Christmas in Enchantia

by Darcey Bussell

  “You ordered them, your highness,” Sugar said desperately.

  “I didn’t. It’s a trick!” King Rat’s eyes gleamed and his voice snapped out. “Guards! Get them!”

  As the guards leaped towards Delphie and Sugar, Delphie gasped. “It isn’t a trick!” she cried. “It’s… it’s… it’s a mistake!”

  The fat guard had grabbed Sugar and the thin guard had grabbed Delphie. He was so close she could see his pointed yellow teeth. “We… we must have come to the wrong castle,” Delphie said, the words tumbling out of her. “Yes, yes,” she said nodding furiously as if just remembering. “It was the Royal Palace we were supposed to go to. How silly of us!” She looked at Sugar. “These mince pies and this cake weren’t meant for King Rat. They were meant for Queen Isabella and her family. We’re so sorry to bother you,” she said to King Rat. “It was the Queen who said she wanted the biggest most tasty Christmas cake ever with the thickest softest icing and the most freshly baked biggest mince pies. We’ll take them all away and drop them off at the palace …”

  “Wait!” King Rat snapped as Delphie tried to pull away from the guard. “You’re saying that that cake and those mince pies are supposed to go to the Royal Palace?”

  Delphie nodded. “Yes, we had really strict instructions that no one else was to have any.”

  “Guards! Let them in!” King Rat bellowed. “I’m going to have those mince pies and that cake for myself!”

  Delphie acted shocked. “But… but you can’t!”

  “Says who?” said King Rat. “Just think of how cross this will make Queen Isabella and her family. Another way for me to ruin their Christmas. Ha! Bring them in! I’m coming downstairs!” And, with an evil laugh, he slammed the window shut.

  Delphie saw the astonishment on Sugar’s face and started to speak. “Oh well, if King Rat really wants them I guess there’s nothing we can do,” she sighed trying to hide her smile.

  “Yes,” said Sugar, as the guards nodded. “I suppose we’ll just have to take them inside.”

  The mice guards opened the door and ushered them through.

  King Rat’s hall was a huge room with stone walls and floor. Faded tapestries covered the walls. Many doors led off the hall and a stone staircase spiraled downstairs. The Christmas tree was by one of the windows, but there was nothing else Christmassy in the room at all.

  King Rat came hurrying in. He was rubbing his paws together in glee. “All this food for me!”

  A longing, whimpering squeak left the fat mouse guard.

  “Oh all right!” snapped King Rat. “I suppose I’ll never eat it all by myself anyway. You guards can have some too because I am so nice and kind and generous. What am I?” he said, grabbing the mouse by its fur.

  “Nice and kind and generous, Sire!” gasped the mouse.

  King Rat nodded. “Exactly. Now take the mince pies through to the kitchen. We’ll eat them straightaway and have the Christmas cake tomorrow.”

  “You!” he snapped to the tall guard. “Go and get a trolley to put it on and tell the others.” He swiped a mince pie off the top of the plate as the fat mouse began to pull the sledge with the mince pies past him. Stuffing it all into his mouth in one go, a look of pleasure lit up his eyes as he chewed. “Delicious!” he said, spraying crumbs everywhere, helping himself to another as he followed the mouse.

  The smell of the warm mince pies wafted through the castle and by the time the tall mouse had heaved the cake off the sledge and on to a trolley the guards had come pouring into the hall from all over the castle. Elbowing each other out of the way and standing on each other’s paws, they piled into the kitchen, their whiskers twitching greedily. Shouts came through the doorway.

  “That’s mine! Get off!”

  “Hey, you’ve got five! Give me one!”

  “I’ve only had two!”

  The arguing grew louder. Delphie glanced around. There was no one about. “Now’s our chance!” she hissed to Sugar. “Let’s see if we can find where King Rat is keeping the elves while everyone is busy!”

  Quickly, they hurried around the room on tiptoe, listening at each of the doors. When they got to a staircase leading downwards, Sugar grabbed Delphie’s arm. “Listen! I can hear voices!”

