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December 6, 7:00pm – The Restaurant

Understanding dawned upon Raeger slowly. He really couldn’t be blamed for taking so long to understand. It was not a reasonable conclusion to come to, considering the topic (Santa Claus) and the perpetrator (Fritz), but he had overheard a few too many not-so-throwaway comments from Fritz over the last month or so to write things off.

At first, he had just thought Fritz was doing what any good adult would do, and played along with the kids when they brought up something like being on the Nice List or sending letters to the North Pole. And then, naturally, it would have been a bit of acting when Lutz informed them that Santa wasn’t real (his mother said so), and Fritz had placed his hand over his heart, gasped like a soap opera starlet, and vehemently insisted Santa was very real. Because that acting was for Melanie’s sake, to keep the magic real for her for another year or two.

But tonight, rather than lingering, as normal, over dinner at the restaurant, he had finished eating in a rush, and dashed away, proclaiming, “I want to finish my letter to Santa tonight, or else it won’t get to him in time!”

And as the door closed behind the farmer, letting in a gust of cool, December air, both Raeger and Annie looked at each other with dawning surprise.

“You don’t think…” Annie began hesitantly.

“That he actually still believes in Santa Claus?” Raeger sighed. “You know, I think I do.”

“How? He… he’s a grown adult?! If his parents kept it up, that’s one thing, but when he moved here, he must have realized Santa didn’t come.”

“Unless he did.” Raeger tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Eda was always a little indulgent with him.”

Annie worried her lower lip between her teeth. “What about since then? What did he do last year?”

“Maybe he didn’t send a letter?”

“Raeger.” Annie’s eyes lit up with determination. “Raeger, we have to do something! We can’t let Fritz find out about Santa like that.”

“Like what?”

“He’s going to wake up on Christmas morning, expecting presents under the tree and he’s going to have nothing. He’s going to be heartbroken!”

Down the bar, Mistel scoffed unkindly. Annie turned to him, hands on her hip, her brow set sternly.

“And what, pray tell, is so funny?”

“You said it yourself, Annie, Fritz is a grown adult. If he hasn’t figured out Santa by now, he deserves to be disappointed.” Mistel wiped his mouth and turned in his seat to face the others. “I’m with Raeger, I think he should wake up to reality.”

“Hey! I never said that.” Raeger protested. He trailed off when Annie turned her wide eyes to him looking for support. “I mean… it is a little weird that a grown man still honestly believes in Santa Claus…”

“Oh, come on! Listen to the two of you!” Annie threw her hands up in exasperation. “Just because it’s weird doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. It… it’s not about the presents or even the big man in red. It’s about the magic. Don’t you guys remember what it was like to believe in Santa Claus? That honest and genuine belief that there was magic in the world, and you got to experience some of it every year. Why would you want to take any of that away from anyone?”

She looked earnestly between the two men as they absorbed her words. The skepticism was still clear on both their faces. “Do you remember when you stopped believing in Santa? Do you remember how you felt?”

“No,” Mistel crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes. “I was three and Iris told me Santa wasn’t real when she was mad at me. Once our parents figured out we had both wised up to the ruse, they gave up entirely. My presents were from them, not some old man with eight tiny reindeer who broke into our house once a year.”

Annie wrote Mistel off as a lost cause and turned to Raeger. “What about you?”

Raeger sighed. “I was eight, and I was devastated to find out. Kids at school always said he wasn’t real, but I wanted proof. So, I stayed awake on Christmas Eve and waited to hear Santa arrive. And instead, I heard my parents carry all the presents out from their bedroom and down to the tree once they thought all the kids were asleep.”

“But you remember how magical it was to believe. I’m not saying we shouldn’t tell Fritz at all, and let him go on believing in Santa, but I think we all could use more magic in our lives, don’t you? There are gentler ways to break it to Fritz than a cold slap in the face.”

Raeger looked into Annie’s wide, pleading eyes. And he thought about how it would look to see Fritz so utterly disappointed when he learned the truth in the hardest way possible. And he knew that, even if she had to do it all herself, Annie would do something to make Christmas magical for Fritz and probably run herself ragged trying to do it.

He didn’t want that. He wanted to see the two of them happy.

Raeger heaved a long sigh and ran his hand through his hair. “Yeah… all right. Let’s do it. Let’s make one more magical Christmas for Fritz.”

December 7, 5:30am – The Restaurant

Raeger yawned and swore and yawned again as he stamped his feet and rubbed his hands together to try and get even the tiniest smidgen of warmth into his extremities. He and Annie had stayed up past closing last night plotting out exactly how they were going to make a magical Christmas, and he had been tasked with the first important step: Get Fritz’s letter to Santa

Annie had declared that just getting some presents for Fritz wasn’t good enough. They needed to know what specifically he was asking Santa for and hopefully provide at least a few of the items. Which meant they needed to read that letter.

Which meant Raeger had to intercept the postman before the letter went into the mail.

Which meant he had to be up and waiting on his front step when the postman came by in the morning and convince him to give up the letter addressed to the North Pole.

Which meant freezing his chestnuts off at too-damn-early in the morning. On his day off. The one day of the week Raeger was allowed to sleep in!

He was already having mutinous thoughts and serious misgivings about this whole plan. It would be so much easier to give up before they even started. But no. He would persevere. The things he would do for friends.

Raeger’s mind wandered to thoughts of his warm bed and the hot pot of coffee he was going to brew as soon as he had his hands on that letter. He was just considering popping back inside for a minute to make the coffee, since the postman seemed to be running a little late this morning, when he saw a light cut through the pre-dawn darkness.

The postman faltered when he spied the half-frozen chef standing on the restaurant porch. “Oh, Raeger, up early too, I see. What brings you out?”

“Kind of an odd request, Jesper. You didn’t happen to pick up a letter to the North Pole from Fritz’s house, did you?”

“I might have.”

“Don’t suppose I could have it? Since it’s not like… real mail.”

“Well, it has been addressed and stamped. Technically it is real mail. But these kinds of letters don’t really make it into the system, if you know what I mean.”

“So, could I have it? Annie and I are trying to help Fritz out this year.”

Jesper laughed, “You know, you guys really should coordinate your efforts a little better. At least then only one of you has to be up so early and waiting in the cold for the mail. I already handed over the letter to Mistel.”

Raeger’s heart dropped into his stomach. “Mistel?”

“Yeah, he explained the whole thing, how you guys are trying to take over Eda’s mantle. I think it’s real sweet. Fritz is a good kid. He deserves something nice.”

Raeger resisted the urge to pinch at the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, yeah he does. Well, thanks for your help, Jesper.”

He took his day’s mail from the postman and stepped inside the restaurant. With a frustrated huff, Raeger tossed the Christmas cards, advertisements, and bills onto the counter.

Mistel was going to be a problem.

Question was, was he a problem that could wait a couple more hours to address?

Raeger looked longingly at his coffee maker. He thought wistfully of the fire he could build upstairs, the crocheted woolen blanket waiting for him on the couch, the pillows that would cushion him through a long nap.

Raeger sighed, turned on his heel, and headed back out into the cold and dark.

He had a letter to retrieve.

December 7, 5:50am – The Antique Shop

Mistel chortled as he closed the shop door behind him gently. The shop bell rang quietly, but he knew it would be the slamming of the door that woke Iris up, and the last thing he needed right now was a lecture from his sister about waking her up too early, particularly when she found out why he was up before 6am.

Not bothering to shed his coat or boots, he hurried to the shop counter and turned on an antique table lamp with a gorgeous stained-glass lampshade. It created a cozy yellow and amber pool of light for him to read his ill-gotten gain in peace.

“All right, Fritz, let’s see what kind of things you’re asking Santa for…” He muttered, tugging off his mittens. “And really, what does a grown adult even ask Santa for?”

He pulled the envelope from his pocket, set it in the middle of the desk, and examined it for a moment. He recognized Fritz’s untidy scrawl across the front:

To: Santa Claus

The North Pole

That was it. It wasn’t even a complete address. Was this a joke?

It wasn’t really in the farmer’s nature to pull a prank like this, or at all, but Mistel knew looks could be deceiving. Maybe this whole thing was an elaborate ruse put on by Fritz, Annie, and Raeger to get Mistel out of bed before dawn to intercept a joke letter.

But… Fritz had put his return address on the envelope. And a stamp. And he had sealed the back of the envelope with a sticker that proclaimed the contents were “For Santa’s Eyes Only.”

Prank or earnest letter? There was only one way for Mistel to know.

He continued studying the envelope as he groped in a drawer for his letter opener. He even held the letter up to the lamp just to see if there was anything more than paper inside, but he couldn’t see anything.

Mistel slid the tip of the polished blade of the letter opener into the tightly sealed crease on the back of the envelope. With one smooth motion he would have the truth in his hands.

BANG!

Mistel jumped and only tore a small corner of the envelope open when Raeger kicked open the shop door. The taller man stomped inside and held out a hand, growling, “Give me the letter.”

Mistel took a half step back and waved the letter tauntingly just out of Raeger’s reach. “Not a chance. You’ll have to get up earlier if you want to keep ahead of me.”

Raeger walked right up to the counter and scowled, still holding out his hand. “Why did you even take it in the first place? And don’t feed me that lie you told the mailman. I know you don’t care at all about helping Fritz.”

“I have my reasons.”

“So, you just want to be a pest, huh?” Raeger reached across and snatched the letter from Mistel’s grip. “Why don’t you grow up, Mistel.”

“Says the man bending over backwards to ensure another grown adult keeps believing in Santa Claus,” Mistel sneered.

“Nobody’s asking you to help or participate. But the least you can do is stay out of the way. This is grown folks’ business.”

And with that, Raeger stuffed the letter into his pocket and stalked outside, letting the shop door slam behind him.

Mistel chased him out of his shop with some very adult language, followed by an extremely childish gesture. Realizing what he was doing, he crossed his arms tightly and fumed in huffy silence for a minute.

Really, he had just wanted to intercept the letter for his own curiosity, but then Raeger had gone and made it personal. Extended a challenge.

If Raeger and Annie were going to work so hard to make a Christmas for Fritz, then he was going to do everything in his power to stop Christmas from coming.

But how?

The creak of floorboards over his head made Mistel wince and swear under his breath. Iris had woken up. Damn Raeger for slamming the door.

The light in the stairwell flicked on and Iris’s sleepy voice floated down. “Mistel? Are you down there?”

“Yes...” he sighed, finally pulling off his coat.

“What are you doing up so early? And did I hear Raeger? What was he doing here?” She stopped on the bottom step, pulling her robe close around her shoulders in the cool shop.

Mistel was going to make up some innocuous lie to put Iris at ease and send her back to bed, but then an idea struck him. If Raeger and Annie were working together, then it would benefit him to have someone on his side to help with his machinations.

And who would Iris side with on this debate? Her baby brother, of course.

“Raeger was here. He was stealing from me.”

