Reindeer James

Chapter 12

James stared into a mug of hot chocolate with a froth of dissolved marshmallows, although calling it hot at this point would be a misnomer.

"You did great today," Gabe said, wiping the last of his drink off his beard. 

 "Thanks." James swirled his lukewarm chocolate around. The warmth had long since fled his mug, leaving his blistered fingers aching and cold.

"Still sore?" Gabe asked. "I can get you some more ointment if you need it. The best way to make sure a job gets taken care of is to take care of yourself too."

The instant Gabe had caught sight of the damage the long hours of gardening had caused, he'd chewed Gloria out for letting him overdo himself and brought him some medicine to help his hands heal. He hadn't been scolded for not doing as well as the more experienced elves or given a disappointed look. All he'd gotten was a pat on the back and gentle reassurances that he'd have callouses soon enough.

"I'm okay. It's just..." James sighed. "She's going to be so upset, and it's all my fault."

"Bombing an event beats crashing on Christmas," Gabe said gently. "I know it hurts, but even the best reindeer bomb an event at some point. It's up to us to make sure they do better next time."

James grimaced as he forced down the rest of his mug.

A blast of frigid air announced that the contestants had been let back inside. "A three?" Ruby yelled. She stomped up to James with her nose blindingly bright. "You gave me a three?"

James sank low in his seat. "You crashed, and I couldn't—"

"Couldn't what? Couldn't score me like I'm your friend?"

"That's enough," Gabe said firmly. "You know it's against the rules for us to show favoritism. Can you imagine what your grandpa would think if he saw you acting like this?"

Ruby reared back as if she'd been smacked in the face with a snowball. She sprinted away without a word, her hoofbeats fading into nothing as she ran further into the stable.

James set his mug down and scooted his chair away from the table. It was his fault she was so upset. The least he could do was try to calm her down.

"Leave her be," Gabe said.

"But—"

"Talking to her won't do any good right now. She needs time to cool off." Gabe ushered James back into his seat. "I'm going to get you more hot chocolate. You look like you need it."

"Thanks." James stared at his hands. "Did you really have to bring up her grandpa?"

"She has a hard time listening to reason, so bringing him into it is usually the only way I can get her to even try and behave," Gabe admitted. "I'm hoping you'll be able to talk some sense into her once she calms down a bit, but for now it's probably best to leave her alone."

Even if that was true, it didn't make it any easier for James. Just thinking about how badly he'd upset her made him want to cry.

###

After an unusually quiet family dinner, James retreated to his room. Even here, he couldn't escape the Games. His reindeer action figures guarded his Nintendo console, the screen still displaying a character select screen filled with over two dozen legendary reindeer. He still hadn't unlocked the most famous one of them all, but he wasn't in the mood to try. Not today.

The blisters gardening had given him made just thinking about grabbing the controller painful, but that was nothing compared to how much it hurt to look at the red-nosed reindeer proudly standing on the opponent's side of the screen. Ruby really was the spitting image of her grandpa not just because of her nose but because of the twinkle they shared in their eyes, that energy that not even the fiercest blizzard could ever hope to extinguish.

At least until James had upset her.

He turned the game off with a sigh before dragging out one of the dusty old manuals Gabe had given him to study. If he couldn't do his job without upsetting her, then the least he could do was make sure he actually did it well.

James's eyes glazed over as he struggled through massive walls of text. Even the pictures made his head hurt with their countless pieces of equipment labeled in what may as well have been gibberish.

After what felt like an eternity, someone knocked on his door.

James closed the book and tossed it under his bed. It was no use. Trying to learn any of that right now was like trying to build a snowball out of slush. "Come in."

His mom entered his room like a ray of sunshine on a cold day. "How's my little snowflake doing?"

James tried to smile, but he ended up grimacing like he'd just eaten a green tea-flavored candy. "It's been a long day."

"Anything I can do to help, dear?"

He sighed. "I don't know. Ruby was really upset about the score I gave her." He held his face in his hands as he held back tears. "I don't think she wants to be friends anymore."

His mom wrapped him in a warm hug. "Gabe tells me the two of you hit it off really well, so I'm sure she won't let a silly little number stop her from being friends with you."

"I hope not." It wasn't just a silly little number to her no matter what anyone else said. Just because there were other events didn't make doing badly in one hurt less, especially since she'd been so excited to finally be in the Games.

"If she does, that's her loss. Now close your eyes and hold out your hand," Mrs. Claus said.

He left one eye open a crack.

"No peeking," she said with a chuckle.

James squeezed his eyes tightly shut.

He waited in the darkness until something warm and soft brushed against his fingers. "Okay, now you can look."

A handmade scarf lay in his hands. Reindeer frolicked through a flurry of snowflakes, their antlers carving through the shimmering green aurora dancing above them.

"I wanted to give you a little something to celebrate how well you've been doing," Mrs. Claus said. "With this on, I hope you'll always feel like you're getting a nice, warm hug."

James wrapped the scarf around his neck. Filled with his mom's familiar cinnamon smell, it really did feel like the world's coziest hug. "Thanks, Mom. Do you think we could do something for Ruby to cheer her up too?"

"I've got just the thing."

Mrs. Claus led him into the kitchen where dozens of dishwashers roared as they cleaned the entire North Pole's plates. Near the ovens in the back, clusters of dried peppers hung from the ceiling like bright red stalactites. She filled a bag with a small handful of them.

"These are one of our family's best-kept secrets," she said. "Reindeer are pretty fast on their own, but give them enough spice and they'll rocket from house to house faster than you can say capsaicin."

"That's not hard!" James said with a laugh.

"We normally only use these on the big night and for emergencies," she said. "I'd say saving a friendship counts as an emergency, don't you?"