‘We live in a small town, everyone knows everyone,’Quinn said. ‘Zara wears purple a lot so a lot of people would have seen that. Alex often has peonies in a vase in the front window so people would have spotted that too. It’s someone who pays attention, I’ll give you that, but I wouldn’t necessarily be looking that close to home.’
Alex stared at him and he knew he’d said too much.
‘But I feel sure we’ll catch them on this stakeout. They won’t be expecting someone to be watching out for them,’ Quinn said.
‘They might be in disguise,’ Zara said.
‘They might be,’ Quinn said, an idea forming in his mind.
‘We could go in disguise too,’ Zara suggested.
He wasn’t sure what the point of that would be but he’d happily sit in a car dressed as a clown or whatever disguise Zara wanted, if that made her happy.
They joined the crowds that were lining the streets ready for Santa’s big arrival. He was coming from the direction of Mistletoe Farm, just up the hill, so a few people had already gathered along the roads from that direction, to get a clearer view of him and the reindeer, but most people wanted to see him arrive at Christmas Cottage so were surrounding the roads around Christmas Gardens.
As Quinn also lived in the cottage, he had set up the best spot to welcome Santa. They were going to stand in the doorway of the little shed next to the house so they could watch Santa pull right up to the house.
He ushered the women through the gardens and upthe driveway and then unlocked the shed so they could stand in the doorway, out of the way of reindeer hooves but close enough to feel the warmth from their breath.
As the town clock chimed five o’clock, everyone fell silent, listening for the tell-tale sound of the jingle bells on the reindeers’ harnesses.
After a minute or two, someone yelled that he was coming and the crowd of people waiting to get a glimpse of the big man started whispering excitedly among themselves. Then Quinn heard it, the soft jingle of the bells which grew louder as Santa got closer. People started cheering, shouting and waving. Then he saw the tops of the reindeers’ antlers and Santa’s hat, peeping out above the heads of the crowds. He quickly lifted Zara up to sit on his shoulders, hoping she would get a better view from up there.
Santa did one complete circuit of the road around the outside of Christmas Gardens before coming up the driveway and they got their first unhindered view of him and the reindeer.
The sleigh was bright red with gold edges. A huge sack full of beautifully wrapped presents sat in the back behind the big man himself, who was dressed in a deep red velvet suit lined with white fur and accented with gold buttons. There wasn’t quite enough snow for it to be dragged along like a real sleigh, so there were wheels secreted inside the sleigh runners – you’d have to look really closely to see them but Quinn knew they were there. But the most impressive thing was the eight real reindeer marching along, heads held high, their velvetantlers glistening in the Christmas lights. They were wearing red and gold leather harnesses that had bells all over. The whole thing looked utterly spectacular.
Santa waved at the crowds as he pulled the reindeer to a stop right outside Christmas Cottage. One of the workers from the farm, dressed as an elf, stepped forward to take control of the reindeer and, with a wave and a big ‘Ho, ho, ho,’ Santa stepped off the sleigh and walked into the house.
None of the children would be meeting Santa that night because those meetings were smaller, quieter, more intimate moments when Santa took the time to chat to all of the children, so there were scheduled meetings over the next few days for that. But the children were allowed to come up and say hello to the reindeer, who would also be there for the next few days, under the careful eye of the farm workers who owned the reindeer.
Some people were already making their way up the drive to meet the reindeer so Quinn quickly ushered Zara forward to stroke them before the crowds descended.
‘They’re beautiful,’ Zara said reverentially, holding out a hand to stroke one of the creatures’ velvety necks.
The farm worker handed Zara a handful of lichen and directed her to hold her hand flat. Her eyes lit up with pure joy as the reindeer whiffled it out of her hand.
More people came up to stroke the reindeer and Quinn took a few steps back to allow other children room to meet these majestic beasts. But he kept an eyeon Zara, enjoying how much she was loving meeting them.
Just then Max walked over and clapped him on the back. ‘Hey mate, are you free tonight?’
‘Yes, for a few hours anyway.’
‘Great, can you do me a huge favour?’
‘Of course, whatever you need. Although I was going to ask you to do me one, so maybe I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine,’ Quinn said.
‘Yeah sure, I’m happy to help.’
‘You haven’t heard what I need from you yet,’ Quinn pointed out. ‘You might run a mile once you hear.’
‘Whatever you need, I’m there,’ Max said.
Quinn smiled. ‘OK, let’s deal with your favour first. How can I help?’
‘Can you be Cleo’s plus one on Alex’s date tonight? I said I’d do it but I have to work.’
He’d obviously misheard, there were a lot of people around.
