Chapter 7: A Little Misadventure

Radarr made a flying leap for the cart just as Junko sat up and realized what was going on. Next thing he knew, he had a face full of Radarr.

Aerrow was next to make a jump for it, clinging to the side and easily climbing in. I wasn't so graceful, but I managed.

Once inside, I looked around. "Now what?" I asked.

"I don't know!" Junko groaned.

"We're going to be okay," I said, looking at the tracks. This thing would come to a standstill soon enough.

But instead, it ran over a motor that changed the tracks, and suddenly he were headed downhill at high speed in a back alley. "Maybe not!" I amended.

"We have to stop this thing!" Aerrow shouted.

It was the simplest solution in the world with perhaps the toughest dilemma: how? I looked around in frustration. "Doesn't this thing have a break?"

Just then, I heard a voice. Arygyn's voice, but instead of looking up and seeing Arygyn, I saw a Mynall bird flying above us. "Take a break, kid!" the bird said, pecking at little lever far off the side of the cart. "Want a cup of Joe?"

And just like that, the bird had winged away.

I looked around at the other two. They hadn't even noticed the bird; they had been looking the wrong way. Figures.

And without another thought, I pulled the lever.

Radarr suddenly screeched. "We're gonna crash!" I heard Junko yell.

Sure enough, the cart jolted to a stop when it collided with some sort of end to the tracks. It might have gone over had it not already been slowed by the break. But the guys could thank me for that later.

We all tumbled over each other on impact, and as I tried to sit up, I noticed something. "We're spinning!"

Sure enough, when we sat up, he found ourselves on a spinning turret. All around us were sets of tracks coming out of tunnels.

We had come down one of those tunnels, I knew, but now we had no idea which one we came from. Christmas music was playing softly over speakers in whatever building we were in.

Junko turned to look at us. "You hear that?" he asked.

The rest of us blinked at him in surprise. Radarr titled his head to the side. The music? We all heard the music.

"The bell!" he told us.

I raised an eyebrow. "What bell?"

"The sleigh bell!" Junko answered excitedly, jumping out of the cart.

"Sleigh bell?" Aerrow repeated. He sounded excited. Next to him, Radarr chirped eagerly and jumped out of the cart after Junko.

"Don't you hear it?" Junko asked us as the rest of us climbed out. He looked around. "It's coming from over there!" He pointed into one of the tunnels and then ran over to the tracks that led down it.

Aerrow, Radarr, and I followed but then drew up short. We had only just realized that the turret we were on and the tracks were the only solid surfaces before we reached the tunnels. All around us was a drop so long and so far that I couldn't see the bottom. Worse, there was only enough floor for the tracks on either side. There wasn't any way to leave this place without a bit of tightrope walking. It was nerve racking, to say the least.

But Junko was so certain. He pointed down the tunnel. "That's the way we should go!" But even he didn't seem in any hurry to try to get there.

Finally Aerrow stepped forward. "Well, what are we waiting for? We have to get out of here somehow." He started across, tiptoeing his way over the rail. When he saw we weren't following, he turned around and gestured to us. "Come on!"

Radarr gulped loudly and started across, keeping down on all fours to do it and practically hugging the little rail platform.

Junko and I exchanged glances. Aerrow was right. There was no other way. Junko started across first, his ears pricked forward as if still straining to hear the bell sound. I followed after him.

We were about halfway cross when I saw Junko's hoof slip. "Junko!" I cried.

Aerrow whirled his head around, and Radarr screeched.

"Whoa, whoa, wha!" Junko gasped as he wobbled dangerously, his arms cart wheeling. But at last, he steadied himself again. "I'm okay!"

I breathed a sigh of relief.

We finally made it across and found train tracks that led us out of the building and into a back alley of the town. Junko took the lead from there, as only he could hear the bell. "Come on!" he told us excitedly as we jogged through the narrow streets of cobblestone. Every now and then we would pass under beautifully decorated archways, which didn't make me feel comfortable because I didn't remember archways when we first rolled away. How could Junko be so sure this was the way to go?

