Page 7 of Holly and Ivar
Was there, though?For Holly, being a Santa was everything.Her goal.Her identity.Her legacy.She didn’t need hobbies or a social life; she had purpose.And that was enough.
“So,” she said tightly, “are you firing me?”
Adam laughed his deep, familiar Santa laugh.“Firing you?Of course not!We just want you to take a break.”
“But you’re dividing my region.”
“Likely, yes,” Shelly said, “but we’d never do it without your input.For now, though, we’re insisting you take some time off.”
“A vacation?”Holly repeated, incredulous.“Now?A month before Christmas?”
“Think of it as a working holiday,” Shelly said, cheerful as ever.“A change of scenery.It might do you good.”
Adam reached into a drawer and pulled out a folder.“If we’re building a new workshop, we need a new location and a new power source.One of our scouts located a potential Yule vein in a Vermont forest.The property’s just gone up for sale."He slid the folder across the desk to Holly."So, we’d like you to assess the site and determine whether the Yule vein is powerful enough for our needs.”
Holly opened the folder.“And this can’t wait?”
“No,” Adam replied.“The property has already been on the market for a few weeks now.If this has what we need, we'll have to move fast.”
She took a moment to scan the report.“Winterwood?”
“That’s the nearest town,” Shelly said.
“You’re not planning another Mistletoe setup, are you?”Holly asked.Her brother Martin had established his workshop right in town, hidden in plain sight.
Adam shook his head.“No.This will be one of our traditional hidden villages.”
The room fell quiet except for the soft ticking of the clocks on the wall.
The thought of dividing her region still stung, but neither her aunt nor her father seemed angry, so this wasn’t a demotion.Maybe it was a test to assess her adaptability, her leadership, her readiness for the next step.If that was the case, then she’d do it, and she’d do it better than anyone else.
Fine, then.She'd go to Winter-where-ever, find the Yule vein, make her report, and get back to NED with a few weeks left before Christmas Eve.How hard could it be?
“All right,” she told them.“Consider it done.When do I leave?”
CHRISTMAS EVE COUNTDOWN
DAYS
5
santa-mental value
Holly
Oneweeklater,Hollypaced across her kitchen, reviewing her list for at least the tenth time.Warm clothes.Toiletries.Hiking boots.Laptop.Tablet.
She had a nagging sensation that she was forgetting something, but what?
Crossing into her bedroom, she reached for the suitcase stored on the top closet shelf.Dust puffed down in a soft gray cloud.Right.It had been a while.She rarely traveled overnight.The ability to travel somewhere in an instant was one of the perks of Santa magic.
But that’s not how she planned to travel to Winterwood, so she wiped the case off and set it on the bed.
She checked off items under theWarm Clothescategory: jeans.hiking pants, long johns (because she really hated being cold), long-sleeve shirts, sweaters, more sweaters, wool socks, and flannel pajamas.
How much of each?What if the trip took longer than a few days?If she were delayed in Winterwood with Christmas so close, extra clothes would be the least of her worries, but she added extras anyway.
Rolling her clothes with precision, she organized them neatly inside the bag.Then frowned.Too many sweaters.She climbed onto the bed, sat on the suitcase, and pressed down.The zipper refused to cooperate.
