Page 35 of Run, Run Rudolph (Fairy Godmothers and Other Fiascos #2)

“I’ve got it,” he said, giving my shoulder a squeeze, and I leaned into him momentarily, relieved. “You and the elf go check on Rudolph and Santa.”

“I have a name ,” Snarky said.

“Sorry, Snarky,” I muttered.

“It’s Hugo!”

The elf and I entered the barn where Rudolph was keeping an eye on the concussed Santa while Haden dutifully began tackling the issue of figuring out how to get a broken sleigh and drunk reindeer off the barn roof.

“Was that Mrs. Claus?” Rudolph asked when we reached his stall. “Did they land on the roof?”

“Mrs. Claus?” Santa perked up from his spot on the bale near Dolly. “She came?”

Rudolph shushed him and with a mumble, Santa dipped his head back down, as though deciding to nap.

“Um…” I glanced at the elf to see if he wanted to break the news to his reindeer friend—or foe, or whatever their relationship happened to be.

“Your drunken colleague landed the broken sleigh on the roof,” Snarky announced. “Apparently, he doesn’t understand instructions. Surprise, surprise.”

“Haden is dealing with it,” I said with a calmness that surprised me. I gave snoring Santa a pointed look. “Have you been waking him up?”

Rudolph had been under strict instructions to wake Santa every half an hour.

I realized now that my directions had been myopic.

Not only did the reindeer lack a watch, but he also probably couldn’t tell time.

Further, his sense of time seemed to differ from mine here in the regular world.

And then there was also the fact that, due to the painkillers, Rudolph kept dozing off as well.

“Santa?” I gave his thick shoulder a gentle shake. “Santa? Can you wake up? Do you know where you are?”

“Well! Hello there, Tamara Madden from Eagle Ridge,” he said warmly. “What would you like for Christmas this year?” He tipped his head to the side, giving me a gentle, playful look. “And you know I can’t deliver a boyfriend. Not a real, live one at least!”

He gave me a meaningful wink, and I shuddered. Beside me, the elf snickered.

“I’m working on it here on my own. So, you can scratch that off your list!” I said cheerfully. “No magic or wishes required!”

My mind immediately flitted to Char last summer.

She was a wishing machine, and had thought her new boyfriend was under a love spell, thanks to Estelle and a poorly made wish.

It hadn’t been easy for her, believing that he only loved her due to magic.

That kind of extra emotional turmoil, while falling in love and sorting out all of those fun insecurities about whether a guy likes you or not, wasn’t something I felt the need to repeat.

And knowing that Santa had nothing to do with Haden’s desire to kiss me tonight was reassuring.

“Santa, do you know where you are?” I asked, refocusing my efforts on the problems at hand.

Maybe this year was the last time I’d need to ask for love. My mom was going to be delighted I’d found someone…although she might be perturbed that I was hopping my way across the branches of the Powell family tree.

“I am here with you, Tamara Madden. And look, there’s Rudolph. Hello, old friend.”

“Hello, Santa,” Rudolph replied cheerfully.

“ Santa , bring me a boyfriend ,” Snarky said in a high-pitched voice, just loud enough that I could hear him, but quiet enough that Santa and Rudolph would probably miss it.

I whirled, giving the elf my best glare. Oh, how I longed to punt that big-eared annoyance right out of my barn and straight into the New Year.

Satisfied by how Hugo had rocked on his heels in surprise after my split-second glowering, I turned back to Santa. That’s right, you little punk. I could be scary. It might be a facade, as everyone pretty much knew I was a small-town softie.

Except my kindergarteners. Okay, okay, they were onto me, too. They respected my authority because they were five, and I helped them open tough packages and containers at snack time.

There was another thump on the roof.

“Is Mrs. Claus here?” Santa asked, perking up again. Then, like a memory hit him, his expression quieted and he let out a sad little “Oh.”

I was already getting too warm in the barn, thanks to Santa’s magic, and I pulled off my coat.

“Santa, do you have some magic that could help Rudolph?”

“What a festive sweatshirt,” Santa said, and I looked down at the ‘Oh, what fun it is to ride’ horse graphic on my front. “I do enjoy your spirit. Always have.”

“Really?” I couldn’t help but beam at him. “Thanks. My Oma and I do a new sweater every year.”

“She has a good sense of humour,” he said, his eyes twinkling. My smile dropped.

“How do you know?”

He winked and tapped the side of his nose with his index finger. What did that mean? He was spying on my Oma?

He began cheerily humming Jingle Bells .

I resisted the urge to drag another bale over for me to sit on and sing carols with Santa Claus while forgetting about our little time crunch. Instead, with a reluctant sigh, I asked, “Santa, Rudolph hurt his leg, and he needs to pull your sleigh in a few hours. Are you able to heal him?”