December 7, 3:00pm – Annie’s Farm

Raeger showed up on Annie’s doorstep just at the same time as her kettle began to boil. Perfect timing.  She let him in, showed him where he could hang his coat and leave his boots by the front door and directed him to a comfortable couch by the fireside. Her fluffy brown cat was curled up in a basket next to the hearth, and she opened one yellow eye to inspect Raeger before curling up tighter in her flannel-lined nest.

“So,” Annie inquired from the kitchen as she prepared a tea tray, “Success? Did you catch the mailman this morning?”

“I did.” Raeger lifted the letter for her to see. “But I think we have a problem.”

“A problem?” Annie set the tea tray down on the coffee table and settled into the couch beside him. “He didn’t ask for a sports car or something ridiculous, did he?”

“Oh, no, well, I don’t know. I haven’t opened the letter yet. No, our problem is Mistel.”

Annie sighed. “What did he do? He was being such a grinch last night.”

“Well, he’s committed to the bit. He tried stealing the letter before I could get it.”

“Great. On top of everything else, we have to worry about sabotage now.” Annie shook her head. She leaned forward and poured a mug of tea and stirred a spoonful of honey into it before handing it over to Raeger, trading the mug for the letter to Santa. “Let’s see what we’ve got.”

She slid the handle of her spoon into the torn corner of the envelope and succeeded where Mistel had been foiled. There were several sheets of paper inside, packed from edge to edge with Fritz’s handwriting.

“Wow,” she held the letter out at arm’s length to see if the densely packed words might slide into better focus at a distance. “This is going to take some deciphering.”

Raeger took another sheet from her and turned it over. “Looks like he wrote on both sides. But here’s the list on the back of this one.”

Annie was skimming her page. “Gosh, he’s writing this like he and Santa were pen pals. This is a whole lot of life updates and explanations for why he hasn’t written recently… This feels personal, we shouldn’t read this part more than we have too. Let me see the list.”

They bent their heads together to read. As far as Christmas lists went, it was about what they expected a farmer to ask for. A couple new tools to replace the ones that had broken over the past year. Lots of clothing; warm socks, work shirts and the like. Some books, a couple records. No sports car, thankfully.

It was just about the same kind of things Annie would have asked for if she still made a Christmas list.

“Well, that’s all pretty reasonable,” Raeger commented, biting off the head of a gingerbread chicken.

“Yeah, lots of practical things,” Annie mused while she prepared her own cup of tea and selected a gingerbread cow from the plate of cookies. “It’s kind of sparse too. Nothing really fun or surprising.”

“Well, he is an adult. Like most people, he probably just buys anything he really wants when he wants it.”

“I know but,” Annie sighed. “When I was growing up, I loved the gifts that I never put on my Christmas list most. You know, it was amazing to open up something I hadn’t even thought of. I’d like to have a couple of things like that for Fritz. What does he need that he doesn’t know he needs.”

“Food? He’s never one to turn down a free meal.”

“Okay, you, Raeger could get him a gift certificate to the restaurant, but Santa can’t.”

They fell into thoughtful silence, sipping tea, eating cookies, and watching the flames dance over the logs in the fireplace. Raeger felt his eyelids grow heavy as the coziness soaked into him. It was so nice and warm in here, and he was already dreading going back out into the cold to walk all the way home. Maybe he would set his coat by the fire for a few minutes before he left just to get it nice and toasty warm.

“I’ve got it!” Raeger sat up. “A coat!”

“What?”

“I don’t think Fritz has a real winter coat. Not a good warm one.”

“You know what, I think you’re right. He usually just layers up with sweaters underneath a raincoat. Hey, what if we got him a whole winter weather set? A coat, gloves and a hat, a new scarf, maybe even some good winter boots. I think he just has his work boots.”

“Alright then!” Raeger clapped his hands together. “That’s step two of our plan done. Not bad for a day’s work. This might be easier than I feared.”

Annie laughed and bumped her shoulder against him. “Don’t rest on your laurels yet, we still have to pull together a magical Christmas, navigating around Mistel’s inevitable sabotage, and all without letting Fritz know what we’re up to in just over two weeks.”

“Oh, yeah…” Raeger deflated slightly as the wind was knocked out of his sails. He picked up the handwritten plan they’d pulled together yesterday on a couple sheets of his order book and looked them over. It was a rather extensive plan, and with Mistel being a problem on purpose, it was probably going to have several steps added. He turned to Annie. “We might need to recruit some helper elves.”

December 8; 10:00am – The Restaurant

Iris was on a mission.

A righteous mission.

She had wrongs to right. Natural order to restore. The law to lay down!

Nobody, and she meant nobody, picked on her baby brother and got away with it.

She imagined the way she would describe herself in one of her novels. Spine of steel, face a calm mask, cold anger glinting in her eyes, a purposeful determination in her stride as she crossed town and mounted the steps of the restaurant. The bell above the door announced her arrival, and she let the door close loudly behind her to further punctuate the entrance.

The restaurant was empty, it wasn’t yet time for Raeger to open for business, but the chef was behind the counter, making his daily preparations. He looked up from his work, a smile on his lips until he saw who had paid him an early visit. His smile faltered for a moment before he schooled it into place with a bland customer-service grin.

“Good morning, Iris. What brings you in so early?”

“Good morning, Raeger,” she said coolly, slowly removing her gloves as she crossed to the counter. “I’m here to talk business.”

“Business?” He set his wickedly sharp knife down on his cutting board and cleaned his hands off on a dish cloth. “Got another book release party you want me to cater?”

Were this a novel, Iris would have had the suspicious character butchering meat or doing something bloody and gruesome, but Raeger was just dicing carrots and celery. Not as nice, thematically, but at least the scene still included a knife. Something tantalizingly dangerous for the plucky heroine to threaten the charming, but suspicious man with while they shared loaded repartee, until the tension between them could have been sliced with the very knife she held.

Iris made a mental note to hold onto this idea until later. Her newest novel could use a scene like this. But now was not the time to let her imagination run away with her. She was on a mission.

“I understand you paid Mistel a visit yesterday morning.”

Raeger rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe he tattled, that little snitch.”

“So you did steal his mail.”

Raeger raised a finger to punctuate his defense. “I didn’t steal anything of his. He had no business taking Fritz’s mail in the first place.”

Iris’ brow furrowed in confusion. “He stole Fritz’s mail?”

“Yeah, kind of, here … let me get you a coffee and I’ll explain.”

In short order, Iris was sitting at the counter with a hot cup of joe while Raeger returned to his prep work and explained the whole scheme he and Annie were running. By the time he finished, all of Iris’ anger at Raeger had dissipated like the steam off her coffee, a new subject of annoyance had replaced it.

“That little pest!” she seethed, setting her empty cup down hard enough to rattle the saucer. “I can’t believe he would lie to me like that just to manipulate me. He knows I’m not a morning person!”

Raeger refilled her coffee with a sympathetic shrug. “All we’re trying to do is give Fritz a nice Christmas. For some reason he took that personally.”

“Yeah,” Iris murmured, “He’s already recruiting others to sabotage you two. He thinks I’m on his side, and I overheard him talking about this to Elise earlier. You’re going to need help.”

“Annie’s taking care of that. She was going to do some recruitment of her own today.”

“Well now, I feel silly about coming down here,” Iris chuckled, running her finger around the rim of her cup. “I was going to give you quite the talking to.”

“Well, I’m glad at the very least you know what really happened.” Raeger sighed. “Somehow I feel like this whole thing is going to get blown way out of proportion, since both Annie and Mistel are putting all their efforts into their respective schemes.”

“Probably wouldn’t hurt to have some people involved running damage control. And really, Mistel has no reason to try and ruin someone else’s Christmas.” She giggled, only a little fiendishly, “He’ll be so mad when he learns I’m joining Annie’s team. Or wait!” Iris straightened her spine as a brilliant idea popped into her mind. “I’ll play double agent. You’ll need it.”

Raeger looked skeptical. “You really think things will get that far?”

“Trust me. Mistel’s probably already recruited his double agent. This is just leveling the playing field.”

December 10, 10:30pm

The Inn

Annie and Raeger surveyed the small gathering that had taken over one of the large guest rooms in the inn. People lounged about in their pajamas, sitting on chairs or sprawled out across large cushions on the floor, sipping at mugs of hot, spiced cider and munching on snacks of both the salty and sweet variety. Ostensibly, this little slumber party was just an excuse for friends to get together for some pre-holiday celebrations. And… yeah, okay they were doing that, but also, they had an important job to do.

Everybody Annie had been able to recruit onto their team for this rapidly escalating Christmas caper was here.

Lillie, who was here with firm convictions about protecting the sanctity and magic of Santa not just for Fritz, but for her little sister as well.

Angela, who admittedly was just here because Lillie was.

Agate who had been wearing sprigs of holly in her hat for several weeks now and wholeheartedly supported anything to do with Christmas.

Marian, who had overheard Annie and Angela talking about the whole ordeal and immediately volunteered himself to their team.

And then there was Klaus, who had seemed completely indifferent to the whole thing when Annie had asked him about joining, leaning towards siding with Mistel on the grounds that Fritz was a grown man, and it was silly for someone his age to believe in Santa Claus. Annie suspected Marian had dragged him along, but she didn’t mind if he was here reluctantly.

More people on their team meant fewer people on Mistel’s.

She wished Iris could be here for the meeting, but Raeger had told her of the novelist’s enthusiasm to play double agent – they would exchange notes later. Her eyes swept the group again.

Iris had been certain Mistel would sneak a double agent of his own into their midst. She wondered who it could be of anyone in the room. She hated to suspect any of her friends of betraying her trust but… she wouldn’t put it past Mistel to play dirty.

Elise’s Mansion – The Library

Mistel surveyed his troops. The brave souls who had joined in this fight. Who had sided with him to regain his honor and also cause some mischief and give someone a very-much-needed wake up call to reality. It wasn’t quite the turnout he expected, he would have thought more would have joined his side, but he wasn’t going to turn away volunteers.

There was Iris, of course, his second-in-command. Her siding with him was a given.

And Elise. Who, after a surprise upset at the latest Harvest Festival had lost both the Paddies and the Orchards to Fritz, wanted nothing more than to crush his hopes and dreams (just a little).  She was, perhaps, his most enthusiastic ally.

His double agent was missing, but he expected that. At this very moment, they were infiltrating Annie’s team, working masterfully so that they would never know there was a traitor in their midst until it was far too late.

Nadi, he suspected, had been coerced into joining his team by his employer. He had already informed Mistel upon arriving that he was here for damage control, not to settle any petty and childish disputes. He didn’t have to be dedicated to the cause, he just needed to not be on Annie’s team.

Kamil and Licorice had come without an invitation, but wholly welcomed. Nadi had filled them in on what was going on, being fellow Inn residents. Neither of them seemed particularly dedicated to the cause, but it was a numbers game as much as a battle of wits. When pressed for their reasoning, Licorice shrugged and said she just wanted to keep the teams somewhat fair. Kamil also shrugged, he didn’t even celebrate Christmas, but it was something to do, and Nadi and Licorice were here, so…

Mistel was not deterred.

