Making a List, Fixing It Nice

by Linnea West

  Cordelia wanted to go on talking, assuring Leon it would be fine. But she stopped short. What if it wasn’t all fine? What if his love had sabotaged the list? Even Mrs. Claus wouldn’t be able to help and she would be hard-pressed to want to help someone who intentionally tried to ruin Christmas.

  Leon looked down into his lap and mumbled something, but Cordelia couldn’t hear what it was. She leaned forward, silently urging him to say whatever it was again.

  “I said that I’ll tell you who was in here,” Leon said. “But there is one condition.”

  “What is it?” Cordelia asked.

  “I want you to go talk to her by yourself,” Leon said. “And don’t tell Clarence who it is unless somehow she ends up being guilty. But I assure you that she isn’t and I want you to promise me that you won’t go in to talk to her under the assumption that she is guilty. I want you to go in with an open mind.”

  Cordelia wasn't sure she could actually promise that, but she tentatively nodded her head.

  “I will certainly try, Leon,” she said. “I really don’t want to think that anyone here at the North Pole did this intentionally.”

  “It was Robin,” Leon said.

  Cordelia thought back to when she saw Robin gently cradling Leon’s head in her lap and suddenly, everything made sense.

  Chapter Eleven

  Cordelia found herself standing outside of the kitchen doors. Even when they were shut, the delicious smell of baking cookies wafted through the cracks in the door and around the entirety of the North Pole. As she tried to prepare herself to interview Robin without interrogating her, Cordelia took deep breaths in, inhaling the sweet scent.

  It was tough to get herself mentally on track when elves kept passing by and greeting her. She was trying to acknowledge and smile at each one while staying mentally in her investigative mindset. Being Mrs. Claus meant always putting on a cheerful face and being a beacon of happiness and comfort. Normally Cordelia found that easy and even a bit fun, but right now, she had so many things running through her mind that it was difficult.

  Finally, she decided there was no time like the present. Elves were going to keep passing by and greeting her, interrupting her thoughts. She may as well just go in and find Robin. Cordelia took one more deep breath and pushed the double doors open.

  The kitchen was bright and warm. Elves bustled around with trays of cookies, their aprons splotched with flour and dots of vanilla. The kitchen was almost as big as the toy workshop, with one whole wall lined with ovens. Large tables dotted down the middle of the room, each with a different sort of cookie being prepared on top. Some elves were mixing large bowls of dough while others were using cutters to cut shapes from dough they’d rolled out. A few elves were bustling in and out of a large doorway labeled PANTRY bringing ingredients out to bake with and dirty dishes in to wash up. This was the way the kitchen ran from sunup to sundown.

  Cordelia walked slowly down the middle of the room. Occasionally she came in to inspect and make sure everything was running smoothly, but this time she was really there to find Robin. As she walked, she chatted with a few of the elves about what they were making

  “Good morning Mrs. Claus,” Carol said. “I hope you are well.”

  “I am, thank you,” Cordelia said. “What kind of cookie do we have here?”

  “Just plain sugar, but I’m going to roll it out and cut Christmas tree shapes out of it,” Carol said. Her eyes lit up with the thought of her plan. “Then I’m going to whip up a green frosting and use little sprinkles to decorate it.”

  “I’m sure they will be lovely and tasty too,” Cordelia said. “I hope you’ll save one for me.”

  Carol’s eyes lit up as she nodded enthusiastically. Having Mrs. Claus enjoy an elves cookies was a seal of approval and Cordelia loved to give it to anyone and everyone that she could. Carol dumped her cookie dough on the table and started rolling it out as Cordelia moved on.

  After sampling a gingerbread man, Cordelia was beginning to wonder if Robin was even in the kitchen. She didn’t dare ask anyone because it would make everything look suspicious. But she didn’t have all day to search the entire North Pole for the elf.

  Finally, Robin emerged from the pantry doorway pushing a cart full of ingredients. Cordelia assumed she had just washed up from one round of baking and was starting in on another. That should be perfect timing to talk to her.

