by Tegan Maher
“This is what I’m always saying,” Adam said, “people shouldn’t ruin perfectly good fudge with nuts!”
“Merlin help us,” I muttered.
“Some of the gnomes affected by the fudge busted through the SPA-regulated portal we’d opened to provide transport for Buzz, here,” Agent Bramble said, ignoring Adam’s side rant.
“Okay, so wait.” Adam held up his hands. “We have a Gremlins situation on our hands? Someone fed these things after midnight and now they won’t stop till Christmas is destroyed?”
Cringing, I shifted my gaze back to Buzz. “How many others are we talking about?”
Buzz licked his lips. “Um, well, it was a pretty big box of fudge.”
Evangeline yelped. “The Christmas market!”
Chapter Five
Buzz wasn’t able to give an exact number, but when we arrived at the center of town, it was clear we had a small horde on our hands. Gnomes had torn down every strand of garland, leaving all our hard work crumpled on the icy sidewalks. Strings of lights hung askew, ripped from the garland and thrown about, the bulbs all burst and broken. The trees outside the gazebo had been tipped over and they’d all been reduced to sad-looking Charlie Brown trees, their needles shed and branches drooped. Broken ornaments littered the street along with shards of candy canes and more broken lights. All of the poinsettias were dead, just like the ones on the manor’s front porch.
The streets were dark and quiet. Not a gnome or human in sight.
My heart sank to the depths of my stomach.
Buzz started crying uncontrollably again, racing as fast as his tiny legs would carry him—which was actually quite fast—among the wreckage. “Oh no! Oh me, oh my!”
Evangeline shook her head, even as her gaze flit about as if unsure which part of the mess was worse. “What a nightmare. All that hard work! The volunteers are going to show up tomorrow for the grand opening and this is what they’ll see. All their effort reduced to nothing but a giant mess!”
Buzz sniffed loudly. “I—I’m so sorry!” he blubbered.
I looked to Agent Bramble. “Tell us what to do. How do we fix this?”
Still looking somewhat rattled, she took another long moment before answering. “I brought a contingency of agents with me. Two of them are paying Lester McNeil a visit. They’ll wipe his memory of what you said happened in the woods.”
She cut a harsh look at Adam and he ducked his chin.
“Once they’re done, they will join the others in hunting down the other rogue gnomes,” Agent Bramble continued. “They will round them up and take them back to the North Pole.”
“They might want to take blowtorches with them,” I said offhandedly.
“Blowtorches?”
“That’s what seemed to snap Buzz out of it,” I explained. “We lit a fire and it was like the reaction, or whatever you’d call it, just wore off.”
Agent Bramble nodded. “I’ll let them know.”
“You’re leaving?” I asked.
“I don’t have time to dawdle, Holly. I’m sorry about all of this”—she waved a hand toward the disaster zone—“but I’m afraid there is nothing I can do about it now. Santa will simply have to reschedule his visit for another year.”
Buzz perked at this, a panic-stricken look temporarily interrupting his sobbing. “Another year? No, no. There isn’t time to plan another visit now! We need the magic from Beechwood Harbor. We’d been counting on it to bring the most magic!”
I slapped a hand over my face and dragged it down slowly. It was barely six o’clock, but I was beginning to feel like I’d been awake for a week straight.
Agent Bramble gave another apologetic look and then shifted in a blur. One moment a tall woman stood before us, and the next, a huge hawk. With a screech, she took to the skies and soared away.
“Great!” Evangeline scoffed. “Now what? It took us weeks to make all of this garland. There’s no way we can expect to fix this all in time for tomorrow.”
“This stuff’s bound for one place: the compost heap,” Adam added, stooping down beside a pile of the ruined garland.
“Okay! Time to snap out of it,” I said, shaking my shoulders loose. “We don’t have time to wallow. This all has to be perfect in time for Santa’s visit tomorrow, or Christmas is going to be ruined for the entire world!”
“No pressure,” Adam muttered under his breath.
Spinning to face him, I pointed back up the hill. “We need that tree! The eighteen-footer. Call Nick. Make it happen.”