  Delphie could too. A faint sound was coming up the stairs. She could hear what sounded like hammering on a door. “I bet that’s them!”

  She and Sugar ran lightly down the spiral staircase. At the bottom was a wooden door. Now she could hear the voices more clearly.

  “Let us out!”

  “It’s Christmas. We have to get out and wrap presents!”

  “Stop keeping us prisoner like this!”

  Delphie swung round to Sugar. “It is them!”

  “And look!” Sugar pointed. “The guards ran off to get to the mince pies so quickly that the key is still in the lock!”

  She turned the key and threw the door open.

  Behind it were about twenty-five small elves with red and white woolly hats, striped stockings, green tunics and turned-up shoes. Their ears stuck out of their hats and their faces were cross as they all shouted. But as they looked at Sugar and Delphie, their crossness was replaced by looks of astonishment and they stopped shouting. All except a few elves at the back who couldn’t see out of the door, but they were quickly shushed.

  “Sugar!” exclaimed one of the elves at the front. “What are you doing here?”

  “Delphie and I have come to rescue you!” Sugar said. “Delphie’s the girl with the magic ballet shoes. We tricked our way into the castle, hoping we could set you free and think of a way to get the magic Christmas tree back. King Rat’s got it in his hall!”

  “He’s horrible!” said the elf. “He shut us down here with nothing but bread crusts to eat and water to drink!”

  “And to think we should be in the palace wrapping presents!” said the elf beside him.

  “Well, now you can get back there,” said Delphie. “Though how we’re going to get you all back I don’t know.” She looked at Sugar hopefully.

  But Sugar shook her head. “My magic isn’t strong enough to take all the elves back, even from the woods.”

  “Well, first things first. Let’s just get you out of here before the guards finish the mince pies and come back,” said Delphie.

  But she hadn’t realised just how quickly King Rat’s guards would finish them all up. Just then there was the sound of voices from the top of the stairs. “How many mince pies did you eat?” There was a loud burp. “I ate seven.”

  “I had eight!” said another voice.

  “I suppose we’d better go and check on those annoying elves,” said a third voice.

  “Yeah. We can tell them all about the lovely mince pies we’ve been eating,” said another voice. “And then get them some more bread and water! Ha, ha ha.”

  There was the sound of sniggering and then footsteps on the stairs.

  Delphie’s stomach felt as if it had just dropped to the floor. The guards were coming down! It was too late to escape. They were trapped!

  The guards’ footsteps echoed on the stairs.

  “What are we going to do?” Sugar said in panic.

  The elves whispered frantically among themselves.

  Delphie’s thoughts raced. There was only one thing for it. “Shussh!” she said quickly to the elves. They kept quiet and looked at her. “There are more of us than there are of them. And they don’t know the door is unlocked,” she told them. “We can take them by surprise. On the count of three start to run up the stairs. If we all charge together maybe we’ll be able to knock the guards over and get out of the castle.”

  “But what are we going to do once we’ve done that?” said one elf.

  “We’ll worry about that then!” said Delphie. “Let’s just get out first!”

  Now Delphie could hear the guards more clearly. They were puffing and panting. “Are you ready?” she hissed. The elves and Sugar all nodded. “One, two …”

  “My tu
mmy hurts,” one of the guards was moaning.

  “And mine,” said another.

  Delphie took a deep breath. “… THREE!”

  The elves poured out of the room and charged up the stairs, carrying Delphie and Sugar along with them. Within a couple of seconds they were upon the mice guards.

  “What the …” the first guard staggered backwards and bumped down on to his bottom.

  The second flung his arms out. “Stop!” he shouted.

  But the elves ignored him, ducking under his arms and spinning him round like a top.

  The third mouse was grabbed by the elves and carried up the stairs above their heads. Cheering and hollering, the elves burst out into the hall.