The majority of his team may not have joined on because of a fervor stirring their blood, but they would leave tonight’s meeting full of vim and ready for the fight of their lives.

He had dressed the part, digging through some of the antique wardrobe offerings from the store. Some of these items he really shouldn’t be wearing, they were antiques after all, but one night out wouldn’t do any damage. Mistel had fashioned himself into some sort of General-like figure: old military jacket with a couple medals, olive green jodhpurs, riding boots that had been polished to a mirror shine, and a riding crop, for emphasis. He had almost completed the picture with an old smoking pipe but had drawn the line at putting that into his mouth when he saw the shallow impressions left by the previous owner’s teeth on the bit. Ew.

Iris, while encouraged to also dress the part, had merely settled a military cap atop her head at a jaunty angle. Every time Mistel told her to straighten it, she tilted it a little more crookedly. Infuriating. But he needed her to be in a good mood or else she might ruin all the fun by spilling the beans to Annie’s team.

She might be his sister, but she was a fickle creature, and she hadn’t been nearly as righteously satisfied after returning from chewing Raeger out for stealing from him the other day. Raeger must have filled her in on the origins of the letter that had been stolen. Snitch. At least Iris hadn’t come home to scold Mistel for trying to ruin Christmas, so that was a good sign.

Mistel cleared his throat and took his position in front of the chalkboard Elise had allowed him to borrow. All eyes turned to Mistel. He had everyone’s undivided attention.

“Thank you for joining me tonight. We all know why we are here.” Mistel flipped the chalkboard over so the side he had meticulously drafted out his genius plan on showed. He slapped the center of the board with his riding crop for emphasis.

“Ladies, gentlemen, we are here to –"

The Inn

“– save Christmas!” Annie slapped the board she had spent all afternoon making. She’d transcribed all the notes she and Raeger had made the other day onto posterboard and construction paper and pinned it all out into an easy-to-read roadmap of the coming weeks’ plans. Across the top, in thick, glittery red and green letters she had stenciled out OPERATION: SAVE THE MAGIC.

“Oh, Annie, that looks so nice!” Lillie complimented with a delighted gasp.

Annie beamed, “Thank you!” then her face hardened with determination, “But this is serious business, right now! Mistel and his ilk are trying to ruin Christmas.”

Angela raised her hand. “How, precisely? I mean, Mistel can be stubborn, but how can one guy and a few of his friends really ruin Christmas?”

Raeger, who had become as dedicated to this cause over the last several days as Annie had been from the beginning, spoke fervently. “Okay, he might not be trying to ruin it for the whole town, but he’s trying to ruin it for Fritz. You see –”

Elise’s Mansion – The Library

“—and so you see, it is our sworn duty to break Fritz from his delusions. For his sake!” Mistel finished his spiel and looked at the gathered crowd. “Do you understand?”

Kamil raised his hand. “I have a question.”

“You don’t have to raise your hand, we’re not in school.”

“Yeah, okay,” Kamil dropped his hand. “But why go through all this trouble? Wouldn’t it be easier to just… tell Fritz Santa isn’t real?”

“This man,” Mistel slapped the snapshot of Fritz he had taped to the chalkboard with the crop, “Has lived his entire life believing in the delusion of Santa Claus. Do you think any one of us simply telling him Santa doesn’t exist would do anything? He made it through middle school with his faith still intact. If sixth grade didn’t break his spirit, we certainly won’t.”

“Then why don’t we tell him what Raeger and Annie are up to?” Licorice asked.

“Because he will still believe Santa is leaving presents beneath his Christmas tree, even if he knows his friends are planning a party for him.” Mistel could see he was losing the majority of the others’ interest and dedication. He straightened his spine, and tapped the riding crop against his open palm as he paced in front of the chalkboard.

“Listen, I know this plan sounds questionable. Nobody wants to be the person to ruin Christmas for anyone.”

“I do!” Elise piped up hotly.

“Present company excluded.” Mistel acknowledged. “But this is for a good cause. While our means may be undesirable, the ends justify them tenfold. Think. Would you want to labor under a delusion like this, while your friends bend over backwards to feed the fantasy? Or would you rather face reality with a clear head? It is better to know the truth. The truth –”

The Inn

“—is always the better option, we understand that.” Annie turned her gaze from the captivated gathering to Raeger and then back to the others. “We don’t intend on this becoming an annual thing. Raeger and I will do the hard part and break the truth to Fritz. But we want to do it gently. We want to give him one last magical Christmas. I don’t think that’s too much to hope for, do you?” Her eyes were wide and pleading, and she could see the same mistiness reflected in a couple others.

“What would you give for one more night of magic? Who doesn’t want a chance to really be Santa Claus, and not in the way parents are, sneaking presents under the tree after the kids go to bed and nibbling on some cookies and sipping tepid milk, but to really make something magical. Aren’t opportunities like this what makes Christmas so special?”

Marian sniffed loudly in the back and said in a watery voice, “Yes~”

Agate reached over and took his hand, nodding vigorously. The others were nodding as well.

Annie and Raeger shared a thrilled smile before turning it to the others.

Raeger spoke up. “Listen, we had no intention of turning this into a whole thing, but with Mistel interfering, it’s more than just Annie and I can handle. We need your help.”

“We won’t ask you to join in, if you really don’t want to. It’s a lot to ask with everything else I’m sure you have going on around this time of the year,” Annie added with gentle understanding.

Elise’s Mansion – The Library

Mistel was getting heated, but he knew fervor like this would serve him well in getting his point across. With a last sharp slap! of the riding crop against the blackboard, he made his final declaration. “If you are not with me, then I will consider you my enemy in this endeavor!”

The others looked mildly unnerved, but not so much that they were about to walk out. He had them right where he wanted them.

Mistel grinned and pointed at them with the crop. “So! Who is with me!?”

Elise’s hand was the first in the air, her eyes gleaming with sadistic malice. Iris was shortly after, grinning like the cat that caught the canary. The three residents of the Inn shared looks, but with a few shrugs and crooked expressions that said ‘why not?’ they also raised their hands.

Mistel grinned as new facets of his plan began to fall into place in his mind.

This was going to work out so much better than he could have dreamed.

The Inn

“So, who’s with us?!” Annie cried to the others, raising her hand.

Almost immediately, a couple hands shot up into the air, Lillie and Agate. Angela and Marian followed just a second later. Klaus was last, heaving a sigh and reluctantly lifting his hand after Marian elbowed him in the ribs.

Annie hopped on the balls of her feet and clapped her hands. “Thank you, everybody!” she trilled, “Thank you so much!”

This was going to be the best Christmas ever!

And it got even better when Marian volunteered with a wicked grin, “You know, I have a Santa Claus costume you are welcome to use if you have need for it. It’s even tailored to fit a certain someone.”

December 14, 8:00pm – Annie’s House

Annie’s house was warm and welcoming. With a fire crackling merrily in the hearth, Christmas music floating gently over the radio, snowflakes drifting past frosted windowpanes, and the scent of freshly cut pine and hot buttered popcorn in the air it couldn’t have looked more like a picture-perfect Christmas scene than if she had planned it that way.

The only thing missing was a decorated, glimmering Christmas tree, but that was coming soon.

Annie was lying on her belly on the floor, with the top half of her body swallowed up by pine branches. Fritz stood next to her, up on tiptoe with his arms buried in the tree to hold it straight and steady while she secured the trunk into the base. Raeger watched the scene from the kitchen with a fond smile as he expertly popped another large kettle of popcorn.

“Raeger, is the tree level?” Annie called from beneath the tree.

The chef scrutinized the scene for a moment. “Yep, looks good.”

“Perfect! You can let go now Fritz, I have it screwed in.”

Tentatively, the farmer let go, and when the tree did not wobble, he stepped back to admire it. He whistled appreciatively as Annie scooched out from under the tree. “We picked a good tree, didn’t we?”

Annie stood beside him and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we did. Full branches, no bare spots to hide, and the color is gorgeous.”

The two farmers had picked the tree themselves and chopped it down just that afternoon on Annie’s farm. She had a small grove of pines she was growing mostly for lumber, but they also made splendid Christmas trees. Their tree was a thing of beauty on its own, but Annie couldn’t wait to see how splendid it would look with lights and ornaments and garland.

“So what do you put on first?” Fritz prompted, eyeing the waiting  boxes of decorations.

“Lights, of course! Then the garland, the ornaments, and the star last.” She looked over her shoulder. “How’s the popcorn going, Raeger?”

“One last batch to make and it’ll be ready,” he called from the kitchen, measuring more kernels into the pot.

“Is that snack popcorn, or garland popcorn?” Fritz asked, as he held neatly wrapped bundles of Christmas lights for Annie.

“Garland. And don’t worry, I’ve kept the two separate.”

“Good! Buttered popcorn is amazing, but plain popcorn is the worst!” Fritz pulled an exaggerated, disgusted face.

With two hands working on it, it didn’t take long for Annie and Fritz to light up the tree. She had big, multicolored lights that twinkled in a rainbow of colors and created a rosy glow for them to bask in. At random intervals, some of the lights blinked on and off, creating eye-catching patterns in the branches.

“Looks great you two,” Raeger complimented, setting two large bowls of popcorn on the coffee table. He frowned slightly. “Looks like you have some faulty bulbs, though.”

“No, they’re twinkle lights. You’ll see more of them will start going once the filaments heat up.” Annie clapped her hands and turned to the others. “Now’s my favorite part! Movies and popcorn and making the garland! What should we watch first.”

After some discussion, they settled on Miracle on 34^th Street. With the movie playing, Annie settled into the couch between Raeger and Fritz and doled out sewing needles and long lengths of thread to each of them. Raeger had never made popcorn garland before, so she and Fritz showed him how to knot the thread to pieces didn’t fall off, and then they set off making their own patterns of popcorn and cranberries. They watched the movie, and they talked, and they snacked on handfuls of buttered popcorn – loudly expressing their dismay when they accidentally put a plain piece of popcorn in their mouth by accident.

Annie sighed contentedly as she tied off her long string of garland. She grabbed a handful of popcorn and settled back into her seat. “I think this might be my favorite part of Christmas,” she admitted dreamily, letting herself drift in the warm nostalgia of a favorite movie. “Growing up, my family always made a big thing about decorating the tree. What about you, guys? What’re your favorite Christmas traditions?”

Raeger hummed thoughtfully. “The special food my grandpa would make for Christmas day. There were some recipes he only ever made for Christmas. Sweet buns and a sausage casserole for breakfast. Mulled wine after dinner.” His eyes grew soft, and a gentle smile spread across Raeger’s face as he reminisced. “I love helping him prepare everything in the days before. Cooking with my grandfather helped me decide I wanted to be a chef.”

“Aww, I love that,” Annie whispered, snuggling against Raeger. “What about you Fritz? Any special Christmas traditions?”

Raeger nudged her, afraid that she was maybe being a little too obvious with the questioning. But Fritz didn’t seem to find it odd. Just like he hadn’t found any of Annie’s not-so-subtle questioning over the last week or so about various holiday things and gift preferences. He remained blissfully – and luckily in their opinion – ignorant of any of the greater machinations happening around him in town.