Just then, we came to another tunnel, this one much smaller to the first. Otherwise, the street was a dead end. Just as I thought. "We're lost," I said.

Undaunted, Junko went up to the tunnel, cocking an ear forward. "Yes," he said. "Yeah, I hear it."

Radarr came up next to Junko on all fours, one paw lifted in a pointed, his ears cocked forward and his neck reaching as far into the tunnel as it would go. He looked like some sort of champion pointer dog. Suddenly he let out a screech that was filled with delight.

Aerrow came up behind his friend and listened. "I hear it, too!" he exclaimed.

I listened as hard as I could. "I don't hear anything."

"Okay," Aerrow said as if I hadn't spoken, "it's down this way." He pointed down the tunnel and then started down it.

"Are you sure?" I called after him.

He froze that. There it was again. The question. But we had to be sure we going the right way, right? Otherwise we might not only miss everything, but we might not get back to the Condor Express on time!

Aerrow turned around slowly and fixed me with a firm glare. "Positive," he answered curtly, making it clear he never wanted to hear that question again.

In a moment, he was gone, Radarr on his heels. Junko followed after. There was nothing to do for me but come with them. "Why can't I hear anything?" I asked as I came up behind them.

"Shush!" Aerrow said.

I scowled. "Don't shush me!"

In answer, he shushed me again. He was listening once. Only after a moment did he proceed down the staircase in the tunnel. "Get down and be quiet," he told us as we approached the bottom.

We could all hear it now. There was the sound of typing on some sort of typewriter and the static of radio call-ins. "Yeah," a squeaky voice said. "Uh huh. Okay."

We all stepped forward and saw a balcony and railing in front of us. Aerrow motioned us to get down on the floor, and we all crawled on our bellies toward the railing to peer down at the floor below.

It was like an office building. There were desks with radios and typewriters in rows all over the room with a huge stack of TV screens in the center of the room. Each screen showed the face and name of a child. And would you know it? There was an old elf with a long, white beard pacing in front of the screens, and a few other elves at desks. One of them just hung up the receiver of his radio. "Well, that was the wrapping hall, Chief Agar," he said. "They just finished the last one."

"Oh, good, good," Agar said with the nonchalance of an old man. "How's it wrapped?"

"It's wrapped in candy-striped red with a number seven holly-green bow."

"A number seven bow?" Agar said in surprise. "This close to Christmas? What are they thinking down there? Haven't they looked at the clock? Are they blind?"

As soon as he said that, he almost walked straight into a desk before one of the other elves got up and led him around it. Yeah, and the other elves are blind.

"What's the routing?" Agar asked.

"Uh . . . going to Nimbus, it looks like," the caller elf said.

"Looks like?" Agar asked. "Is it or isn't it?"

"Not sure," the elf answered.

"Oh, Atmos help us!" Agar muttered angrily.

"Nimbus?" Aerrow repeated in a whisper.

Just then, a sign above the elves lit up. It said, "Naughty." "We got a troublemaker, men!" Agar said at once, although he was looking slightly left of the sign. "Just what we need. As if things aren't poor enough now . . . Where is his location, men?"

"Apparently, some kid from Atmosia put stuck some gum in his sister's hair," the squeaky-voice elf read off a sheet that just came in from the crystal-powered fax machine.

"Atmosia?" Agar said. "Oh, my. Is that the same child who put a tack underneath his teacher's chair last year?"

"No, sir," the other elf answered. "This kid goes by the name of Top Dog."

"So what do we do, Agar?" another elf asked. "Alert the big man? Are we talkin' no presents for Christmas?"

Agar paced back and forth on his knobby knees, tapping his staff in his hand. Finally he took a crystal lying next to the desk and pointed it at one of the screens. A bulky, tough boy's face came on, saying, "Well, she deserved it!" Over and over again it said that.

