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9
Without Santa, it seemed there was no protective bubble shielding the sleigh. So the first thing Pim noticed – after the shock of being flung over the seat and knocking his head against the back of the cargo box again – was the howling wind. Freezing air cut through his coat, it seared his face, turned his eyeballs into globes of ice. It took every once of strength for him to regain the seat and get hold of the reins.
‘Stop!’ he shouted, yanking at them as hard as he could. ‘Go back!’
The reindeer took no notice. They galloped ever higher, until Pim truly believed they would take him above the stars. Cringing, he looked back over his shoulder, then yelped in dismay. The town was so far below he could barely make out the houses. They were too far away and getting farther every second.
‘Oh! Where are you taking me?’ he called out to the stampeding reindeer. ‘Please, turn back.’
Wishes are sometimes granted in unexpected ways and the reindeer – with Rudolph in the lead – granted Pim’s plea in the most alarming fashion. ‘Right,’ the wily reindeer said. ‘Let’s go!’ With that, he arced backward and drew the rest of the team through a mid-air somersault. Pim screamed so loud that – despite the sleigh’s dizzying height – more than one of the townspeople below heard his shriek and thought sounds like Halloween as much as Christmas!
Fast as the reindeer had carried him up, they descended at twice the speed. Pim’s ears flapped, his cheeks bulged and his eyes popped. The wind ripped at his cloths with frigid claws. It pulled his scarf so hard it felt to Pim as if he might be strangled. He couldn’t scream any more because the compressing onrush of air made it impossible to get a sound out of his gaping mouth.
I am done for, he thought. Goodbye Santa. Goodbye Dabbledee. Goodbye Whizzpop!
How could he think anything else? The team plunged straight toward the town faster than a meteorite. A disastrous crash seemed unavoidable. But in that instant Pim did a courageous thing. Pulling hard at the reins, he tried to steer the careering sleigh away from a house where the astonished face of a delighted child was pointing from an upstairs window. The boy seeming unaware of the approaching disaster. Gathering all his strength, straining mightily at the reins, Pim bellowed, ‘Left! Go left!’
The sleigh didn’t go left as he had commanded, but neither did it crash as he thought it surely would. Instead the team pulled out of their power dive at the last possible instant, clearing the rooftop with just inches to spare. The child shouted with glee at the dazzling acrobatics, as the sleigh zoomed over a dozen streets in the blink of an eye.
It bounced wildly on, but Pim thought the reindeer had slackened their pace just a little. Encouraged, he pleaded with them again. ‘Please!’ Pim begged. ‘I have been stupid, I know… and vain, and deceitful, and selfish… I’m sure I’ve been many other things too, if only I could think of them. But take me back to the house where Santa and Dabbledee are waiting and I promise to be good.’
Their pace slackened more, but they were still headed in the wrong direction.
‘It’s not for me, you understand,’ he continued. ‘I’m sure Santa will never forgive me for this rotten trick, and that will be punishment enough. But I couldn’t bear to think that I have ruined Christmas for the people of this town – the last on Santa’s route. How could I live with myself if I were guilty of that?’
He tugged very gently at the reins as he made his plea, and thought hard about turning right, toward the rooftop they had left what seemed a lifetime ago. Reluctantly, the reindeer wheeled through the night sky.
‘Oh thank you! Thank you!’ Pim blessed them. ‘You are such magnificent creatures! Stupendous! Beautiful!’
‘Oh do shut up!’ Donner grumbled.
‘Do be generous,’ Rudolph admonished. ‘The elf has been very foolish, but he has also been brave, has he not?’
‘I suppose so,’ Donner allowed. ‘But it’s been a very long night and the last thing I needed was a circus act thrown into it. I’m tired…’
‘And grumpy,’ Rudolph suggested.
‘Yes… I have a right to be.’
Of course that was true, but even Donner reluctantly admired the bravery of the elf who had hijacked Santa’s sleigh. Not only had he pleaded for the people below instead of for himself, but he was clearly taking responsibility for what he’d done, directing them back to the rooftop where Santa waited, and where he expected to receive a horrible punishment.
‘Straight on now,’ Pim urged, thinking as well as saying the words. ‘Slow up.’