“Oh yeah, lots! My parents loved going all out for Christmas, ya’know? The one time of the year to really let loose and make everything special.” He grinned widely. “Of course, writing the all-important letter to the big man himself came first in the season. Without those letters, it just never felt like Christmas. And then we always waited until Christmas Eve to decorate our tree.” He chuckled warmly. “I remember one year – I was seven, maybe eight – I was really sick at Christmas. Really high fever, I didn’t know what day it was half the time. Dad had to take me to the hospital for medicine on Christmas Eve because all the other offices were closed… We didn’t think we’d be able to afford a tree that year because of the bills and medicine. Mom had picked up extra shifts to cover expenses, so she wasn’t even home.” Fritz’s smile shrank, but never fell. “They had said something about postponing Christmas until I was feeling better, just a few days, but I was still worried that if Santa came, he would think we weren’t celebrating Christmas that year because none of the decorations were up. There just hadn’t been time. But Dad and I came back from the doctor’s and the tree was there, and decorated, all lit up, and Santa had come a little early instead.” Fritz’s smile grew again. “Best Christmas ever! Even if I was sick.”

“Oh wow,” Annie gasped, breathlessly, “That is magical.”

Fritz laughed and reached for a handful of popcorn. “Yeah, and ever since that year we always waited until Christmas Eve to put up the tree. Santa never came early again, but it was still lots of fun. We’d do something like this, make cookies, watch all the movies on TV, stay up late watching for the big man.”

Fritz tossed a few pieces of popcorn into his mouth and almost immediately spat them back out. “Ack! That’s the wrong bowl!”

Annie and Raeger howled with laughter and a moment later Fritz joined in, after rectifying his mistake. When their laughter subsided, leaving them giggling and slumped against each other, Annie extricated herself from the couch.

“It might not be Christmas Eve, but I would like to get my tree decorated tonight. So are you guys going to help me string up all this garland or what?

December 23, 11:00am – Elise’s Farm

Today was the day. Not the big day, but an important enough part of Mistel’s plan. This was truly the beginning of his plot to steal Christmas. A top-secret mission that only a select few members of their party knew about. Mistel had grown suspicious of a spy in their midst but had not sussed out their identity yet. He had only talked about this to the people who were most dedicated to the cause, which meant Iris didn’t know.

Mistel knew she had joined his team to humor him, and in sibling solidarity. Even if her heart wasn’t in it, he knew she’d never betray him to Annie – but if she knew what they were planning she would certainly try and stop him.

The cat burglars met up at Elise’s farm to avoid raising suspicions: Mistel, Elise, and Nadi.

Mistel had dressed the part, donning an all black outfit, he’d even dug up a dark enough balaclava. He was irked to see none of his compatriots had gone for the same suitable dress.

Elise rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “It would be more conspicuous for us to walk around looking like burglars than it would be to just wear our normal clothes.”

She… had a point. Mistel put the balaclava in his pocket. There wasn’t time for him to go home and change.

Annie was down in the Trader’s Depot, and his sources said she had taken a huge cart full of goods to sell. Which meant she would likely be there for hours haggling and catching up with the traders before they took a short break for the holidays. That would give them plenty of time to complete their mission, and they probably wouldn’t be spotted on the way, considering how far from town Annie lived.

With little time to spare, they set off, looking to anyone like the most unsuspicious group ever. Nadi was pulling Elise’s cart for produce, and it was known that she had some fields up the mountain that were still producing in the winter months. Mistel, if asked, would have just bumped into them on his own daily walk around the mountain. No, there was nothing suspicious under the tarp. Just some freshly harvested fruits and vegetables.

They encountered nobody as they made their way up the mountain road, which was a welcomed blessing. Having no witnesses was far preferable to trying to tell lies.

Annie’s house was unlocked. This surprised no one. Hardly anyone in town locked their doors until they went to bed for the night – and truth be told, most nights they forgot to do that. Oak Tree Town was such a peaceful community, nobody worried about theft. So the three thieves were given easy access to Annie’s house.

Mistel was relieved to see that whatever spy was in their midst, they hadn’t caught onto this part of the plan. Because everything Annie had gathered for her ‘Super Magical Christmas’ for Fritz was sitting, very conspicuously in the middle of her living room. She must have just completed wrapping her gifts, because a neatly stacked pile of presents sat near the tree, while an empty wrapping paper tube and a discarded set of scissors and tape and spool of ribbon were left on her coffee table.

Gathered in other places around the room were the decorations Annie had collected for Fritz’s house; evergreen wreaths, and strings of lights, and pots of poinsettias, and ornaments, and other baubles, and everything seemed to be coated in a fine layer of glitter. Stupid stuff got everywhere.

That could give them away, if they were caught red-handed later (or perhaps glitter-handed was more appropriate?) Mistel turned to the others. “Wear your gloves when you’re handling anything glittery.”

“I don’t think wool and leather are particularly glitter resistant, but okay.” Nadi commented with a shrug. “Where should we start?”

“Presents first.”

“Be careful,” Elise cautioned, “We are being watched.”

Mistel’s heart hammered, had they been caught so quickly? He whipped around to see where Elise was pointing and then breathed a sigh of relief. She had meant Annie’s cat, who stared at them imperiously from the staircase. The tabby narrowed her yellow eyes at them, Mistel had the distinct feeling that the cat knew exactly what they were doing and was passing her judgement.

But she was a cat, and she couldn’t stop them or tell on them. So she was of little concern. “Just don’t let her get outside. I don’t know if Annie lets her out, and we don’t want her to get lost.”

They set to work, loading up everything that looked like it was meant for the planned Christmas party at Fritz’s tomorrow. Annie had maybe gone a little overboard, because what she had barely fit into the hand cart (and would certainly pack Fritz’s little house to the gills), but they managed to get the tarp over the top of their pilfered goods and hide anything incriminating.

There was only one minor disruption to their work, when Elise picked up the empty wrapping paper tube. Nadi watched her blankly as she snuck up behind Mistel, and then swiftly hit him on the head. The hollow bonk was extremely satisfying.

Then a small scuffle broke out as Mistel tried to snatch the tube from Elise and dish out some payback. Elise, enjoying the chaos a little too much, managed to keep ahold of her weapon. Nadi brought an end to the fight when he reminded them that they were on a mission.

“We will be giving this stuff back, right?” Nadi verified as he tucked the last corner of the tarp in.

“Of course, on Christmas day, we’ll bring it all back with our profuse apologies.” Mistel waved him off. “We just need to hold onto it until after Santa fails to show up.”

“Is that everything?” Elise surveyed the thoroughly cleaned out living room. Her eyes went to the staircase, where Annie’s cat still stood watch. “You don’t suppose she kept anything hidden in her bedroom?”

“She might have… Elise, you should check.” Mistel ordered.

“We don’t have room in the cart for anything else.” Nadi reminded them. “Whatever we might have forgotten won’t matter. We’ve got enough. Now we should go before people start heading home, some clouds are rolling in.”

So they set off back down the mountain road. They were fortunate that the road was well traveled and there were other wheel ruts in the snow, so their tracks didn’t look the least bit suspicious. Not that there was any hope of Annie not guessing who had stolen her things once she discovered the burglary. Their hope was in getting everything stashed away before anyone saw.

And while it was not a quarter of dawn, nor were the townsfolk still a-snooze in their beds, the team of grinches managed to get back into town without being spotted, and they successfully stashed the goods. Some of it was sitting pretty in Mistel’s house.

Maybe a little obvious, but it would be the first place Annie went to confront Mistel about the theft, and likely the last place she would investigate. Mistel would have to be pretty stupid to hide the stuff he stole in his own house.

It was fool proof.

December 23, 6:00pm – Annie’s House

Annie stood in her empty house, stock still for five solid minutes.

She couldn’t quite believe her eyes.

She should have expected something like this, but, somehow, she thought theft was below Mistel.

But it was all gone. Everything she and the others had spent the last couple weeks gathering to make the most magical Christmas for Fritz was gone! They’d even taken some things that weren’t meant for Fritz’s house. At least they hadn’t gone so far as to steal her Christmas tree, but judging by the boot prints left on the floor in front of the tree, and the freshly fallen pine needles on the floor, she suspected that they tried.

That little rat!

Fuming, Annie turned on her heel and marched right back down the mountain road. She went over a dozen different things to say to confront Mistel about this, but when she got to the Antique Store and threw open the door and saw Mistel sitting at the counter looking indolent and bored, all she could do was point a shaking finger at him and shout, “YOU!”

Mistel smiled blandly at her. “Good evening, Annie. Finishing up your Christmas shopping?”

Annie marched over to him and slammed her hands down on the countertop so hard the bell in the register chimed. In a low and threatening voice, she growled, “Where did you put them?”

“Put what?”

“The Christmas things you stole!”

Mistel laughed coldly. “Do you really think I would tell you? No matter how much you yell and bluster. I know you won’t do anything serious. It wouldn’t be sporting, would it.”

“Theft isn’t sporting either!”

Annie’s eyes lifted to the ceiling, to the apartment. Was Iris up there? Had she known? Had she betrayed Annie? Annie called for her, but there was no response.

“She’s not home. Out running some errands, I think.” Mistel studied his fingernails.

Something glinted on his knuckles. Annie grabbed his hand and pulled it to her face for a close inspection. It was glitter, golden glitter. Exactly like the stuff that had been shedding all over her house for the last week from the decorations. That meant there could be a trail to follow!

She let Mistel go and began searching the floor of the shop, and there! Starting at the door and leading to the stairs up to the apartment.

Mistel scoffed when she put her foot on the first step. “Do you really think I would be so stupid as to keep all that stuff in my own house? Come on, give me some credit.”

“You left a glitter trail,” Annie pointed triumphantly to the floor.

Mistel raised his eyebrow. “Yes, that came off my clothes when I got home. That stuff gets everywhere.”

He had a point…

Annie growled but backed up from the stairs. She marched back to Mistel and poked him in the chest. “This isn’t over, Mistel. I will find what you stole from me, and we will get it all back in time. You will not ruin Christmas!”

She turned and stalked to the door, pausing on the threshold to raise her fist into the air and vow, “We will save Christmas!” And then she slammed the door behind her.

Mistel smiled at the shop door and said in a poisonously saccharine voice. “Good luck with that.”

December 23, 7:00pm – The Restaurant

Annie hurried from the Antique Shop to the Restaurant, and she barely remembered to check who was inside the dining room to make sure the coast was clear before announcing at the top of her lungs, “RAEGER, I HAVE BEEN ROBBED!”

Raeger’s eyes widened with alarm. “Robbed?! You need to tell Veronica.”

“Not robbed like that.”

The surprised and concerned diners returned to their meals, expressing their mild disappointment. Nothing exciting ever happened in Oak Tree Town.

Annie sank into a seat at the bar with a huff. “Mistel and his crew stole everything for the party.”

All the righteous indignation she had when confronting Mistel fizzled out, leaving Annie feeling like a deflated balloon. She dropped her head onto the counter with a whimper. “They cleaned me out, and I have no idea where they stashed everything.”

