Tracy
Chris cracked open the large barn door. It swung out over the snow, and the three of them stepped up into the barn. The inside was pitch black. Chris's footsteps echoed as he disappeared into the darkness.
Tracy hovered near the door. Jared leaned back against the wall with his arms folded. He looked comfortable, like he spent a lot of time in that position.
She wanted to ask him questions, like how he knew Chris and what the heck was going on, but she didn't feel like getting snapped at by him again. If he wasn't talking to her, then she wasn't talking to him.
“Don't worry, my friends.” Chris reappeared with a large candle and lit it with a match from inside his coat pocket. He held up the light near his face, but instead of looking freaky like most people did when they held a flashlight up under their chin, he looked kind. He smiled, and his cheeks showed off tiny dimples. “You'll understand soon enough. This way,” he said, as he headed into the barn's shadows.
Tracy followed first with Jared close behind her. If she had learned anything since meeting Chris, it was that she had to follow him or be left behind. And if she got left behind, she was lost. More importantly, she wanted to follow him. The more time she spent with the old man, the more she felt drawn to him, like she had a magnet inside of her pulling her to him. It made no sense, but things had stopped making sense the moment she crept out of her house and onto Santa's sleigh.
They passed several empty animal stalls. One had a worn out board hanging half way off the door. Tracy could just make out the letters “ond” engraved into it. She wondered what happened to Pond, the name she made up for him in her head. The barn smelled like a cold, icy night, with no hay or manure scents anywhere. Whatever happened to him, it was a long time ago.
Chris paid no attention to the stalls, instead heading toward a dark lump in the back of the barn. As they got closer, Tracy realized the lump was a burlap cloth, which covered something roughly the size of her dad's Toyota.
“Help me, will you?” Chris set his candle on the floor and grabbed an edge of the cloth.
Tracy and Jared did the same, and together, the three of them pulled. As the cloth dropped to the ground, decades of dust puffed into the air. Tracy waved her hand in front of her face. Jared took a step back and coughed. Chris just stood there and smiled like he was seeing a long lost friend.
“You wanted us to see a sleigh?” Tracy asked.
Chris didn't answer. He was too wrapped up in his treasure. The outside of the sleigh was red with gold trim, but even in the faint light, Tracy could tell it had seen a lot of years. It was covered with scuffs and scratches, the kind that made it seem well-loved. Chris stepped over the bunched up cloth and slowly climbed into the sleigh. He took hold of the reins, which were still draped across the front, and sat up tall. His face seemed to glow, as if light were bursting from within him and not coming from the single candle still sitting on the floor.
His enthusiasm was contagious. Tracy bounced on the balls of her feet.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Chris called to the children. “Hop in!”
Tracy was waiting for his invitation and jumped right in, unable to wait a second longer.
Jared shrugged again, like he was doing his best to stay grumpy, but he climbed in anyway.
The sleigh was much older than the one Tracy had been in just a few hours before. The seat was wooden and worn to a smooth finish. The space for Santa's bags was much smaller and would never have fit Tracy and the pile of bags she'd been crammed in with earlier.
“So,” Tracy asked, “did you used to be one of the Santas?” Based on the dust tickling her nose, he wasn't anymore.
Chris laughed his deep laugh again. Tracy smiled when she heard it. “Not one of the Santas. The Santa. The original.”
Tracy's smile switched into a frown. “What do you mean? There is no real Santa. It's just a bunch of guys playing dress up, and they don't even know about it.” She looked to Jared to confirm it. He was Beth's nephew, and he obviously knew about Santa Command, so he would agree with her at least on that point.
“Dress up?” Jared snorted. “Zombie Santa is more like it.”
Tracy had to agree. “They are kind of creepy, aren't they?”
“I'm sorry,” Chris said gently as he smoothed the reins across his lap. “I wish things could be different.”
“I’m sorry too. I wish you were the real Santa.” Jared looked up. “I used to think so. Beth told me you were. But, I know the truth now. I mean, you'd have to be thousands of years old, and you'd have to have real magic, not all those tricks they use at Santa Command.”
“Oh, I see.” Chris said quietly. “You need to see real magic.”
Tracy snorted.
“Real magic doesn't exist,” Jared said.
“Hm, I thought you would say as much.” Chris turned to Tracy who sat on the opposite side of him. “I suppose your laugh means you agree with Jared?”
Tracy gave a firm nod. “Everything in this world has a scientific explanation. That's why I came to Santa Command to begin with. I needed to—” Tracy stopped and looked at the wall. She had no idea what Chris would say about her plan, and now wasn't the time to find out.
“You needed to…what?” Chris urged her.
“I…” Tracy pulled at the cuffs of her Santa coat. “I needed to see for myself how everything worked.”
“Well, I can see that this is going to be an interesting night, for all of us.”
“Why's that?” Tracy asked.
Chris' eyes twinkled again as he snapped the reins. “Hang on.” Slowly, the sleigh lifted off the ground.
Tracy grabbed onto the edge as the sleigh wobbled in the air. A moment later, Tracy was glad she was holding onto something, because the sleigh made a sharp turn to the left, wobbled once more, then shot out through the barn door and up into the night sky.