Reindeer James

Chapter 5

Snow crunched under James's boots as Susie led him to the reindeer stables. Lovingly carved busts of the nine most famous reindeer watched over the visitors from above the entryway, with a warm red glow shining from a light bulb in the center one's nose.

Susie tugged her peppermint facemask tighter. "Holy chestnuts, they reek!" she said as she waved the air in front of her face. "I swear it always smells like all nine thousand of them farted at once."

"It's not that bad," James said, despite not bothering with a mask himself. He peeked into the reindeer's stalls, waving at each of them. "Dad smells worse after he eats too much of Mom's fruitcake."

Susie's laughter quickly turned into a coughing fit. The elves working there turned to scowl at her. Not a single one of them wore a mask whether they were shoveling vegetables into troughs, combing knots out of frost-tipped fur, or even wheeling away wheelbarrows full of reindeer poop.

"Go easy on her, guys," called out a booming voice. A tall, broad-shouldered elf with a black beard as bristly as a pine tree dipped his head at them. "What brings you here?"

"We came to check on a delivery," Susie said. "Any word on when the bakery can expect their ingredients to arrive?"

"They're for my dad's cookies," James said, his stomach letting out a low moan at the thought of having to do without dessert.

"You're Santa's boy, aren't you?" At James's nod, the stable master rubbed his temples. "Frosty's pipe, they should have told us they were for the big guy sooner! Everybody's been busy prepping for the Games, and I can't spare anybody until after all the reindeer have eaten dinner."

"Not even one of the apprentices, Gabe?" Susie asked. "Shouldn't take too long to haul over some flour."

"Not unless you have somebody willing to head out with it." Gabe ran a hand through his beard. "We're scrambling like kids on Christmas morning as it is, so I can't spare any of my elves right now."

"I'll go!" James's voice echoed through the stables so loudly that more than a few reindeer snorted at him, releasing foggy clouds of breath into the chilly air. "I can do it," James said more quietly, trying his hardest to keep his voice down. He'd always wanted to ride with a reindeer!

Gabe looked him up and down with his eyes narrowed. "No mask, eh?"

"Nope," James said. "I've smelled worse."

Gabe's hand thumped him on the back like a tightly packed snowball. "I like you, kid. The bakery's not far, so you should be able to manage. Go pick out a reindeer while Minty Fresh and I prep the sleigh."

James gazed at the reindeer with wide eyes. Some of them were so enormous even their antlers dwarfed him. Massive muscles twitched beneath their fur as they pawed the ground in anticipation.

He hadn't realized they could be so big.

James jumped as a stall's door nearly flew off its hinges. "Made you look!" said a voice as loud and merry as jingle bells.

James peeked into the stall. A young reindeer with a bright red nose and a twinkle of mischief in her eyes looked up at him. Bits of corn studded her smile. "Hi!" she said. "My name's Ruby."

"I'm James." He reached out to pet the patch of light brown fur between her antlers. She leaned into his touch, welcoming him to stroke the pillowy softness. "Nice to meet you."

One of the stable hands looked up from chiseling gunk out of a reindeer's hoof. "I would not recommend picking that one," she said with her lips curved into a Grinchy frown. "Not unless you want to plow face first into a snowdrift."

Ruby stuck her tongue out at her. "Aw, you're no fun! I just wanted to help you chill out." She chuckled. "Get it, James? Because snow's cold."

"I get it," he said with a smile. "You seem pretty cool, too."

"Thanks! I'm super fast, too. Watch this!" Ruby raced around in circles. Her nose glowed brighter and brighter until James had to squint to see through the blinding redness.

The reindeer in the next stall over snorted as Ruby accidentally kicked a clump of snow right into his face. "Watch it, Twinkle Nose!"

"Sorry." Ruby came to a stop with her legs teetering beneath her. Her nose dimmed until it was completely dull. "Shoot, I made myself dizzy."

"Don't fall for the cute act," Grinchy said. She took ahold of James's shoulder. "Come on, I bet Tango would be glad to help you out."

Ruby's head drooped. "I guess I'll just stay here," she said before flopping into her hay.

James was all too familiar with how it felt to be treated like he wasn't good enough.

"Wait," he said, "I'll take Ruby."

"There are thousands of reindeer in here," Grinchy said. "Can't you pick literally any of the well-behaved ones?"

"I'm sure she'll be fine," James said. "Besides, she has a lot of energy. I bet she'll get the delivery done before you can say 'Sally slings snowballs by the ski slope'!"

Grinchy sighed and rubbed her temples. "Fine. I'll get her gear ready, but don't say I didn't warn you."

Ruby reared up on her hind legs and pounded her hooves against the door in applause. "Yay! I was hoping you'd pick me."

"Of course I did," James said. "I couldn't imagine anyone else pulling my sleigh today."