  The other guards were walking slowly around, their tummies fat with mince pies. They stared for a moment in astonishment and then pulled out their swords but the small, nimble elves easily ducked and dodged around them. Grabbing the waddling mice by the arms, they twirled them round until they fell over, sprawling on to the ground. Delphie saw one elf duck through a mouse’s legs, sending him flying. Another two elves grabbed a couple of the tapestries from the walls and flung them over a group of mice who were charging towards them. The mice fell down, rolling over and over in the tapestries until just their heads were poking out and they looked like colourful sausage rolls!

  Delphie and Sugar hung back by the trolley with the Christmas cake, not knowing where to run or what to do.

  “Quick, get the Christmas tree!” cried one elf.

  A group of about ten elves charged towards it, grabbed it, tipped it over and picked it up. They swung it round knocking over five mice who had just been getting to their feet. Holding it like a battering ram they charged at another group. The mice jumped out of the way, tumbling over on the floor. An elf near the entrance threw the door open and the group carrying the tree raced towards it.

  “What is going on?”

  It was King Rat!

  As he stood in the kitchen doorway, crumbs smeared down his front, he took in the scene. His eyes narrowed in fury as he saw the group of elves racing towards the door and raised his hands.

  “He’s going to magic the doors shut!” Sugar cried, seeing exactly what was just about to happen.

  Delphie grabbed the nearest thing – the cake trolley – and ran with it a few paces before giving it a huge shove. King Rat had his back to her and didn’t see it coming. As he opened his mouth to utter a spell, the trolley collided into the back of his legs.

  “Argh!” he yelled, arms flailing as he was knocked off his feet. He turned a somersault in the air and came down, landing slap bang in the middle of the cake!

  Delphie’s hands flew to her mouth and she giggled.

  With a roar, King Rat poked his head out. Icing hung from his whiskers. “Why, you… you …” he spluttered in rage.

  Delphie grabbed Sugar’s arm. “Come on! Let’s get out of here!”

  And quickly they raced across the hall, dodging around the fallen mice.

  The elves with the tree were charging outside whilst the others streamed out behind them. Delphie and Sugar ran through the door, Delphie quickly turning to check there were no elves left behind. Then she grabbed the key from the inside, slammed the door shut and locked the door from the outside.

  But there wasn’t a moment to lose. Already the mice were starting to tug open the windows and she could hear King Rat shrieking. “Go round the back!”

  “How are we going to get everyone back to the palace?” she cried to Sugar.

  “I don’t know,” wailed Sugar. “If only we could use the sleighs, but we’ve got no way of pulling them!”

  Delphie was suddenly aware of the elves crying out in astonishment. She looked round and saw a herd of deer cantering out of the forest. It was the group that she had helped earlier and the father stag was in the lead. “We’ll help you!” he cried.

  In the twinkling of an eye, the elves with their nimble fingers hitched eight strong deer to each sleigh. The tree was put on one sleigh and the elves and Delphie and Sugar climbed on to the other two.

  Delphie looked round to see the mice jumping down from the windows and running round the side of the castle. “Quick!” she shrieked.

  The deer surged forward and the sleighs glided across the snow, with the elves, Delphie and Sugar hanging on. As they gathered speed, Delphie glanced behind. King Rat, dripping icing sugar everywhere, was standing furiously in one of the windows. He raised his hands to make his magic but he was too late. The deer swept the sleighs into the forest and away!

  The sleighs raced smoothly across the snow, the deer galloping, the elves hanging off the sides. Three of the elves were sitting astride the tree trunk as if it were a horse. Sugar waved her wand and a thick fur rug appeared over her and Delphie’s knees for them to snuggle under. Delphie’s face was tingling with the cold as white crystals of snow flew up in the air around them. She could hardly believe they had managed to escape with the elves and the tree. She hugged her arms around herself. It was beginning to look as if King Rat hadn’t ruined Christmas in Enchantia after all!

  They raced through the forest, across the fields and all the way to the Royal Palace, arriving as the clock struck five o’clock. The guards spotted them coming and by the time the sleighs had reached the palace, the golden gates had been flung open. The reindeer galloped inside, coming to a halt inside the courtyard.

