"Please, whatever you do, don't let her catch me and take me back!" Dapper shouted while the Twins continued to run.

"Don't worry, kid, you're safe with us." Two shouted back. "One, we need to get to the Escalade! Do you remember where we parked it?"

"Yes! Follow me." One shouted before turning a corner.

The Twins ran down alleys and roads, dodging cars and other obstacles as they went, to make their trail tough for the woman to follow them. Even though the path they made was hard to remember, several times they had to stop and hide in a nearby alley until the mistress Dapper was so afraid of went past them. Somehow she had managed to follow them, despite their efforts to lose her. One time of hiding quietly in a dark alley, the Twins grabbed a look at her as she went by in her black car. Dapper was right, she looked evil. Two shivered at the thought of meeting up with her face to face. Next to her, the Merovingian seemed harmless even if he was in a bad mood.

When the Twins were finally within a few feet of their car, the mistress somehow found out where they were and had parked her car in front of the Twins' car.

"How did she follow us?" Two gasped. "We took the craziest rout possible in order to lose her!"

"She's like that. I don't know how she does it, but she does." Said Dapper.

"Now what do we do?" One turned to Two and Dapper. "We've got to make it to our car somehow."

"If we go out there she's sure to catch us and take Dapper away." Two clutched the boy's arm tighter.

One thought a minute.

"If I phase she won't be able to see me. I could go underground and come up inside the Escalade without her even knowing it." One thought aloud.

"Sounds like it would work." Two quietly said. "But what about the other people?"

"If I do it fast maybe no one will notice."

"What about us then?"

"Once I reappear, I'll drive the car over here where you and Dapper can jump in."

"What are you guys talking about?" Dapper cut in.

"Nothing, kid. Don't worry, we'll get you out of here."

One suddenly phased into a translucent greenish ghost that had a grotesque figure and hovered a few minutes before sinking down into the snow-covered blacktop. Dapper's eyes grew wide at the sudden horrifying sight and nervously backed up against Two. He quickly turned around and looked Two over.

"What are you?" Dapper whispered. Two only stared at the boy. "I knew it. You two aren't angels at all."

Two grabbed onto Dapper's arm and pulled him back when the boy turned to run.

"Dapper, wait! You're right, we aren't Christmas angels." Two sighed. "It's time you knew the truth."

"Truth about what?"

"The truth about us not being angels and being ghosts."

"Ghosts?!" Dapper's voice went hoarse then he turned to run again. Two tightened his grip on the child's arm.

"Wait, wait. We aren't going to hurt you."

"How do I know you aren't lying?" Dapper frowned. "You lied about being angels, so how do I know you aren't lying about not hurting me?"

Two lowered his head.

"We're sorry we lied to you, Dapper." Two said in a low tone. "We only wanted to help. If we had told you what we really are you might have ran from us."

Dapper sighed and jerked his arm away from Two's hand.

"What am I? Scrooge? Are you two ghosts of Christmas past and future?"

Two lowered his head more and said nothing while he picked up a piece of his coat and fingered it.

"We're sorry." Two finally whispered.

"I bet you are."

Two cowered and nudged a lump of snow with the tip of his boot.

"I don't know whether to trust you two or not. You might end up handing me over to the orphanage."

Both Two and Dapper silently watched as One came up from the ground and into the car before materializing to his normal self. He fired up the Escalade's engine and pulled out of the parking space and towards the alley where Two and Dapper waited.

"Jump in, quick!" One shouted. Two grabbed Dapper and ran to his side of the car and threw the boy inside before climbing up into it himself. Before Two had a chance to close the door, One floored the Escalade and took off.

"What are you doing?" Dapper shouted while trying not to tumble around in the backseat. "We're in the city. The police will catch us if you go this fast! And they'll give me over to the authorities if they see me."

"Quiet, kid, we know what we're doing." One turned a sharp corner. "Is the orphanage woman following us?"

Two turned around in his seat to look out of the back windshield.

"Yes, she is."

"Grab your gun, Two."

Two's eyes lit up with excitement as he reached under the seat and dragged out his machine gun.

"What are you gonna do?! You aren't gonna shoot at her, are you?" Dapper's small voice began to squeak. The Twins said nothing. Two clumsily opened up the sunroof above him and stood up the best he could in the seat.

"You can't do that!" Dapper jumped and grabbed Two's leg. "As much as I dislike her, we can't kill her!"

Two struggled to keep his balance as Dapper continued to hold onto his pants leg.

"Two," One jerked his brother's coat. "Dapper's right. Come on down. We can't shoot at that woman."

Two came down in a hurry and stared in puzzlement at his brother for a few minutes.

"B-but," Two stammered.

"Just relax, I have an idea."

Two continued to look bewildered.

"'Tis the season to be jolly, remember?" One glanced at Two.

"This is my way of being jolly!" Two held up his gun.

"Put it back under your seat."

Two sighed and did what he was told before settling back and crossing his arms in disgust.

The Twins and Dapper sat in silence as One continued to drive, leading the mistress out of the city limits and into the country. Suddenly One stopped and jumped out of the car.

"Come on!" One motioned. Two and Dapper jumped out of the car too and followed One down into a snow trench not far from where they had parked the Escalade.

"Gather up all the snow you can." One grinned. "When she steps out of her car, we'll let her have it!"

