AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks so much for the reviews! Hope you guys like this chapter as much as I'm enjoying writing it! Get ready to see a bit of Bernard in this chapter - last one was just a little *introduction* to Cordelia. Oh, well - enjoy this one!
After a few more hours of delivering gifts and traveling, the sleigh began to head back up north. When they got closer to the North Pole, Cordelia began to get colder. She grabbed her bag and, one by one put a sweatshirt on here, a long-sleeved t-shirt there until she had practically all her winter clothes on her. She noticed that they had entered the polar ice cap region and turned to Santa.
"So," she said trying to make conversation, "How long is it until we get there?"
"It's not going to be long," he said with a laugh. "When we do get there, though, I need you to stay in the sleigh. Don't worry about doing anything - there's usually an elf which is in charge of doing so . . ."
"Doing what?"
"You'll see," Santa said looking over to her. "You'll see." She looked stuffed with all of the layers of clothing on her . . . of course, she would be shedding mostly everything off when they got into the workshop.
~*~*~
In what seemed like 5 minutes but was more towards the time of a half-hour, he set the sleigh down in the middle of the polar ice cap. They both could hear the calls of polar bears out in the distance. Snow was gently falling into the girl's hair.
The reindeer pulled their reins from Santa's hands and ran off. The man noticed that his companion had stood up and was getting ready to go after them.
"Remember what I told you?"
She sat down. "Stay in the sleigh? But Santa, the reindeer just ran off!"
"They are going back to their pens." He was silent for a minute before he pointed off to his left. "Look." They could both see what looked like a boy come towards them. He reached his hands into a snow pile and up came a red-and-white candy striped pole.
"Is that the…?"
"North Pole? Yep. We're home."
Just as he said that, they felt a jerk through the sleigh and they began to move down. "What the…?" She leaned her head out of the side and saw that they were heading down into a large gathering place. The people that were down there had begun to move out of the way as if they knew where the ice patch would land. They came down and she saw the reindeer pens circling the area. There were dozens . . . upon dozens . . . upon dozens of children doing different necessary works. *Children?* she thought to herself as the ice circle landed on the floor. *Where are all the adults?* "Um . . . Santa?"
He looked up to her as he was climbing out of the sleigh. "Where are all the adults? They're elves, Cordelia." He chuckled to himself as he hopped down off of the platform.
The girl looked around in bewilderment . . . so elves *were* real! She smiled as a feeling of happiness washed over her. *I'm here . . . I can't believe it - I'm here . . . is it getting hot in here or is it just me?* She began to pull off the many layers she had on until she was down to a sweatshirt, t-shirt, and jeans.
As she pushed everything down into her bag again, she heard Santa call her name. "Are you hungry?"
"Yeah," she said. "I haven't eaten since lunch."
"Abby'll take you to get something to eat," he said. "After that, she'll show you to your room and get you settled. We'll get you into a department so you can have a job . . . that'll all be discussed later. If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask any of the elves." With that, he left.
"Cordelia?" She turned around to see a girl, 12 years old at the most standing behind her.
"Abby?"
"I'm Santa's naughty-n-nice elf, in charge of the list. He wants me to take you to get some dinner. Is there anything in particular you want? The kitchen's always open . . ."
"I don't care," she said with a shrug. "I just want some cocoa. Any food'll be fine by me."
"Wonderful," the elf said with a smile. "Follow me."
The two walked through the room towards a hallway that began on the other side. Cordelia looked and saw that Santa was talking to one of his elves. At first his good looks caught her eye but then she noticed a pin that was on his beret. Her walk slowed to a stop and she reached down into her pocket, pulling out one that was a duplicate of the elf's beret pin.
"Cordelia?" Abby had turned around when she noticed that the newcomer hadn't been following.
"Who's that talking to Santa?"
"Oh, that's Bernard. He's the head elf around here, second only to Santa." She poked her head around her and saw that indeed, he was busy. "I'll introduce you later - I think he and Santa are discussing some sort of issue." The new girl nodded and the pair continued their journey. When Cordelia was able to, she kept her eyes on him. Right before they turned the corner, she noticed that he was aware of her existence. Even though she wanted to go over and talk to him, she kept on her course for the cafeteria.