Rudolph Saves Christmas

8: Zzzzzz

"Come on," said Rudolph decisively.

It was about time he took control of things. Flop had always been a great organiser but this was different. He had to clear his name, find the real perpetrator and save Christmas, and he didn't have long to do it all in. He didn't know where to start or where to go, but the least he could do was step outside and put one hoof in front of the other. They'd just have to see where they ended up.

"Where are we going?" asked Flop.

"Out!"

Flop shrugged his shoulders.

"Works for me."

With a last look out of the window to make sure the coast was clear, the two friends stepped out of the door. There was nothing for it but to do what they could. If they didn't manage it, then Christmas was lost and they couldn't, shouldn't, wouldn't let that happen.

Rudolph was the red nosed reindeer and his nose had led Santa, the sleigh and the other reindeer through many a dark blustery Christmas Eve flight. It felt like this was going to be the darkest, blusteriest Christmas Eve ever, so he hoped his nose wouldn't fail him now. He had no choice but to follow it. With no idea of a direction, he simply went the way his nose pointed. Flop, pleased that his friend had finally climbed out of the dumps and brushed himself off, and having no better ideas of his own, ran alongside.

He would have jumped up onto the reindeer's back, but... well, maybe not...

Feeling bold at first, but then gradually feeling a little less so, they kept low, moving from snow drift to building to buried bush.

"Where is everyone?" asked Flop. It was Christmas Eve. The whole of the North Pole should have been a bustling hive of activity as the elves darted to and fro in a dizzying dance of feverish Christmas fervour.

"I know," said Rudolph. "Scary, isn't it."

He was right. It was almost as if everyone had packed up and left. There were no noises or footprints other than the ones Rudolf and Flop had left behind. Even in summer, when the days drifted lazily along and people could either rest or party to their hearts content, there would be flurries of fun dotting the streets. It was like they were walking through a Christmas card - a still picture where the world was stuck in a moment and couldn't quite get kick started again.

"Hold on," said Flop. He darted over and jumped up to a window, peering inside. He dropped down and did the same again to the next, and then the next.

"They're all home..." he said quietly.

"So why aren't they coming out to get us?"

"Because..." his voice dropped to a whisper. "They're all asleep..."

"What?" Rudolph couldn't have heard right. Did he just say they were all...

"Asleep. Everyone is fast asleep. On chairs, beds, floors, even at the kitchen table. There's not a single elf or reindeer awake. If it's like this in these houses, and Ethelbert is snoring his socks off at the jail, I think it's a safe bet that the everyone is asleep too!"

"So why aren't we?"

"Well, I suppose whoever did this didn't need to send you to sleep because you were safely locked up in prison. And if they used Dazzle to do it, then that wouldn't work on me because it makes me sneeze!"

"Me too! So we're the only ones awake in the whole place?"

"It looks that way." Flop paused. "Erm... except, I suppose, the one who did all this."

They both looked around, suddenly very nervous.

"Come on," said Rudolph. "Let's move."

He didn't have a plan, but he knew where to start. The Stables. Home to the latest, greatest, supercharged sleigh of them all.

Or what was left of it.