Mr. Claus

Chapter 4

The North Pole had a big problem.

Blixem was missing, and it was the last day of September. Elmore's day had started out pretty normal. He'd gone to get breakfast, washed dishes, and walked to the main stables. When he got to the stables, he noticed a missing set of eyes on him. It wasn't uncommon for the main eight to jump the fences and walk around town, but when that happened, everyone knew about it. There was little chance Blixem was with the other reindeer, as she hated most other animals and wouldn't like the crowd. He walked through the barn three times, and then headed towards the workshop to tell Mr. Cranberry.

"Elm!" Elmore was interrupted by an enthusiastic shout. Felix was waving at him from just outside the workshop. He closed the distance between the two, and then continued, "how are your burns feeling? I'm sorry I couldn't help any further, I had to feed Freddie's cat right after I took you home."

"That's alright Felix, thanks for the help. I feel okay right now. Every once in a while I move funny and that feels like hell but other than that I'm great."

Felix smiled at him. "Last day of September huh? October party is tomorrow, and then we've got three months before the big night. You feeling the nerves yet?" he asked.

"Not yet, I usually start getting them around the November party. Have you seen Blixem around? I couldn't find her this morning." Elmore asked.

"Nope, I haven't seen her, she definitely hasn't showed up in town yet. I'll spread the word though."

"Thanks Felix. I'll see you later."

Felix grinned at him, patted his back, and strolled towards the fence. Probably going for a morning ride. Elmore walked into the workshop, and started to look for Mr. Cranberry. He wasn't at his usual station, so Elmore went to see if he was having lunch in the hall. The first person he saw in the hall, however, was Elliot. Elliot was the young chef who launched molten stew at him.

When Elliot saw him, he ran over and started apologising, so fast Elmore could barely get a word in. "Elliot don't worry about it. You made a mistake and you've gotten your consequences, nobody blames you."

"Doing extra dishes doesn't fix the fact that I burned you all over. I'm really so sorry Elmore."

Elmore knew Elliot from his work in the kitchen, and he knew that Elliot would never do anything to cause him harm, so he told him that, and went on his way to find Mr. Cranberry.

Mr. Cranberry finally returned to his station an hour later. Elmore stood in front of him, and was about to tell him about Blixem, when Mr. Cranberry exclaimed, "Elmore!" Three people shouting his name on the same day was new. "I've been looking for you everywhere kid! The big guy needs to talk to you urgently." That did not sound good to Elmore, regardless of the fact that Mr. Cranberry was grinning from ear to ear.

"About?"

"You'll find out. Get on your way!" That was that then. Elmore figured if he was already going to be there, he may as well just tell Mr. Claus about Blixem himself. He walked through the halls, and stopped at the large wood door for the second time that week. He knocked.

"Come in." He did.

"Mr. Claus?" This time, the side door was closed, and Mr. Claus was sitting at his giant wooden desk. Elmore shut the door behind him and sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"Elmore, do you know how elves are assigned their tasks?" Mr. Claus asked. What was this?

"I suppose I know the gist of it, maybe not in detail." He replied. Mr Claus nodded. His face seemed to be in a permanent frown, and he had bags under his eyes, as if he had stayed up till dawn.