Tracy
“What do you need?” Tracy asked Jared.
He was very pale, and his arms were shaking. “S…Santa.”
“What about him?”
Jared kept his head down and breathed deeply. After another long moment where he didn't say anything, he jumped to his feet. He'd gone from a crumpled ball of mush to a jumble of excitement in less than a second. He paced back and forth in front of the fireplace, glancing up into it each time he passed by. “We have to get going. There are a ton of kids who need their presents.”
Chris raised an eyebrow at Jared, but he didn't comment. Instead, he gave Sophie a hug and sent her back to bed. Then, he pushed himself to his feet and said, “Sasha, do your magic.”
As the kids stepped toward the fireplace, Sasha dusted them again. Within seconds, the small group was back in the sleigh and on their way to the next house.
After Sophie's house, Chris moved faster. Not faster as in running, faster as in he was a blur surrounded by sparkly, yellow magic. At each stop, Sasha stayed in the back, handing Chris the presents. Tracy and Jared tried getting out of the sleigh for the first couple of houses, but by the time their feet touched the roof, Chris was back and ready to go again. Tracy got the feeling Chris had let them out at Sophie's place for a very specific reason, and she figured it had everything to do with Jared.
Jared now seemed like a different person. Instead of the sad, lonely look he had earlier, his eyes danced with excitement. He helped Sasha with the presents. He asked Chris if he could control the reins. (Chris let him.) He helped Chris navigate between the houses. Jared did everything he could to help speed the ride along, because the sun would soon be rising, and they had to be done before then.
After a dozen or so houses, Tracy scooted over so she was sitting next to Jared.
“Are you okay?” she asked him again.
“Yeah,” he said with an honest smile. “It's Christmas, and I have a present waiting for me at home.”
He didn't sound like he was talking about a new Xbox or an iPad. The word “present” had a stronger, more personal meaning. Tracy wanted to ask what he meant, but she decided not to. If he wanted her to know, he'd tell her. They did exchange phone numbers though, so they could keep in touch. They were on an adventure with the one true Santa Claus. Who else could they talk to about it, except each other?
Santa's bag never seemed to empty. Each time Sasha took presents out, yellow sparkles surrounded the bag. Tracy guessed it was somehow linked to the loading dock back in Alabama and asked Chris why the other Santas had to reload if they could simply use magic.
“Because the other Santas only have Inkling magic. That's not enough to keep the bag full.”
“But couldn't you give them some of the magic from your box?”
“Oh, look!” He pointed to the end of a cul de sac. “Our next stop.”
On and on they went, until the horizon began to lighten. The sun wasn't up yet, but it soon would be. Tracy was wondering if they would ever finish when Chris steered the reindeer to a sharp left and brought the sleigh down softly on a two-story lime green house.
“Last house,” Chris said. “Want to come with me?”
Tracy didn't want to go. She had been inside that particular house a million times. In fact, she had been in the house just a couple of days before, promising Pim that she would find Santa and get help. She had done the first part, but not the second, and she felt sick about it. It didn't matter that Pim would get her presents. Her cousin wouldn't get the present she needed most of all.