The North Pole Challenge (Flea's Five Christmases, #1) (26 page)

             
Several elves were scattered around the village grounds – including Artimus, who remained completely still just outside the ice bank – but the large majority of them were located inside the toy factory, many of them seemingly atop one another. Flea had not yet met most of the smiling elf images from inside the factory but he
did
recognize the only two elves in the dorm, though he was confused about the way Rome and Minko were moving. Even if Minko hadn’t been walking gingerly from his brutal snowball hit, there was no way he could’ve possibly moved so fast. Rome’s picture next to him traveled at the same fast speed. But when the two suddenly flipped upside down and then almost immediately turned rightside up – a pattern that repeated several times in a row – Flea figured out exactly what they were doing and couldn’t help but laugh.

             
Minko really
can’t
pass up an opportunity to ride the roller coaster,
Flea thought.

             
He finally spotted Niko’s picture at the edge of the village heading toward Santa’s cabin. Inside the cabin, Flea spotted a generic picture of Santa Claus that could’ve come from any cartoon he had ever seen about the North Pole (most of which had gotten every detail about this place wrong). But the picture
next to
Santa was what Flea wondered about most, as the elf’s face remained in shadows and was covered with a big question mark. Flea wanted to know who this was so he rushed out of the security building and hoped to catch Niko in time.

             
“Don’t tell anyone I was here,” Flea called out to the snowmen as he left.

             
He considered cutting through the center of the village to reach Santa’s cabin quicker but didn’t want to take the chance that Artimus had broken free. Instead, he circled around the village perimeter, avoiding contact with any other elves. He eventually spotted Niko – who was recognizable from afar by his big red hat – just as he reached the cabin’s front door. Flea was about to call out to him when the cabin door opened and Flea saw a flash of red standing inside. He realized that the question-marked elf was Red-Robe. Flea stopped at the sight of the strange elf, suddenly forgetting why he wanted to find Niko in the first place. When the door to Santa’s cabin closed, Flea headed back to the dorm. He wanted to find Minko and Rome and tell them everything he’d just seen but he thought better of it. Minko had a big mouth and the last thing Flea wanted was to make an enemy out of Niko, who’d sworn him to secrecy about North Pole security matters.

             
Flea headed straight for his room, which he found quicker this time. Although his body was physically drained and his bed felt as comfy as a soft cloud, his mind was on overdrive and kept him from falling asleep. Not only did the thought of the approaching South Pole Army worry him, but so did the fact that Niko and Red-Robe were meeting with Santa.

A meeting that Flea somehow knew was about him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Christmas Tree Party

The three students continued to work very hard in the school’s production center for what felt like weeks. Unfortunately, there seemed no end in sight for their orders. Flea continued to build fastest of the three, but Rome and Minko had both improved significantly. Hundreds and hundreds of birdhouses and toy chests and rocking horses and other wooden products flew out of their production room. During that time, Vork only stopped in once. The teacher seemed impressed by their improvements but still made a point to remind them that they would either pass or fail together, as they had to complete
all
of their orders by the end of the building season.

             
Multiple times throughout the course of building, Flea asked his friends if there was some way of finding out the exact number of orders they had left, but Rome and Minko were both adamant that they couldn’t.

             
“And even if we
could
somehow find out, I wouldn’t want to know,” Minko said. “That goes against the elf code of conduct.”

             
Although Flea didn’t agree with his friends, he dropped the subject each time. After one particularly long building session, the three decided it was time to go outside for a quick break. By this time, Flea had grown accustomed to the beauty of the village, but new to this day was a sight as amazing as his first glance at Santa’s sleigh.

             
Directly in the center of the village was a Christmas tree far taller than any that Flea had ever seen. It was several stories tall and nearly as wide. The full branches hung perfectly to create a proportionately circular base. Upon closer inspection of the tree, Flea noticed nearly a dozen tall ladders leaned against it. Several elves climbed those ladders while holding their Christmas balls.

             
“Oh, no,” Rome said at the sight of the tree.

             
She sounded very worried so Flea quickly scanned the ladders for any sign of elves in danger, especially since many of them climbed near the top. But the elves appeared safe as they hung their ornaments from different sections of the tree.

             
“What’s wrong?” Flea asked.

             
“Once the tree comes up, it’s the beginning of the end,” Rome explained. “As soon as an elf’s Christmas ball stops giving orders, that elf is done for the holiday season and can rush out here to hang their ball on the tree. The higher up an elf is permitted to hang his or her ornament, the higher the class of builder.”

             
One elf in particular stood on the very top rung on his ladder, balancing dangerously while placing his Christmas ball just below the very tip of the tree.

             
“It looks like Fuff is the big winner this year,” Minko said pointing all the way up to the highest elf. “I wonder if Santa will choose him for the big prize or if Niko will get to go with him again next year.”

             
“The big prize?”

