Santa's Newest Reindeer (16 page)

“Time for our next stop,” interjected Mayor Noel, nodding

to Yule.

“Thanks for the tour, Yule. See you later,” chorused the twins.

They took one last look at Cosmos and Astro, waved, and blew

them both reindeer kisses. The group retraced their steps in front of the eight tiny reindeer and exited the Reindeer Residence.

“Do you think we could raise reindeer in Holly Valley? Just

think . . . we could raise them and get a sleigh like Santa and

: 124
:

s a n ta' s n e w e s t r e i n Deer

give kids rides all winter long,” suggested Ellie.

“Are you serious?” Will glanced at her. “You are serious,

aren’t you?”

“Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho! Oh what fun! I heard Jeepers say

that many times and couldn’t wait to use it.” Will dared not

to look at her.

“You’ve been around too many elves,” charged Will, running

to catch Mayor Noel.

: 125
:

Mayor Noel escorted the twins to the front doors of the post

office and introduced them to Carol, the postal head elf.

“Welcome,” Carol responded as she presented Will and Ellie

with their Santa Village passports granting them exclusive visi-

tation rights. The sequins on Carol’s bright blue leotards and

jacket twinkled like small diamonds. Her moist sapphire eyes

glistened, and her small head bobbed as she talked, causing the

white, furry ball attached to her blue stocking cap to sway back

and forth. The jet-black elf booties matched her hair. The mayor

forgot to warn Ellie and Will of Carol’s strong handshakes and

bear hugs. The expression on the twins’ faces said it all.

“This is where your letters to Santa arrive before they are

delivered to his house. He reads every letter before he replies

back to you. We have updated our communications processes

a lot over the past several years. Today you can e-mail, use

Twitter, and even join Santa on Facebook. Don’t expect him

to respond to you right away, as this is the busiest time of the

year for all of us, although he loves to hear from you. Send him

: 127
:

De n is t rom

your Christmas wish list or just say hello. You never know. He

might even call you some time.” The twins were impressed that

Santa was so up-to-date on all the modern communication tools.

“Does Santa answer every letter, and does he go to every

boy’s and girl’s house?” asked Ellie.

“Yes and well, no! Santa answers every letter, but he only goes

to the homes of those boys and girls who are nice. He makes

a list and he checks it twice, seeking names of boys and girls

who are nice and not naughty. You better mind your parents

and do your chores. You better not cry, and you better not pout.

You see, he knows if you have been bad or good, so be good for

all the right reasons.”

The twins had heard a song similar to the words she was

saying. However, it was the musical way she was talking that

alerted them. Since they had arrived at Santa’s Village, every-

thing they heard and saw added credibility to the existence of

Santa Claus—reindeer, elves, Elf School, and the toy workshop.

They just couldn’t wait to meet Santa Claus.

“Let’s look at each of your most current naughty or nice rat-

ings,” challenged Carol, pretending to page through the large

book containing the ratings.

The twins’ smiles soon faded from their faces.

“Ah yes, Ellie, okay . . . ah yes, Will, ah, well . . . er . . . just kiddin’. You’re okay,” chided Carol, winking at Will.

The twins sighed in relief. They thought it was a trick but

couldn’t tell whether the elves were serious or not. The two

mischievous elves burst in laughter and slapped each other on

their backs.

“We had ’em! We had ’em going,” mused Carol and Noel,

rolling on the ground in spastic laughter. Caught up in frivolity,

: 128
:

s a n ta' s n e w e s t r e i n Deer

the twins joined them in tumbling on the ground and admitting

that the elves had really tricked them. Ellie and Will were used

to being the ones who played tricks on their parents, friends,

or each other. The tricksters were tricked this time.

Carol presented each of them a colorful panoramic picture

of Santa’s Village in the form of an oversized postage stamp.

The pictures had been framed and laminated for protection.

“Wow! These are neat. I know where I’m going to hang mine—

right over the head of my bed,” asserted Ellie. “Thank-you!”

“Me too! Mine’s going over my study desk so I can look at

it every time I sit down,” vowed Will. “Thanks a lot!”

“I’ll keep these for you until it’s time to leave for home. I’l

make sure they are packed carefully. Trust me! No tricks this

time,” promised Carol, winking at Mayor Noel.

Mayor Noel, who was not known for humor or tricks, wiped

the tears of laughter from his eyes as he thanked Carol for the

tour of the post office. The twins were feeling more comfortable

with their new surroundings and friends. Each laughed openly

at the elves pushing each other as they often did at home. The

twins waved at every elf they saw along the route to Santa’s

house, stopping to greet a couple of elf children who were

walking their small dogs. They spotted a small cat napping in

one of the shop windows. As Ellie and Will strolled behind the

mayor, they noticed children skating on the frozen pond and

four children riding a toboggan down a gentle slope. Two ski

boarders raced recklessly in an S pattern, nearly colliding with

each other. One elf was standing on the shoulders of another,

trying to place a top hat on a rather obese snowman. Groups of

young carolers, dressed in choir robes, hurried across their path.