"Look, it's . . . it's Christmas," Agar said at last. "Let's cut the kid a break." He put down his crystal and tried to point at one of his men but pointed slightly right of him instead. "But put him on the check twice list for next year."

When one of the elves made a note of that, Agar said, "Alright, men. Let us be going. That's it for this year."

"Hey, chief," one of the elves said to Agar, "are we taking a skimmer?"

"Of course we're taking a skimmer!" Agar answered as they walked over to a group of skimmers. "It's the only way to get there on time. Oh, thank you," he said as one of the elves moved him over. Agar had been trying to mount but had been a little too far ahead; he nearly got on the skimmer's bow.

"I'll drive, sir," the squeaky elf said, apparently worried about Agar operating anything that required good eyesight.

And soon, all six elves had flown up a tunnel on three rides.

Quickly Aerrow led the way down toward the rides once the elves were gone. "Let's go!" he said.

"We can't steal one of these!" I reminded him in horror.

"We're not stealing," he corrected. "We're borrowing." He mounted one with Radarr close behind. "Well, come on!"

It was quite crowded with all of us crammed on one skimmer. Awkward, even. But soon we were flying up the tunnel and were only concerned about getting to the square on time.

Eventually we got to a fork in the tunnel. Aerrow listened. "Do you hear it?" he asked Junko and Radarr.

"No," Junko said sadly. Radarr shook his head.

Aerrow thought a moment. "I think we should go left," he said. And with that, we went left.

We took a couple more forks and ended up in a dead end platform. There wasn't anywhere else we could go where the skimmer would fit. "Let's get off and go on foot," I voted.

So that's what we did. Once there, I looked around. "I don't hear it," Aerrow said. "Do you?"

"No," Junko answered again.

Ahead of us I could see another tunnel with a conveyer belt that had arrows on it. "I think we should follow those arrows," I said.

Since we didn't know what else to do, the guys took my idea, and we started out, running along the arrows until we entered a room full of wrapping paper. From there, the arrows led us to yet another room with smaller conveyer belts melting into it. Ahead was yet another tunnel.

We stopped, and I looked around hopelessly. Was it always going to be more tunnels? I turned to the guys apologetically. "I thought there'd be a way out," I said.

"We're gonna miss everything!" Junko said sadly.

Just then, a horn sounded, and the conveyer belt started moving. All of us scrambled to get off it onto a platform and ended up on different ones, Junko and I on one and Aerrow and Radarr on the other.

"Hey, look!" Junko said, pointing.

Down one of the wing conveyer belts came an item. "A present!" I exclaimed. It was candy-striped and had a green bow. I read the label. "It's going to Terra Nimbus!" I exclaimed. It must have been the present Agar was talking about. I kept reading. "Aerrow, it has your name on it!"

Aerrow stared, openmouthed. "Really. My name?"

I guess I should have seen it coming. The next thing I knew, when the present passed Aerrow, he leaped onto the conveyer belt and grabbed hold it. Seeing him, Radarr screeched and leaped onto his back. And then they had disappeared behind the flaps leading to the next tunnel.

"Come on!" I said to Junko, running after them. Junko followed after as fast as he could.

I fell over on my bottom so that I could be short enough to go through the tunnel. Junko jumped forward on his belly.

Next thing I knew, we were going down the slickest, wildest slide I'd ever been down. I have no shame in saying I screamed. The slide spiraled and looped and spiraled some more, all the while bringing us down into the depths of a huge room.

When we reached the bottom, the slide didn't stop there. We seemed to be heading down a gigantic funnel with no way to stop ourselves. And like all funnels, at the center was a hole. I screamed as we fell down it.

But nothing bad happened. We merely landed on top of the largest stack of presents I had ever seen! It was the size of a large hill! There was enough presents here to fill . . . a carrier ship, I thought. Isn't that what I told Lynn? Santa had to have enough presents to fill a carrier ship?