It was small comfort to him that the reindeer now listened willingly to his every command. They were flying perfectly, gliding towards the rooftop at a graceful canter. Keeping his eye on Santa the whole time, Pim steered them wide of the house then guided them to a gentle landing, Rudolph’s nose coming to rest by Santa’s sleeve.
Pim prepared for the worst. Santa glared. Dabbledee looked more frightened than angry
‘Santa!’ Pim mumbled over the backs of the reindeer. ‘I am sorry, truly sorry for what I have done, sir, and ready for the sentence I deserve. And Dabbledee, I am ashamed for the way I tricked you. I hope someday you will be able to forgive me.’
‘Well, sir!’ Santa thundered, his face swelling like a red balloon. ‘Here is your punishment!’
Having said this, Santa tilted his head back and laughed. Not his Ho, Ho, Ho laugh, but great big sobs of belly laughter, that doubled him over and almost made him fall off the roof. The reindeer, too, were laughing in their own fashion, their sides heaving so that the bells on their harnesses jingled. Only Dabbledee had not joined in the jollity. She was staring at Santa and the reindeer as if they had all gone mad.
‘Well!’ she scolded, forgetting herself for a moment, ‘I don’t see what’s so funny about a rogue elf ruining Christmas. I think you should be ashamed of yourself, sir!’
This only provoked more gales of laughter from Santa and the reindeer, all of which made Pim’s cheeks burn more brightly than ever. To have been through what he’d been through, and then to be laughed at… well it just didn’t seem fair. But I suppose I’ve earned whatever else comes my way, he admitted.
‘Wh – why I’ve never seen such a ride in all my life! Well done my beauties!’ Santa hooted, praising his reindeer. ‘Oh, very well done indeed!’
It took some time for Santa and the reindeer to recover, and by then Dabbledee had allowed herself to snicker just a little, for hilarity is infectious. ‘My boy,’ Santa chortled at last, wiping a tear from his eye. ‘I do hope you have learned a lesson tonight.’
‘I have sir,’ Pim said grimly.
‘But I hope not too much of a lesson, Pim, for I love you dearly, lad! I wouldn’t trade you in for a less mischievous for all the presents in the world.’ Saying this, Santa strode down the line of reindeer to the side of the sleigh. Grabbing Pim by the shoulders, he gave his favorite elf a giant bear hug. ‘Keep curiosity alive, my boy. Keep challenging old Fanafroo, because he needs it. Keep cherishing this young lady, Dabbledee, for she too is a wonder. And above all, my friend, keep surprising me, for I have lived a long, long time and surprises are all too rare these days.’
‘But Santa!’ Pim cried. ‘What about my punishment.’
‘Punishment! Bah, humbug! That’s not my job young man. You’ll have to look somewhere else for that – perhaps old Fanafroo….’
He had opened his mouth to say more, but was interrupted by a distressing howl from Dabbledee. ‘Oh Santa,’ she cried. ‘Look!’
Dabbledee waved her arms about in every direction and spun like a top. Pim and Santa followed her gaze, and soon enough saw the cause of her dismay, for everywhere they looked presents were strewn in the snow. They littered the street, were sprinkled on rooftops, they even decorated the trees, their bright wrapping paper reflecting the street lights. ‘It’s ruined,’ Dabbledee sobbed. ‘Christmas is ruined. Nothing like this has ever happened!’
‘Now, now,’ Santa consoled. ‘Don’t jump to conclusions my dear.’
‘What do you mean, “Jump to conclusions,”’ she snapped, forgetting for an instant who she was addressing. ‘Look around. What are we going to do?’
‘Nothing,’ Santa announced. ‘Look!’ he said, pointing to the east. ‘Even in accelerated time we have not kept ahead of the sun. We have to go, and leave this little town to tidy up after us, I’m afraid.’
‘But the boys and girls, sir!’ Pim gasped. ‘What about their presents?’
‘They’ll just have to sort things out themselves,’ Santa insisted, hustling Dabbledee into the sleigh and taking the reins. ‘On Rudolph,’ Santa clucked, and before you could say “blink” they were in the sky, heading for the North Pole, with Pim and Dabbledee looking very glum.