Chapter Nine: Inquiries
Sasha's POV
Weeks passed, Scott still denied anything ever happened, which wasn't unusual. The only Santas that never questioned the being or transformation were the ones descended from previous Santas or other legendary figures. My father fit into this category, he was the son of a legendary figure who happened to become Santa. Here's the thing about being the kid of a legendary figure, they don't physically age like humans do while they're that legendary figure. This is different for the children of Santa Claus though. Since most Santas are human, it all depends on if both parents are human. My father was the human son of a legendary figure, which one it was, however, has remained a mystery. The only thing we knew was that he chose to be human. Scott Calvin was not like my father, he was born human. There'd be no reason for him to believe that any of this was actually happening. He had outgrown the belief of Santa, and magic in general, years ago. Of course, it would be difficult for him not to be in denial. I would be slightly worried for his sanity if he took what was happening to him at face value. Bernard and I used his denial to our advantage. Since he still showed no real signs of the transformation, except for some weight gain, we could take our time on everything we needed to do.
The first thing that needed to be done was the List. The Naughty and the Nice List was always the first thing to be taken care of when a new Santa going through their transformation as well as after they finish it, depending if a Claus was available. When I worked in the Naughty and Nice department, it was part of my job to take care of the List preparation for each new Santa. For years, I organized the List the same way. It was the way my father used to have it organized. He categorized the List into three different parts. First, the children's names would be split up by country and those countries would be ordered alphabetically. Second, in each individual country's list, the names would then be further divided into region, providence, or state, which would be subdivided even further into city, village, or town. Lastly, the names would be alphabetized by surname and the names that are shared or common would then be ordered by first name. It was daunting to compile, but the Santas who agreed to use this method always had an easier time checking the List. I knew it was simpler for me when I had to go through it. The Santas who chose to organize it in any other way, usually made the process harder since they only ever wanted the List sorted in one way. With a list so expansive, it had to be categorized in multiple ways for it to be manageable.
Why does it matter how the List is sorted? That's one of the first questions every Santa asks when they're given their complete run through of how everything works and is run after they complete their transformation. Here's the answer in a nutshell:
The List is the one sole object that controls everything that's done in the workshop connected the human world. The easier it is to read and find specific names, the more efficient the workshop as a whole runs. Elves from all over the Pole depended on the Naughty and Nice Department and the List, it was the reference for everything that came out of the workshop.
The elves in the Mail Department used the list to make recommendations to the toy department on which gifts should be made. The nicer the child was, the more likely they were to get exactly what they wanted. The more misbehaved, the less likely they'd get something they wanted.
The Toy Department used to the list to determine how personalized the gift was. If the child was perfectly behaved, which had to be confirmed by the Naughty and Nice Elves who took shifts watching them, they would get exactly what they asked for with every detail included. The less behaved, the less personal details were included in the specific toy they were given
The List and the Naughty and Nice Elves dictated how many gifts the kid got as well, which usually ranged between one and three. If you were on the Nice list and behaved all year, you got three items that you wanted. If you were on the Naughty list, you got one item or toy that was something more generic and easy to make. Just because you're on the Naughty list, it doesn't mean you don't get a gift. The 'C' for coal was more symbolic, I've never known a Santa to take that description literally.
The List can also determine where Jack Frost goes on Christmas and Christmas Eve (if he chooses to listen). Sometimes if the elves want to make the holiday a little more magical, the Messenger Elf would be sent to Jack with a list of all of the cities and towns (where it could snow) with the most well behaved children, so he could give them a White Christmas.
Having to reorganize the list was a chore, one made better by the elf sitting next to me. Last time I sat down with the List was over four hundred years ago. I can't remember the year, but I remember the night. Bernard and I sat for hours working on it. Elijah wanted it finished by the next morning, so I had to press through several hours of staring at hundreds of pages and rearranging names here and there. I was lucky that Santa chose to organize the list by location. It was just the names that had to be reordered. Since Bernard was only a letter sorting elf, he wasn't allowed to touch the list. He did stay the entire night though. He told me stories about the legendary figures and their children. He also told me stories from Elfin folklore that his mother used to tell him when he was little. He may have not have been able to help me organize the list, but he did keep me awake the entire night. This go around, we worked on the list as a team. He knew the kids and I knew the list. He may have not been able to change the list himself, but he could easily give me the information I needed to edit the list.
So, there we sat. Me with the list and him with his laptop. He still told me stories as we worked. He shared stories about the different Santas I had missed. The Santa he had yet to tell me about was the one who had fallen odd Scott's roof. He went into detail about every other Santa, but not a word about that one.
"What happened to the last Santa?" I asked. There was something off. I didn't know what it was, but something wasn't setting right with me. The Santa used the ladder, which had been unusual, and he made a hell of a lot more noise than he usually did when he made his runs. The night in general just seemed to fall into place too easily. I know I saw the body, but thinking back on it. I swiftly glanced at the watch Quinton had made for me, how much of my abilities did this thing actually return?
