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Part 2: Runaway Reindeer Raises Ruckus

Fourteen Days Until Christmas...
[[nice long one today, kiddies... don't get used to it! -marcus]]

The sun had barely risen over the horizon when Snowball McJinglebell awoke. He yawned, rubbed the Sandman's residue from his eyes, and stepped out of bed. He opened the door to his room after pulling on a bathrobe, and was immediately met with shouting from downstairs. He ran toward the sound, wide awake immediately, wondering who had died.

He pulled open the door that lead to the Great Hall of the Wintercastle, and saw Santa standing in a crowd of Elves. Someone shouted, "He's gone!" Another yelled that there would be no Christmas. Someone else expressed their opinion that Santa himself had eaten him.

"Quiet!" Santa bellowed, causing everyone to jump. Snowball saw Mrs. Claus standing behind her husband, clutching a dishtowel to her chest. She looked very worried; Santa wasn't normally this angry. "Thank you," Santa said when the hubbub had died down. "Now, just because Rudolph is missing, doesn't mean Christmas is canceled. And I most certainly did not eat the poor little dear," he said, glowering at the Elf who had spoken up earlier. "We are going to organize a search party for Rudolph, but not everyone is going to be able to go." There was an outbreak of whispering, so Santa spoke louder. "I know you all love him, as do I, but there's just too much work to be done." As Santa spoke, Snowball had begun to make his way down the large staircase that hugged the wall of the Great Hall. He was now at the bottom.

"I'll lead the party," he volunteered. Santa looked over the crowd of Elves directly at him and shook his head.

"No, Snowball, you must continue to lead the Reindeer Games. The happiness of the players is of the utmost importance." Snowball began to protest, but Santa held up a gloved hand. "Your place is in front of that computer. There are many others who can lead the search party. Not you." Snowball frowned but didn't argue. "Now, I want a group of thirty Elves to go looking for Rudolph. The rest of you, get back to work. I want all toys finished by tomorrow morning at the latest, all right?"

The Elves grumbled, but slowly dispersed back to their various jobs. Snowball walked toward Santa. "What's going on?" he asked Holly, who was standing nearby.

"Rudolph is missing!" she said, turning to him and hugging him hello. "They went to change shifts this morning and found his stall door wide open. They don't know who was on duty last night, so they ca't figure out where he might have gone. Oh, Snowball, it's horrible..."

Snowball patted the top of Holly's head (he was a full three inches taller than her, so he could easily reach) and said, "I'm sure they'll find Rudolph. You know what the weathermen are saying... it's supposed to be extra-cloudy this year. Of course Santa needs Rudolph's nose."

"Who would do something so horrible?" Holly asked. Snowball shook his head. "I mean, why? Why would they want to sabotage Christmas?"

The Elves grumbled, but slowly dispersed back to their various jobs. Snowball walked toward Santa. "What's going on?" he asked Holly, who was standing nearby.

"Rudolph is missing!" she said, turning to him and hugging him hello. "They went to change shifts this morning and found his stall door wide open. They don't know who was on duty last night, so they can't figure out where he might have gone. Oh, Snowball, it's horrible..."

Snowball patted the top of Holly's head (he was a full three inches taller than her, so he could easily reach) and said, "I'm sure they'll find Rudolph. You know what the weathermen are saying... it's supposed to be extra-cloudy this year. Of course Santa needs Rudolph's nose."

"Who would do something so horrible?" Holly asked. Snowball shook his head. "I mean, why? Why would they want to sabotage Christmas?"

The realization hit them both at the same time. "The Candy Cane Kid," they said as one. "It has to be."

Thirty-some-odd Elves had stayed behind to help with the search, including Norman Twinklestar. He felt personally responsible for the disappearance of Rudolph, because he was the last Elf to see the reindeer before he had gone missing. No matter how hard he thought, Norman could not remember who had taken his place last night. For all he knew, it had been the Easter Bunny. "Santa?" Norman said.

Santa Claus turned and looked at the timid Elf. "Yes, Norman?" he asked.

"Do you think the Easter Bunny might have stolen Rudolph?" Norman asked worriedly.

"The Easter Bunny?" Santa chuckled. "I don't think so. Now, here's what we're going to do... Snowball, why are you still here?"

"Sorry, boss," the handsome Elf standing next to Holly O'Mistletoe said. He scampered off to the computer room, probably unaware that he was still wearing only a bathrobe.

