“I wouldn’t look good above the fireplace,” Cupid replied.
“Never seen her like this before.”
“Not even when Dasher ran the training sleigh through her garden.”
“But at least she came.” My remark was met with silence, and my hope that all would be neatly wrapped up and taken care of wobbled and waned.
Haden, who was breathing into his cupped hands to keep them warm, shoulders hunched up near his ears against the cold, said, “Not to be a chicken or to shirk responsibility, but I think maybe we’d better make ourselves scarce. I have a feeling things are going to get scary.”
Chapter 26
~ Haden ~
“I’m not leaving.” Tamara gave me a big, brown-eyed look, pleading with me.
“I’m not leaving, either, but I think we need to lie low.”
“But I?—”
I shushed her with a kiss before she could argue, wrapping her in my arms to keep her warm against the pervasive cold.
“The animals are spooked,” I said. “Trust their instincts.”
“I am, but we also need to help. I need to help.”
“Well, whatever we do, we need to do it while staying out of the way. That woman looks ready to zap someone.”
Tamara shivered in my arms, but this time I knew it wasn’t from the cold.
Mrs. Claus stormed back out of the barn, Hugo scurrying to keep up with her swift strides.
Tamara shuddered again, and I opened the long-sleeved flannel shirt I wore over a tee, wrapping it closed around Tamara and myself.
Mrs. Claus pointed to the trembling female elf who was peering over the side of the newly arrived sleigh.
“You,” Mrs. Claus announced to the little elf, “one job, and one job only. Fix this.” She waved a hand in a circle as though opening a portal around the broken sleigh beside us, except nothing happened. Or at least nothing I could see. Beside me, Tamara was watching, eyes wide, her breath coming out in clouds.
The small elf climbed down out of the old sleigh, a toolbelt strapped around her tiny waist, and crossed over to the broken sleigh. She stared at it with clear apprehension.
Mrs. Claus pointed a black-gloved hand at the sleigh that had brought her here. “Hugo, be a boss and burn Number One.”
Burn it?
I snatched Tamara’s hand and pulled her to my side as she moved to intervene. This was not our business.
“Lie low,” I whispered.
“Ma’am?” Hugo squeaked, eyes widening as he took in the old sleigh, which had been kept for posterity and sentimental reasons. He stepped forward with obvious hesitation, as though his ears may have deceived him.
“Sparkles needs motivation,” Mrs. Claus said coolly.
The female elf turned from her thumping and banging on the broken sleigh, eyes round with terror. Fixing Number Two seemed to be entirely up to her, and I wondered if she was actually able to do it, given the time constraints and severity of the damage.
I’d expected a cluster of elves, working at high speed, creating fixes with magic, not one terrified small being with a toolbelt.
Sparkles dropped out of sight inside the broken sleigh, and the loud sound of random banging filled the night air.
“Now, Hugo,” Mrs. Claus said sharply.