  Robin pushed her cart to a workstation right next to the doorway leading out of the kitchen, which was at the opposite end from where Cordelia was standing. Not wanting to attract any more attention than she already was, Cordelia continued to the very end of the kitchen and then turned to walk back to the door. It would take some time to work her way back to that workstation, but if Robin was just starting a round of baking, she wouldn't be going anywhere for a while.

  Commenting on a few cookies that were decorated like snowmen and trying a small bite of fudge with a layer of peanut butter fudge on top, Cordelia tried to act as casual as she could. It was hard when her heart was beating so fast.

  She kept glancing down at the last workstation where Robin was happily mixing up some sort of baked good. The baking elf’s cheeks were pink and rosy as she smiled and laughed with the other kitchen elves. Robin didn’t seem to be the sort of elf who would sabotage Santa’s list, but there was a possibility.

  Cordelia tried to keep in mind what Leon had asked of her. She couldn’t go into this assuming Robin was guilty. It helped that Robin seemed like a genuinely pleasant elf. Cordelia didn't know her well, but she had never heard anyone speak ill of her.

  “Mrs. Claus, could you please try my new candy cane?”

  Cordelia jumped, so intent on making her way to Robin’s workstation that the interruption startled her. Turning, Cordelia saw that Arnold was holding out a box of mini candy canes toward her. Cordelia smiled, trying to think of a way to get out of actually trying one right here and right now.

  Arnold was known for his new and inventive flavors when it came to baking. As much as the human children of the world enjoyed the novelty of popcorn flavored jelly beans, Cordelia liked the tried and true range of peppermint candy canes. And judging by the rainbow color of the candy canes Arnold was offering, there was nothing minty about them.

  “Oh what colorful candy canes,” Cordelia's said, keeping her hands firmly by her sides. “What flavor are they?”

  “Spicy fruit punch,” Arnold announced.

  The elf puffed out his chest, always excited when another of his flavor combinations came together successfully. It was hard to tell Arnold to stop when his candies flew off the store shelves in the mortal world. But Cordelia was glad that they were at least past the gross-out flavor craze that saw candies tasting like ear wax and sardines.

  “Oh my, what an idea,” Cordelia said. “I’ll have to save one for later when I can try it with some milk, it’s handy to help with the spice.”

  She took a candy cane and slipped it into her apron pocket, winking at Arnold. Cordelia could tell that he wanted her to unwrap it and try the candy cane right then and there, but she wasn’t going to let him nicely bully her into it. Before he could protest, she moved on, giving him a small wave and a friendly smile.

  Robin was only two workstations away now. Cordelia was getting so close, but she still wasn’t sure how she was going to address the List with Robin. It wasn’t something she wanted to talk about here in the open, but it would look strange if she tried to take Robin somewhere more private.

  Perhaps she could simply say something secretive to make Robin follow her out to somewhere they could talk more freely. But what should she say? Cordelia was determined not to ruin Robin’s reputation in the kitchen by making it look like she was in trouble.

  She slowly walked toward the table where Robin was happily mixing up some sort of baked good. The plump elf was laughing at a joke someone had told and Cordelia felt terrible that she was about to ruin Robin’s day. But Mrs. Claus put on a happy face and stopped next
to the last workstation.

  “Hello Robin,” she said. “What are you making today?”

  “Oh just a standard batch of chocolate chip cookies,” Robin said. “These will be fresh out of the oven just in time for lunch. Don't worry, I’ll save a few for you.”

  The elf winked at Mrs. Claus and laughed. Her happy laugh sounded like tinkling bells and Cordelia immediately felt sick to her stomach at the thought of interrogating Robin. Here was this happy, in-love elf and Cordelia was about to trounce all over that by questioning her about whether she tried to ruin Christmas.

  “Thank you, I do so love them,” Cordelia said, cringing as she heard the weird sentence she had just spit out. She didn’t do well under this sort of pressure. “Say, Robin, I had something I wanted to…”

  As Cordelia tried to figure out how to get Robin to meet her one on one, the doors from the hallway flew open and Clarence stalked in. He was in such a tizzy that he almost ran straight into Cordelia.