Raeger reached across the bar and put a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, it’s not the end of the world. We can get it all back. There’re only so many places they could have hidden it.”

“And what are we going to do, break into people’s houses and ransack them to find some Christmas decorations? That’s just us doing the same thing they did.”

“Is it really stealing if you’re just taking back your own property?”

“Legally or karmically?” Annie grumbled flatly.

“Doesn’t matter, because you know Mistel wouldn’t go to Veronica either, and everybody just waltzes into everyone else’s houses here. So it’s not like we’d be very suspicious poking around, right?”

Annie sniffed and lifted her head. “You make good points.”

With fire blazing in his eyes, Raeger said firmly, “We’re not beaten yet. Mistel thinks he’s won, but this is just a single battle in the war! Rally the troops. Tell anyone who can help to meet back here after closing. We’ll get our stuff back, and we will make a perfectly magical Christmas.”

December 23, 10:00pm – Undisclosed Location

Iris pulled the collar of her coat higher in a vain attempt to cut out some of the cold night air. A front was moving in, promising a fresh blanket of snow for Christmas Eve. While the weather might not be agreeable for a nighttime rendezvous, it would serve her well in erasing her tracks by morning.  She scanned the dark alleys warily and shoved her hands deep in her pockets.

The faintest glow of a red ember in the shadows gave away her contact. She stopped just on the fringes of the yellow pool of light cast by the streetlamp.

“Jolly Old Elf?” She asked surreptitiously, pretending to stop and adjust her scarf.

A deep sigh emanated from the shadows with a puff of cigarette smoke. “I hate that code name.”

“I have a message for you to deliver to Miss Claus.” Iris slipped an envelope out of her pocket and held it towards the shadows.

Klaus stepped forward, just close enough to take the envelope. He took another drag off his cigarette as he read the inscription on the front. “Deep Violet? Really?”

Iris glowered at him. “As if your code name is any better,” she scoffed. “Can’t be all fun and games playing both sides of the field, can it?”

Klaus narrowed his eyes. Iris met his gaze steadily, daring him to cross her again. With another heavy, begrudging sigh, Klaus tucked the letter into his pocket. “Can’t wait for this all to be over.”

He took one last drag from the cigarette and dropped the butt, grinding it beneath his boot.

Iris pulled a face. “You know smoking’s a nasty habit.”

“Yep.”

“I thought you quit.”

He shrugged, and then picked up the butt and tossed it into the trashcan behind him. “Sometimes I just need one. Don’t tell Marian. The last thing I need is him having more leverage against me.” He checked his watch. “I’d better go. Don’t want to be late.”

Iris pursed her lips but dropped the subject. “I know you’re marching to Mistel’s fife, but you will make sure Annie gets her things back, right?”

Klaus waved her concern off as he brushed past Iris. “Trust me, I did not sign off on thievery. I’ll do my part, you make sure you go do yours, Deep Violet.”

She smirked. “Godspeed, you Jolly Old Elf.”

Even with his back to her, and with him disappearing into the darkness between streetlights, Iris still saw Klaus cringe with a quiet ugh.

December 24, 7:30am – The Restaurant

Christmas eve dawned cold and snowy, but the gloominess of the heavy gray clouds could do nothing to smother the fierce determination of the small group crowded around Raeger’s counter that morning, sipping strong, hot coffee and nibbling on some sweet buns.

Annie had put together another posterboard the night before as they plotted out their mission to steal back Christmas. They knew where everything that had been stolen was hidden away and now, they were just going over the last fine details. They had precious few hours to reclaim what was theirs. Operation Save the Magic was set to begin right at six that evening, and there was still plenty of day-of preparation they had to complete before then.

“You all have your missions,” Annie confirmed, locking eyes with her comrades. “Deliver everything back to my house. And remember, if Fritz sees you, tell him anything but the truth. We still have the party at Raeger’s tonight as cover. Good luck, everybody.”

The six of them broke into three teams. Annie would have liked her whole team involved in this endeavor, but Klaus had insisted on getting the chance to sleep in this morning. Considering he was going to play a crucial part this evening and his cooperation was key; Annie did not begrudge him a couple extra hours of sleep.

Team White Christmas

Lillie and Angela had the shortest trip to make to their target location. They steeled themselves as they marched into the Inn, upstairs, and down the hallway to the door of one particular tenant. Somehow all of the long-term tenants had ended up on Mistel’s side of this little tiff, but Lillie knew only one of them had taken part in the theft yesterday. Angela directed her sternest no-nonsense glare over her glasses while Lillie knocked politely, but firmly on the door.

Lillie had a blistering lecture prepared, followed by a heartfelt plea to do the right thing and save Christmas. She was prepared to do or say anything to get the stolen items back.

Nadi answered the door with a yawn. He was still in his pajamas and his hair was slightly mussed. He blinked at Lillie and Angela for a moment.

“S’bout time you showed up.” He stepped aside the let the girls into his room. “Go ahead and take it. I won’t fight you.”

Lillie deflated slightly. “Oh… thank you, Nadi.”

“Don’t mention it.” He yawned widely, gesturing to the neat pile of party decorations he had been instructed to hide. “You guys know where the rest of the things were stashed?”

“Yep, we have other teams getting those back too.” Lillie chirped, happy to have the stolen goods in her arms, and to not have had to lecture one of her father’s tenants about Christmas spirit – though it was a very moving lecture.

“Hang on,” Angela narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “This is too easy.”

Lillie shared a look with her. “It is, isn’t it?”

Nadi shrugged again, “It’s not even eight AM on my day off, did you think I was going to fight you for some party supplies?”

Lillie nodded. “That does make sense… Can I ask you something, Nadi?”

“Shoot.”

“Well, you don’t seem particularly dedicated to Mistel’s cause. So why go along with it? Why did any of you join his side?” She gestured to the other rooms in the hall, where Licorice and Kamil still snoozed.

“Well… Kam doesn’t celebrate Christmas but he thought it would only be fair for the teams to be even. Licorice had nothing better to do, and just went with Kam to scope things out. And I knew with both Mistel and Elise up in a lather over the whole thing, someone had to be there for damage control.”

“Oh! That’s actually a good reason. Well, thanks for everything, Nadi!”

“Yep.” Nadi held the door open for them. “Now if you don’t mind. I’m going back to bed. I never get to sleep in. I’ll see you all later, I’m sure.”

“Goodbye, Nadi, and thank you for your cooperation.” Angela smiled warmly and then the two were gone, cheerily making the trek up to Annie’s farm.

Team White Christmas: Mission Successful.

Team Holly and Ivy

Agate and Marian didn’t quite know what to expect as they walked up the long drive to Elise’s mansion. They were a bit surprised that Elise had taken a side in this matter at all and dedicated herself to the cause so much to commit theft. But they both also suspected that beneath the veneer of her prim dress and proper manners, there was a woman who took great joy in spreading chaos just for the fun of watching things burn. And everybody knew she had a mean competitive streak. If ruining Christmas for Fritz and Annie gave her an edge in the next battle for the community fields, she would put all her efforts into winning.

Or maybe she had just joined with Mistel because she was bored, and the antiques dealer had asked first.

Nobody could be certain of her true motivations, and this volatility meant that whoever approached her had to be quick on their feet when it came to switching tactics.

Agate was hopeful that pleading to Elise’s humanity might convince her to give up the goods with little fight. After all, who really wanted to ruin Christmas?

Marian wasn’t so sure. Elise could be conniving when she wanted to, and he had some back up plans in his pocket if a little subterfuge was called for. A classic bait and switch hardly ever went wrong.

Marian lifted the heavy, shiny knocker and let it fall against the oversized door a couple times. A maid answered the door and ushered them inside with a pleasant smile. They were relieved of their snowy coats and ushered into the parlor where a warm fire crackled in the hearth. Another maid was ready to offer them something warm to drink after the long walk up from town.

Clearly, they were expected.

Marian and Agate accepted the offered tea, but never let their suspicions settle. It would be just like Elise to lure them into a false sense of security. She was likely going to make them wait on her, burning precious minutes. However, the fire was very nice after the cold snow and long walk.

After about five minutes with no sign of their hostess, Marian exchanged a look with Agate. “If she stalls any longer, we could probably get away with just snooping around,” he muttered in a low voice before taking a dainty sip of tea.

Agate smirked. “And Annie thought that she and Raeger were going to be the only ones who had to get in and out without being seen.”

“If you stay here as bait, I’ll excuse myself to the powder room and then see if I can’t take a look around.”

But before they could enact that plan, their hostess made her appearance, striding into the parlor with a bluster of rosy cheeks and sweetly false apologies.

“Goodness, my friends, I hope you were not waiting for too long. I apologize for my delay, I was in the barns, you know how it is for farmers. The work never stops, even on the holidays” She grinned sharply, her eyes gleamed haughtily. Gloating without a single word that the two of them would never find what they were looking for. “What brings you all the way out here on such a snowy morning? This weather is not fit for friendly visits.”

Marian carefully dabbed at his mouth with a napkin and set his cup and saucer aside. “I, for one, enjoy walks through the snow, darling. When one is bundled up properly and dressed for the weather, it can be a very pleasant experience.”

“And you walked all this way to experience the snow and my Darjeeling, is that right?” Elise laughed pityingly. “You can drop this silly ruse. I know why you’re here.”

“I don’t suppose,” Agate began hopefully, “that you’re done playing along with Mistel and you’re happy to return the things you stole from Annie?”

Elise laughed again, covering her mouth. “Oh, no, not in the least. If there’s anyone who wants Fritz to have a horrible Christmas more than Mistel, it’s me.” She crossed her arms and looked down at them in triumph. “I’m afraid you will have to return to Annie as empty-handed failures. Because I can assure you that even if you turned this whole mansion upside down, you’ll never find what you’re looking for.”

Agate’s shoulders tensed and she raised her folded hands to her breast to plead. “Come on, Elise, you can’t really mean that. You know you won’t be ruining Christmas just for Fritz, but for everybody who worked so hard on this. Annie’s and Raeger’s and Lillie’s and Angela’s and Marian’s and … and mine. You can’t possibly want to ruin Christmas for everyone.” Then Agate fixed puppy-dog eyes on Elise. “Wouldn’t you rather be the Elise Who Saves Christmas?”

Elise tapped a manicured finger against her chin, pretending to think. “Hmmm… not really. However this ends for everyone else doesn’t matter to me, so long as Fritz suffers.”

Agate gasped and stepped back, truly affronted by Elise’s cold heart. Marian was not surprised things had gone this way, but he was disappointed, nonetheless. He stood up slowly and made a show of dusting himself off.

“Well, I suppose that settles that. Doesn’t it, Agate, darling? I’m afraid we won’t be able to sway Elise with appeals of the heart nor the season. We’d best not waste any more of her time.”

“Oh please,” Elise gestured magnanimously towards the parlor, “Don’t rush out on my account. I have nothing but time this morning. Please, enjoy the fire and the tea. I’ll even join you for a cup if you don’t find my lack of Christmas cheer so repugnant.”

