North Pole Reform School (13 page)

He’s acting strangely anyway, and I see him pull Tinsel
aside and whisper to her. Dinner is sugar cookies and candy canes, and the
elves on the piano are singing “My Favourite Time of Year” by the Florin Street
Band, which happens to be the only Christmas song I actually like.

Even Joe is suspiciously quiet.

“What’s up, Joe?” Emily asks.

Joe shakes his head but says nothing.

“Hey, Joe.” Luke grins. “What’s white and round?”

His eyes twinkle as Joe makes angry gestures at us both.

“How was Elf and Safety, Joe? Did you have fun?” Luke
continues to taunt him.

Joe makes more angry gestures.

Eventually Navidad takes pity on him and smoothes a napkin
out on the table and hands Joe a pen. “The pen is mightier than the
blancmange,” he tells him.

Joe scribbles furiously and then shoves it over to Luke and
me.

You bastards set me up. That sodding elf hates humans!

Luke looks the happiest I’ve seen him in days. “Well, he did
promise to make us shut up for the rest of the day. Clearly it wasn’t just an
empty threat.”

Navidad is trying not to giggle, and even Tinsel is smiling.
Emily looks happy and this is the first time I’ve seen Hugo grinning.

I suddenly realise that today has actually been a good day.
I even eat the candy cane without complaining, and I definitely don’t mind when
Luke high-fives me and then throws his arm around my shoulders as we trudge
back through the snow to our quarters.

“Got a surprise for you later,” he whispers in my ear.

CHAPTER 19

We’re all sitting on the sofas watching
Elf
that night due to a complete lack of anything
better to do, and it being the only Christmas movie that doesn’t totally suck.
When it finishes, Luke nudges me.

“Get your boots and coat on,” he whispers.

He stands up as I slink off to my room to do what he says.
“Misty and I have got a secret assignment. We’ll be back later.”

“What?” Joe asks. “What’s all that about then?” Sadly, his
voice has returned.

“Ah, it’s a secret, Joe.”

I can tell from a mile away that Luke is thoroughly enjoying
winding him up.

“Pfft,” Joe mutters. “You sodding half-elf git. No wonder
you get secret assignments and I don’t—they like you because you’re one of
their own.”

“Perhaps they just like me because I’m not completely
repulsive, unlike
some
people.”

“Come on,” I say to Luke before they have a full-blown
argument. “Let’s get on with it.”

I’m going along with him even though I have no idea what
we’re meant to be doing.

Luke goes over to the door and bangs five times in quick
succession. The door clicks unlocked and he holds it open for me to go through
first.

Behind us we can hear Joe grumbling and trying the five
knocks himself. It doesn’t work for him.

“Evening, Wen.” Luke greets Wenceslas when we reach the
bottom of the stairs. The elf smiles and nods at us and unlocks the front door
from the control panel on his desk.

We’re let outside into the cold night air of the North Pole.
It’s just after eight o’clock, not that late, but it gets dark by early
afternoon here. The snow is still falling, and a few elves are walking around,
but most are probably in bed by now. As we’ve learnt, elves are early to bed,
early (way too early) to rise.

“What’s going on?” I ask Luke. “What’s this secret
assignment? Why are you on such good terms with Wenceslas?”

Luke grins and takes my hand. It feels nice, even through
the gloves.

“No secret assignment. I was just winding Joe up.”

“So, what are we doing?”

“Tinsel, Navidad, and Wenceslas think we’re taking a
romantic walk. What we’re really doing is finding an exit.”

Secretly, I feel quite disappointed that this isn’t a
romantic walk. “How did you get them to agree to let us out with no
supervision?”

“I behaved myself. I overheard Navi telling Tinsel that we’d
been really good today. I did a bit of wheedling at dinner and got her to agree
to let us out for a walk tonight. So I could get to know you better, I told
her. She pretty much melted and agreed to the signal with Wenceslas to let us
out.”

“The five knocks,” I mutter. I feel quite down about the
fact that this is just a cover. Luke doesn’t really want to get to know me
better. He just wants to get out of here.

“I thought you’d be pleased,” he says when I don’t respond.

I shrug. “I don’t know how you intend to find an exit. And
even if you do, they can just magic us back here. They got us here in the first
place and it wasn’t exactly voluntary.”

“Where we were this morning with the reindeer. What I said
to you then. That’s where the sleigh takes off. If the sleigh can take off from
there, then it can get out from there.”

“Yes, but the sleigh would be flying. The exit is probably
at the top of the dome, only reachable by flying reindeer.”

“Do you remember on the first day Tinsel said something
about being able to see more of the dome glass in the forest behind the
stables?”