"He fell off the roof." Bernard responded nonchalantly, "You were there when it happened."
"Yeah, I saw the body of a Santa who had fallen off the roof." I confirmed, "I want to know if it was the Santa."
"What would make you think-"
"None of the elves looked upset to see a new Santa."
"We don't usually grow attached to the human Santas."
"If they're not around long enough, you don't." I agreed, "But they looked happy to see Scott, like they haven't seen a new Santa in weeks, which is impossible because one fell from Scott's roof."
"They were ecstatic because the last Santa was a tyrant." Bernard corrected.
"Bernard," I set down the page I was working on and turned to face him, "What happened?"
Bernard sighed and looked down, "My job is to look after and protect the elves, even if it's against Santa. The last Santa treated all of us like dirt and would scream at the younger ones when they messed up an assignment, which would cause them to not show up the next day and when they did, they were too terrified to seek help on how to do their work. I couldn't let it continue, I'm ashamed that I let him continue as long as he did. When I approached the legendary council about him, they didn't care. I was just an elf complaining about a Santa to them. When Aiden visited last year, he saw how we were being treated and said he could help us. If I could figure out a way to get rid of the other Santa, he had someone who could replace him."
"How'd you do it?" I asked. Bernard wasn't the type to devise a murder, but I wouldn't put it past him to find an alternative way of getting rid of a Santa if need be. We both would.
Bernard took a deep breath and looked up at me, "He said that 'he wished he had never become Santa at all' often, so I gave him his damn globe without telling him what the Escape Clause was. He disappeared right before he had to leave. He didn't allow any of the elves in the stables when he was getting ready to go, so none of them knew that Santa had disappeared."
"Who was on the roof then?"
"The only one who could put on the coat and suit and not be subjected to contract."
"An elf." I nodded.
"Elijah agreed to suit up, delivered gifts so that we could stay on schedule, and find the Santa Aiden had in mind."
"I checked his pulse after the fall, he-"
"Was wearing a gadget Quinton invented specifically for that night that made his pulse undetectable and he had too much padding on him for the fall to kill him. We had him sent to the infirmary immediately after he got back. Other than some cuts and bruises, he's fine."
"So who all knows?"
"Me, Quinton, Judy, Aiden, and now you."
"And the Santa who's now in some alternate reality."
"Better him there than here." Bernard responded, "He's gone, the elves are content with the new Santa, and I have you."
"It's an amazing coincidence that Aiden found someone who happens to know Allie and I."
"I don't care how he picked him or why." Bernard stated, "This Santa is already more tolerable and capable than the last one."
"You've only met him once."
"True, but you seem to like him and that's enough for me."
Allie's POV
"I know you said that Santa's kids don't live at the pole, but can they visit?" Charlie asked.
"I guess it would depend on the situation." I answered as best as I could as we sat on the jungle gym on the lower half of the split level playground. No one ever played down here, so it was the best place to hide during recess. It's where we've spent every recess since Career Day, we hid from the other kids and Charlie would ask me questions about the Pole, other Santas, and other things related to Christmas.
"Why doesn't my dad believe he's Santa?" He asked after a few moments, "He should believe it by now."
"It takes time." I placed my hand on his, not knowing how to comfort him. Being told over and over that what had happened was all in his head was affecting him. Hell, living with a shrink that was trying to analyze him every second he got was affecting him. Neil didn't quite understand how to leave his work at home and, unfortunately for Charlie, Charlie's mom was too in love with Neil to see or care what Neil was doing to Charlie. Little by little, Neil was trying to take away Charlie's imagination. A kid should be able to have fantasies and believe in magic without having to worry about someone trying to take them away. Mr. Calvin was becoming Santa was real, but since we were dealing with human adults, Charlie and Scott's sanity was pulled into question. Scott was merely in denial, it was Neil and Charlie's mom who were the problem.
"Something's are just too extraordinary to believe at first." I shrugged, "I'd recommend him meeting Bernard again, but new Santas aren't supposed to see any elves while they're still going through their transformation. Thinking about it though, it would probably be a bad idea. Seeing Bernard in regular clothes might convince him even more that it was all a dream."
"Regular clothes?" Charlie tilted his head in confusion.
"He's living with us for a while." I responded, "He wanted to wear something a little less flamboyant."
"What's flamboyant?"
"In this context, it means clothing that's noticeably unusual in style." I answered, "His Christmas sweater and bells would have made him look a little conspicuous." I added and then before he could ask I told him, "It would have made it harder for him to blend in with everyone else. The more you stand out in this world, the worse people can treat you. Sasha and I found that out the hard way over the years."
"How old are you?"
"Eight." I answered. It wasn't a lie, eight would be my human age equivalent.
"How long have you been eight?"
"A while." I responded vaguely. Charlie let the topic go, satisfied enough with the answer he was given and knowing well enough not to push the subject because he knew he wouldn't get a different answer. I didn't want him to think I was ancient. In every way that mattered, we were the same age. I just happened to be stuck in that specific age longer than he is.