We all shuffled around in the presents, catching our bearings. Radarr, who was still clinging to Aerrow with a death grip, looked shaken senseless. Aerrow, on the other hand, had a huge grin stretched across his face, and he still had hold of his present. "Look!" he exclaimed, holding it up.

Junko leaned forward to read the label. "It says 'Merry Christmas, Aerrow. From Mr. C.'"

Aerrow shook it excitedly. "I think I know what it is. I've wanted one of these my whole life!" He made to open it.

"Wait, wait!" Junko exclaimed. "Stop! Look." He pointed at another label.

We all looked. This other label read, "Do not open until Christmas."

Aerrow looked crestfallen at that. "But . . . I . . ."

"Those are the rules," I told him.

Before he could respond to that, we felt a jolt. The stack of presents was moving. Rolling. It must have been on some sort of rolling platform. We all looked up and saw that the stack stopped rolling just under a bulls-eye in the ceiling. What the . . . ?

Suddenly, four rockets shot up around us toward the bulls-eye, trailing rope. Then slowly, surely a huge, red sack was pulled up around the presents on the ropes.

"We're in Santa's sack!" Junko exclaimed.

Then the ceiling opened up, and there above us, with the ropes of the sack secured to it, was a freighter ship! The freighter began to lift the sack—with us—up into the air. Junko, Radarr, and I climbed up toward the rim to look out. Aerrow had to lift up his present and hold it over his head to join us.

We were flying over the town. What a beautiful sight it was! We could see all the Christmas lights for miles around over the cute, little red town.

Well, it looked like we were going to be right on time after all.

Suddenly, Aerrow let out a cry and sank into the presents. Junko and I whirled around. Radarr leaped down and grabbed hold of Aerrow's arm just before he was about to disappear into the presents. "Something's got me!" Aerrow cried. "It's got my leg!"

Junko and I grabbed hold of him. "Give me your other hand!" I told Aerrow.

Aerrow looked down at his other hand. He had his present in his clutch, holding it tightly under his arm. He turned back to me. "I can't!"

Let go! It's just a present! I wanted to scream.

But I was wrong. It may well be the only present Aerrow had ever gotten.

"I got him," Junko assured me. As I let go, Junko suddenly gave a heave and pulled Aerrow out of the presents as easily as he would lift a piece of toast.

And there, dangling from Aerrow's foot, was a hand.

Junko pulled even harder. Another boy popped out of the pile, one with blond hair held up with too much hair gel and bright blue eyes.

"You!" I exclaimed, pointing at Finn.

"You!" Finn mimicked, pointing at me.

"What're you doing here?" Junko asked Finn curiously.

"Same as you," Finn answered. "Checking my presents. I'm makin' sure I'm getting everything on my list. All I found is one present, and all it had was a stupid pair of underwear!"

Aerrow was staring at Finn as if Finn had reached a new level of lunacy. Apparently Aerrow was unfamiliar with such materialism.

What an idiotic jerk! I thought. I turned away from Finn to peer out over the town. And there . . . "Look!" I cried, pointing.

I could hardly believe my eyes. Down below was the town square. Thousands of elves were there, gathered around the biggest, most beautiful Christmas tree I had ever seen!

Then, suddenly, a chicken burst out of the pile of presents. I'm not kidding. It was the same white hen from the Condor Express. Radarr got one look at her before he went scurrying around the top of the presents, searching for an escape. The chicken ran after him, scattering feathers everywhere.

I looked at Aerrow. Radarr was his companion, after all. "Should we do something?"

Aerrow shook his head. "Actually . . ." he said, "this is kind of normal."

Um . . . okay . . .

In the freighter above us, we heard a voice saying over the radio, "You may start your descent anytime now. At your convenience, of course."

Slowly the ship started to descend with the bag. Junko stared off at the clock. "It's still five to!" he said eagerly. "I think we're gonna make it!"

"Duh," said Finn, who had joined us as the rim. "It's been five to for the last hour. We got plenty of time. We got time to kill!"