I nod. “What has that got to do with anything?”

He shrugs. “I’d like to see it. Even if we can’t find a
proper way out, I’d like to see if I can smash it with no elves around to stop me.”

“Luke…”

He squeezes my hand. “I can’t stay here. It’s been days now,
and we’re not getting anywhere. They aren’t suddenly going to wake up one
morning and let us go.”

“Well, they have to eventually.”

“Eventually isn’t good enough. I need to go home.”

“Where’s home? You’ve never even told me where you come
from.”

“Sheffield,” he says. “How about you?”

“Bristol,” I mumble. My heart sinks. Sheffield is miles away
from Bristol. When this is over, I’ll never see him again. And he can’t wait
for this to be over.

“I thought you’d be pleased,” he says again. “I thought you
wanted to get out of here too.”

“I do, I just…” I just what? I just don’t want to leave Luke
yet. I can’t exactly say that to him though.

“Today hasn’t been an entirely bad day,” I say instead.

He laughs. “We’ve been kidnapped by a bunch of elves and
we’re stuck in the sodding North Pole. The days aren’t exactly fun.”

“But you liked making those toy trains today. I could tell
you were enjoying it.”

“It was okay, I guess.”

“The elves were telling me why they make the toys in the
first place. It made me feel kind of guilty.”

“Me too,” Luke says. “But that’s exactly what they’re doing.
They
want
us to feel like that.”

I shrug.

“Don’t be such a good girl, Mis. We’ve been here, they’ve
got what they wanted. I won’t steal any more Christmas decorations and you
won’t set any more children on fire.”

“It was the tree.”

He laughs.

We’ve made it past the reindeer stables and into the woods
now. Luke grips my hand tighter and tells me to be careful. Snow, ice, and tree
roots don’t mix.

“How come you’re so eager to get out of here all of a
sudden? I thought you’d given up.”

“I never give up.” He smiles back at me. “I just have to
go.”

“This isn’t about some college lecture, is it? Surely a guy
like you doesn’t mind missing a few days of college?”

“Like I give a toss about college. I’d happily miss a few
years of it.”

“Then what?”

He sighs and shakes his head.

I get the feeling there’s something he’s not telling me, but
I don’t pursue it for now.

We reach the opening in the trees where the runway is. In
the distance, we can see the lights are on in the sleigh headquarters building,
and we can hear music coming from there. Luke seems to know exactly where he’s
heading, and I follow him along. He hasn’t let go of my hand yet. We pass the
runway and head into the trees at the far end of it. I think Luke expected to
come across a giant door or something where the sleigh would go through, but
this place looks exactly the same as the rest of the forest.

“What are you looking for?” I ask him.

“Anything. There has to be something!” He sounds panicked
and upset.

“Luke, what’s wrong?”

“They can’t just keep me here. I have to go back. I have to
go home. This is ridiculous.”

“Why? Why now?”

“Because I’ve been here for days!” He shouts suddenly. “I
can’t leave her any longer!”

My heart sinks even more. He can’t leave
her
any longer. He’s going to say a girlfriend. Of
course he is. Why wouldn’t he have a girlfriend? He’s cute, funny, kind, and
protective. Of course he has a girlfriend. What was I thinking?

“I have a little sister,” he says.

“What, no girlfriend?”

“Oh, yeah. Like I could have a girlfriend with my life.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I have a little sister.” He says. “I can’t leave her any
longer.”

“Why not? Is she desperate to spend Christmas with you or
something?”

“No, I just… She’s not… My dad, he…”

I step forwards and touch his shoulder. He turns to face me,
and when our eyes meet, he seems to crumble.

Suddenly he’s hugging me. His face is buried in my shoulder.
I squeeze him gently.

“If I’m not there, he might hit her instead.” His voice
sounds unsteady and my heart sinks for an entirely different reason.

“Oh, Luke…”

He pulls back and pushes his hair off his face shakily.
“Forget it, all right?”

“No, I…”

“I don’t want the elves knowing about this. I don’t want
anyone knowing about it. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Yes, you should. Luke, listen, I’m not going to tell
anyone, okay? I just… He hits you?” I take hold of his hand again when he
sighs. “Talk to me.”

“He… You know I told you that Joe reminds me of him? Well,
Joe is a pussycat compared to him. He calls me a fucking gnome because of my
stupid ears, and he makes me self-conscious about them like nothing else. He’s
embarrassed to be seen in public with me. That’s why Joe calling me Elf Boy got
to me so much.”

I give his hand a squeeze. “And he goes further?”

