Page 24 of Run, Run Rudolph (Fairy Godmothers and Other Fiascos #2)

~ Estelle ~

I ’d been following Tamara’s progress tonight, at the ready for when she decided to make a wish. But she’d made no wishes. I’d even been checking the wish catching machine as well as my private, secret wish amplifying app, as if her life depended upon it. Which it likely did.

But no wishes. And things were getting worse. So much worse.

Gram-Gram pulled a chair up to her desk for me to sit in.

Trainees were never invited to sit. We never stayed in the big pink office long enough while giving our reports to worry about it.

But tonight, the two of us were secretly cramming our brains with archaic rules and regulations after pretty much everyone else had left for the day, reading tomes that didn’t even apply to fairy godmothers.

We needed a loophole that would allow us to intervene, and her rosewood desk was buried in books.

The air smelled like ancient paper and dust.

Gram-Gram had even asked me to use my secret, quick index that I’d made for the book of rules to help me find passages faster.

She wasn’t supposed to know about it, as I hadn’t asked permission to use tech.

It made me wonder what else she knew about.

But more concerning was that she was looking for ways to circumvent Mrs. Claus’s authority, should it come to that tonight.

Because if something didn’t fix Tamara’s growing problems soon, we were going to have to alert the authorities. And Mrs. Claus. And that was the last thing we wanted to do.

The offices were quiet, and I took a moment to take in the peace.

Even the wishing machine in the corner of the bullpen was almost silent.

Normally, the head fairy was home by now, along with everyone else.

But tonight we were both still here, and I was very aware that this might be my last few hours as a fairy godmother.

By not alerting the magical world authorities about the shroud breach, we were breaking protocol.

We could get pulled into the Magical Court of Rules and have our titles as fairy godmothers stripped.

But it turned out Gram-Gram had a soft spot for the reindeer, and didn’t want them to get in trouble. She’d kind of paled when I told her they were drunk, and that had been the reason Tamara had hit Rudolph with her car.

That wasn’t enough reason for us breaking protocol, though.

If we tattled about the breach and growing list of problems, we could absolutely blow up Christmas, which was Mrs. Claus’s domain.

With it being so close to reindeer take-off time, she had the power to make snap judgements if anyone was caught interfering with the holiday.

She could even do it without taking them to trial in the magical courts, and we feared tonight’s transgressions might tip her angry black magic over the edge of reasonableness.

We could send her into a rage that might cause her to destroy the holiday out of spite.

We were taking a risk, but it was a calculated one.

Dread poured through me as my imagination supplied me with plenty of things to worry about. Gram-Gram began pacing in her large office, the big book she’d been reading, ignored.

She was frowning, not looking all that inspired.

She stopped beside my chair. “We need loopholes!”

“We do,” I agreed.

“You’re good at loopholes.”

I smiled proudly. I’d found a few of those last summer. I’d even received a creativity award because of it.

“Now!” She clapped her hands. “We need some now .”

“Right!” I jumped, brain scrambling for purchase on my slippery thoughts. “But Tamara hasn’t made a wish.”

“I know.”

“She’s afraid of the cost.”

“We’ve been over this. She’s out of trial offers.”

“I know.” But there had to be a loophole there.

Accounting wouldn’t give us a coupon for Tamara to use, unless we told them everything.

If we did that, they’d go straight to the shroud’s security team and things would get really messy, very quickly.

“I suggested she use Char’s credits, but she didn’t want to.

Wait! What if Char made a wish on Tamara’s behalf? ”

Gram-Gram inhaled through her teeth. “Risky.”

“I know. But if I stick to the rules. Like maybe…” I paused, thinking my way into and around loopholes and rules.

“What if Char wishes that she’d called Tamara earlier tonight—before the accident—and kept her talking on the phone for too long.

That would make Tamara later getting home, and she’d miss hitting Rudolph! ”

Gram-Gram stared at me for a full, lengthy beat before grabbing my arm and shuffling me off to the privacy of our late fairy, Paxi’s, office. “Splitting spell. Now. Go see Char. I’ll watch the door.”

I cleared my throat, feeling awkward as I stood in Char’s hotel room, waiting for her to notice me. She was snuggled up on a couch in front of the TV with James, the patio door open, an ocean breeze rippling the curtain. It was chilly, but nothing like Canada right now.

“Char!” I whisper-shouted, even though I knew James couldn’t see or hear me.

Her head turned slowly, and her look suggested she was unimpressed by my arrival.

“Be right back,” she told James, planting a quick kiss on his temple while she extracted herself from his arms. He pulled her back for a noisy, passionate kiss that made me look away.

The two were very much in love, and I was pleased for her.

I hoped she had children soon. Trish was gaining experience with granting wishes to new moms, and it looked like a lot of fun.

It would be a new challenge, too, because of all the rules around impacting the lives of others with a wish, and new moms made a lot of wishes surrounding their baby’s behaviours and futures.

Plus, babies were super cute with their pudgy little arms and legs, and those uninhibited toothless smiles and giggles, and I’d have an excuse to watch over them.

“What are you doing here? What’s wrong?” Char whispered, once she’d locked us in the bathroom. The floor was tiled in orange and blue, and it was very festive and fun. It seemed they liked colours down in Mexico, or at least more than they did in Canada.

“Nothing’s wrong,” I said mildly. No need to start her off with panic.

Actually, no. I did want her to panic. I needed her to step in for Tamara.

“Then why did you bust in here? Haven’t you ever heard of privacy?”

“Oh, but—” I shook my head, realizing we were already heading off on a tangent, which was typical for most of our conversations. I stated firmly, “Everything’s wrong.”

Char immediately looked to the door where James was watching TV on its other side.

“He’s fine. It’s Tamara.”

Char crossed her arms. “You were supposed to help her. You were supposed to contact Santa.”

“I can’t, and Tamara needs to be extracted from a very sticky magical situation.”

“Sounds like a job for you.”

“And you.”

“Me?” Her voice went loud and she immediately hushed herself, whispering frantically, “What do you mean, ‘me?’ I’m on vacation. I didn’t do anything.”

“I need you to make a wish on Tamara’s behalf.”

“What? Why?” She was instantly suspicious. Why did these women find it so difficult to trust their fairy godmother?

“You have credits. Please use them to help extract her.”

“I told her she can use them.”

“She won’t.”

“Well, what am I supposed to wish for?” She was shaking her head. “There are so many ways this can backfire. And isn’t it wrong for me to interfere with someone else’s agency?”

“She—or you—just needs to wish that she was a few minutes earlier or later hitting the road tonight. It will solve everything. A near miss that will be even better than a mile.” I grinned at my use of a human expression.

“A miss is as good as a mile,” Char corrected.

I was so close.

“So, please agree to make a wish that will create a miss as good as a mile for your friend.”

“Ohhhh,” Char said, head tipping back. “I know why she won’t make a wish.”

“But I told her she can use your credits.”

Char was smiling softly, and slowly shaking her head. My confidence in my plan faltered. “We can grant her permission.”

Char was still shaking her head.

“Don’t you want her to be safe? She’s meddling with a very important holiday. She’ll end up in the Magical Court of Rules.”

Char’s smile wavered, and I could see her concern growing for her friend. I pressed on. “She needs extraction. We need tonight to have never happened.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I think she finally kissed Haden.”