CHAPTER 31
It’s early morning on December the twenty-fourth, when I’m woken up by a very loud and urgent pounding on the door. I lay still for a moment trying to get my bearings, but Mum yells up the stairs.
“Kaity, it’s, er, for you! Can you come down here please?”
I throw myself out of bed and hurry down the stairs even though I’m busting to use the bathroom first. I have no idea who would be knocking for me this early in the morning on Christmas Eve of all days.
I’m very surprised to see Santa standing in the doorway, looking out of breath and worried. And Mum is standing there looking perplexed, like she doesn’t quite know why there’s a Santa knocking on her door or what she’s supposed to do with him.
“Santa?” I ask surprised.
“Oh Kaity, thank god.”
“Is everything okay?” I ask worriedly.
“I don’t know,” he says. “Is Blizzard with you?”
“Blizzard? No, I haven’t seen her since yesterday afternoon. Why, is something wrong?” I ask, suddenly very much awake and not so busting anymore either.
“Yes, I think there may very well be something wrong. We accidentally left Rudolph at the mall last night and Blizzard went back to get him but she hasn’t come back. I was hoping that maybe she had come here to see you and forgotten to tell me, but if she hasn’t then I fear something has happened to her. Oh, why did I let her go out on her own?”
“Okay,” Mum says calmly. “Is there anywhere else she would go? Any other friends in the area? Did you have an argument with her? Maybe she’s just gone somewhere to get back at you?”
“No,” Santa says. “No argument. Everything was fine between us. And I’m fairly certain that Kaity is the only friend she’s made. We’re not from around here, you see. You don’t see her talking to anyone else, do you Kaity?”
I shrug. “I guess not.”
“Have you called the police?” Mum asks.
“I was checking here first, but I think I should call them now. I don’t know if there is much they can do though.”
“Come in,” Mum says. “Use our phone. I’ll put the kettle on. You sit down and have a think if there’s anywhere else she could have gone. You too, Kaity. Go and get dressed and think about anywhere Blizzard might have gone. Anywhere she mentioned wanting to visit?”
“I don’t think so,” I say.
“But she wouldn’t go in the middle of the night,” Santa says. “Especially on her own. Oh, it’s all my fault. I should never have let her go back to the mall on her own.”
“It’s not your fault,” I say firmly. “And we don’t know for sure that anything bad has happened to her. She’ll probably come bounding in at any minute with a perfectly logical explanation.”
Santa doesn’t look too convinced.
I head upstairs to take my pyjamas off and get properly dressed and finally use the bathroom. When I come back down, Santa is on the phone and Mum is setting a cup of tea in front of him.
“How awful,” Mum says to me quietly.
By this time, Pippa has come downstairs to see what all the commotion is. Mum takes her into the kitchen and tries to explain what’s happening to her.
“Well, that was useless,” Santa says to me, hanging up the phone and taking a big gulp of his tea. “They said kids her age run off all the time, and there are no suspicious circumstances. If she isn’t back within twenty-four hours they’ll send someone out. Christmas will be over by then and no one will have their presents. Blizzard will be devastated if we don’t find her.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t drive the sleigh without her on Christmas Eve. Blizzard is my navigator, Kaity. Without her, the magic won’t work and the sleigh won’t fly around the world. If we don’t find her then we can’t deliver the Christmas presents tonight. My elves will have worked the whole year for nothing.”
“Stop,” I say. “We’ll find her, okay? Blizzard is... look, she knows what Christmas Eve means, right? She wouldn’t have just left, so I think we have to face the fact that something has happened to her.”
“Something that has Anti-Claus written all over it.”
“You think Anti-Claus has done something to her?”
He nods.
“But why? Doesn’t he think you’re just a guy dressed in a Santa costume? Unless he’s found out who you really are, then what would be the point in kidnapping Blizzard?”
“I fear that Anti-Claus suspects something. Obviously we’ve made his job a lot harder this year. With your help we’ve been able to foil a few of his plots and no doubt made him very angry. If he suspects who I am then he would know that he could ruin Christmas once and for all by kidnapping Blizzard.”
“What on god’s green earth is an Anti-Claus?” Mum asks from the doorway where she is standing with Pippa. “And just who are you really?”
“He’s Santa,” Pippa shouts excitedly. “I told you, Mum! I told you he was!”
“Pippa, stop this nonsense. There’s no such thing as Santa Claus and it’s about time you learned that.”
Pippa’s lip quivers like she’s on the verge of tears, but Santa walks over, crouches down in front of her and winks. Pippa instantly smiles. She knows, just like I do.
“Unfortunately, ma’am,” Santa stands back up in front of my mother. “Your daughters are right on this one, even though I don’t expect you to believe me.”
“Where’s Seth?” I ask suddenly.
“Working,” Mum snaps.
“Working since when?”
“Last night,” Mum says.
“Did he say where he was going?”
“To work,” she snaps again, but her attention is still focussed on Santa. “Kaity, what’s with the bloody twenty questions? This is more interest than you’ve shown in Seth all month.”
“Seth works for Anti-Claus,” I tell her. “He’s working for the man hell-bent on destroying Christmas, and the man who has probably taken Blizzard.”
“What utter nonsense. I don’t know where you get this insanity from, but judging by the people you hang around with,” she casts a look at Santa. “It’s no doubt you get things wrong. Seth works for the boss of a Christmas company. They provide presents to children who don’t have much money.”
“Unfortunately, Kaity is correct on this one too. Anti-Claus is the other Santa who’s been working at the mall this year, but he’s not really a Santa. He’s a twisted individual who wants to destroy Christmas for the whole world, one town at a time and he’s chosen this town this year. Seth is his chauffeur. We’ve seen him plenty of times bringing deliveries to Anti-Claus. While I’d love to stay and chat about this further, my daughter is missing and I have to find her.”
Mum looks shocked but is thankfully speechless for a while.
“Let’s go and get Dad,” I say suddenly. “He can look at the CCTV tapes from last night. At least that will tell us if Blizzard got to the mall or roughly when she was taken. It might give us some clues.”
“Oh Kaity, what a great idea. Let’s go immediately.”
“Thank you for your tea and kindness,” he addresses Mum. “I don’t expect you to believe a word I’ve just told you, but I have to find Blizzard now. Maybe we can talk at a later date. Kaity, please will you come with me? Your help is invaluable here.”
“Of course.” I’m already grabbing my coat.
“I’ll stay here with Pippa for a while,” Mum says. “I’ll go and get the neighbours out and they can all help to search for her. It may not be the time, but you’re very wrong on Seth though. He’s a lovely man and he loves Christmas. You must be mistaken.”
“Sorry, Mum,” I say. “No one’s mistaken. Seth is working for evil.”
Santa pulls the door open then, and we all gasp in surprise.
Parked on the front lawn is a huge sleigh with three reindeer reined to the front. Real, live, reindeer.
“Well, how do you think I travel?” Santa ask
s incredulously, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Come on, get in. We don’t have time to waste. Do you know how to get to your dad’s house?”
Speechless, I nod.