“He’s… aggressive. If he doesn’t like something, well, let’s
just say that it knows damn well he doesn’t like it.”

“You’re not an ‘it’.”

“I’m a thing that he doesn’t like. He makes sure I know
that.”

“And you stay because of your sister?”

“She’s only ten. I can take it when he hits me. She can’t. I
can’t leave without her, and I certainly can’t afford to get my own place and
take care of her too.”

The thought of anyone hitting him is too much to bear. I hug
him again.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble into his hair. I’m at a loss for what
else to say.

I feel his smile against my shoulder. “You have nothing to
be sorry for.”

“We could tell one of the elves. Maybe they can help.”

“No,” he says. “I don’t want their help. I just have to
finish college and get a decent job. Then I can get us both away from him.”

“How long is that, Luke? Two years? And then how long until
you find a job that pays enough for the both of you to live on?”

“I didn’t say it was a good plan. It’s the only plan I
have.”

“We have to do something.”

“I have to get out of here. If I’m there, then he’s hitting
me and not her. That’s what matters.”

“That’s not the only thing that matters.”

“I can take it. She’s tiny. He’ll break her.”

“Has he ever broken you?”

“Define broken,” he mumbles, and my heart bleeds for him.

“Luke…”

“Just forget it, okay? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said
anything.”

“Yes, you should.” I put my hand on his arm when he goes to
pull away.

He rubs a hand over his face. “Let’s just see if we can find
a way out.”

I understand his
subject closed
tone of voice, and I reluctantly agree as he takes my hand again and I follow
him through the trees.

He’s silent until we come to another clearing, and then he
gasps. I follow his gaze upwards.

“The Northern Lights,” I breathe.

“I didn’t even know they were real,” Luke whispers.

It’s gorgeous. Pink and green lights swirl in the sky
overhead. Stars sparkle around them, and it takes our breath away.

“The elves certainly kept this quiet, didn’t they?” Luke
mutters.

We stand there for what seems like forever. When I look up
at Luke, I realise he has tears in his eyes. I lean my head against his
shoulder and give his other shoulder a squeeze. He presses a kiss to my hair
and rests his head against mine.

I know he’s not crying just because of the lights, but also
because he’s probably never told anyone about his father before. I wish there
was something I could do.

“Thanks,” he whispers.

My only response is to tighten the arm I have around him.

We watch the lights in silence until it grows darker and
they start to fade away.

Luke heads towards a few more trees and then he stops. “Mis,
this is it. Look—the glass.”

Shimmering in front of us is the dome wall. Just like the
part we saw in the village, solid and tough, and extending way beyond what we
can see.

“This is crazy,” I mutter.

Luke thumps his fist against it and it does nothing.

“Jesus,” he mutters. “I’m gonna find a branch or something.”

I cup my hands over my eyes to block out reflections and
look through the glass.

I can’t see much. It’s snowy and dark out there, and it
takes my eyes a while to adjust. When they do, I jump back in shock.

“Holy shit! Luke, look!”

He appears and cups his hands around his eyes too.

“Bloody hell,” he mutters after a minute. “Of all the things
I thought they were making up to scare us.”

“It can’t be… can it?”

But it is. There’s a zombie out there. Actually there are
two zombies, but one is further away and sitting down. The other is closer to
the glass and moving in a sort of jerking rhythm, and it takes us a while to
work out what it’s doing.

“It’s the music,” I say. “It’s moving to the music.”

We can still hear the strains of Chilly Chunes Radio coming
from the sleigh headquarters, and obviously this zombie can too.

“This is ridiculous,” Luke says.

“Of course it’s ridiculous. We’re in the North Pole,
watching a freaking zombie dancing to ‘Jingle Bell Rock’.”

“You call that dancing?”

“Well, swaying then. Whatever it’s doing, it’s a zombie.
Zombies don’t exist.”

“Neither do elves, flying reindeer, and Father Christmas,
but apparently they do up here.”

The zombie waits until the song is finished, and then it
turns its dead eyes directly to us. It’s like something out of a horror movie.
One eyeball hangs out of its socket, dangling against the zombie’s cheek. One
arm is clearly broken and it flops around uselessly.

“Jesus.” I jump back.

“Wow. I think we should go,” Luke says.

There’s a crash from outside and the glass rattles.

“Shit.”

I don’t want to see any more, but Luke looks back through
it. “Er, yeah.” He pulls away as the glass rattles again. “I think that zombie
really
likes us.”

“Tinsel did say they fling themselves at the glass
sometimes.”

“Yeah. Let’s hope it’s as unbreakable as she seems to think
it is. Come on, let’s get out of here.”