  “Good, I found you,” Clarence said. “You know we don’t have time to play in the kitchen right now. We have something else on our plate that is a bit more important. We don’t need to be okaying the cookies until this afternoon.”

  Cordelia’s mind spun as she tried to figure out what Clarence was talking about. Leon must have told him where she was without saying why she was here, so now he was assuming she was here on a mix-up. Cordelia’s nose wrinkled as she thought of it. She might take on too many things, but she was organized and it made her grumpy that Clarence thought she had mixed some things up. But she couldn't tell him that. Cordelia couldn't explain why she was actually there. So she would have to accept it and play it off like she had made a mistake.

  “Oopsies, I guess you’re right,” Cordelia said. She groaned inwardly at just how stupid she had made herself sound. “I suppose I should go and come back later to okay things. I just smell those cookies and I can’t stay away.”

  “Here Mrs. Claus,” Robin said. She reached over to the next workstation and grabbed a peanut butter cookie. Handing it to Cordelia with a smile, Robin went back to mixing up her next batch of cookies. “These are fresh. Don’t worry, I’ll set aside a few chocolate chip for your visit later.”

  “Thank you,” Cordelia said.

  She still felt bad that she would need to interview Robin later, but for now, she had to figure out what to say to Clarence. The Head Elf took her by the elbow and practically dragged her out the double doors into the hallway.

  “What are you doing?” Clarence asked. “You’re supposed to be figuring out who else Leon saw on that tape, not tasting cookies.”

  “I’m sorry, I got my schedule a little bit mixed up,” Cordelia said.

  Clarence blinked at her, trying to figure out if she was playing some sort of joke on him. Cordelia grimaced at him as if to show that she had simply made a mistake. She needed him to believe that, even though she never made this sort of mistake.

  “No matter, we need to figure this out,” Clarence said. “We are going back to the List Room and we are going to force Leon to show us that tape. If he won’t tell us who it is, we will figure it out ourselves.”

  Clarence put his arm firmly through Cordelia’s and started off down the hallway, only slowing down when Cordelia practically tripped over her own feet as they tangled in her skirt. She yelped a little as she clung to Clarence’s arm and found her footing again. He took a deep breath and glanced at her, slowing his pace down just a bit.

  “I’m sorry, I just want to get this over with,” Clarence said.

  He was not an elf who apologized, so Cordelia knew she shouldn’t take that lightly.

  “It’s alright, I just think we need to be slow about things to make sure we don’t make a mistake,” Cordelia said. “Slow and steady wins the race. Or in our case, slow and looks at everything finds the saboteur, but that doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

  She winked at Clarence, who snorted back a laugh. He wasn’t too far gone into crunch time if he could laugh at her stupid jokes. They had finally fallen into step together and were headed to the List Room when a voice behind them stopped them in their tracks.

  “Ho, ho, ho.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “Cordelia, I’ve been looking all over for you,” Santa said as Cordelia and Clarence turned to face him. “I was hoping to have tea with you.”

  Cordelia smiled at her husband. Nick was so sweet but completely oblivious to the ramifications of crunch time. For him, crunch time was a relaxing lead up to the biggest night of the year. Cordelia made it that way on purpose. He would visit the reindeer, have a couple of try-on sessions for his suit and maybe a few classes to learn about any new features on the sleigh, but mostly he relaxed and prepared for his job. He had no idea the things Cordelia did to make this time relaxing for him.

  “Oh that’s a sweet thought, but I’m not sure I can,” Cordelia said.

  Santa’s face crinkled in confusion. Clarence jabbed her in the side and leaned toward her ear. When Nick was momentarily distracted greeting a passing elf, the Head Elf frantically whispered in her ear.

  “Have tea with him,” he said. “We can’t have him thinking anything is wrong.”

  Cordelia knew Clarence was right. She couldn't just keep ignoring her husband. She always made time for Nick, so ignoring his invitations all day would make him suspicious. But she was worried about how Clarence would treat Leon.