  The King, the Queen and Princess Aurelia came hurrying out to meet them with Sabrina.

  “Oh my goodness!” cried the Queen as the elves tumbled off the sleighs.

  “You did it!” said the King.

  “Well done!” said Sabrina proudly.

  “Now we can finish wrapping the presents!” said one of the elves.

  “Hooray!” the other elves all cheered and started running into the palace. “Back to work!”

  “So what happened?” Princess Aurelia demanded as Delphie and Sugar climbed off the sleigh.

  As they began to undo the harness on the reindeer, they explained. Everyone chuckled when they heard how King Rat had fallen into the cake.

  “Serves him right!” said Princess Aurelia.

  Delphie grinned as she remembered how funny King Rat had looked covered in icing. “At least we got away. And we couldn’t have done it without you,” she said, turning to the magnificent stag. “Thank you!”

  The stag tossed his head. “One good turn always deserves another. Now we must return to our home. Happy Christmas to everyone here!” He and the other deer turned and bounded back to join the others in the forest.

  “Happy Christmas!” everyone called.

  Princess Aurelia hugged Delphie. “So the invitations have been delivered, the elves are wrapping the presents. All we need to do now is decorate the Christmas tree and get changed for the banquet!”

  “I’ll go and check on the food,” said the Queen.

  “And I need to talk to the musicians,” said the King.

  “And I should go and join the other swans,” said Sabrina.

  Delphie grinned at Sugar and Princess Aurelia. “Then it looks like we’ll be doing the decorating!”

  In no time at all, Princess Aurelia had called the gardeners and they carefully put the tree in the corner of the ballroom. Two metal chests of Christmas tree decorations were carried out and music began to play. Delphie recognised the piece from The Nutcracker. She felt her feet tingle. The music was making her want to dance!

  Sugar grabbed Delphie’s hands and twirled her round. “Come on! Let’s decorate the tree!”

  “We have to dance while we do it,” said Princess Aurelia, jumping in the air and crossing her feet over before landing lightly. “Or the tree’s magic won’t work and no one will get any presents.”

  Quickly, Princess Aurelia ran over to the chest with tiny steps in perfect time to the music and took out a big glittering red bauble. She lifted it gracefully with both hands and spun round on her toes, holding it high in the air. Pointing her right to
e she danced forward two steps, spun on one leg, holding the toe of the lifted foot close to her knees, and then danced forward another two steps before placing the bauble on the tree. She looked light and elegant and beautiful. Delphie sighed wistfully.

  As Sugar began to join in, Delphie watched carefully and tried to imitate her movements. Like Princess Aurelia, Sugar spun on her toes but she swept the bauble up more dramatically, holding it in one hand and stretching the other arm out to the side before jumping forward. Delphie wasn’t sure who to copy.

  “What’s the matter?” Sugar said, seeing her standing still.

  “You and Princess Aurelia are both doing different things,” Delphie replied.

  Sugar smiled. “Every dancer dances differently. You have to make the dance your own.”

  “How?” said Delphie.

  “By listening to the music and showing how it makes you feel.” Sugar squeezed Delphie’s hand. “Try it.”

  Delphie waited a few bars until the music reached the point where it seemed to be telling her to start and then she let it guide her, skimming across the ground with tiny steps, jumping into the air with arms outstretched and head held high, spinning and turning and balancing.

  “Beautiful!” Sugar whispered as she danced past and Delphie glowed.

  Delphie always loved decorating the Christmas tree back home but this was even more special. They hung sparkling baubles and long twisted icicles, golden wire stars and carved wooden robins. Sugar flew into the air and attached the biggest star to the top of the tree and then finally, when the chests were empty, she touched the tree with her wand and magic white fairy lights appeared on every branch. The music faded and the three friends were left looking at the tree.

  “It’s perfect!” Delphie breathed.

  “Just beautiful!” Princess Aurelia agreed.

  “Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a tree,” said Sugar. “I wish there was a way of making all the others turn back from cactus plants so everyone who wanted one could have one!”