by Katie Penryn
“You can have no idea how scary the Snarl is. It creeps up on us. The first hint of an attack is the smell, but we can’t tell what direction it’s coming from. A whirling blast tumbles us all about. I’m frightened that it’s going to spin us away in a tornado.”
I rubbed her nose and stroked her back, taking care not to touch the seeping wound on her flank. She’d been brave to leave her corner to talk to me.
“Well, guys and girls,” I said stepping back away from the team. “You stay here and keep safe while I talk to Santa. My friend Felix and I will do everything in our power to help you through this.”
Santa’s face brightened as I walked past the sleigh towards him with Sam and Jimbo following along behind me. The Laphroaig had worked its own particular magic and cheered the old gentleman up. Felix told Sam and Jimbo to fetch some empty fish crates to use as seats and to stay quietly by the sleigh without interrupting while I talked things over with Santa. Felix kicked a crate over to me. I sat down facing the old gentleman.
“Well, sir,” I said, taking his gnarled hands in mine. “They’ve told me about the Snarl and its attacks.”
“So that’s what they’re calling the monster?” He bobbed his head in agreement. “A good name. It comes out of nowhere making the most fearsome noise, blows us all about and lashes out at my reindeer whenever it can.”
Felix crouched down on his heels.
“I guess it’s a new phenomenon, sir?”
Santa nodded.
“It first appeared somewhere between Asia and Arabia. I didn’t pay much attention at first. We often encounter strange gusts of wind on our travels.” He broke off and glanced from Felix to me. “How much do you know about my job?” he asked.
Felix nodded at me. “Over to you, boss. This is more your field than mine.”
“Every Christmas Eve you and your reindeer visit the homes of all the children who’ve been g—”
“Not all children,” he said. “But we can talk about that later.”
“Who’ve been good,” I continued. “All year long your factories in Lapland make the toys you’ll deliver on Christmas Eve.”
“And my elves work in the factories,” Santa said.
“And your reindeer are magic on this special night of the year, so magic they can fly through the skies.” I let go of his hands. “But I’ve never understood how you can visit everywhere in a couple of hours.”
For the first time since we’d come upon him, Santa smiled.
“Ah, Mpenzi Munro, you’re forgetting about the rotation of our planet around the sun. We set off after midnight on Christmas Eve, flying down the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean just east of New Zealand and Russia. We work our way through the homes of the children who live to the west of the line. We fly up and down the lines of longitude, gradually moving west as the planet turns to the east.”
“So, you are always travelling at the same time of the night, in the hours between midnight and dawn?” Felix asked.
Santa smiled again. “Exactly. We have twenty-four hours to complete our trip.”
He fell silent and his shoulders slumped again. “But not this year. My team is stuck here in the South West of France. We’ve covered only half the world, give or take a degree or two. If I can’t persuade my reindeer to continue, I shall disappoint all the children living in the west of the United Kingdom, on the islands of the Atlantic Ocean, in the countries of South America, the United States, Canada, and those who live on islands in the Pacific Ocean east of the date line.”
He groaned and dropped his head into his hands again.
I jumped to my feet.
“There’s no time to lose. We have to tackle this dreaded Snarl and stop it from sabotaging your important work.” I sank back down onto my crate again. “But how are we going to do that? I’m all out of ideas.”
Felix put his arm around my shoulders.
“You’ll think of something, boss. How about your Book of Spells? Perhaps there’s something suitable in there.”
“Oh Felix. If only— but it’s back at home. We don’t have time to drive all the way back there, fetch the book and then for you to teach me a new spell. And we don’t even know if the spell would work.”
“Next best solution: ask the High Council of the Guild of White Witches for help. If ever we needed their powers of good magic over evil, it’s tonight.”
Chapter 5
“Why didn’t I think of that?” I asked and checked my watch, catching sight of my brothers’ faces as I did so.
“Remember,” I said to them. “This is all top secret. Not a word to anyone when this is all over.”