“Actually!” Agate allowed a bright note of hope to bleed into her dejected tone. “Do you think you could show me around your barns, Elise? We talked about it at the last animal festival, after your cow took first prize, remember? I know that was months ago, but things have been so busy for the both of us. Since you have the time this morning, and I’m already here, would you mind terribly?”

Elise smiled widely. If there was anything she liked more than winning, it was gloating about her accomplishments as a farmer. “Of course, Agate, dear. You’re absolutely right, today is the perfect day for it. Why, with such an abundance of time on our hands I can show you around all my barns. Marian, will you join us?”

Absolutely not, Marian thought privately. The last thing he ever wanted to do was spend any amount of time inside a stinky, dirty animal barn getting who knows what on his boots. But he smiled sweetly, because Agate had played her role perfectly. “Of course, darling, I rarely get a chance to look in on the dirtier side of a farmer’s life. This will be wonderfully educational. But first, I’d like to make a detour to the powder room, touch up my lipstick and powder my nose, you know.”

“Of course, take your time, Marian. Judy will show you the way.” Elise nodded to the maid waiting quietly in the corner of the parlor. “Come, Agate, which of my prize-winners would you like to see first?”

Elise led Agate towards the front door and Marian turned to the maid with a pleasant smile. “So, the powder room?”

Judy was quiet as she led him to an ostentatiously decorated powder room close to the parlor. He took his time sampling the complementary lotions and breath mints Elise provided for her guests, and then finally reapplied his lipstick. When performing acts of espionage, one must look one’s best. He wondered briefly if his escort would be waiting dutifully outside the powder room or, if perhaps she had gone off to do some other work. It wasn’t like the way back out to the front door was a particularly confusing path. If he had been left alone, it would be easy for Marian to take a look around before joining Agate and Elise in the barns.

Unfortunately, Judy was standing just as quietly and politely outside the door as ever. Marian laughed. “I suppose your mistress have given you express instructions to not allow any guests to snoop around today of all days, hasn’t she?”

Judy merely gestured for Marian to follow her with a quiet, “Follow me, please.”

They paused at the front door while Marian donned his coat and outerwear and Judy opened the door for him. It did not look like Judy was going to escort him across the lawn to the barn, but Elise and Agate’s tracks were easy to follow.

Before he could thank her, Judy cleared her throat daintily, and said lowly, “I believe what you’re looking for is in the carriage house.”

Marian smiled slyly at the maid, who met his eyes for the first time. “Yes, I can see the way. Merry Christmas, Judy.”

And he was off, veering off the clear path the girls had taken a few minutes earlier towards another outer building. Nobody was around to see him or stop him from sliding into the unlocked carriage house. He smirked when he saw a hand cart partially loaded with items that certainly were not produce or animal products from Elise’s farm.

“Well, she didn’t lie,” Marian admitted with a chuckle as he grabbed the cart handles. “They aren’t inside the mansion. Clever girl.”

Marian moved as stealthily as a man in a fuchsia overcoat and high-heeled snow boots could, opening the carriage house door and checking for witnesses. It was risky to go now, Elise could make a reappearance at any time, but the longer he stood there, the more likely it was somebody would spot him. So he made a run for it and prayed that his luck would hold out until he was well past the barns.

Agate spotted Marian making a break for it, a magenta streak amidst the snowflakes, and her heart hammered in fear. Because he was super obvious, and Elise was going to see him. She needed to distract the farmer and quick!

Throwing subtlety out the window, she cried, “Elise, what’s that?!” and pointed in the complete opposite direction of Marian.

Fortunately, Elise followed her pointing finger and tried to see what Agate could be talking about. She frowned in confusion. “The greenhouse? You know what a greenhouse is.”

“Oh…” Agate dropped her hand and blushed. “Heh, yeah, sorry, I guess it looked a little funny in all the snow. I thought maybe it was like a solarium for your animals or something. So they could see some greenery in the winter?”

It was such a feeble excuse, and Agate knew Elise was going to see right through it, but apparently she’d given the farmer something to think about. Elise tapped her chin and mused, “A barnyard solarium… now there’s a thought.”

Agate laughed out a sigh of relief, because not only had Elise taken the bait, but Marian was out of eyesight and currently booking it back towards town. “Uh, yeah! I mean, I know the animals at the safari can get depressed in winter because all the plants die, and they can’t have any fresh greens. And some of them don’t like the cold. I bet farm animals would feel the same way.”

“I should draw up some plans, it would be like a huge greenhouse, and the glass would be expensive, but I think I know the perfect place for it.”

“Right? Well, I think I’ll leave you to it. I know we only saw the one barn, but really, it’s more than I could have hoped for, your animals look so happy. Thanks for showing me, Elise!”

“Wait,” Elise was suddenly suspicious. “Where’s Marian?”

“Oh, I’m sure he just went back to town. Animals really aren’t his thing and I doubt he would have wanted to walk through a barn in his white boots, you know?”

Elise nodded. “True.”

“But I really should go. It’s Christmas Eve for the animals too and I want to give them all special treats today. So, thanks again, Elise! I’ll see you later!”

Agate peeked around the corner of the barn to check that Marian was long gone before she began heading back to town, waving at Elise as she walked backwards. “I’ll see you later, and Merry Christmas! Let me know how those solarium plans go!”

And just like that, Elise had been cracked.

Team Holly and Ivy: Mission Successful.

Team Jingle Bells

Annie and Raeger knew that the only way to get back the items Mistel was hoarding was to dish out a taste of his own medicine. If he was going to burgle Annie’s house, then they were going to burgle his. They wouldn’t have long to get everything Mistel had stolen, and they had to hope that what he had could be carried by two people in one trip.

They couldn’t rely on Iris for help, because she was the bait to get Mistel out of the house for a few precious minutes. Their own Christmas Eve tradition of delivering baked goods to their neighbors would get the two siblings out of the house for ten, maybe fifteen minutes. Probably less, considering Mistel would suspect some kind of retaliation from Annie’s team.

Annie watched the Antique Shop carefully from behind Marian’s curtains, while Raeger inspected a particular costume they’d heard much about over the last few weeks, but had yet to see.

He snickered, holding up a bright red coat lined in white fur. “Oh, this is absolutely perfect. I can’t wait to see this baby in action.”

Annie didn’t take her eyes off the shop across the street and snapped in a whisper. “Focus, Raeger! You’ll see plenty of the Santa costume later. There! They’re leaving.”

Iris looked positively bubbly as she stepped into the falling snow, Mistel just looked jumpy and irritated. Even from a distance, Annie could tell he was in a rush to get everything delivered and get back to keeping watch. They might have less than ten minutes.

“Let’s go!”

They waited until the siblings disappeared up the street with their arms full of boxes and plates of cookies and then sprinted across the road and slipped into the back door that Iris had left unlocked for them. They burst into the apartment, hearts hammering, and looked around. There was nothing obvious in the living room or in the kitchen.

Annie chewed her lip in worry, if he had hidden everything in little places around the house, they’d be sunk.

Raeger reached the same conclusion and said grimly, “Check the bedrooms first. We’ll toss the place if we have to. Get what we can.”

Annie checked Iris’ room – nothing but her neatly made bed, her writing desk, a string of garland hung over her headboard to add a festive flair to the room. Moving quickly, Annie opened the closet, and a couple drawers of the bureau. Nothing. She was about to begin ransacking the rest of the house when Raeger called from Mistel’s bedroom. “Jackpot!”

Annie rushed over to find the chef on the floor, half underneath Mistel’s bed. He was shoving familiar bags and packages out as quickly as he could. “It’s all here. Grab what you can and let’s get going.”

Mistel had at least done them a favor and left most of the items in the bags Annie had been storing them in, so it was easy to loop several over her arms. They danced around each other in an anxious flurry, trying to get everything balanced and bagged up without overburdening either of them.

“Is that everything?” Raeger checked, “Or do you think he hid anything somewhere else?”

“We don’t have time to look. They’re coming back!” Annie had caught a glance out the front window and saw two figures quickly making their way through the snow towards the Antique Shop.  “Hurry, hurry! Out the back door!”

They slipped down the stairs and out the back with the door closing behind them at just the same time the front door opened.

Annie and Raeger did not waste a single second hanging around to see if they got away clean. They ran out of town, laughing with breathless, giddy excitement, as pure adrenaline pumped through their veins.

“I can’t believe that worked. I can’t believe we got away with it! Oop!” Annie slipped on the snowy roads.

“Careful!” Raeger grabbed her arm just in time to keep her from falling. “Christmas won’t come if Santa breaks her ankle on the ice.” He stopped and looked over his shoulder. “I don’t think we were seen, and it doesn’t look like Mistel is chasing after us. We can probably walk now.”

“Yeah, yeah… we probably can.” Still filled with giddy energy, Annie gave a little hop as they began walking. “I hope the others were successful. We had to wait so long at Marian’s, hopefully they got everything with less of a hassle.”

“We’ll see when we get back to your place. If all else fails, we have this stuff, and nobody touched the food at the restaurant. So we can still have a party… even if –”

“No,” Annie cut him off firmly. “We’re going to make this magical Christmas exactly as we imagined it would be. You’ll see.”

Team Jingle Bells: Mission Successful.

December 24, 10:00am – Antique Shop

Mistel’s rage simmered throughout his whole body. He had been betrayed. He didn’t know who, but somebody had leaked the location of the stolen goods to Annie. She had taken back everything, even the things Elise was holding.

Mistel had to give her some credit, she was more devious than her appearances let on. He’d been out of the house for less than ten minutes, but she’d managed to clean him out.

He took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, and released it slowly. His anger began to dissipate.

Annie had turned out to be a worthy opponent, and Mistel had to find some respect for her in that regard. But he was not beaten yet. There was one more part of this plan, something he had been working on for weeks now.

It was time to bring in his heavy hitter. Time to bring in Fritz.

Mistel had been working on him slowly over the past couple weeks, wheedling into his mind, planting the seeds of an idea, and now it was time for that to come to fruition. If Fritz needed proof of Santa’s non-existence to stop believing, then Mistel would help him find it.

December 24, 5:45pm – Annie’s House

This was it. The big moment. What they had spent weeks planning. The sun was setting, the streetlamps were flickering to life, and it was truly Christmas Eve.

Annie stared out the window and watched as evening began to settle in. She couldn’t ask for a more perfect night. The day’s earlier snow had passed, and the clouds had moved out, leaving them with several inches of fresh snow and clear skies. The world took on a golden-orange glow in the last light of the day.

Behind her, people spoke amongst themselves and shuffled about, poised in anticipation. Annie took a deep breath and told herself everything was going to be perfect. Even with some hiccups, things were going to work out exactly according to plan. She turned around to address the others.

“This is it. Everything we’ve been working for… it all comes down to tonight. Together we are going to make the most magical Christmas ever.” Annie met the eyes of everybody gathered in her living room. Emotion seized her, her eyes watered, and her throat felt tight. “I can’t thank you all enough for giving your time and dedication to this cause. I couldn’t have done it without you. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much.” She beamed at them all, and they smiled back. Clearing her throat, Annie moved onto business.

