Jamie paused, glancing around at his friends' faces, studying their expressions. "Jack Frost?" Pippa asked, raising an eyebrow. "You were rescued by... Jack Frost?"
"Who's Jack Frost?" asked Monty.
"And why aren't Claude and Caleb here yet?" Cupcake wondered, straying from the main topic. She shot Jamie a look that clearly read 'don't try to make them believe'.
Pippa glanced at her watch. "Yeah, it is strange. They aren't usually this late." She turned back to Jamie. "Who is this Jack Frost, Jamie? Is he a new friend of yours? Someone from our school? Most importantly, how did he get you of that warehouse?"
Jamie was about to continue when the door of his bedroom swung open and a strange-looking boy stood in the doorway, studying them. His face was pale and there were dark shadows beneath his eyes, which were large and green. His vivid red hair was rather neat. He was dressed in a sweater that looked like it hadn't seen a washing machine in months and a pair of flannel trousers that sported stains. He carried a large brown bag which was slung over his right shoulder. He grinned at the little company in Jamie's bedroom, displaying a set of jutting-out teeth which were impeccably white.
"Who are you?" Jamie inquired, getting to his feet. "How did you get in? Did my mom let you in?"
The boy cocked his head to the side, as though he was having a hard time processing Jamie's words. Finally he grinned at the surprised boy and pointed at him. "Jamie? You Jamie?" he spoke, in a strange accent. Jamie couldn't help noting that there was something rather off about his voice as well.
"Er... yes?" Jamie said, pushing away the boy's pointing hand. "What are you doing here? Where did you come from?"
Before the boy could answer, there was the thundering sound of footsteps on the stairs and a moment later, Caleb appeared, grinning widely. He edged his way past the boy and into Jamie's bedroom. "Yo, Jamie! Wow, who's your new friend?"
"I've no idea," Jamie said, before striding past the red-headed boy and to the top of the stairs. "Mom!" he called down. "Who did you let in earlier?"
"Caleb," Mrs. Bennett called back up.
Jamie turned to see Caleb ushering the boy into his bedroom. "No, I meant before Caleb."
"Claude?"
Jamie's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He returned to his room where he found his four friends gathered around the strange boy, firing questions at him. The lad seemed overwhelmed. Jamie exited his room and entered Sophie's. His sister was painting, as usual, and seemed rather annoyed at Jamie's intrusion.
"What?" she asked.
"Come and see who showed up." He returned to his room with a disgruntled Sophie behind him. No one looked up when they entered, still curious about the new boy. Sophie didn't seem surprised.
"New friend?" she asked, an eyebrow raised. "How interesting." She was about to turn and exit when Jamie caught her by the arm.
"He's not a new friend. He just showed up out of the blue. And have you seen Claude around the house?"
Sophie yanked her arm out of her brother's not-so-strong grip. "I haven't left my room since I woke up, except to go to the bathroom. So, no."
The red-head got to his feet and walked over to Sophie. He pointed at her and turned to Jamie. "Your seester?" Without waiting for Jamie's reply, he bowed before taking Sophie's hand and shaking it. "Nice to meet you."
All of a sudden, Sophie let out a guffaw, which startled nearly everyone in the room, Jamie included. She walked into the room, holding her sides with laughter. To Jamie's surprise, Caleb was chuckling and slowly applauding.
"What's going on?" Jamie asked, weirded out.
"You mean, you didn't guess, Jamie?" Sophie asked, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "How unobservant." She beckoned the boy over to her side. He obliged. She reached up and pulled at his red hair. The wig came off in her hand and she resumed her laughter. Beneath, the boy's hair was a dark brown.
"Yikes!" Pippa exclaimed. "A wig! But why..."
Sophie said a few words to the boy, who nodded and strode out of the room, passing an astonished Jamie on the way out. He winked at the boy. They heard him entering the bathroom, the running water, and a couple of minutes later, he returned. However, it wasn't the same person who returned.
"Claude!" exclaimed Pippa. "But how...?"
Jamie stared at the boy who stood in the doorway. It was Claude, alright, but with green eyes. He grinned at everyone, but his teeth had been reduced to their normal size. In his hand he held a set of false teeth. He waved them in Jamie's face. "Liked them?"
"What in earth have you been doing, Claude?" asked Cupcake.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" Sophie said, with a smirk. "Disguising himself."
Jamie turned to glare at her. "You were part of this?"
Sophie shrugged. "I helped with the face paint."
Claude dug around in the bag and withdrew a couple of glass bottles. He carefully removed the lenses from his eyes and dropped them into the bottles before placing them back in. The false teeth was kept away in a case. He was himself once more.
