PARTY
Louise and Casey were nervously waiting with Jonah by one of the fires that were burning in the main hall. Jonah had been instructed to escort them to the Merlin tree and take them to Faerie should things go amiss. When the doors to the keep opened, Louise and Casey jumped up from the fire and ran to the center of the great hall to see who it was. Hob, Gob, and Nob filed in first. Behind them were Marcus and Gabriel. Amos towered above them all, in the rear of the line. Where was Ben? Louise clutched Casey’s arm and steadied herself.
“Marcus, where is my grandson?”
Marcus and Gabriel stepped to the left and Amos stepped to the right. Ben was safe. They simply could not see him because he was walking behind Amos. Louise and Casey ran to embrace him.
“Is it over?” Casey asked. “Is the dragon dead?”
“Yes,” Ben nodded. “Zoltan is dead.”
“Are you okay, Ben?” asked Louise. She could sense that something was wrong. “Something is bothering you, I can tell. What is it, sweetheart? Are you hurt?”
All the trials of the past few days, suddenly became too much too bear and Ben could hold back the tears no longer. He threw his arms around his Grandma and wept. As the sobs wracked his body, Amos came over and guided everyone over to the hearth where he relayed the story of the morning’s events.
“What was Mueller doing here?” asked Gob. “He had the opportunity to come with us through the tunnel, but he declined. And then he made the journey on foot, through all of that snow and ice. It just doesn’t make any sense!”
“Whatever reason brought him here,” Hob added, “we are all grateful for his bravery and sacrifice. We are also very lucky that he was carrying that bag of rock busters.”
“Yes, we are all grateful, but I think he knew the rock busters would kill the dragon,” Nob remarked. “He was a clever little gnome.”
“We may never know what brought him here,” said Marcus, “but I agree with everyone; we are thankful he came. He saved us all.”
“Hey,” said Hob, slapping his knee. “The oracle was wrong! He didn’t say anything about a gnome slaying the dragon!”
“No, he did not, but he told us only what we needed to know for the events to unfold as he saw them. Remember, the future is never cast in stone and knowing things in advance can alter the outcomes of the very things you see.”
Hob grabbed his beard, ready to give it a good yank. He did not understand magic and now he feared he had put the Keeper onto a topic on which he would yammer about for hours. Gob and Nob must have been thinking the same thing, for Gob delivered a swift kick to Hob’s shins and, as Hob hopped about, holding his injured leg in both hands, Nob began to beat him on the head with his hat. Ben smiled. It was hard to be sad around these three fellows.
While everyone was enjoying the dwarf’s antics, Marcus whispered something to Jonah. Jonah nodded and quickly left the hall.
“Where is he going?” asked Louise.
“He is going to Faerie to spread the word that it is safe to return. We have a grand celebration planned for tonight.”
“Really? What kind of celebration?”
The three dwarves paused. Hob was standing on one leg, rubbing his poor bruised shin with both hands. Gob was ready to deliver another kick and Nob had his hat raised high above his head for another swipe. Celebrations usually meant feasts and now the Keeper had their full attention, magic talk or not.
“I was thinking of a Christmas celebration. We will spend the day decorating the castle, preparing the meals, learning more songs and such. It will take a lot of work and we shall need your help to pull it off. What do you think? Are you up for it?”
“Oh, that is such a wonderful idea! Ben? Casey? What do you think? Shall we?”
“Yes!” Casey squealed. “That will be so much fun! How about it Ben?”
Ben nodded. It was Christmas time and the best thing he could do to honor his friend’s memory would be to celebrate with all of his friends; friends that Mueller had saved and had come to love and cherish. “What can we do?”
“Louise, are there any special foods that are eaten at Christmas time?”
“Of course; there are turkeys, hams, sweet potato soufflés, cornbread dressings with cranberry sauce…”
“Okay, okay,” Marcus laughed, holding up his hands to interrupt her, “would you mind going to the kitchens and giving instructions to the cooks?”
“I would be delighted,” said Louise. As she began to list all of the things she would need for the meal, Gabriel took her by the arm and led her off to the kitchens.
“Casey, would you mind teaching us some more of your Christmas carols?”
“Absolutely! I know a ton of songs!”
“Wonderful! If our dwarven friends would be so kind as to accompany you to the great dining hall, I will send our best musicians there for you to instruct. Everyone should be returning from Faerie at any moment.”
Casey and the three dwarves hurried down the hall. The three dwarves, their quarrel forgotten, were suddenly in a very festive mood. The prospect of a wondrous feast had lifted their spirits and they were loudly singing the refrain from Deck the Halls. Amos winced as the fa-la-la-la-lahs echoed across the vast hallway.
“That leaves you and Amos to cover the decorations. We’ll have the celebration here in the great hall. It’s very large; do you think you can handle it?”
“We need a tree,” said Ben. “Where can we find a tree?”
“I’ll take care of the tree. You and Amos handle everything else.”
“Okay,” Ben replied. He was suddenly getting into the Christmas spirit. This would be fun! “We’ll need to go out and gather lots of holly. Maybe some pine boughs and plenty of candles too. White candles and big red candles. Where can we get candles?”
“I will have them waiting here for you when you return. Anything else?”
“Hmmm… Oh yeah, ribbons! Lots of red ribbons!”
“Done. Amos will be able to help you find the greenery you will need. We have much to do, so get moving!”
Ben followed Amos back outside. With the threat of the dragon removed, and a Christmas party in the works, Ben took in his surroundings with a fresh eye and a new attitude. The snow was beautiful and glittered brightly beneath the clear blue winter skies. It actually felt like Christmas!
“Where are we going to get holly and pine?” he asked Amos.
“I’m not sure, but I do know one thing; we are not picking ANYTHING in the Twilight forest.”