“Now, you all have your assignments. We will have to move quickly. I don’t think we’ll be able to keep Fritz busy and out of the house for much more than an hour. Are there any last-minute questions or concerns?”

None. All she saw was confidence in the eyes of her teammates. Except for one man, who looked like he was dreading the next hour or so.

“Klaus, I know we’re asking a lot of you tonight, but are you ready?”

The perfumer sighed heavily but cracked a grin. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“And Marian, you brought the costume?”

“Of course,” The doctor patted a cardboard box sitting on the table. “One Santa Claus costume, as requested, tailored to a perfect fit.”

Lillie lifted the flap of the box to peek at the velvety red fabric inside. She giggled and pulled out the fur-trimmed hat. “Why do you even have a costume made to fit Klaus in your closet?”

“It was an old group costume from many, many years ago,” Klaus explained dully.

“Not that many years,” Marian added with a sniff. “But yes, a group of friends dressed as Santa and his eight reindeer for a costume contest.”

“They thought because my name was Klaus, we’d get extra points for it. It didn’t.”

“Well, you wouldn’t have worn a reindeer costume in the first place. And it was worth a shot. Anyway, I held onto the costume. I spent so long working on it and I wasn’t just going to let Klaus toss it after the contest. I always thought there might be a time to need it again, and lo and behold, here we are.” A mischievous light gleamed in Marian’s eyes as he held the box out. “Time for Santa Klaus to ride again, darling.”

Klaus reluctantly took the box, muttering, “Anybody else could have worn this.”

“Not without alterations, and there just wasn’t time for that. Besides, you owed me a favor.”

Annie stepped in, turning her big brown eyes to Klaus with a dazzling smile. “I really do appreciate it, Klaus. I’ll owe you a dozen favors after this… but we can’t have a magical Christmas without a Santa Claus, can we?”

“No… I suppose we can’t.” Klaus trudged off to the bedroom to change.

December 24, 6:00pm – Fritz’s House

Annie approached Fritz’s farmhouse alone. The rest of her party of merry makers were waiting just up the road, out of sight at Giorgio’s farm. Klaus was off hiding himself in the woods, playing the Christmas Cryptid for Annie and Fritz to go and hunt down. She knocked on the door and was stunned almost speechless when Mistel answered.

“What are you doing here?!” she blurted out.

Mistel smirked. “Well, Merry Christmas to you too, Annie.”

“Where’s Fritz?”

“Annie!” Fritz’s jubilant voice called from inside the house.

Mistel stepped aside to let her in, and Annie found Fritz in the middle of bundling up for a long trek through the woods. He was hopping on one foot as he tugged his other boot on.

“Merry Christmas!” Fritz finally got his foot shoved into his boot and wrapped Annie in a hug.

“Merry Christmas.” Annie returned the hug. “So, uh, what are you two up to?”

“We’re going Santa hunting!”

“You’re what?” Annie shot a sharp look to Mistel.

How could he have known her plans to get Fritz out of the house? Unless… unless Klaus was playing double agent and had told Mistel what she had been planning. Suddenly his reluctant participation made sense. There had been more keeping him in the game than just whatever leverage Marian held over his head. She would have felt betrayed, but she didn’t have time for that right now.

“Santa hunting. Mistel and I have been planning it for weeks now. We put traps in the woods and everything.”

“You don’t say.” Annie narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Mistel, can I speak to you for a minute, outside?”

Annie didn’t give the antique dealer a chance to reply, she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out the front door. “What do you think you are doing?” she hissed as soon as the door closed behind them.

“Am I disrupting your carefully laid plans?” Mistel asked innocently, brushing an imaginary piece of lint off his sleeve. “I don’t know why you’re complaining. For once our goals are aligned in this matter. You need Fritz out of the house, and I am prepared for him to drag me around the woods trying to chase down an elusive elf.”

“I don’t trust you.” Annie narrowed her eyes. “You’re planning something.”

“Always. But Fritz wasn’t lying, we have been planning this for weeks now. It’s just a happy coincidence that you also wanted Klaus to run around the woods in a costume to distract Fritz. Perhaps you don’t look this gift horse in the mouth.”

“How can I trust you? How do I know you won’t come back after five minutes and ruin the surprise?”

“Fritz is determined to only come back once we have caught Santa Claus. How long we stay out will depend on how slippery Klaus is. Don’t you trust him?”

Annie crossed her arms and said hotly, “He’s been working for you all this time, hasn’t he?”

“Figured it out, have you? Took you long enough.”

“Well, we still won. We got our stolen items back, didn’t we? And our magical Christmas is going to go off without a hitch, no matter what you do.”

“To this, I graciously admit your victory.” Mistel admitted with a cordial nod. “But this isn’t about throwing a surprise Christmas party, it’s about Fritz believing in Santa Claus. And if he thinks he’s caught the genuine article, and it turns out to be a fraud in a costume, how crushed will he be?”

Annie smirked. “I think you have too little faith in the power of belief. And you’re assuming Klaus will fall into your little traps. He’s smarter than that.”

“But we are very tricky.”

“Hey, what are you two talking about out here?” Fritz stuck his head out the front door.

“Nothing important,” Mistel said airily. “You ready to go?”

“Almost. Annie, what did you come over for?”

Flustered, Annie had to think up something quickly. “Oh, I just wanted to remind you about the party later at Raeger’s. See if you wanted to walk into town together.”

“Yeah, we should be done by then. We set up some great traps, I can’t imagine it’ll take too long to catch old Saint Nick.” Fritz got a dreamy look in his eyes. “And then we’ll have victory dinner at Raeger’s. He’s been talking about all the good food he’s gonna cook all week, I can’t wait!”

“Well, I’ll meet you here at seven-thirty, then. You two have fun, and happy hunting!”

Annie nervously waved off Fritz and Mistel as they disappeared into the growing darkness. She waited until they were well off the road and then flashed the signal to Giorgio’s farm.

She didn’t trust Mistel would keep Fritz busy for a whole hour, and now they had to work fast.

Raeger’s eyes went wide with alarm when he saw Annie waiting for them outside the house. “Why are you still here?!”

“There’s been a change of plan. Mistel was taking Fritz out already. We need to move, I don’t know how long we’re going to have. He’s planning something.”

Their group exchanged nervous looks, but Agate supplied optimistically. “Well, an extra set of hands will make everything move faster.”

Annie nodded, steeling her nerves. “Right. We have a job to do. Raeger, Agate, Marian, decorations. Angela, Lillie, I’ll help you with the tree. Let’s get the inside done before we worry about the outside.”

They set to work with the speed and efficiency of a team of real Christmas elves. Decorations were tacked up on the walls, paper snowflakes hung from the ceiling, fairy lights twinkled in the windows.  Annie had cut down a fresh tree for Fritz, one he had spent a long time admiring a couple weeks back when he had helped her find her own tree. Fritz had declared it a perfect Christmas tree, and he had been right. Annie had reserved it for him.

They were halfway through stringing the lights through the tree when the front door opened slowly. Annie’s heart stopped until Nadi’s head poked through the door.

“Is it okay if we come in?”

Raeger passed off the wreath he was helping Marian hang in a window and crossed his arms tightly. “What are you doing here?”

Nadi stepped in; hands held up in surrender. The rest of Mistel’s cohorts were standing behind him in the doorway. “We’re here to help.”

“Help or sabotage?”

“Help. Really,” Nadi laughed. “Though, I can’t blame you for being suspicious. Truce?”

“All of you?” Raeger craned his neck to look over the others. He was rewarded with a chorus of yesses, eager nods, and sincere eyes. Except for one person.

Elise looked mutinous, but when Iris dug an elbow into her side, even she sighed and said “Yes, fine. You win.” She rolled her eyes, but a smile pulled at her lips. “I’ll play nice. Promise.”

Raeger let out a breath, dropping his arms and he grinned widely. “Great! We are in a rush and could really use your help. Who can help me put lights up outside?”

December 24, 7:00 pm – The Woods

Mistel had to admire Klaus’ dedication to his friends. He had spent the better part of the last hour evading detection and bypassing all of their traps. Yet he still remained in the woods and just far enough ahead for them to catch occasional glimpses of him, and left tracks of his passage for them to follow. Honestly, Mistel had been half expecting Klaus to run around the woods for a bit and then book it for his house to wait out the evening. But he was dedicated to this bit and doing an admirable job selling the ruse.

Fritz was having the time of his life, following the fresh boot prints in the snow, examining the sprung, but empty traps. He wouldn’t make a very good hunter, considering he almost never stopped talking, but it wasn’t like they were chasing down deer or pheasants. Santa Klaus knew they were chasing after him, so stealth wasn’t key.

Fritz slowed to a stop at the roots of a bare oak tree and shone his flashlight on the ground. The ground closest to the tree was clear of snow, but just outside that radius were fresh boot prints. “Look, more tracks, I knew we’d pick up his trail again!” His exuberant smile faded as he checked his watch. “It’s getting kinda late, though, and I promised Annie I’d meet her at seven-thirty.”

Mistel watched Fritz weigh his options, he looked truly torn between what possibly was the greatest triumph of his life, catching Santa, and committing a sin he felt was nigh unforgivable, disappointing Annie.

“Let’s give it a few more minutes,” Mistel suggested, slapping Fritz on the back bracingly. “We’ve got one more trap set up, and Santa’s going right for it. I have a feeling this will be the one.”

Determination flared to life in Fritz’ eyes. “You’re right. This next one will get him for sure!”

With a joyous whoop, he bounded off into the woods, following the trail of footprints, and loudly declared that Santa wasn’t going to get away this time. Mistel grinned slyly and jogged after him. Klaus might have been forewarned of all the traps in the woods, but Mistel might have forgotten to tell him the particulars of this one. Klaus would have to use his wits to avoid capture this time.

Klaus heaved a sigh as he came up to the final trap in the woods. It was about time. They’d been at this for long enough and he wanted to get out of this costume before he joined the party.

The trap in question looked pretty obvious, there was a table with a plate of cookies and a glass of milk sitting there, clearly enticing bait for Santa. Which meant around the table… ah, there! Klaus saw the tripwire and followed it up to see the net waiting in the branches above to drop down and catch him. Just like Mistel said there would be. Easy enough to avoid.

Klaus was happy to know this whole thing would be over soon. All of his friends had been taking this whole Santa Claus mission far too seriously. And while it had been some fun, and he couldn’t begrudge Annie and Raeger for wanting to make a magical Christmas for Fritz, he wished they hadn’t dragged him into it. Though, perhaps that blame should be laid upon Mistel, he was the one who couldn’t let his slights go.

Ah well, all’s well that ends well.

All that was left for Klaus to do was avoid the trap, leave a gift for Fritz on the table, and then his involvement in this charade would be complete. He pulled the wrapped present from his pocket. It wasn’t anything special, just a little gift box with a folded note inside that said something cheeky about how Fritz couldn’t catch Santa that easily – Iris had written it.