My eyes drifted to the barn roof, where all the banging and scuffling was coming from.

I didn’t want to know what was going on up there, or what kind of danger Haden might be putting himself in, as it basically sounded like hooves were pulling a sack of lumber across the shingles.

Sadly, I didn’t think that assessment was too far off, with the once pristine sleigh being the lumber.

If Santa could heal Rudolph, maybe he could deal with the sleigh after that.

“Oh, are you hurt, Rudolph?” Santa said tenderly, his kind blue eyes turning to his reindeer friend.

Rudolph nodded sadly. “This woman hit me with her car.”

Oh, heck no.

“Santa, would you like to hear the full story?” I said firmly, giving Rudolph a stern look. He blinked at me with giant, gooey reindeer eyes filled with pain and innocence. Dang, he was good.

“Look! There’s Tamara Madden,” Santa said. He gave me a cheery wink. “You know I can’t deliver you a boyfriend for Christmas.”

“Okay. That’s fine.” Feeling snippy, I added, “I’ll talk to Estelle about it instead.”

“Estelle!” Momentarily, the fog in Santa’s eyes faded and a look of alarm flashed before he saw Snarky. Then he leaned forward, eager and intense. “Hugo? You’re here? Is Mrs. Claus okay? Has she sent me a message? Is she making the oats?”

“I’m sure she’ll make the oats,” I said impatiently.

“I just need you to heal your lead reindeer as well as your muddled-up, bruised brain. That’s why you’re here!

To fix things. And as a cherry on top, could you also sober up Blitzen, and get your broken sleigh off the roof of my barn?

And then fix it, so it’ll fly? Can you do that?

Please? Because that’s what I actually, truly and very deeply, want for Christmas this year. ”

Beside me, Snarky sat in the straw and began whimpering and rocking. Santa, however, simply blinked at me a few times.

I braced for the irritating broken record of him being surprised to see me, Tamara Madden of Eagle Ridge. His jovial sweetness was so innocent, I couldn’t stay upset, but it was still incredibly irritating.

“Rudolph is hurt?” he asked seriously, no hint of the jovial, blundering man I’d been dealing with for the past hour or so. It was like a moment of clarity, allowing me to finally see the man who ran the North Pole.

“Yes,” I said firmly, afraid he was going to revert back to fun-loving, loopy Santa any second. “What can we do to help him heal quickly?”

Santa’s gaze slowly shifted to the elf who was still hugging himself in the straw. His voice was firm and commanding. “Hugo?”

“Yes, sir!” The elf jumped to his feet, practically vibrating with eagerness.

“A potion to heal Rudolph.”

“On it, sir!”

Santa patted the elf’s back. “I’ve missed you, Hugo,” he said soberly.

“I’ve missed you, too,” the elf said, his voice trembling.

“Come in for a hug, will you?” Santa put out his arms, folding the little elf into his embrace. And in that moment, I didn’t see Snarky the meanie narc, but rather a hurt, lost elf who saw Santa like a father. One he’d been estranged from for months, not unlike a small child of divorce.

Blinking back tears, and aware that the banging, dragging and clopping of hooves up above had ceased, I gave the men a minute, and went outside to see how Haden was faring.

Out in the yard, Haden was looking up at the roof, left hand on his hip, right hand shining the beam of his giant flashlight upward. I followed the beam, but saw nothing beyond the darkness and falling snowflakes.

“How’s it going?” I asked.

He grunted.

“That good, eh?” I stood beside Haden in the freezing cold, shivering and stamping my feet to try and ward off the freezing air nipping at me.

He put an arm around me, pulling me against his side. “You should go back inside where it’s warm.”

“I wanted to tell you that it sounds like Hugo can make something that’ll help Rudolph.”

“He can make a healing drink if he has the right ingredients,” a voice behind me said. I jumped and whirled to find Blitzen blinking at me.

“You’re down here again!” I searched the area for the sleigh. When I didn’t see it, I looked up again.

“In the spring, I’m going to have to re-shingle in a few places for you,” Haden said, finally turning away from the barn.

“Where’s the sleigh?”

“Over there,” Blitzen said. Now that I knew where to look, I could see its faint outline. It wasn’t a pile of kindling. At least not completely. But, even from a distance, it was clear something was quite wrong with it.

“I was thinking you and I could bring it the rest of the way inside,” Haden said carefully. “Blitzen has worked so hard.”

“Yes, of course.” I nodded, one eye on Haden. I turned to Blitzen. “Why didn’t anyone say something about Hugo’s healing mumbo-jumbo?”

“You didn’t ask.”

I threw my hands in the air. “How am I supposed to know about the magical world?”