Christmas with Nick Klaas

Part 11: Ready, Set, Go!

It was lightly snowing when they set off on two snowmobiles from the concert hall, Avery tightly holding onto Piet and Noelle doing her best to avoid crowding Nick.

She had already used the word 'magical' in her mental descriptors more times than a simple town like Keskitalvi probably deserved, yet quaint or charming didn't seem to do it justice. There was a fairy-tale quality to the houses, especially as the colorful decorations—which seriously appeared to be getting increasingly plentiful each day—received a dusting of white powder. Red berries popped among their evergreen garlands, while metallic ornaments sparkled on light strings.

In spite of the weather, there were more people outside than before, and they were all heading in the same direction.

Heading east, the group travelled to the other side of town adjacent to the lake. Several tributaries that branched off the larger body of water snaked their way between rows of buildings, creating canals akin to those in Utrecht, Holland or Suzhou, China. Just like the lake, these canals were also frozen solid and now half the population seemed to be wearing ice skates and gathered on them.

"Are these races a regular thing?" Noelle asked, once they've disembarked and found a spot by the railing near the start line. There was a narrow pedestrian pathway on either side of the canal that allowed for non-marine travel along the base of the houses, as well as a perfect vantage point for watching the skaters.

"Sure. You can find an informal challenge any day," Nick said. "But the Solstice Sprint only happens once a year on the day before Christmas Eve. It's a local tradition that's been going on for centuries."

"And it's just kids, then?" she asked, looking at the youngsters assembled on the ice below preparing for the competition. They were being sorted into groups by size.

"Now it is. There was a time when anyone was allowed to participate, but the adults took it too seriously, which lead to recklessness and some quite serious injuries." He pulled up his hat to reveal a faint scar between his forehead and hairline. "See this? That's thanks to my cousin's blade. And I was one of the fortunate ones."

"Oh, wow," Noelle said, eyeing the evidence that her hunch about Piet being bad news probably wasn't too far off. If he was willing to risk injuring a close family member to win some silly race, there was no telling what he was capable of to achieve his other ambitions.

"Since then, anyone over sixteen has to sit this race out," Nick continued. "It's all for bragging rights anyway. Oh, look. They're about to start."

A group of about twenty teens—probably in the fourteen to sixteen year-old bracket—were lining up under a "start" banner. The spectators watching from the banks cheered and trumpets blared to fuel the excitement. An older woman teetered along on the ice, flanking the line of racers and held up a bell. After counting down, she began furiously shaking the bell above her head, signaling the start of the competition.

And they were off.

"So how does this work? Will the younger children race separately?" Noelle asked as the nearly two dozen skaters sped along in front of them. So far, they mostly looked equally matched, although one tripped coming off the start and was struggling to get back on his feet.

"That's correct. There will be staggered starts for the other groups," Nick explained. "And the younger they are, the shorter their course will be. The little ones who can barely walk, but can already skate are absolutely adorable."

Noelle smiled at the mental picture. "I can imagine," she said, leaning over the rail to look after the teens who were now out of sight. "But was that it? Can we see any more of that race?"