"Anyway, what we're going to do is break off into groups of five. That gives us six groups, am I right?" Santa said. A nerdy-looking Elf in the crowd looked up from a calculator and nodded, and Santa smiled. "Good. One group is going to search the path between here and the stables, to make sure Rudolph isn't there. One group is going to head into the Candy Cane Forest, to see if Rudolph wandered off. The next group is going to make a wide circle around the Wintercastle, bundled up heavily to make sure you don't catch a cold. The fourth group will take a shuttle down south to see if anyone has found a runway reindeer with a red schnozz, and the fifth and sixth groups will come with me to search the Wintercastle. Everyone understand?" The Elves around Santa nodded, and he smiled. "Good. I'm glad to hear it. Now, split up!"

There was momentary chaos as the Elves separated into six groups, based primarily on their jobs. The first-level carvers stuck together, the second-level painters, the fourth-level electricians, and so on. Mrs. Claus took advantage of the confusion to slip back off to the kitchens, where she spent the remainder of the day melting chocolate to drip over the Christmas tree they were going to light tomorrow evening.

When the groups had finished forming, Santa designated which group was going where. They all went off on their separate missions, walking purposefully and without hesitation.

Norman found himself in a group with Holly O'Mistletoe and an Elf he didn't particularly care for, a young sprite named Sparky McPointy. They were the ones who had been told they were headed down south, and they were very worried. Elves didn't do too well with heat, and Santa was sending them to a place they had only heard about in storybooks- New York. They were afraid they weren't going to be able to handle it.

"Santa," Holly said when the other groups had all left. "I'm afraid we won't be able to handle the heat in New York."

Santa chuckled. "Don't worry about that, Holly! I have special suits for you... come on! This way."

'--------

Several hours later, they were on the shuttle, headed to New York City. If a reindeer with a red nose had been discovered, Santa felt that it was most likely being held at the Bronx Zoo... After all, that was where Dancer had wound up that year his harness broke on Christmas Eve.

They all felt slightly awkward, for Santa had dressed them in suits that very much resembled the outfit he wore every year on his flight around the world. Apparently the suits were temperature-controlled, and could be adjusted so that the Elves were invisible. This was all very useful, they were sure, but Holly for one felt very dorky. What were the humans going to think if they saw her like this? She would much rather have met her first person in one of the beautiful evening gowns she kept tucked away under her bed... but better be unstylish than to die from heatstroke, she guessed. Words of wisdom to live by, and all that.

Norman looked over at Sparky McPointy, who had managed to pull his suit down around his chest so his muscles were showing. Norman felt very threatened by Sparky, who frequently shirked his workshop duties to sneak off with one of the female Elves. Norman wasn't the most attractive of Elves, but he tried to get by. Sparky, though, was a handsome, rugged fellow who liked to show off. And Norman didn't like that.

The shuttle was set to reach New York City at 1:00 a.m. the next day. For the same creatures who had developed a sleigh that was able to visit every house in one night, their personal transport vehicles weren't that sophisticated. After all, they only needed to get around the Wintercastle. Rarely did an Elf travel down south... Regardless, the five Elves who had been chosen to visit the humans settled in for a long, winters' nap.

'-------

Late that night, the various groups (except for the ones bound for New York City) who had been out searching for Rudolph sat down to a nice, warm meal together. Their noses and the tips of their ears were red from the cold, and they rubbed their long hands together over nice warm cups of cocoa. Tiny gingerbread men ran underneath the table, jumping at the ankles of the Elves and trying to get their attention. They were promptly ignored.

Santa announced to the Elves that, while Rudolph had not been found, all of the toys had been finished. By tomorrow, he expected to have everything wrapped, and all seemed to be in order for the Christmas Eve flight. Except, of course, for the fact that the weathermen were predicting this to be the foggiest Christmas Eve in hundreds of years, and he needed Rudolph more than ever.

"Friends, let's not dwell on the problems that are to come in the days ahead," Santa said, voice carrying throughout the Dining Hall. "Let's sit down to this wonderful meal prepared for us by the wonderful Elves who work in the kitchens, and let's enjoy ourselves. And tomorrow, we light the Christmas tree!"

The Elves cheered and dug into the meal. They all had turkey, biscuits, mashed potatoes (with gingerbread gravy), cranberry soda, and corn, made of course by Mrs. Claus. An hour later, they were ready for dessert- most of them just reached down and plucked a struggling gingerbread man off the floor.

When most of the Elves had finished their hot cocoa and dessert, and were lying back in their chairs with a hand on their distended stomachs, the door to the Wintercastle slammed open. Everyone turned slowly to look. Snow swirled into the Dining Hall, sending shivers up and down the spines of every Elf there. In the doorway stood the small form of a trembling Elf.

"Santa!" he cried at the top of his lungs. "All of the other reindeer are gone!"

Posted by Marcus Treelight