“Only because Evil Elfie keeps tattling on me. Oh, and so do you.” Cat scowled at Rafael. “Now, Santa is going to leave coal in my stocking!”
“I’m pretty sure that my elf was tattling on me too! Oh, poor Cat.” Immy rubbed her back. “You’ve been good most of the year, though, right? Surely you won’t get any coal.”
“Hmm.” Cat tapped her chin.
Uh-oh, if she had to think about it this hard then the answer probably wasn’t a good one.
“Never mind,” Immy told her hastily. “Let’s go sledding and forget all of that. I’m sure you’ll still get some gifts.”
“I’m starting to feel a bit left out that I didn’t have an elf,” Maeve said.
“Don’t be,” Cat told her. “You won’t sit comfortably for the whole time they’re here.”
“Oh, have you heard anything from Faith?” Maeve asked Cat.
“Yes! Alejandro spoke to Reuben this morning. They got caught in a storm. Apparently, they’re hoping to get through by car and Alfie and Ralph are going to fly back here to be with their families for Christmas.”
“I’m just glad they’re all right,” Maeve said. “I know Faith didn’t want to get on the plane.”
“She was doing so well at flying, too,” Cat said as they walked through the forest to the bottom of the cleared sled track. The Scot was still pulling the sled while Rafael kept his gaze on their surroundings.
Surely they were safe here? What was he searching for?
“Is everything okay?” Immy asked him in concern. “Should we not be out here?”
“What? Oh no, everything is fine,” Rafael told her.
“Rafael just likes to be prepared. Maeve, where are you going to watch from?” Cat asked.
“Actually, I might wait down here and take photos.”
“You’re not sledding?” the Scot asked Maeve.
She shook her head.
He and Rafael shared a look.
“I’ll wait down here, you stay up there,” Rafael said. “I’ve let the others know where we are. I think some of their guys were going to come out and watch.”
The Scot nodded and walked up the slope with the two of them.
“Do you want to go first, Immy?” Cat asked.
“No, you show me how it’s done.” Now that she was out here, she felt a bit nervous as well as excited.
But as she watched Cat fly down the slope, her excitement grew. It was like flying!
“She’s not going to be happy when she realizes she has to tug it back up here on her own,” the Scot said with amusement. “No, wait, here’s Tobias. He’ll probably help her.”
Immy smiled wide and waved at her man who waved back. He grabbed the sled from Cat and started pulling it back up.
“Soo,” the Scot said. “You want to tell me why you guys really wanted to go into town?”
Uh-oh.
How long until Tobias got up here?
Cupcakes, he was taking his time as Cat chatted to him.