Sasha's POV
"Okay, if you can write down the next set of names on a piece of paper, I'll add it to the List when I get back." I told Bernard as I made sure I had everything I needed, so I could head out.
"I thought you weren't working til Monday." Bernard commented.
"I'm not." I replied, "I've got a parent teacher conference to go to, and then Allie has soccer tryouts. I'm taking both her and Charlie. The Millers and Scott are all working, so I'll be bringing him back here. Is that going to be a problem?"
Bernard shook his head, "No, there's nothing technically in the handbook about children seeing elves outside the Pole."
"Because it's never been done on purpose." I responded.
Humans saw elves all of the time, not that they knew. The Pole had scouts all over the world, they were a section of grounded E.L.F.S. taken care of by retired elves and children of legendary figures. The young elves training to be in E.L.F.S. had to spend two hundred years in the human world off of the grid and unable to communicate with the Pole. It was like the elf version of survival training, those who made it through scouting got to start flight school.
"Not once."
"Would it be a problem if we did?" I repeated.
"The only problem we'd have is if I have to hear about it from Curtis." Bernard answered.
That was fair. I wouldn't want to deal with Curtis either. While he always meant well, he was a stickler for the rules. I had to deal with him in the Naughty and Nice department and would often get into arguments with him. Arguments Elijah would have to break apart.
"Why'd you pick him?" I asked, "You can't stand him."
"I didn't."
"Okay, I definitely want to hear that story when I get back." I told him, "I'll see you in a few hours."
Bernard bid me farewell and I headed out the door.
When I arrived at the school, I was brought into the principal's office where Miss Daniels, Principal Compton, and Mrs. Forrest, the guidance counselor, were all sitting down waiting for me. This was a surprise, one I should have been told about. I wonder if this was the plan the whole time or if this was more of a last minute type thing.
"Please sit down, Miss Kringle." Principal Compton gestured to the open chair, "I'm sure this comes as a surprise for the meeting to be with all three of us."
"It is." I nodded, "Especially since I know my sister isn't an ill-behaved child."
Miss Daniels looked at me pointedly, "Your sister constantly corrects my lessons and says that I'm misrepresenting facts. She acts like she can teach the class better than I can!"
"She probably could." I scoffed, "This school was made aware of her intellect and I, I'm sorry you chose not to take me seriously. Allie's brilliant and completely bored in your class; if she's correcting you on what you're teaching, maybe it's because she knows more about the subject than you do."
"That's ridiculous." Miss Daniels retorted.
"No, this meeting is ridiculous." I corrected, "When Alessandra doesn't participate in class, you have a problem with it. When she does participate, you treat her as if she's done something wrong. How does she win? I have no solutions to your complaints, Miss Daniels, other than for you to stop complaining and study the subject matters you claim to be teaching, cause the way I see it Alessandra and I have been doing your job all year long when it comes to her studies. I give her the books she should be reading and books on anything she wants to study. She has no interest in going into a higher grade or transferring to a school that would actually challenge her and I'm going to respect her wishes on that, that's fine, what isn't fine is you calling me here for a behavioral problem my sister doesn't have."
Principal Compton looked at Miss Daniels, "Is Alessandra disrupting the class when she chooses to participate?"
"It's the principle of the matter." Miss Daniels argued, "The only time she participates is when she feels the need to correct what I'm saying."
"Is she right?" Principal Compton asked.
"That isn't the point." Miss Daniels replied, which basically meant yes. I've never known Alessandra to ever get something this trivial wrong.
"I'm not going to penalize a child for contributing to the learning process." Principal Compton told her, and then looked back over to me, "I apologize for this Miss Kringle, I was led to believe this was a more serious matter."
"Is there anything else?" I asked the three of them.
"Yes, I wanted to speak to you in my office, if you don't mind." Mrs. Forrest piped up. I nodded and she led me into her office. "We do not have the means to challenge Alessandra, you're right, but I might be able to place her in a program that could eventually lead to a more challenging educational path for her than what we can personally provide for her at the moment."
Challenging was not quite something a human school could provide her at the moment. Alessandra flew through elf school and started her apprenticeship early. I don't know if she found anything challenging, or at least nothing that could be taught in a classroom or learned from a book. College level courses would be the closest thing to challenging, but she didn't want to move ahead. She liked where she was.
"She wants to stay here." I responded.
"Then it's a good thing there is a program that would be after school and during the summer." Mrs. Forrest smiled, "I can work around any arrangements that need to be made for your sister, but I think it's better for her that we do something that stimulates her intellect. The basic math, science, and literature probably aren't going to do it for her, but we can provide her access to books, workbooks, summer school programs, governor's schools, and eventually advanced placement programs."
"I don't think Allie would ever turn down a book." I replied with a small smile, "Let me talk to her about it and I'll call you when she makes a decision. I can't decide anything for her when it comes to this, it has to be her decision."