  “Okay fine,” Cordelia said. She kept her eyes glued to her husband, who was animatedly talking to an elf from the toy workshop named Rick who was transfixed by the very fact that Santa was talking to him. “But you promise me that you and Leon focus on fixing the List. Under no circumstances should you harass the Keeper of the List.”

  Clarence sighed and took his arm out from where it was intertwined with Cordelia's. He offered her his pinky and they shook on it.

  “Pinky promise,” he said.

  When Nick finished talking to the adoring elf, he turned back to Clarence and Cordelia. His blue eyes twinkled at his wife. Cordelia could feel herself blush just as she always did when Nick looked at her. She had always found him so handsome and even when he was transformed into Santa Claus, she got all giggly when he stared at her. He winked as he walked toward her and offered his arm.

  “Shall we?” he asked.

  She slipped her arm through his and they started off down the hallway. Cordelia couldn’t help but look over her shoulder at Clarence and throw him one last warning.

  “Remember your promise,” she said.

  Clarence nodded and rolled his eyes at her, more for the reminder than for the promise. Cordelia knew that he would stick with it. As juvenile as a pinky promise might be, she and Clarence found it to be a legally binding sort of promise that neither one had ever broken.

  “What promise?” Santa asked, breaking into her thoughts as they strolled toward his office.

  “Oh, just that I wanted to help taste-test the new cookie recipes this afternoon,” Cordelia said.

  She felt guilty lying to Santa, but at the same time, she was going to do that later. It wasn’t completely a lie. Cordelia promised herself that when this debacle was all said and done, she would tell Nick about it. She would just need to spin it in a way that would make it sound light and funny, and not the deep, mired mess they were in right now.

  Santa’s office had two big, double wooden doors with beautiful stained glass windows set in them. Each window had a Christmas tree with piles of presents underneath and arching over the top, the left one said Santa and the right one said Claus. Cordelia still remembered the first time she had pushed these doors open after Nick had been promoted. It had felt like stepping into another world like it wasn’t possibly real.

  Even now, almost a century later, Cordelia still loved coming into Nick’s office. It was warm and cozy, so inviting that she almost wished she could live there. Stepping into the office, the entire back wall was made of windows that faced out on the decorated Christmas tr
ees. Santa, of course, was afforded the very best view. Nick’s large desk was right in front of the door with big cozy chairs for anyone who needed to have a meeting with him. Nick felt strongly that no one should feel uncomfortable meeting with him, even if they were discussing something bad or hard.

  To the left was a wall of shelves that were full of toys. Most of them were the old standbys that were produced year after year but there were a few newer toys on the bottom shelves that Santa was working on improving. While the workshop elves were the ones who did most of the work on the toys, Nick liked to tinker with them a bit and see what he could do.

  To the right of the desk was a little nook. It was Cordelia’s favorite place in the whole of the North Pole. A large, stone fireplace was set in the wall and there was always a large fire roaring inside. In front of it were two large, red velvet armchairs, one for Nick and one for her. A little table in between always had a tin of cookies and Cordelia knew that with a push of a button, a pot of tea or hot chocolate would be rushed in.

  There was already a pot of tea waiting on the table, steam rising from the spout. Cordelia was glad she had said she would come. Nick had already prepared everything and would have been disappointed if she had refused. It was a good reminder to her that no matter how busy she was, she should always make time for Nick.

  Nick walked her all the way to her armchair, always an upstanding gentleman. Cordelia sat down and arranged a blanket on her lap. Even with the roaring fireplace, there was a draft from the large window that came in and chilled Cordelia, so she always had the knit, dark green blanket at the ready to wrap up in.

  As Nick opened the cookie tin, Cordelia poured each of them a cup of peppermint tea. For a few moments, neither of them spoke. They enjoyed their cookies, hot tea, and each other’s company while the sound soft Christmas music floated through the air. Cordelia was trying to make sure she didn’t take too long at tea. She still had a mystery to solve, but she didn’t want to let on that it wasn’t really the best time for her to be having tea with her husband.