“I was going to make a good stew, homemade bread, and a cake,” Peppermint told Marty. Boy, was Marty in a fussy mood. Getting lost could do that to a man Marty's age.
“Hey, a stew sounds perfect, Peppermint.” Chris spoke in an enthusiastic voice. Someone had to lighten up the situation.
Chris' rosy cheeks and glowing eyes had a way of turning a single smile into a mountain of hope and laughter. The man truly did resemble the heart of Santa Claus...minus the beard, of course. Ralphie had seen photos of the jolly old fat man plenty of times growing up. Christmas in Brooklyn had never been joyous, of course, but growing up, Ralphie always hoped Santa Claus would pay him a visit. No such luck. By the age of eight, Ralphie decided Santa Claus was a rip-off, a scam, and one big fat lie. Still...as he looked at Chris...Ralphie could have sworn the man was actually Santa Claus. Why? Ralphie had no idea. Maybe he was going insane?
“What...happened?” Sandy began to wake up. Her eyes fluttered open for a second, closed, and then fluttered open again. Candy's concerned face appeared. “Are you...an angel? You're very beautiful and your eyes glow.”
“No, honey, I'm not an angel.” Candy gently pressed the cold washcloth she was holding against Sandy's forehead. “You fainted.”
“Fainted?”
“Ayo, Valley Girl, the old man sitting next to me spooked you real good,” Ralphie called out.
“You had a fright,” Candy confirmed.
“A fright?” Sandy's eyes fluttered again but managed to remain open. “Did I really faint?”
“Afraid so.” Candy nodded. “Honey, do you think you can stand up?”
“I can try.”
“Chris, help me...be careful...” Candy stood up and then, with Chris' help, managed to lift Sandy up onto her legs. “Let's take her over to the kitchen table.”
“Easy.” Chris eased Sandy over to the kitchen table.
Sandy felt wobbly and uncertain, but she managed to sit down next to Betty. “My head feels, like...all fuzzy and all.”
“You'll be okay, honey,” Candy promised. “I'll get you a glass of water.”
“I didn't mean to scare you,” Marty apologized to Sandy. He tossed down his donut and folded his arms together. “I got lost and ended up in a hidden upstairs hallway. I heard someone walking by and I looked through the back of a painting and saw you. Then you saw me and took off screaming like the end of the world had arrived.”
“Like...I think I remember...” Sandy rubbed her eyes. “Like, I never fainted before.”
“Quit sayinglike,” Ralphie fussed.
“Like, shut up...jerk,” Sandy snapped at Ralphie. “Fainting isn't, like, rad or anything.”
Candy gave Sandy a glass of cold water. “Drink, honey,” she urged. Sandy accepted the water and took a sip. “Good.”
“Well, now that the emergency is over,” Peppermint announced, “how about everyone get settled in. Sandy, your room is next to Betty's, close to the picture with the eyes,” Peppermint finished in a teasing voice.
“Like, totally not funny,” Sandy fussed. “I'm, like, going to have nightmares!”
“No, you won't,” Peppermint promised. “Once you explore this old place and get used to all the hallways−even the hidden ones−you'll stop being scared. As a matter of fact, this old place will start to feel like home to you.”
“It's creepy,” Sandy told Peppermint.
“Just wait until we get all the Christmas decorations up...and hey, you haven't even seen the library yet.” Peppermint snapped his fingers together. “Come on, you two,” he ordered Sandy and Ralphie, “let's go.”
“You'll love the library,” Candy promised. “Blizzard, Snowball, go with them.”
“Well...like, okay, I guess.” Sandy didn't sense anything bad about Peppermint. In fact, she sensed a strange connection to the man she couldn't explain. Sandy had only just met Peppermint, but there was a connection. Weird. Sandy usually didn't feel connected to themalepart of the population. Guys treated her like a pretty object to look at, a brain-dead object that was expected to be thrilled about being taken out for fast food.
“I can deal with a library. Let's move, but before we do…” Ralphie pointed at the plate of donuts sitting on the kitchen table, “…next time get some chocolate donuts with them little sprinkles I like. I said what I said.”
Chris grinned. TheCalzoneliked little colored sprinkles on his donuts. Neat.
“I'll make a mental note.” Peppermint laughed. “Marty, you want to see the library again?”