“I promise,” said Jimbo.
“As if,” said Sam giving me an eye roll.
I turned my attention back to the time. “It’s too late to summon the High Council. We have to do it at midnight, and we were at Mass then.”
“If the reindeer would agree, they could fly us west until we hit midnight again,” suggested Felix.
Donner let out a loud grunt. “We heard that. There’s no way we’re moving from here until you get rid of the Snarl.”
“So many if’s, and time is passing,” I said. “I vote we go for it and try to summon the Council even though it’s past midnight. Have either of you got a better idea?”
Both Santa and Felix shook their heads. Rudolf called out that the reindeer were so scared they couldn’t put two thoughts together.
“Right,” I said, taking charge of the situation. “To summon the High Council of the Guild of White Witches we need: cognac—”
“We don’t have any,” said Felix.
“I drank all mine before you arrived,” Santa said. “What we need is a St. Bernard to come strolling through the door.”
Felix laughed. “The way the snow is falling, one may come along any minute. But there again,” he added as he turned serious again, “we’ve only been using cognac because we’re in France. Witches in other countries must use their local spirit. Tequila in Mexico and—”
“—Scotch in Scotland,” I finished.
“Exactly,” he said fishing his flask out of his pocket and shaking it. “There’s just enough left for the summoning ceremony.”
“Where are we going to find a sprig of bay leaves?” I asked.
Neptune stepped forwards. “I can help there. I’ll send one of my minions round to the back of the warehouse, to the bay tree that grows there.”
“Fine. Do it now and hurry him up.”
“A silver goblet for the whisky,” added Felix.
“Done,” said Neptune. “There’s a football trophy in the Harbor Master’s Office. I’ll send a couple of my team to fetch it. They can get in through the cat flap.”
I clapped my hands, forgetting in my excitement that I’d frighten the reindeer who started bleating and making soft little grunts of alarm. Santa called out to them that there was nothing to be afraid of, and they settled down again.
Felix took out his mobile phone, saying, “I’ll find the nearest dolmen. There’s got to be one close by. The countryside is littered with them.”
“Why do you need a dolmen?” asked Santa.
I shrugged. “Just one of those things. We have to perform the ceremony at a dolmen. My mother, Gwinny, who is also a witch though not a very effective one, says it’s because they’re ancient monuments dating back to pre-history, and they represent the portals between this world and others, such as the realm of magical possibility.”
Felix swiped his phone off. “Found one. Only ten minutes away. It’s do-able even against the ticking clock.”
“Oh heavens,” I slapped my hand to my forehead. “We’ve forgotten the most important ingredient, and we don’t have time to go home and search for one.”
“The diamond,” said Felix.
“Yes, I forgot about that. Where are we going to find a diamond at this time of night? We’re in a fish market, for heaven’s sake,” I said as my euphoria at finding a solution gave way to a feeling of hope
lessness.
A deep voice spoke from behind me. Santa was back from calming down his team of reindeer. “Perhaps I can help there.”
“Yes?” asked Felix, barely keeping the skepticism out of his voice. He glanced down at Santa’s hand. “You’re not wearing a ring I see.”
“No,” admitted Santa, “but I’m sure to have a piece of diamond jewelry in amongst all the gifts piled up in my sleigh. It’s just a question of finding one.”
Felix gave me a nudge. “Penzi can use her veni metallice spell. The spell works like a metal detector. Any piece of diamond jewelry will be set in a precious metal.”
I found myself jumping up and down. “Felix, you’re brilliant. That would never have occurred to me.”
“You make a good team,” said Santa leading me over to the sleigh.
“Everyone shut your eyes,” Felix called out. “No one’s allowed to watch Penzi cast her spell.”
