Disclaimer: I don't own any aspects referred to in this story.

Chapter 34

A Bird's Eye View

Anna looked around the large pile of presents. There seemed to be gifts of all shapes and sizes. The slide, the wrapping paper, and the converyor belts in the rooms above must have been for all the presents below them. Now the question was what to do now.

"Olaf, do you still hear that bell?" Anna asked. She didn't want Olaf to forget the sound and miss where they needed to go next. It had gotten them this far, after all. Though this far wasn't exactly back to the town square.

Olaf put a hand to the area where his ear would be. "I'm afraid not. Though I am hearing a small voice saying to stay here."

Anna frowned. First, Olaf had been claiming to hear a bell, and now he was hearing voices. She had agreed with Jack regarding the hope that the bell would lead them out, but maybe she was wrong and Olaf needed somebody to check his hearing.

Before Anna could check if anyone else had heard anything, the pile started moving. Anna looked down to see the present pile moving on a large cart, the wheels pulling the cart along.

Anna looked around, noticing a colored pattern on the roof above them. The roof had two red circles, roughly the same distance between each other, with a hole in the center of the roof serving as a third circle. Anna quickly realized that the circles looked like a bullseye. The question was, what was the target for?

The cart stopped moving below the target and four flares shot up. Several ropes tailed behind the flares, all connected to something on the cart. Anna soon heard a loud mechanical sound coming from the hole, like a machine pulling the ropes.

"Look, a round red wall," Olaf said.

Anna looked around to see a large red canvas coming up around the present pile. She got up to look over. The canvas seemed to stretch and lengthen, until it wrapped everything in it into one large sack, pulled by the ropes.

Looking up, Anna saw the roof open to reveal two huge hot-air balloons connected by a series of metal walkways and railings lifting the sack. The balloons were striped with lighter and darker shades of purple. A large cockpit stood on one side of the machine, emanating golden light. Two fans and a rudder stood in the back of the flying machine, determining the direction for the blimp to go. The machine moved at a gradually brisk pace, fast enough that it wasn't slow, yet slow enough that it didn't jostle the sack or presents. The sack soon lifted clear of the building and moved north.

Jack looked between the pile, and the red canvas surrounding them. He grinned, turning back to the group. "Do you all realize what we're in?"

"Is it a bullfighter's cape?" Olaf asked.

"What? No, Olaf, but that's a good guess. It's Santa's sack," Jack replied.

Anna's eyes widened. "You mean the sack of presents Santa carries on his sleigh?"

"Exactly, Anna," Jack replied.

Elsa smiled. "And since Santa's giving the first gift soon, he'll need to get it from the sack, right?"

"Now you're catching on. This is our ticket to the square. We'll get there, slip out of the sack, and rejoin the other passengers before the ceremony starts."

Anna grinned. "So we won't be late and miss too much? That's great, Jack."

Jack smiled. "Well, we have Olaf to thank for it."

Olaf smiled. "Glad I could help."

Anna looked out at the city as the sack flew by it. Now that she knew they wouldn't be late, she could fully appreciate the view. If the brief glimpses coming into the city had been impressive, the sights from the sky were even more so. Several of the buildings below them had chimneys blowing out smoke of varying colors, from green to blue to yellow. Each color had a new, exciting smell that seemed to be even better than the last. All of the city was exuding light, giving the entire North Pole a majestic golden look.

The machine soon turned left, and Anna got her first glimpse of the town square. Town circle would probably have been a better description. The buildings around the cityt center seemed to form a circular shape, leading to a single street that Anna realized had been the way the train had come. Standing in the center of the circle was a huge tree. Anna had seen some grand trees, but this one took the cake. It was at least three hundred feet tall, filled to the brim with festive lights and decorations. The tree stood on a decorated, cobblestone floor, with points on all four sides of the tree resembling a compass. All of the points on the compass had the letter S printed on it. S for South. The tree must be standing on the exact North Pole. A sea of red interspersed with small brown and green patches surrounded the tree, covering every square inch of the city center. All the elves and yetis of the North Pole were here. A pedestal formed an island around this sea of elves, holding a small sleigh.

Olaf took a breath. "Now that's a town square."

Anna nodded. "You said it, Olaf."

Elsa pointed in the distance. "Look. There's the Polar Express."

Anna looked over. Sure enough, the Polar Express was sitting on the edge of the street, right on the edge of the big circle. "We really are back where we started."

"What are the odds?" Jack said.

"Very high, since we followed the bell sound," Olaf answered.

Jack turned, smiling. "Remind me to tell you about rhetorical questions, Olaf."

A polite voice spoke from the loudspeaker in the machine. "You may start your descent at any time now. At your convenience of course. And remember, no mistakes or collisions this year, please. Elf teams, please get into position."

Anna soon heard a loud raspy sound coming from up above, as if air was being let out of the balloons. The machine and sack started to lower, getting closer and closer to the tree and sleigh near it. An elfin choir began singing a traditional Christmas hymn to mark the occasion.

"It's getting awfully close, don't you thing?" Anna asked.

Jack looked over. "It sure is. I hope we make it."

A voice shouted from below. "You know, I may be just an old railroader, and unfamiliar with lighter-than-air craft, but from my layman's perspective, you need more altitude."

Anna recognized the voice as the Conductor's. So he had noticed the close proximity of the sack and tree as well. The advice was passed on by all the elves and yetis, as they all started to shout, "More altitude! More altitude!"

The loudspeaker came on again. "A bit more altitude, if you please. Groups two and three deploy whenever you're ready."

Anna looked up to see ten elves jump from the machine's railing. Her stomach lurched as the sack dashed straight up, moving clear of the tree and star on top. Anna looked down to see the elves move into a snowflake formation. Once they got low enough to the ground, they deployed fabrics from their backpacks, slowing their descent to the ground. Soon all the elves made it down safely.

Once the bag cleared the star, the machine moved down at a quicker rate. A minute or two later, it stopped. Anna looked down again to see the bag was hanging directly over the sleigh. She looked over at the others. "So, how exactly are they going to get the sack down from…?"

The ropes immediately released, sending the group and presents in free-fall as the bag dropped down. The sack landed squarely in the sleigh, with the machine racing off to another part of the North Pole.

Anna looked over at the others. "Never mind. Though I do have to say if I ever go down a great height like that again, it'll be too soon."

"Glad to hear that," said a rough voice.

Anna turned to the top of the bag to see two figures looking down on the group. One of the figures, an elf, had a large mustache, red clothes, and a large santa hat that had a cap-like ridge at the front. This elf seemed to exude seriousness and no frivolity.

The other fellow looked totally different than the elf. This fellow was a fully grown adult in green, festive, clothing. The man was clean-shaven, and had a pointed hat over his brown, curly hair. The man looked like a little less serious than the elf, like he was trying to hold in a smile.

The elf's lip curled into a frown. "Alright, you stowaways. 'Fraid the fun's over. Now get out."

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