Grinch packed up the rest of the tools then slung the bag over his shoulder. There. He was as ready as he could possibly be. He was about to see if he could actually crack Cyllikum Plaster. Nobody had ever done it, and that was why it had fallen out of use. It was just too dangerous if it got on living things. But his experiments were promising, so he hiked the bag into his shoulder then whistled.

"Max! It's time to go into town!"

There was a bark that echoed through the cave.

"Well, hurry up! I want to get this over with."

Grinch went to the front door and waited. Max eventually came bounding over, and he jumped up and licked Grinch's fingers, whining and wriggling.

"Yes, I know," Grinch said. "I want to stop and get Bricklebaum."

Max yipped.

Grinch's face grew warm. "Because I think he'd like to be there, for your information."

Max's ears lowered a little and he made a noise.

"Sorry," Grinch muttered. "Nervous. Cyllikum Plaster has never been broken before. It's impossible."

Max barked and went to the door.

"You're right. We'll see," Grinch agreed. "Now come on."

He opened the door and Max bounded into the snow. What would constitute his porch looked barren without his warning signs and barbed wire; he'd moved them when it was clear Cindy-Lou was going to visit sometimes. He didn't want the little girl to get hurt. Maybe he should find some decorations? He'd worry about that later.

"And off we go," he mumbled to himself.

They started out for Bricklebaum's house, the snow crunching under their feet. Max chased some Snowbirds, yipping as they skated down the mountain around him. Grinch snorted and smiled. He loved seeing Max be playful. It had been so many years since he had felt free enough to have fun. The day he'd left Whoville behind, all joy and fun stayed with his old life. The first time it had come back was when he'd decided on a solo mission to steal Christmas.

Grinch sighed and rubbed his forehead. He hated that he'd done that. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. It was the first time a plan hadn't worked out since he was very young. Then again, when he had failed back then it was for the same reason. He hadn't consulted anybody beforehand. Prunella had mentioned back then how everybody had good ideas and bad ideas, and most people thought both were the same at first. It was only with thought and talking it through that you could tell one from the other.

Max barked, and Grinch looked up to see that he was almost to Bricklebaum's. He took a deep breath then steeled himself and walked to the stairs. Mabel snorted and peered up at him.

"Hey," Grinch said. "Is Bricklebaum home?"

Mabel nodded and got up, trotting up the stairs. Grinch knocked on the door, and Bricklebaum opened it. He looked shocked.

"Grinch?"

"Today's the day. Come on."

Bricklebaum's face lit up and he hurried to get dressed. It took him less than five minutes before he returned. "Be a good girl, Mabel," he said, patting her head.

Grinch turned and began to stride toward town. Bricklebaum didn't comment on their swift march through Whoville this time. There was a fire in Grinch's eyes that he had never seen before. He wasn't the only one to notice, either, as everybody who glanced at him leapt out of his way and stared after him. Grinch didn't slow down when he got to the park this time, and he was nearly to the statue when he saw the group of Whos waiting for him. He stopped abruptly and stared at them.

It was his gang, the one he'd led for several years under Illicure's care. Some were older than him, some were younger, but they were all there, and when Prunella cried out, they all turned to see him. Never in his life had he been so surprised. Bricklebaum stopped beside him, a bit winded.

"What's all this?" Bricklebaum asked Grinch.

"Prunella must've talked to them all," Grinch said, grasping his satchel against his chest. "I thought it would just be Nella. Oh, I can't do this!"

Then Timonius shouted out. "Heya, Grinchy! Welcome back! We bustin' into this thing or what? I want my Schloophyl-doroo back! I tell you, I'm gonna make a fortune!"

"On top of the one you've got?" Brilla scoffed.

Grinch couldn't help it. He laughed. "Same old Timonius," he muttered, glancing at Bricklebaum. "Come on. Let's see if this works."

He walked over, peering at the old faces that he'd only known when they were young, but he could still see their spirit and love for him.

"I'm sorry I stole Christmas," he said weakly. "I know I was bad."

"And I told you we don't blame you," Prunella said.