Two started to grin too while he helped Dapper prepare snowballs. One gathered a huge mound of snow and set it off to the side then went on to make snowballs too. The Twins and Dapper rolled and piled snowballs up in several places around them, making them easy to get at when needed. After awhile, everyone stopped and waited.

"Where is she?" Dapper asked.

"She can't be too far away. She stayed behind us for most of the ride, so she couldn't have gotten lost."

"I wish she'd come soon because I'm,"

"I know, I know. Don't tell me." One looked across at Two. Two breathed into his hands then stuffed them down in the pockets of his coat.

"Want me to build a fire?" One playfully laughed.

It wasn't long before the roar of a car approached. Everyone stopped talking while One carefully peeked over the side of the snow trench.

"It's her! She's here!" One ducked down out of sight.

"What are your plans for all of this?" Two pointed at all the piles of snowballs.

"We wait a few minutes until she gets out of the car. Then we pound her with them until she retreats."

"Wonder if she won't?"

"Then you can get the gun." One smiled. Two smiled back.

A tall thin elderly woman wearing a dark wine colored dress stepped out of the black car. She had a long wrinkled face that reminded the Twins of an old hound dog, and gray hair that was tied up in a bun at the back of her head. On her face she wore thick glasses that made her look all the more menacing.

"Where on earth did she get glasses like that?" Two whispered with an amused laugh.

"I dunno, but if she ever lost them all she'd have to do to get a new pair is break a couple of coke bottles and tie them together with a clothes hanger." One snickered a little louder.

The woman turned toward the trench at the sound of One's laughter.

"Uh oh." One backed up.

"Now you've done it." Two reached for a snowball.

"Let her have it, men!" One shouted while reaching for some ammunition.

Dapper and the Twins started throwing snowballs as fast as they could grab them. The woman shrieked and flung her arms up to shield her face. Snowball after snowball the woman stood her ground until her foot hit a patch of ice, sending her down into the trench where Dapper and the Twins were.

"Enemy in the camp! Retreat!" Two shouted while trying to scurry up the slick slope. One grabbed Two's coat and pulled him back down.

"So!" the woman angrily said, after getting up and looking around her. "I thought I was being pounded by a gang of children, but instead I find two grown men acting like childish delinquents."

"Now see here, lady." One started to protest.

"Silence!"

Two slunk away behind One after seeing the woman's temper flare. He knew better than to argue with someone with a bad temper. He'd lived with the Merovingian's temper too long not to know.

"Feisty little woman, isn't she?" One whispered to Two.

"I think you two have something that belongs to me." The old woman pointed her finger at the two twins.

"Oh? And what might that be?" One raised his eyebrows a little.

"You know good and well what it is. Now I'll not stand for anymore back talk."

"Hey! Come and get me!" Dapper shouted from behind a tree. The woman turned and started running the best she could towards Dapper. The little boy grinned and took off running too, with the woman in close pursuit. The Twins phased and sunk down into the snow-covered earth and traveled as fast as they could underground. Two was the first to appear in front of the woman and Dapper. Not looking at where he was going and as a result of the confusion started by the sudden appearing of Two, Dapper bumped into the twin, sending both of them flying onto the slick snowy ground. Dapper screamed as he and Two started sliding down a steep hillside that was inches away from where they had fallen.

"Help me!" Dapper shouted.

"What do you mean, help you?! Help me! I can't stop rolling!" Two grunted as he tumbled and rolled with Dapper clasped close to his chest. Both came to an abrupt stop when they hit a small hard frozen pond below and slid slowly the rest of the way. When he finally came to a complete stop, Two lay on his back in the middle of the frozen pond and breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was fun! Let's do it again!" Dapper giggled, as he rolled off of Two's stomach.

"Alright, you can do it again." Two started to get up. "But this time you can do it without the twin toboggan!" Two struggled to stand on the slick ice and slowly made his way to the pond's bank, Dapper close behind him. Once they reached the snow again, One appeared in front of them.

"I was wondering what happened to you two." One grinned and laughed. Before Two could say anything, the evil mistress Dapper feared walked up to them. Two glanced around for Dapper, but the young child was nowhere to be seen.

"If you two are through playing games, I'd like to have the child that belongs to me."

"He isn't your child." Two glared. "He's an orphan that belongs to no one."

"An orphan who's looking for a family." One added.

"He was left in my care so he belongs to me until he finds a family." the woman snapped.

"It was because of you that he ran away in the first place!" Two took a step toward the woman, getting ready to reach for his razor.

Before the Twins or the woman could do anything, a wild snowball hit the woman from behind, giving the Twins a chance to grab her.

"Thanks, Dapper!" One shouted, struggling with the woman. "Get the rope out of the car." One nudged Two.

Two went and came back in a matter of minutes with a thick long rope that One took and tied around the woman's hands and feet.

"We gonna leave her out here?" Two gagged the woman's mouth with a cloth.

"Why not? She won't give us any trouble out here." One grunted while tying the ropes extra tight. "Take Dapper and get in the car. We're getting out of here."

Two did as One told him and before long, One joined them.

"Good bye, ducky! If you follow us now, you're more mysterious than we took you for!" One shouted out the window in the direction they had left the woman tied up, before breaking into an evil laughter.