             
Rome and Minko explained that becoming a top-of-the-tree level elf – which required years of high-quality building in the toy factory – instantly qualified an elf for Santa’s big prize. That was the prize that all elves dreamed about but few got the chance to experience: riding in the sleigh with Santa while he delivered presents around the world.

             
“From what I’ve heard, it’s an amazing journey,” Rome said, “even
if
you don’t get the chance to attend the post-building party.”

             
“Well for Fuff’s sake, I hope Santa chooses him to go on the delivery run next year,” Minko said. “Fuff was the first to finish building last year but Santa decided to give this season’s big prize to his son. Niko has gone on more delivery trips than anyone else, which doesn’t seem fair to me at all. If I was the first to finish and didn’t get picked, I would be
so
mad.”

             
Flea continued to watch Fuff as he placed his Christmas ball near the top. Once he let go, his purple ball seemed to shine brighter than all of those around it. The upper section of the tree looked to be more decorated than the lower.

             
“I don’t think I recognize him,” Flea said about the North Pole’s number-one builder.

             
“I doubt you would’ve seen
any
of the builders from the three or four highest tiers,” Rome explained. “It’s a fierce competition to reach the highest levels; the top elves are always sliding up and down those levels based upon their building performance. There are very few spots in each building-level so those elves
never
leave the factory during the holiday season until they’re done. Do you see those other builders who’ve already finished and hung their decorations?” She pointed out nearly ten elves standing at the base of the Christmas tree, patting each other on the back and smiling proudly at their hanging decorations. “Their ornaments are already on the tree so they’ll be moved to the highest building level next year to challenge Fuff.”

             
“I want nothing more than to become a builder and win Santa’s big prize one day but I doubt I’ll
ever
have the determination needed to reach that level,” Minko said with a hint of sadness. “Those elves don’t spend
any
off time having fun. Instead, they use that time for extra hibernation so they’re ready to build non-stop. Is it really worth being the best if you can’t enjoy the only vacation we get?”

             
“Elves get to go on vacation?” Flea asked.

             
“Oh yeah, it’s the best!” Minko said. “If it came down to being the card-elf forever or never going to the lake again, I’d gladly never step foot in the toy factory… well, maybe not
gladly
.”

             
“What’s so great about it?”

             
“Two words,” Minko said. “Snow Wars.”

             
Rome couldn’t stop herself from chuckling. “But I’ve never seen you compete before. My friends… well, I guess I mean Artimus and his crew… they rule Snow Wars every year, at least until they have to face the penguins.”

             
“I’ve competed before,” Minko said defensively.

             
“When?” Rome asked.

             
“The twins were my partners about…” Minko’s voice lowered to barely a whisper. “…twenty years ago.”

             
“Russ and Guss?” Rome laughed. “Those two were
awful
, that’s why they haven’t competed since. Did you three even make it out of the qualification battle?”

             
“That doesn’t matter now,” Minko said, sidestepping the question. “With the three of
us
on a team together,
nobody
will be able to stop us, not even the penguins.”

             
“Me on a team with
you
?” Rome asked. “I don’t remember agreeing to that.”

             
“And why
wouldn’t
you want to be on my team?”

             
“Why
would
I?”

             
Rome and Minko continued to bicker back and forth. This Snow Wars competition was apparently a very serious matter to the two of them. Flea didn’t know what was involved with it, but his two friends would certainly come in first place if the contest were based on the ability to argue. Sadly, Flea couldn’t help but think that he might be long gone from the North Pole before he ever got the chance to compete.

             
“Isn’t that one of Artimus’s friends?” Flea asked, interrupting his friends before they exploded into an all-out war. He pointed to an attractive, well-dressed girl elf who didn’t need a ladder to reach the low branch where she hung her yellow ball, which glowed much dimmer than the ornaments higher up.

             
“Yeah, that’s Addy,” Rome said. “Artimus isn’t going to be happy if she moves to a higher level than the rest of the group. They’re all pretty good builders but Artimus keeps them so busy with their clothes and hair that none of them finishes this early. Addy will have a much larger assignment load next year but I’m sure Artimus will harass her so much that she gets demoted back to the lower level. I can’t believe I let Artimus and the others hold me back so much that I wasn’t able to graduate elf school.”

             
Rome’s voice was full of shame and anger and it became clear to Flea why she hadn’t passed school the first time, despite her obvious building skills.

             
“Don’t worry, that will change for us
all
next year,” Minko said.

             
“How will we know when the rest of the elves are finished?” Flea asked.

             
“Once the entire tree is filled with Christmas balls, the factory whistle blows to mark the official end of the building season,” Rome said. “We
must
be done our work by then.”

             
A few more elves trickled out of the factory, including a familiar face. The last time Flea had seen this face, it was the only part of the elf not covered in snow.

             
“I guess I see why Artimus hasn’t been around to bother us,” Minko said as the evil elf reached up to hang his Christmas ball on one of the lowest branches.