"Since when did you start this whole disguising hobby?" asked Monty, fascinated.
"Not too long ago," Claude said, grinning. "We couldn't get many disguises as they coat a fortune." He began pulling out stuff from the bag and passing them around. Cheek pads, false teeth, fake moustaches and wigs. After several minutes of examining them, Claude kept them away and turned to Jamie. "Okay, tell me about your little adventure."
Jamie, who was still shaken by Claude's trick, proceeded to relate the story. Upon arriving at the Jack Frost part, once again, he was bombarded with questions.
"Who's Jack Frost?" asked Caleb. "The name sounds familiar, though."
"Jack Frost nippin' at your nose!" Claude said, receiving a high-five from his twin. He turned back to Jamie. "Seriously, who is he?"
Jamie glanced desperately at Sophie and Cupcake. The former shrugged while the latter avoided eye contact. "He's... the winter spirit."
A silence descended upon the company but it was shattered in moments as Claude laughed out loud. His twin joined in the laugher. "The winter spirit, Jamie?" he said. "Nice one, but we want to hear the real story."
"This is the real story!" Jamie said. "Why would I lie to you? Why would I make up stories about a winter spirit?"
"Because you're a dreamer."
Jamie jumped at the deep voice that seemed to have come from behind him. He turned sharply, but there was no one. Caleb and Claude had coughing fits at the same time, which Jamie was quite sure at that moment, was nothing more than an act to mask their laughter.
"Is this another trick of yours?" he asked.
Caleb shook his head. "Not at all. Go on. What did this winter spirit do?"
Jamie took a deep breath and exhaled. "Look, if you don't believe I'm telling the truth, what you're going to hear next is going to sound utterly ridiculous."
"Just tell us what you told your mom," said Pippa. It was obvious she expected Jamie to have refrained from telling his mother about a winter spirit named Jack Frost.
"That's what I told her," Jamie said. "Look, Jack Frost is real. Even my mom believes in him now. Can't you do the same? You used to believe in him. And the other guardians."
The four of them exchanged uncomfortable glances. "We're sorry, Jamie, but that was a long time ago," Pippa said. "We're almost twenty now, do you think it's wise to still believe in things that like that?"
"Actually..." Cupcake began, but she was cut off by Sophie.
"Jamie can prove he's real." She paused for a moment, pondering on something. "Meet us at the park tonight."
"The park?" Pippa asked, incredulously. "Do you know how dangerous the park is these days? Just last week someone was slashed in there. There are all sorts of inhuman humans lurking in the darkness there.
"What about the lake?" Jamie asked, with a nod at his sister.
"That's even more dangerous!" Pippa said.
"But I'm in," Claude spoke.
"Yeah, a night-time trip to the lake; near bushes where slashers and such lie in wait for prey? Count me in!" Caleb enthused.
Pippa rolled her eyes. "Are you all crazy? Have you no idea how dangerous it is?"
"Calm down, Pippa," Cupcake said, nonchalantly. "Come if you want to. I'm going." She smirked. "But seriously, you should come, or you're going to miss out on all the fun. And trust me, it is going to be fun." She emphasised the last word. Jamie smirked.
"Fun with Jack Frost nipping at your nose!"
This time it was Pippa's turn to be startled. She looked over her shoulder, for the voice had seemed to be coming from behind her, but there was no one there.
"Caleb?" Jamie said, with a look at his friend.
Caleb grinned. "Ventriloquism," he said. "Pretty fun, if you ask me." He reached into Claude's brown bag and retrieved a book which he tossed over to Jamie.
"Is there no end to the skills the two of you are attempting to master?" Monty said, with a small smile. "What's next? Acrobatics? Fire-eating? Joining the circus?"
Jamie flipped through the book before an idea occurred to him. He smirked slightly as he turned to Caleb. He held the book up. "Can I borrow this?"
#
The group of teenagers dressed in thick clothes meant for winter despite it being the end of summer, made their way to the lake. There was a light breeze, rustling the falling leaves of the trees, the sound of which continuously made Pippa jump. They arrived at the lake in one piece. Standing at the edge, Jamie could see Jack all the way across. He waved at the winter spirit, who waved back. The boy couldn't help noticing that there was some development going on by the lake not far off.
Jamie turned to the little company. "Okay, look, it is nearly the end of summer, no?"
The non-believers nodded, wondering what was to come next.
Jamie pointed at the lake. "But the water's gonna freeze over. Because of Jack Frost."
"But that's not possible!" Monty spoke.
Jamie turned back to the lake, nodding at Jack. He then stood to the side and watched as the guardian flew over the water, using his staff to freeze it. The four of them watched in shock as the water truly froze over. Caleb took a step forwards and stepped on the ice, which cracked slightly beneath his weight. Noticing this, Jack hurriedly froze the water completely.