With a half-cocked grin, he saluted me. “Yes, ma’am!”
“Just shoo,” I exclaimed.
He kissed me on the cheek and then sprinted off up the hill.
Spinning around toward Evangeline, I smiled. “You got your wand?”
She pulled it from the pocket on the inside of her coat and matched my grin.
“I’d say it’s time for a little magic.”
“Let’s light it up!”
Evangeline and I worked together, using bonds of magic to attach the shreds of greenery back into long, full garland strands. The lights were broken beyond repair—even with magic—so we added twinkles of magic light and buried them deep in the greenery so no one would ever see that they weren’t attached to an electric plug or battery pack.
As it turned out, Buzz had magic of his own, and when not under the influence of walnuts, he was actually very productive. He reversed the damage done to the Christmas trees and poinsettias, returning them to their full and beautiful state. Another string of magical lights draped over the gazebo rooftop, a blanket of twinkling stars.
When everything was back in order, we went to the grocery store and cleared out an entire shelf of candy canes, ornaments, and tinsel. Adam and Nick Rivers came down the hill a little before nine o’clock, huffing and puffing with the effort of carrying the massive tree.
“We had to settle for a twelve-footer,” Adam panted after they dropped it onto the sidewalk by the gazebo.
Evangeline and I grinned at each other and with a whoosh of magic, we effortlessly lifted the tree and floated it to its place at the center of the Christmas market. When it stood erect in its stand, we gave it a little twinkle, setting it aglow with lights and bursts of color. When it was done, we brushed our hands off and turned to the still-puffing Nick and Adam.
“That really wasn’t so hard,” I said.
Evangeline snickered. “No. Not really. What are you two complaining about?”
Adam and Nick lunged for the cans of faux snow and blasted us with the powdery substance. Shrieking, we tore around the gazebo, ducking for cover. When Adam’s canister sputtered, emptied of its contents, he went back to get a second but stopped short when real snow began falling from the sky.
Evangeline and I came up from our hiding spot, giggling and red-cheeked. “Snow!” I breathed, holding my hands out to capture a smattering of fat flakes.
“Jack Frost came through!” Buzz exclaimed, clapping his hands as he bounced up and down.
Evangeline lifted her wand and directed the snow to form icicles along the eaves of the gazebo. The effect of the soft magic twinkling lights bouncing off the shiny icicles was breathtaking.
I linked my arm through Evangeline’s and then looped the other through Adam’s. “Well, what do you think? Did we just save Christmas or what?”
Nick chuckled and rolled his shoulder back. “Let’s hope so. I’m pretty sure I dislocated something hauling that tree all the way down here.”
Before we could pat ourselves on the back too much more, loud voices cut through the cold night. Turning toward the sound, we spotted Agent Bramble—back in human form—and three SPA agents leading a troupe of red-eyed gnomes in a chain gang, all tethered together with the SPA’s signature magic cuffs designed to prevent any shape-shifting or magic usage and thwart escape attempts of any kind.
Agent Bramble stopped short and the agent behind her nearly toppled over, trying to avoid colliding with her. “Wow!” Sh
e smiled in wonder, her tough-ole-bird facade slipping for a moment as she stared wide-eyed at our efforts. “It looks wonderful. Remind me to hire you to come and do my tree next month.”
I laughed and then gestured past her. “Is this all of them?”
Agent Bramble glanced back at one of her subordinates, who consulted with a clipboard and then nodded. “It would appear so,” Agent Bramble told me, relaying the unspoken message. “Someone back at headquarters was able to determine how many had used the portal. Sixteen in all.”
Buzz marched up to the group of his fellow Christmas gnomes and planted his little fists on his hips. “Jinglebell Noel! Mistletoe Spangle! Berry Tinsel! You are senior gnomes. I expect more out of all of you!”
I smothered a laugh with the back of my hand. Did gnomes have short-term memory issues? Had he really forgotten that a few hours ago he’d been every bit as wild and out of control?
