Jack lifted the latch and then pulled the door open, revealing the majestic creature in all his glory. The crowd gasped and began pointing at him. Elementary school children pushed through the adults’ legs to see what all the fuss was about. School must have just gotten out. Billy’s blue hat bobbed on the outside of the crowd and then disappeared in the direction of home. He must be going to see if Snowflake was still there. An ugly taste filled Forest’s mouth for what he had to do.
A girl in a pink coat gasped and covered her mouth. “Is that one of Santa’s reindeer?” she asked excitedly.
“He was for a while,” answered Forest. He rubbed between Dunder’s eyes. His chest expanded with love for Dunder and every reindeer in their care. “Now he’s our reindeer king, overseeing the herd and making sure they behave themselves.”
Dunder snorted in agreement, bringing laughter and giggles from the crowd. He sauntered down the ramp, where Jack met him at the bottom and took hold of his harness. Not that Dunder needed anyone to hold him, but the people were more relaxed when they thought a wrangler was in control.
“How fast does he fly?” asked another kid.
The boy standing next to him punched him in the arm. “Reindeer don’t fly, idiot.”
“They do too, Jordan,” said the girl in the front, stomping her foot for emphasis. “And you’re not getting any presents this year cuz you’re on the bad list.”
So this was Jordan.
Jack held up a hand to quiet the murmurs. “Now, now. No need to fight. I can call the North Pole right now and find out who’s on the list and who isn’t.”
Forest grinned. They’d done this routine a number of times when hired for Christmas parties and the like. Of course, for those events they didn’t usually take an actual flying reindeer. For one, they’d had a drought of reindeer who could control their flight. For two, they didn’t take risks exposing the reindeer as flying reindeer. For all governmental purposes, they kept a herd of average reindeer who were on the extinction list.
Predictably, Jordan gave them a saucy look. “I’m not worried.”
Jack patted his shoulder. “That’s what I like to see—confidence.” He dialed the phone and hit the speaker button.
“Ho Ho Ho, North Pole,” said Ginger. “Ginger Kringle speaking.”
“Ginger! Jack here.”
“Ho Ho Ho, I can read the caller ID.”
Forest and Pax exchanged an amused look.
“Do you have a second? I wanted to check a name on the List.”
“I’m working through the Cs for the second time right now.” The crowd muttered in response to this. “What’s the name?” she asked.
Jack looked at Jordan. “Jordan …?”
“Carmichael,” Jordan filled in. His eyes were wider than before, and he looked from face to face for reassurance and didn’t find any.
“Jordan Carmichael? Hmmm …” Ginger played her part well. Then again, she was Santa, so it was just her being her. “Well, I have him down for harassing younger kids at school for believing in Santa. Says here he doesn’t think reindeer can fly, either.”
The crowd gasped. The little girl put her hand on her hip and smirked at Jordan. Jordan turned green, as did several other kids his age.
“He’s borderline Naughty List. But if he can pull it together, I could still drop off that video game he wrote me about.”
“You wrote Santa and then said she wasn’t real?” gasped the girl. She looked ready to tear him apart.
“Tell April I know when she’s been bad or good, so be good for goodness’ sake,” said Ginger.
The little girl’s mouth fell open—as did all the kids’ and adults’.How did Ginger know her name?mumbled the crowd. No one said it out loud.Did you hear anyone say her name?
Forest laughed. That was the icing on the Christmas cookie. How cool was his job? He got to work with Santa—that’s how cool it was.
“It’s been good talking to you Santa.” Jack winked at the crowd. “I’ll see you on Christmas Eve.”
“No, you won’t.I know when you are sleeping,” Ginger sang, and then she cut off the call.
The crowd chuckled and then burst into applause. Jordan shoved his way out of the crowd. The kid had a lot to think about. Forest watched him go, and then his eyes fell on Mitzi as she made her way across the street from the hardware store.