I looked down at where we were descending. "You know what?" I told the others. "I don't think we're gonna make it."

Down below, I could just make out Stork and the other kids. Stork put his hand around his mouth. "I say this as a world-flying pilot," Stork said. "I think you need more altitude! Or you're doomed!"

"More altitude!" the other elves yelled.

They were right. We were going to hit the tree!

"Altitude, please," the radio on the freighter said above us. "A bit more altitude, please." The ship went up a little higher.

But it still wasn't enough. "We're not gonna make it!" I said again.

We had avoided hitting the tree, but we were still on a collision course with the star. Sure enough, the sack glanced the star and sent it tumbling from the tree. "Oh, no!" I cried.

But the elves apparently had it all under control. Five skyrides suddenly took off from the freighter and dived after the star, still in bike mode. Just before it hit the ground, they threw ropes that caught the star, each catching one of the corners. Then they deployed their wings, surged back up toward the top of the tree, and expertly put the star back.

"Whoa!" Junko said.

"Dude!" Finn exclaimed.

"Impressive," Aerrow agreed.

"REEEEEEEEEK!" Radarr screeched as he continued to flee the clucking chicken.

We lowered even more (this time away from the tree) until at last we were right above a beautiful (and regularly-sized) sleigh. Then, just like that, we were dropped right onto the back of it. I wasn't quite sure how this bag was supposed to stay perched on this sleigh.

After a moment, two elf faces appeared above the rim, one of them being Agar's. "Alright, you stowaways!" he said, looking to our right.

"Uh, boss?" the elf next to him said. "They're over there." He turned his head for him.

"Oh, right, right," Agar said. "Party's over, kids. Come on out."

Finn blinked innocently. "I was just following them!" he said, pointing at the rest of us.

Immature jerk!

"We fell in here by mistake," I told the elves, putting my sixpence in.

"Ah, forget about it," the other elf said dismissively. "We knew you was in there the whole time!"

"Come on, let's go," Agar told us. "Step up, step up."

We all headed toward the rim and climbed over, perched on a dip on the bag.

"So nobody gets hurt," the other elf said, "here's how we're gonna get you guys down. You're just gonna slide—"

"Slide? All the way down that?" Finn said, pointing down the bag and gulping. "I don't think that—"

"What do you know?" the elf cut him off, his hands on his hips. "You're not supposed to be here in the first place!"

That shut Finn up.

"But since it's Christmas," the elf continued, "I'm gonna let you . . . slide!" As he said it, he kicked Finn's legs out from under him. Finn screamed like a girl as he went sliding down the sack to the ground, where Stork stood waiting.

"Been lookin' for you!" Stork growled, grabbing Finn by the collar and leading him aside.

"There you go," the elves said to Junko as he stepped up. "Watch your step." And with that, they sent Junko sliding down the bag to Stork.

"Good to see you safe," Stork said to him, gesturing to the rest of the kids. Junko went to join Finn.

Radarr leapt up on Aerrow's back, hugging his neck, just as the chicken burst out of the packages again. An elf grabbed the chicken. "Not so fast there, sweety," he said.

Radarr heaved a sigh of relief.

Aerrow was still clutching his present when he stepped up to slide. "I'll take care of that, young man," Agar said, holding out his hands for the present.

Aerrow looked at him in dismay and shook his head.

"It's in good hands," Agar assured him softly. "Trust me."

I knew asking Aerrow to trust anyone was a lot. But somehow Aerrow did it. I saw him hesitantly hand the present over. Agar was about to throw it over the side of the sack when the other elf stopped him. "The sack's over here, boss," he said, directing his arms.

"Right, right," Agar said, throwing the present in the sack. And then they sent Aerrow and Radarr sliding down with the rest.

I was the last one, and they sent me down without any fuss. Stork met me at the bottom. "Cutting it kind of close, aren't we?" he told me.

Cutting close was right. But we'd made it.