He should move quickly, though. He knew Fritz was hot on his trail once more, he’d heard him shouting about it a minute ago. It wouldn’t be long before they were at this site and Klaus wanted to be long gone by then.

Klaus sidestepped the tripwire and approached the table from the side, he considered taking a cookie from the plate to really sell the bit, and they did look delicious. Then he heard a sound in the dark woods behind him, a little snap, and then the world fell out from under his feet.

By the time his senses caught up to him, Klaus was ten feet in the air, upside down, and tangled in a net.

Fritz came skipping out of the shadows, a wide smile on his face, waving energetically, “Hiiii, Santa~”

Behind him, Mistel smirked up at Klaus. “Surprise, Santa.”

Several expletives that had surely never crossed the lips of the genuine Santa Claus passed the imposter’s lips. Of course there was a trap Mistel hadn’t told him about. The younger man couldn’t ever be on the losing team.

Fritz busted out laughing. “Looks like we’ve caught a Santa Klaus in our trap.”

“GET ME OUT OF HERE!”

“Okay, okay, hold your horses.” Still giggling, Fritz carefully lowered Klaus to the ground.

Mistel offered Klaus a hand to help him up once he was free of the net. “No hard feelings, old boy, but we had to be convincing.”

Klaus took the offered hand and levered himself to his feet. He could be petty and threaten payback, but such things were better when they couldn’t be seen coming. So he smiled coolly and said, “Not at all, little man. All part of the plan, right?”

Mistel’s face twitched in annoyance at the old, childish moniker, but he didn’t get a chance to retort. Fritz threw his arms around both their shoulders. “That was so much fun! We should do this every year! Klaus, this costume is great, where did you get it?”

Klaus blinked, he shouldn’t be surprised, but considering it was Fritz… “You knew it was me the whole time?”

“Well yeah, everyone knows Santa doesn’t come that early, and he certainly doesn’t go running through the woods. He’s magic, he can escape in the blink of an eye.” Fritz snapped his fingers to illustrate. “And now that we’ve caught you, it’s party time!” He rubbed his hands together. “Think of all the great food Raeger’s making. Come on, Annie’s waiting for us to walk into town!”

December 24, 7:30PM – Fritz’s House

Annie ran into the three Santa hunters on the road and caught them before they could get too close to Fritz’s house. Even with the extra hands they had cut everything so close, but Fritz’s house looked wonderful; like it had been plucked straight out of a Christmas movie. She couldn’t wait for him to see it and experience the magic. There were just a few final touches she’d left the others to put on before they cleared out, so she needed to stall.

Fritz seemed oblivious to the fact that Annie had been walking the wrong way on the road when she ran into them, he was more interested in telling her all about their successful Santa hunt. Klaus excused himself and Mistel by taking the antique dealer by the upper arm and dragging him down the road, saying loudly they’d see them at Raeger’s party in a little bit.

Annie tried to stall as much as she could by letting Fritz talk and walking slowly, but the Christmas party was on his mind, and he was hungry and eager to get at Raeger’s food and tell everyone else about his romp through the woods. Annie hoped she had bought enough time.

As they rounded the bend in the road, she watched Fritz’s face carefully. His face lit up when he caught sight of his house.

“Oh,” he gasped, “Look at that!”

Fritz’s house had been decked with as many lights as it could possibly hold. Strings of multi-colored bulbs lined the gutters while white icicle lights dripped from under them. Twinkling fairy lights framed the windows and door. A wreath hung on the front door and garland wrapped his mailbox. A small menagerie of snow-creatures had been built in the front yard: a snow cow, some lumpy things that were likely supposed to be sheep, some snow chickens and rabbits, all watched over by a snowman who had been dressed in some of Fritz’s clothes and held a hoe in its icy hand.

“Did you do this?” Fritz turned to Annie after he had looked over the decorations and snow-creations.

Annie shook her head and said truthfully, “Nope.” She hadn’t done any of the outside decorating.

Fritz grinned back, not quite believing her, but happy letting it lie for the moment. “Raeger maybe? I know you know something about this.”

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly,” Annie feigned innocence. “And Raeger’s been busy all day getting ready for the party.”

“Hmm…. I’ll figure out who the secret decorator is.” Fritz tapped his chin. “But we have a party to get to first! Just give me a quick minute I just want to ch- oh… my… god…”

Fritz had opened his front door and stepped into the Christmas scene they made of his house. He stood in the doorway, mouth agape, eyes as wide as saucers as he took everything in.

Streamers and garland across the ceiling, more twinkling lights, a stocking on the holly-wreathed mantle, a fire crackling merrily in the poinsettia -flanked hearth, and of course, the centerpiece of the whole house, the magnificent Christmas tree. It was almost too big for the house, the tip of the star topper just a fraction of an inch from the ceiling, it glowed with hundreds of small warm white and multi-colored lights, it sparkled with tinsel, the ornaments shone, and beneath the deep green branches sat a pile of neatly wrapped presents topped with ribbons and bows.

Fritz’s hands flew over his mouth as he took a couple steps into the house. His eyes glistened with unshed tears, and he whispered, “He… he really came.”

Annie gently put her hand on his arm. “Fritz?”

He laughed, shakily and hesitant at first but growing more robust. “Look at this, Annie! LOOK! It’s… it’s a miracle! It’s magical! It’s… it’s like…”

“Like Santa came?”

“Yes! Santa came!” He swept Annie into a hug and spun her around. Fritz set her down, and still laughing, wiped the happy tears from his eyes. “Oh… it’s all so amazing. I wish… I wish the party was here. If I had known my place could look like this… I want to invite everyone to see it!”

“Well… it is a night for miracles…” Annie said knowingly, moving towards the door.

Just a second later, there was a knock. Fritz spun around and Annie opened the door.  Raeger was front and center smiling brightly. The others were lined up behind him bringing the last part of this perfect Christmas Eve, the party food.

Confusion furrowed Fritz’s brow. “Raeger? Everyone? What are you doing here? What’s going on?”

“Just think of it as another Christmas miracle,” Raeger laughed stepping in. “Feel like having a party here? Or should we take the food back to the restaurant?”

“No, no! Everyone come in! Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas! It’s party time! Let’s celebrate!”

As they filed into the house and found places to set the food down, someone tuned the radio to Christmas music and soon the house was filled with a very merry atmosphere to match the décor.

All the while, Fritz pointed out things around the house, gushing about the decorations, rushing outside to admire the view. And all the while the only person he credited with this miraculous transformation was Santa Claus.

Annie and Raeger casually sidled up to Mistel in the corner and watched Fritz regale the other party goers with the tale of his Santa hunt through the woods earlier that evening, doing a spot on imitation of Klaus getting caught in their trap.

“I’m sure you have noticed whom Fritz is crediting all of this to.” Annie said before taking a sip of mulled wine.

“A certain jolly old elf whose initials happen to be S.C.” Raeger completed.

Mistel rolled his eyes and sighed. “I can see his faith has not been shaken in the least. If anything you two have only reinforced it.” He shook his head but offered his hand with a smile. “Hats off to you two. You win this time.”

“We’ll win every time.” Annie insisted with a victorious grin. “Just try us.”

December 25, 1:30AM – Fritz’s House

The party had long ago run down, the revelers gone home to their warm beds to dream of sugar plums. All that remained were Annie and Raeger, still going, despite the very busy day, and Fritz, who was as excited as a boy at Christmas and could not sleep, even if he wanted to.

The three of them sat together on the couch, arms and legs intertwined, basking in the soft glow of the Christmas tree. All other lights were out, and it was a cozy, wonderful sight with the ornaments gleaming and the tinsel sparkling and the presents all piled up under the branches.

Annie and Raeger rested against each other, struggling to keep their eyes open, trying to gather the energy they needed to walk home. Fritz was bouncing his free leg with anticipation as he looked at the presents.

“Wow,” he breathed trying to count the boxes in the low light. “I don’t think I’ve had a haul that big in ages. Maybe ever. I must have been good this year.”

“You were the best,” Annie affirmed sleepily.

Fritz bit his lip and folded his hands tightly in his lap. His voice was thick with restraint. “I want to open them now! I can’t believe I have to wait until morning.”

“You’re grown, you can make up your own Christmas rules,” Raeger insisted with a smile. “And it is after midnight, now. Technically Christmas morning.”

“You have a point… but it just wouldn’t seem right to open them all.”

“Well, when I was a kid, we used to open one gift on Christmas Eve. Granted, they were family gifts and not Santa gifts –”

“I can do just one!” Fritz was out of his seat in a flash and carefully scrutinizing every present. He lifted them, shook them gently, tested their weight and heft.

Annie and Raeger smiled to each other.

“We did good, didn’t we?” Annie asked.

“Yeah, we did.”

“Should we tell him tonight?”

Raeger thought. “No, let’s tell him tomorrow?”

“Tell me what?” Fritz was looking at them warily. He held a big box in his arms, one of the heaviest in the stack.

“Nothing, nothing,” Annie brushed off airily. “It’s not important. Is that the one you want to open?”

“Yeah, but…”

“Well, come on, let’s see what’s inside!” Raeger insisted, knowing full well what was in that box. It was the cast iron skillet he got Fritz to replace the horrible old tin pan the farmer had been using for most of his cooking. There was most of a whole new set of cookware distributed through his presents. And the rest of that set would come at Fritz’s birthday.

“No, wait.” Fritz held the wrapped present close to his chest. “I want to know what you were going to tell me. Is it a secret?”

“Well… sort of,” Annie began delicately.

Fritz frowned. “A bad secret?”

“No, nothing bad, just something different. That’s all.”

“Tell me, please.”

Annie and Raeger shared a look. Raeger drew a breath and started to explain. “Well… all of this,” he gestured to encompass everything around him. “The decorations, the party, the tree and gifts, might not have really come from Santa Claus.”

Fritz burst out laughing. “Well yeah, obviously! Of course it wasn’t Santa, it was you two, wasn’t it? You did this all for me.”

“Yeah, we did,” Annie smiled ruefully. “We wanted to surprise you and give you a really magical Christmas.”

“It is magical. It’s… amazing. I haven’t had a Christmas this magical since I figured out Santa wasn’t real.”

“Wait! You know Santa doesn’t exist?!” Raeger sat up straight, staring hard at Fritz.

“Well yeah! Everybody knows that!”

“B-but you always talked about him like you believed.”

“Well it’s more fun to pretend, isn’t it? Why shouldn’t I act like there’s more magic in the world if it makes people happy?”

“But you sent him a letter!”

Fritz shrugged. “Some people journal, I write letters to Santa Claus.”

Raeger gaped at the farmer, at a loss for words.

Fritz blinked as understanding dawned. “Wait! Did you two do all of this because you thought I still believed in Santa Claus?!”

Annie looked between the two men, seeing their thoughts turn behind their eyes. She laughed and laughed, throwing her arms around them. She pressed a kiss to Raeger’s cheek and then Fritz’s.

“Merry Christmas, you two.” She held them close and smiled contentedly. “Merry Christmas.”