Chapter 3: Encounter with Crystal
"Are you really from out of this world?" a small fuzzy woodchuck came running after the sleigh while being followed by a few other critters who had now shown a little more interest in the cows than with decorating the trees. "Because you sure don't look like pudding cows."
"We told you before, we're not of this place, nor have we ever heard of anything called Pudding Palace that you speak of," Mrs. Calloway replied. She did not feel the least bit comfortable from almost having an entire herd of forest animals chase after them. To her, it now started to become similar to being chased by things one might only see in their dream, and she still couldn't believe that this was happening. "Why aren't you even decorating the trees?"
"Come off it Mrs. C," Maggie gave a firm pat on the back without having to knock off her purple bonnet by mistake. "Try to have a little fun now; we've been away from the ranch before and we'll get back eventually. Besides, it's not like we ended up in a far worse situation than outlaw territory. Until then, we're stuck here, so enjoy." She spoke while Mrs. Calloway watched her lean over the edge of the sleigh and dig her hoof under the deep snow to throw it at her.
"Oh that does it, take that!" Mrs. Calloway did the same thing which soon became another snowball battle like what happened back at their home. Right now, it was causing some of the squirrels, beavers, chipmunks and blue birds to holler for an entertaining snowball fight competition. Both cows heard them shout and glared at each other with smirks across their face.
"Have a whip of this!" Maggie threw another snowball that splattered over Mrs. C's wooly scarf. It might have made her angry, but the competition still kept going as the small critters kept cheering and clapping for more.
"Dear me," the owl muttered a moment after a snowball hit him in the back of the head.
"Oops sorry about that!" called Maggie.
"Don't worry, carry on!" he answered whilst rubbing his head. He chuckled lightly as he watched them continue on with their little snowball throwing game. Well, that's what you call fun with both friends and family. He lifted himself off the front seat to hover above Grace and have a small chat. "Never been here have you young one? Well that's ok; we don't get many outside visitors in this part of the region since Santa Clause doesn't want anybody to ever know about his secret hideout."
"But if nobody has ever seen Santa, then how do they know he's even there?" Grace asked doubtfully.
"Why dear one, the true spirit of Christmas and Santa Clause is all a matter of believing, not seeing," the owl answered with a smile across his yellow tiny beak. "None of us need to see a certain place to know that it is there. That is what believing is all about. Didn't your mother ever teach you about that?"
At that moment, Grace could feel a pierce in her heart from having to hear the word "mother." She had never known or remembered her real mother since it has been who-knows-how-long since she was a tiny calf living a difficult lonely life. And sometimes she had a hard time trying to put that all behind her despite knowing that she was now with caring and loving family members who now look after her.
"My dear, have I said something to upset you?" The owl could see through her with those dismal eyes. He himself was not used to seeing someone sad at heart whether in the mortal world or at the North Pole. It would break his heart to see them like that.
"No, you haven't," Grace answered softly with a weak smile. "I just got a little snow in my eye, that's all." The elderly owl swooped down next to Grace and placed his left wing on her right front leg for small comfort.
"Well whatever it is, remember that you always have family to turn to in need of help. It is faith and friendship that keeps you going." The owl's advice managed to melt away the sadness that had been growing in her heart and was replaced with cheer (for now). It reminded her of something an old friend once taught her. "Oh and forgive me for not introducing myself, everyone in Christmas Tree Forest refers to me as Mr. Frazzle."
"It's very nice to meet you Mr. Frazzle," Grace spoke as politely as possible without having to giggle at the funny name. Mr. Frazzle could already tell that she was trying not to laugh, but he didn't mind that. Even he believed it was funny sometimes.
Maggie and Mrs. Calloway were still distracted with their snowball fight to pay any attention to what else was happening in front. But that didn't bother Grace since she didn't want them to know about it. She smiled and giggled while listening to the forest critters cheer.
Meanwhile, on a snowy hilltop
"Pesky, noisy little creatures; their cheerfulness makes me gag," the same cold voice belonging to the same dark woman stood atop a snowy hilltop from a faraway distance, gazing at the sleigh moving on with those irritating bells ringing in her ears. Even those bright lights decorated on the trees were a real nuisance. "Just look at those reindeer smiling. Don't they ever get tired of having to do all the hard work while Santa enjoys himself in the sleigh?"
"Hmm, maybe I should have some fun with a little snow storm, but first…" with a glint in her eye, she turned to the Christmas trees and moved swiftly down the frosted covered hills. Some of the forest critters were still busy hanging up items and didn't notice her standing in the tracks left behind by the sleigh until a strange laughter attracted their attention to her. All their sweet cheer went out of their faces. One brown squirrel had dropped a colored ball before hanging it on a branch, and two rabbits stood in the snow petrified with red ribbons in their mouths, and a couple of chipmunks squeaked in terror.
"Oh now, am I the only one who thinks those colors on the trees look a little too bright for all of you?" She asked coldly but nobody dared to answer her. "Let me see, how about some ICICLES TO GO WITH IT!" With a wave of her arms, an extreme Arctic blast shot through her blue lips straight at the forest animals to trap them in blocks of heavy ice. The blast kept on blowing until almost the entire Christmas tree forest was frozen solid in ice. And sadly many of the tiny birds, squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, and deer had been frozen in ice as well.
"Now it's time for some real fun," she stared fiercely at the path straight ahead.
At the midst of Christmas Tree Forest
Everyone was unaware that the fun snowball fight was soon to end by the madness of a powerful evil woman already on the trail. Of course, it didn't stop until one squirrel turned back to notice the forest frozen in solid ice.