"Whoa," was all Caleb could manage. The other three were dumbfounded.
"He's right over there," Cupcake said, pointing at a spot several feet away, where Jack was standing.
"Er... but we don't even know how he looks like," Pippa said.
Cupcake glared at her. "What are you talking about?" she asked, sounding annoyed. "Try to remember, Pippa!"
Caleb slammed his eyes shut and clasped his hands together, almost like he was in prayer. When he opened them again, he let out a shout of delight and began to dance around. "I see him! I see him!" He ran straight at the surprised guardian of fun and slapped him on the back, causing the guardian to stumble forwards a little. "Jack Frost!"
Jack steadied himself and grinned at the boy. Pippa looked faint as the only thing she had witnessed was Caleb slapping the air. Claude looked hesitant for a moment, before deciding to give it a shot.
"You guys..." he said, looking straight at Jack. "... had better believe."
Monty's eyes were wide open, staring at the spot Cupcake had pointed to, not really seeing the winter spirit, expecting some kind of horror to suddenly jump out of the bushes beyond. He turned to Jamie, shivering slightly, from both fright and the chill emanating from the lake. "How did you do that, Jamie?"
"Do what?"
Monty pointed at the frozen lake. "That."
"That wasn't me!" Jamie said. "Like I told you, that was Jack Frost! The winter spirit!"
Jack waved his staff and it began snowing, just in that area. Monty and Pippa were in a state of utter disbelief, but after a few minutes, Pippa finally decided to just go with the flow and believe. There was no other way to explain the snow and the frozen lake. Upon being able to see Jack, she began exclaiming excitedly, but the others were too absorbed in other activities; Cupcake had brought her skates along and was skating merrily on the lake, Jamie, Sophie, Claude, Caleb and Jack himself were about to have a snowball fight. Monty was standing by, watching with his mouth hanging open. Pippa hurried over to him. "Just believe, Monty!" she said.
"Er... I believe in Jack Frost?" Monty said, but as he glanced around, Pippa could tell he still couldn't see the winter spirit.
Jamie ambled over, away from the snowball fight that was starting. "You have to really believe, Monty. Just saying it isn't enough!"
Monty sighed. "Look, Jamie, it's impossible..."
"Impossible that Jack Frost could exist?" Pippa asked. "Try looking around you, Monty! And look at me! A few moments ago, I didn't believe either! Don't you remember the battle all those years back? I wonder how I could've even stopped believing."
Jamie hurried back to the snowball fight battleground and halted them. "Jack, think you can chuck a snowball at Monty?"
"Sure can do," the spirit responded, forming a perfect snowball from the snow and throwing it hard at Monty. It hit him in the head and he fell over in the snow.
"Who threw that?" he called, slightly annoyed. He was reminded of the expression as the frost nipped at his nose. He got to his feet and glanced in the direction the snowball had come from. "Jack Frost?"
As the spirit materialised before him, Monty was reminded of the battle. The other guardians and the nightmares. He couldn't help laughing as the memory of him all enthusiastic to fight yet running away at the sight of the nightmares slipped into his mind. It was all suddenly clear, after having been nothing but mere dreams up till that moment.
"This is crazy," he muttered. "There's no logic, yet it's real."
"Forget logic for once in your life, Monty!" Cupcake said, taking off her skates.
They sat by the lake with Jack, reminiscing the battle, Jamie reading from the book he had penned by light from a flashlight he had brought, as the snow and ice melted around them. Whatever bandits that Pippa had feared had scurried off as fast as their legs could take them after witnessing snow and ice at the end of summer.
When Jamie reached the end of the book, it was almost midnight. Just then, Sophie gave a shout and pointed upwards. The kids cheered as they spotted Dreamsand overhead, which they hadn't noticed earlier.
"That is also a sign that we should head home and get some sleep," Cupcake said, yawning, as she got to her feet. "See you."
"Yeah, our mom would probably be worried," Sophie said.
As they parted ways, Jamie couldn't help feeling a sense of satisfaction. "Well, that was surprisingly easy, wasn't it? And I thought there was no hope for them," he said, to Sophie and Jack.
"Well, you can't force someone to believe," Sophie said, stifling a yawn. "Right now, I'll just be glad to get home, into my bed and have Dreamsand circling my head. Hm, that rhymed."
As they walked back home, Jamie couldn't help thinking about Christmas and the North Pole and as he looked at Jack, he couldn't help thinking that was was luckier than half of the world's kids.
Ventriloquism is fun! :-D But don't worry, I didn't throw it in there for nothing... Thanks for reading!