One of the SPA agents clicked a lighter on and held it up for all of the crazed gnomes. They followed the glow like they’d been hypnotized, and slowly, the red faded from their eyes and their fruitless struggles against their restraints ceased.
Buzz continued his rantings until I bent over and placed a steady hand on his tiny shoulder. “I think they’re sorry, Buzz.”
The gnome blinked up at me and then gave a firm nod. “Good. How can we ever apologize to you and your friends?”
“Hmm.” I straightened and tapped a finger against my lips. Slowly, a smile tugged at them. “You could tell Santa that I’d like a new winter coat.”
“Consider it done!” Buzz replied.
“You might also be able to help us cover some of the neighborhoods to make sure nothing else was ruined,” Evangeline suggested before looking to Agent Bramble. “That is, if you’re all free to go now that you’re … um … well, you again.”
Agent Bramble nodded. “It’s all right with me.”
Buzz clapped his hands and addressed his fellow gnomes. “You heard her! It’s time to make this right! Let’s get out there and make Santa proud!”
A round of cheers rang out and we sprang into action. We went neighborhood to neighborhood, checking to see if the gnomes had done any damage to the homes in them. Thankfully, it was early enough in the season that only a few homes had put out their decorations. Most would wait until the following weekend to get their homes festive with lights and plastic reindeer and huge blow-up snow globes.
True to his word, Buzz and the other gnomes helped us set everything right and when we were assured that all of the damage had been undone, we parted ways and went back home, frozen to the bone but content that it had all been worthwhile.
Santa’s workshop opened promptly at ten o’clock the following morning and a line of eager kiddos and their parents wound up and around the block. Across the intersection, both the ice rink and the Christmas outdoor market were in high gear and bustling with activity. The entire town of Beechwood Harbor appeared to have turned out for the first weekend of the holiday celebration.
Unbeknownst to them, they’d picked the perfect weekend. Santa Claus himself stood as the focal point of the whole thing, surrounded by pink-cheeked elves and wonderstruck children. Even some of the adults looked a little spellbound by the whole thing.
Adam was off inspecting the various food vendors at the market while I wandered the snow-covered streets, slowly working on a green-swirl candy cane.
An elf approached me, holding a large package wrapped in red and green paper and tied with gold ribbon. “Holly Boldt?”
“Yes. That’s me.”
The elf handed me the package. “Merry Christmas from the big guy himself.”
My jaw dropped and I looked past the elf’s shoulder to see Santa was in fact staring at me. He offered a wink and a fuzzy warmth spread through me as if I’d just had a cup of hot cocoa.
“Thank you, Holly.” The elf gave a shallow bow and then hurried back to Santa’s side and resumed attending to the gathered children.
I carried the package to a nearby park bench and opened it. Inside the large box was a near replica of the coat that had been ruined the night before. Smiling, I shrugged into it and zipped the front. A perfect fit. But then, of course it was.
He was Santa, after all.
Thank you for reading Hex the Halls! I hope you enjoyed Holly’s pre-Christmas adventure in Beechwood Harbor.
If you’d like more holiday cheer with some of your favorite paranormal pals, check out my exclusive Christmas anthology, A Very Beechwood Christmas. You can pre-order today and have it delivered by Saint Nick himself on December 21st! Okay … that part might be a *bit* of an embellishment, but we can pretend Santa’s magic works on Kindles, right?? ;)
If you’re new to my work and want to know more about Holly and her friends at the Beechwood Manor, you’ll want to start with my Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries Boxed Set.
Thank you again for reading. I wish a happy holiday season to you and yours!
Until next time,
Danielle Garrett
www.DanielleGarrettBooks.com
About the Author
As a lifelong bookworm, Danielle Garrett has always loved dreaming of fantastic places and the stories they have to share. Through her love of reading, she’s followed along on hundreds of adventures through the eyes of wizards, princesses, elves, and some rather wonderful everyday people as well. This lifelong passion led her into the world of writing and she has now achieved the dream she’s held since the second grade and become an author herself.
Danielle lives in Oregon, and while she travels as often as possible, she wouldn’t call anywhere else home. She shares her life with her husband and their house full of animals.
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