"OH NO, HALF OF CHRISTMAS TREE FOREST IS COVERED IN ICE!!" He hollered jumping in a panic. Ester had pulled back on the reins for the sleigh to slow down to a stop. Everyone turned around and became as shocked as he was. Frightened, the forest animals fled off into the safety of their homes or what might have been left of the Christmas Trees, including Mr. Frazzle. Some couldn't bear to leave their beloved handmade decorations to whatever catastrophe might have bestowed upon them. But some argued that there might not be enough time to gather everything at once.
"Now what could have gotten into them and why on earth is there ice behind us? WHOA!!" Mrs. Calloway almost slipped off the back seat as the cows could feel the sleigh begin to move again, only this time it was at an extremely fast pace. Maggie could now view the worried expression on Ester's sweaty face.
"WHOA NELLIE, SLOW DOWN!!" she cried while holding on tight to the edge of the moving sleigh. "WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA GOING SO FAST?"
"THERE IS NO TIME TO EXPLAIN, WE'VE GOT TO KEEP MOVING!" Ester shouted as loud as he could because of the fact that the jingling of the sleigh bells was ringing loudly in everyone's ears.
None of the three were used to riding on a train or wagon that traveled at fast pace and became nervous whenever the sleigh drove out between rocky cliffs, down a few more snowy hills and on and away into the darkness and the cold. Now it was becoming a wild journey for the cows, although Maggie was soon taking a liking to it as she was the type to be going on wild adventure rides and began to shout "giddy up" or "ride like the wind." Mrs. Calloway was still too nervous to react to her at this time and was holding on the edge of the sleigh and to her purple hat. The sleigh had made a U-turn when they had reached the edge of a cliff and all the way down to the slope.
"MRS. C, THE SNOWFLAKES ARE MAKING ME DIZZY!!" Grace cried out with her eyes shut tight and her left hoof in front of her face.
"I KNOW GRACE, JUST KEEP HANGING ON!!" Mrs. Calloway answered with her eyes shut tight as well. Even she began to feel the snowflakes enter her eyes and splatter over her face.
Before the sleigh had been going half an hour, the cows had been covered in amounts of tiny snowflakes. Whenever they would dust themselves off, a new lot would gather and it became tiresome having to do it all over. Even their hides were becoming soaked up. Despite the harsh blizzard seeping in, the sleigh went on and on with only the sound of the jingling bells. And because they were still protecting their eyes from the snowy blizzard, none of them noticed a rather peculiar bluish spectral trail in the deep snow zooming after the sleigh like a dangerous flood of water. In a moment, the reindeer were now having a bad feeling that something not of their territory had been following them; something sinister like…
"OH NO!" Ester screamed in terror as he pulled back on the reins in order for the reindeer to stop running. The force of the halt caused the cows to hit the backside of the front seat in a painful thud. Everyone watched as the blue spectral in the snow rose up like a fountain and took on the shape of a great lady, taller than any woman the cows had ever seen in Chugwater town. She was covered in a dark midnight blue dress with long floppy sleeves from her neck to her feet, and her hair was black as ebony which flowed down to her thin waist. She wore a shining silver crown made of icicles and she had cold baby-blue skin with blue-violet lips, pointed ears and steel-blue eyes. Her fingernails were pointed and sharp, but not too long. Behind that beautiful face was something cold, stern and an even greater malice.
"C…C…Crystal," Ester stammered. Even the reindeer stood petrified not knowing what to do about her. That was the woman's name alright; the same lady that Ester did not want the cows to know about. Taking her eyes away from the reindeer, she strode over casually to who might have been sitting inside the sleigh. It was the same three visitors she witnessed in her ice mirror. Right now they just sat in there with puzzled expressions. What could she possibly want with them?
"Well, well, well, what a pleasant surprise it is to see you here," she said with an unpleasant grin. "I'd never thought I would live to see the day when three outsiders would enter this enchanting realm by accident."
"Who are you and what do you want?" Mrs. Calloway spoke sternly.
"I'm Crystal, the Ice Empress of Stone Cold Mountain. From there, I am responsible for the blizzards that arrive every single winter season. Of course, in order to get there, one must pass through the forbidden ice caverns," Crystal moved slowly in the back of the sleigh with her arms behind her back whilst still talking. "Why would any of you want to waste your time getting to the North Pole only to be caroling, gift wrapping, and eating sweets when…?"
Maggie cut her off "Look ice lady, whatever kind of scam you're pulling on us, it ain't gonna work. We already know where we're heading right girls?" The other two nodded their heads which tried to convince Crystal that the answer was no. But she wasn't finished talking.
"You interrupt me?" Crystal demanded moving to the right side of the sleigh. "When all I'm trying to do is offer you a chance of immortality?"
"Immortality, what do you mean?" Grace asked curiously.
"Why darling, I mean that I can offer you all the ability to go on living throughout the years without fear of having to die like all the other mortals around you. But all you have to do is be my servants and join me in creating the most wondrous winter wonderland there is on earth."
"I think we'll pass on that one miss, but thank you for the time you made us waste," Mrs. Calloway declared bravely. She along with the other two should know better than to accept a hard bargain from a stranger they just met.
"And our answer to you is still no," Maggie added. From the terrible expression on Crystal's face, she was not about to take no for an answer.
"If you're not going to cooperate, than I might as well…" surprisingly the cows saw her creating some kind of blue ice orb in the palm of her hands growing from small to large and it looked as if she was planning to aim it at them. "…have to settle this the more simpler way." The cows cowered when she raised the ball in midair and were preparing for whatever kind of attack she would give each of them. Instead of being hit, they heard Crystal utter a piercing scream. Opening their eyes, they stared in bewilderment when the woman tried to back away from the bright shining red light coming from the nose of another flying reindeer.
Disclaimer: The original story of Rudolph was told by a man named Robert "Bob" May as comfort for his daughter and has now become an instant holiday classic and song. I own nothing of the Christmas stories or songs.