I hoped I’d remember it. I took a couple of deep breaths. My brain needed the oxygen to boost my magic energy. The symbols surfaced in my memory and the magic words rose to my tongue. I cast the spell and hurried over to the sleigh anxious to find a diamond as quickly as possible. I waved my arms slowly over the piled up gifts, but it soon became clear that such a mountain of possibilities was confusing the workings of the spell. My arms twirled so madly they were in danger of shooting out of their sockets.
Felix provided a practical and speedy solution. He organized Santa, Sam and Jimbo into unloading the sleigh and setting the packages out in a line along the floor of the market. I started divining for precious metal at the end nearest the sleigh. Several objects were turned up: gold watches, but they were all digital so no diamonds, gold earrings, bracelets, silver tableware and so it went on. Halfway down the line my hands took on a life of their own. We’d found a 24 carat necklace with a solitaire diamond pendant the size of a robin’s egg.
“Quick,” said Felix picking it up. “Anyone got a knife. We have to prize the gem out of its setting.”
“Let me,” said Sam taking the jewelry from Felix and unhooking his knife from his belt.
The cat who’d been sent to fetch the bay leaves had returned during our hunt for the diamond, but we still awaited the couple who’d been dispatched to fetch the silver cup.
Felix took the diamond from Sam. “Go down to the Harbor Master’s Office. I suspect the cats are having trouble carrying the cup back here.”
Sam raised his eyebrows. “Where is it?”
“Out the door and down to the last building. You can’t miss it. The tricouleur will be rolled up on the flagpole above the front door ready to be unfurled tomorrow morning.”
Felix, Jimbo and I sat down on our fish crates again while we waited for Sam and the silver cup to arrive.
“Who exactly are you taking with you to summon the High Council, boss?” Felix asked.
“Santa should come with us. He’ll be able to make his case better than us,” I replied.
Santa gasped. “I can’t leave the reindeer alone. They’re frightened, and the Snarl might manage to find a way in here.”
I looked at Felix. “It would be best if you stayed behind to guard the reindeer.”
Felix shook his head with vigor. “More than my life’s worth. I’m your bodyguard, boss. I stick with you come hell or high water.”
“You’re my protection against the dangers of the mortal world, not the supernatural world. You wouldn’t be any good against the Snarl. It can’t be a natural creature. The more I hear about it, the more I’m convinced it’s a force for evil sent to destroy the joy children experience on Christmas morning.”
“Amen to that,” said Santa.
“Felix, surely nothing in the natural world is going to attack me between here and the dolmen, and back?”
“I’m not prepared to take the risk, and that’s final,” he said.
The three of us could take Jimbo with us and leave Sam to guard the fish market, but I doubted whether he’d be able to mount much of a defense against the Snarl. I tried once more to get Felix to stay behind reminding him that I was protected from supernatural evil by the semper tuens spell which cast an apricot colored aura around me as a cone of protection. The High Council of the White Witches had given me permission to learn the Level Four spell when the witch doctor of the Wazini had made attempts to attack me.
Felix wouldn’t budge. “Boss, you know very well that spell hasn’t been working properly recently. It’s due for its weekly repetition. I’m coming with you and that’s that.”
After discussion we decided that Sam should stay and bar the doors while we were gone. Santa coaxed his reindeer into a circle behind the sleigh, their antlers pointing outwards. Neptune called his cats together and positioned them in a magic ring around the reindeer as reinforcement.
Scarcely had we arranged all this than Sam walked through the door with the two cats in his arms and the silver cup poking out of his coat pocket. We gave him his instructions, packed the ingredients for the summoning of the High Council of the Guild of White Witches into one of Santa’s empty sacks and left the warehouse. Holding Jimbo’s hand I slipped and slid my way through the now freezing snow to our car. Santa was too big to sit in the back, so he took the passenger seat while Felix and Jimbo sat behind me with the sack between them. We turned out of the car park onto the road and had gone an icy hundred yards when Felix cried out, “We’ve forgotten something.”
“No we haven’t,” I said.
“Boss, we don’t have a natural creature with us.”
“Won’t I do?” asked Santa.