: 129
:

De n is t rom

Christmas songs filled the air. Ellie and Will were captivated

by the friendly and festive atmosphere, but they were getting

homesick. The sister and brother missed their dad and mom,

Gramps and Grams, their friends, and their home.

What if Santa can
’
t help bring Christmas back to Holly Valley?

What will we do then? Where can we go to get help? What if . . .

Ellie was usually confident, but she and Will hadn’t met

Santa. Those butterflies began to flutter once again in her stom-

ach. She was about to confide in Will, but he was having too

much fun throwing snowballs at two children and dodging

their return volleys.

“This is the library cottage where all the original copies of

Christmas stories from around the world are stored. Every time

a new Christmas story is written, we receive the original copy

and place it in safekeeping forever. Also, we are the guardians

of the master file, listing all the names of the ‘naughty or nice’

boys and girls from around the world. It is updated at the end

of every day so Santa always has an accurate record. Santa uses

this list to determine where to deliver packages on Christmas

Eve,” referenced Mayor Noel, shaking hands with Orion, the

head elf in charge of the library.

“Welcome to Santa’s Village. I’m Orion, the head elf, recorder

of the list naming which boy or girl is naughty or nice and

the keeper of original Christmas story books from around the

world. Carol previously told you that both of you are in the

‘nice’ category, so no need to worry about that,” beamed the

bookish-looking elf. His wire-rim glasses rode far down on his

long, pointed nose.

All the twins could focus on was Orion’s eyebrows. They

weren’t just any eyebrows. They were thick and bushy. They were

: 130
:

s a n ta' s n e w e s t r e i n Deer

black and white. Some hairs went left, and some hairs went

right. Each eyebrow needed to be combed in one direction. But

what amused the twins most was that when Orion spoke, one

eyebrow would rise and the other would drop, and then just

the opposite action would occur. They were captivated. When

the left eyebrow went up, Ellie would rise on her toes and then

settle back down. Alternately, Will would rise up and down

with the movement of the right eyebrow. Orion knew what the

twins were doing and tried to throw them off by changing his

routine. Even Mayor Noel tried to anticipate Orion’s fluctuat-

ing eyebrow pattern but was a half step behind.

“The very last thing loaded into Santa’s sleigh is the light-

est elf who has the naughty or nice computer list,” explained

Orion. He opened the large three-ring binder, containing an

endless stream of computer paper, which revealed rows upon

rows of listed countries. The names of all girls and boys were

printed under each country in which they lived. He scrolled

through the file until he located the United States of America

and then Idaho. Locating Holly Valley, Orion showed Ellie

and Will where their names were recorded under the “nice”

category.

“He’s making a list and checking it twice; gonna find out

who’s naughty or nice,” sang the twins as they danced around

Orion and Mayor Noel. All four joined hands and twirled in

a circle. The twins put their index fingers over their eyebrows,

mimicking Orion’s twitching eyebrows. The two adults joined

in the twins’ charade, and soon they were all aping Orion’s

famous facial feature and singing the refrain from “Santa Claus

Is Coming To Town.”

: 131
:

De n is t rom

“It’s time we go. We need to make a couple more stops along

the way. Before we go, Orion has a gift for each of you,” noted

the mayor, turning to Orion.

“On behalf of Santa Claus, the elves, and all else who live in

Santa’s Village, I am proud to present to you a copy of the most

recent Christmas story. It’s title is
Santa
’
s Newest Reindeer.
It’s hot off the press, so to speak. I think you will enjoy reading it many times over and sharing it,” bragged the librarian, wrapping

his arms around the books and pressing them against his heart.

“I’ll take special care of these and ensure they are included in

your belongings when you depart on your return trip.”

Ellie and Will thanked Orion for his hospitality before Noel

nudged them out the door and down the cobblestone path. As

they turned to take one more glance back, Orion was stand-

ing on the steps flicking his eyebrows, still hugging the books

and three-ring binder. The twins returned the hand-eyebrow

gestures, nearly falling over each other’s feet. Although they

were having great fun, a chill came over them. They wondered

how Mom and Dad and Gramps and Grams were doing. Had

they found the note Will had penned? What was the latest

news in Holly Valley?

Ellie and Will held hands and followed Mayor Noel with-

out looking at each other. For the moment, the colorful lights

and Christmas music somewhat distracted their thoughts. They

smiled and returned greetings to all the elves they met along the way, masking a growing desire that they missed Holly Valley

and all their friends. Santa’s Village was becoming their second

home, but there was no place like home, and it was getting time

to return. The butterflies not only fluttered in Ellie’s stomach

but had found a home in Will’s stomach as well.

: 132
: