“What are we going to do?” I ask. “Can’t we take this tape to the police?”
“Unfortunately,” Santa says slowly. “I don’t think this is a matter for the police. This is a personal beef that Anti-Claus has with me. I fear that he knows who I am without a shadow of a doubt. I highly doubt he actually intends to hurt Blizzard at all. His crimes don’t seem to involve unnecessary violence, but his goal is to stop Christmas and make everyone as miserable as he is. If he’s figured out who I am, then he’s figured out that I need Blizzard to deliver the presents. I’m quite sure that he’ll return her as right as rain on Boxing Day, but until then he will keep her somewhere so none of us can enjoy our Christmas. The point is that we must find her before this evening or Christmas will be cancelled.”
“And who knows what they’re doing to her and where they’re keeping her,” I say. “We have to find her.”
“You have to go to the police,” Dad says to Santa. “We’ve just seen her being kidnapped. That’s more than a cause for concern.”
“But as I said, his intention is not to hurt her, just to stop Christmas. All we need to do is find her before tonight. Then we will turn this tape in to the police and Anti-Claus will be arrested. Sending the police in with guns blazing is more likely to make him hurt Blizzard. Can either of you think of anywhere that they may have taken her? Anti-Claus wouldn’t have gone very far, it’s not his style. He likes to sit and watch the festive season fall apart around him.”
Dad shakes his head but my brain is ticking over.
“I can,” I say. “It’s just a hunch, but I have an idea. There’s an old allotment not far behind our back garden. It’s abandoned now, only used by kids sneaking off to make out, but there’s a shed there. About three times since he came to stay with us, I’ve seen Seth coming down the path next to our back garden. I asked him what he was doing and he just said he’d been for a walk, but it’s not really a great walking area, it’s just a lumpy old field and a ramshackle old shed. I didn’t think much of it at the time. It may be somewhere that’s worth checking out. It’s pretty well hidden by the trees now.”
“That’s quite a good idea actually, Kait,” Dad says. “She’s right. It’s one of these hidden places that you only know it’s there if you know it’s there, if you know what I mean? Passers-by wouldn’t spot it, just locals who used it in its prime years.”
“Well then,” Santa says. “We have no time to lose. Back in the sleigh.”
“We could walk,” Dad says nervously.
“No, no. We’ll stop the sleigh well out of sight and then we’ll carry on by foot. Can you make a copy of that footage? We’ll get the police on it right away.”
“Will you make a copy for Mum too?” I ask. “I think she needs to see what kind of person Seth really is.”
Dad sets about doing just that.
When he’s done we file out of the building and climb a rope ladder that has magically dropped out from the sleigh. I try to sit back and enjoy the ride but I’m too worried about what we might find, and even more worried that my hunch is incorrect and we’re no closer to finding Blizzard than we were two hours ago. When we arrive back in our street, Santa parks the sleigh on our flat roof and we all climb back down the ladder.
“Don’t worry, no one will see it there,” Santa says. “Now let’s go and get your mum’s help and find my daughter.”
We go around and knock on the door to our house, and I briefly wonder how strange we must look—a Santa, a ten-year-old girl and a guy dressed in a security guard outfit—what a sight.
Mum pulls the door open immediately.
“Here,” Dad hands her the copy of the security tape that he’s burned to DVD. “Watch that and then tell us how perfect your new boyfriend is. And while you’re at it, call the police. We’ve got a pretty good idea of where Blizzard is, but we need backup and someone to arrest Seth and Anti-Claus when we find them.”
Mum nods silently and closes the door. Pippa waves to us from the living room window and looks incredibly sad that she doesn’t get to join in the fun.
“Is this going to be dangerous?” Dad asks. “Maybe Kaity should stay here. I don’t want her getting hurt.”
“Don’t even think about it,” I interject. “I’m coming whether you like it or not. There’s no point in arguing about it.”
Dad rolls his eyes. “Come on then.”
Dad leads us all up the garden path. “Mum didn’t like my tree then?” He asks when he sees the tree he bought us sitting in its bucket in the garden.
“Sorry,” I say. “Seth brought a different one and she made us take yours outside. Pippa and I wouldn’t let her throw it away though so we brought it out here and decorated it.”
“That’s very sweet of you, Kaity,” Dad says. His voice is thick with emotion and I can tell that it means something to him.