“You can say that again!” Ben laughed. They left the castle through the west gate and entered the forest. The Faerie oaks lifted their branches and used their roots to clear the snow from their path. Amos and Ben had no choice, but to follow the path as it unwound before them. The trees were guiding them along, leading them somewhere. Soon, the path ended, bringing them out onto the field where the dwarves had stood against the snaker army in the battle against the witch. In the midst of this field stood a memorial the elves had erected for the dwarves that died in that battle. It was a statue of a grim faced dwarven warrior, in full battle armor, standing ready with axe in hand. Beside him was another statue; this one an elfin archer with his bow bent and an arrow nocked. The two had their backs to the Twilight and were facing the woods just across the field, where the snakers had amassed on that terrible day. Between the two statues sat a large block of stone with an inscription. It was carved in a smooth fluid script that Ben could not read.
“Can you read this?” he asked Amos.
“No, it is written in the elfin tongue of Faerie, but look.”
Ben looked across the field where Amos was pointing. The woods! The woods were pine trees and along the edge of field, near the woods, were holly trees.
“Do you think the Faerie oaks knew what we needed, or were we just lucky?”
“I don’t know,” Amos answered. “Either way, we have found what we needed.”
“How are we going to get it back? We didn’t think to bring a sled or anything!”
“I’ll build us both a travois. We should be able to gather enough to decorate the entire hallway.”
“Awesome! Let’s get started!”
Back in the kitchens, the elves were quickly filing in from Faerie. Louise had pushed her sleeves up and was barking out orders and instructions. She was in her element now and the dinner was beginning to take shape. Instead of turkeys or hams, they were roasting big, plump river geese. While the birds were turning on the spits, large pans of cornbread dressing were baking in the ovens and pots of giblet gravy were simmering on the fires. Much to her delight, she discovered that the kitchen pantries had crates of long, fat, yams and sacks of walnuts. Once she found the sugar, she began showing the cooks how to prepare the yams for the soufflés.
While Louise was whipping together the meal, the sweet aromas from the kitchens began to fill the whole castle, wafting down the passageways to the great dining hall, where Casey was teaching the three dwarves and a host of newly arrived elves some of her favorite Christmas carols. She had picked five songs; Deck the Halls, which the dwarves had already heard once and loved, Silver Bells, Away in a Manger, Joy to the World, and her favorite song, Silent Night.
The elves had handsome voices and a wonderful assortment of instruments to accompany them. There were beautiful harps, and strange horns with long, curving bells. The full rich sound of the harps, accompanied by the haunting melody of the horns, was accented with the clear sweet notes of delicate silver flutes and cymbals. The elves mastered the songs amazingly fast and were eager to learn even more. Casey added Jingle Bells to the mix so that they would have one fun and fast song to sing. Jingle Bells instantly became the three dwarf’s new favorite song.
When Ben and Amos returned to the castle with their greenery, they were shocked to see the transformation that had taken place in the great hall. Three rows of tables stretched from one end of the hall to the other where an enormous balsam fir tree towered above them. The green branches were decked with gossamer threads of gold and silver and hundreds of clear glass balls hung from the limbs of the tree. Within each ball a tiny white light twinkled brightly, causing the delicate threads to sparkle and shimmer. At the base of the tree, Marcus was busy arranging brightly colored packages. He paused and waved them over.
“So, tell me, Ben. How did I do? Does this look like a Christmas tree?”
“Holy cow, Marcus, it’s got to be the prettiest tree I’ve ever seen! Where did you get the glass balls and how did you get lights in them?”
“It’s just a little magic,” the Keeper replied with a wink, “a little Christmas magic.”
“It is beautiful,” Amos marveled. “Do you decorate trees like this every year in your world, Ben?”
“Yep,” Ben nodded, “and speaking of decorating, we have a lot to do! Where are the candles and ribbons?”
Ben and Amos lined the mantles on both sides of the hall with holly, red berries, and white candles. They used red candles, cedar boughs, and pine cones to create center pieces for all of the tables. For a final touch, they used the red ribbons to tie bows on all of the tree-shaped stone pillars that supported the dome of the great hall. By the time they finished, it was well past lunch time and they had worked up quite an appetite. Marcus had finished his work as well and led them to a room where Louise and Casey were waiting for them.
“How’s the decorating going?” Casey asked. “Are you finished? Did you get a tree?”
“We’re done,” Ben answered, “and we have a beautiful tree, but you will have to thank Marcus for that. It even has white lights on it!”
“What are we going to eat for this celebration?” asked Amos. “I’m beginning to get a little excited myself!”
“Grandma won’t tell,” Casey pouted. “She wants it to be a surprise.”
“Where are our three mischievous friends from Dwarvenhall?”
At that moment, Hob, Gob, and Nob came bustling into the room with Jonah right behind them. The three dwarves were carrying platters of meats, cheeses, and breads, while Jonah was busy balancing a tray full of mugs and pitchers.
“Anyone hungry?” Hob called out.
“Besides us?” Gob added.
“We are having sandwiches!” Nob declared, with a wink at Ben.
The dwarves arranged the platters on the table and Louise began carving the meat. While Ben and Casey sliced the bread and cheese, Jonah and Amos poured the drinks. Soon, everyone was seated around the table, eating their noon day meal of roast beef sandwiches and excitedly talking about the upcoming celebration.
“What songs are we singing tonight?” Ben asked Casey.
“You’ll have to wait and see. Grandma won’t tell us what we are eating, so I’m not telling what we are singing. It will have to be a surprise.”
“There are going to be a lot of surprises tonight. Some of them are waiting for us under the Christmas tree too!”
“What do you mean?”
“Presents! Marcus has presents under the tree!”
*****