Felix and I looked at each other for a moment before shaking our heads. “I’m not sure,” I said. “Aren’t you a supernatural?”
“Oh yes, I forgot about that.”
“What about me?” asked Jimbo.
“No good,” answered Felix. “You’re a human being. It has to be a creature from the animal kingdom.”
There was no help for it. We had to turn round and drive back the way we’d come. This time I risked driving along the icy key right up to the doors of the fish market. Felix rushed inside and came out with one of Neptune’s tribe tucked into his coat, saying that Neptune himself had to stay and look after his gang. I made a dicey K-turn on the frozen key and tore off onto the road. A flash of movement caught my eye in the rear view mirror. The cat Neptune had deputized to accompany us poked his head out of the Felix’s coat. Hardly a cat. He was the tiniest kitten, pure black save for a splash of white between his ears.
“Keep your eyes on the road, boss,” Felix called out in alarm as the car threatened to skid into the ditch.
“But he’s such a cute little thing,” I said as I switched my attention back to the road in front of us.
A high pitched voice from behind me said, “My name is Martin, madame, and I’m strong. I want to help Le Père Noël.”
Santa turned round to the back seat and tickled the little fellow under the chin. “Thank you. I’m glad to have you on my side. You’re a brave cat. As for me, I’m apprehensive about meeting the High Council.”
Felix held the kitten up to the window to watch the countryside whizz past. To Santa Felix said, “They are scary, I grant you, but as long as you mind your P’s and Q’s, you’ll be all right.”
Chapter 6
Exactly ten minutes later we drew up outside a darkened service station where only the brand sign shone down on the pumps.
Santa peered out at the oil smeared forecourt. “It can’t be here,” he said. “How could a portal to other worlds be in such a dingy place?”
Felix checked his phone and the GPS on the dashboard. “It’s here all right. Drive round the back, boss.”
The car bounced over the uneven surface bobbing the headlights up and down until we turned the rear corner and the tarmac evened out. The now steady beams of light picked up the dolmen set diagonally across the far rear corner of the property, up tight against the security fence.
Santa lean
ed forwards in his seat to get a better view. “It doesn’t look promising, Penzi. Quite insalubrious, in fact.”
Santa had a point. The staff had been using the dolmen as their smoking area. Cigarette ends and snack bar wrappers lay inches deep at the foot of the dolmen’s two upright stones. Someone had built a pyramid of beer cans on the topping stone.
I switched off the engine, leaving the headlights on to light the scene. “We don’t have the time to be fussy, sir. And would you mind taking the sack of magic ingredients? Felix has Martin to look after.”
Jimbo climbed out of the car after Santa, his eyes wide with excitement at staying up so late and finding himself in the middle of a magic adventure. I considered telling him to stay in the car, but couldn’t bring myself to spoil his fun. I hoped the High Council would forgive me for introducing another natural human being to witness their appearance in our world. They’d been angry about Felix the first time the two of us had met them.
“Jimbo?” I called back to him. “Please stay close to Santa and don’t speak whatever happens.”
“Oh I won’t,” he said and held onto Santa’s coat until we reached the dolmen.
Santa helped me place the bay leaves, the diamond and the silver cup on the top stone. Felix passed me Martin, took his flask out of his pocket and poured what was left of his precious Laphroaig into the cup.
“Ready everyone?” he asked.
Santa hoisted up his bulky red coat, planted his feet apart and hooked his thumbs into his belt. “What do we do now?”
“Penzi and I will light the whisky and then walk three times round the dolmen in a clockwise direction. You might want to close your eyes on our third lap, sir.”
Santa screwed up his eyes, looked from Felix to the dolmen and back again. “How are you going to get round that thing? In case you haven’t noticed whoever put up the fence has left you no room. You won’t be able to get past the corners.”
True. The problem had flashed across my mind as we walked towards the dolmen, but in the muddle of preparation, it had disappeared. Now, I examined the fit of the dolmen against the property division.