"Golly, yeah," Brilla said, brushing her dark hair out of her face. "If I found out that klutzeroon was my father, I'd hate the day I found out, too."

Grinch frowned and looked away. "That's not all he did. But I didn't realize everything he'd done for a long time."

"You should tell us about it sometime," Silvanus said.

Grinch shrugged and pushed past them to the statue base. The statue was gone, just as he'd wanted. He patted the Cyllikum Plaster and sighed.

"Well, let's see if this crazy idea works. But I need to say one last thing first." He turned to Silvanus and Brilla and pointed at them. "Told you so!"

Everybody burst out laughing as the two blushed but smiled. "You were right," Silvanus admitted. "It took a whole lot to get us here, though."

"We'll tell you about it sometime," Brilla said. "You've missed a lot, G."

"Yeah, guess I have," Grinch said distractedly. He shrugged out of his satchel and pulled out one of his compact storage containers. He expanded it and set it down as the liquid inside splashed around. Popping the seal, he opened the lid to reveal a thick, white glop.

"What's that?" Timonius asked.

"Doesn't have a name yet," Grinch said. He plucked up a squeeze bottle and handed it to Bricklebaum. "You are in charge of this. I'll tell you what to do with it later."

With that, he turned to his gang and tentatively took charge again. "We need to coat this whole thing with this stuff."

"Alrighty then," Prunella said brightly. "Let's get to it!"

Grinch scooped up a handful of the glop and splattered it onto the statue base before smoothing it across the surface. The others didn't hesitate to join in, and Bricklebaum watched with curiosity as the white substance was smeared across every inch of the large base.

A crowd started to gather as they worked. Bricklebaum knew why. While Grinch had been up in his cave not answering his door and working away, Prunella had taken her mission seriously and had moved the entire town council to remove the statue and consider a proper base, maybe even marble. She had started a donation fund for it, and they'd reached the goal so fast that the town was shocked. The day before, the statue had been removed from the fake base to be measured. It was supposed to be back the next day until the base was made, but if Grinch's plan went right, there'd be no base to put it back onto.

When the entire thing was covered, Grinch went around to inspect it then nodded. He walked over to Bricklebaum and held out his hands. The white glop nearly reached his elbows and had congealed into a sticky mess that would be hard to remove. The others were squirming already.

"A line down the middle," he ordered.

So Bricklebaum squeezed a blue liquid out of the squeeze bottle, squirting a neat line down Grinch's forearms and across his palms. The white glop hardened at once, and Grinch turned and bashed his arms against a nearby tree. The white substance shattered and fell to the ground.

"Do it for them," he ordered, pointing at his old friends. Then he knelt down and began shuffling through his satchel again.

Bricklebaum obeyed, tickled pink by the chemical reaction. He'd never seen something like it. The others seemed entranced, too, and they began chatting with Bricklebaum about old adventures they'd had and how they'd seen the impossible done before.

"Is that why you think he can crack Cyllikum Plaster?" Bricklebaum asked. "Because that's supposed to be impossible."

"Cyllikum Plaster?" somebody in the crowd asked.

Prunella's husband, Ignatius, spoke for them. "That's the reason Pruny petitioned for the statue to be moved. For him to supposedly break it."

The crowd began to murmur nervously. What was Grinch doing this time? For decades, he'd left them alone, appearing only for groceries and other shopping trips. Then he'd successfully stolen Christmas in one night without giving a hint as to what he was doing. Only the morning's stark light told the town what he'd done, and it was through some random change of heart that he'd brought everything back. So what was he doing now? Was it good or bad? Considering the company he was with, Elena and Timonius and Prunella and Silvanus and Brilla, it just had to be good. But how?

As the others removed the glop, Grimch finally found the box he was looking for. He took it out and opened it to reveal the star winders he'd used at Christmas. These were much more dangerous than the ones he'd used that night. Instead of rope, coils of spun steel were inside.

"What now?" Prunella asked.

"You stand back," Grinch said. "And let me work."

They all obediently went to stand in a line beside Bricklebaum. Grinch stood up, cupped the stars between his fingers, and faced the Cyllikum Plaster. Then he reared back and threw them in a straight like toward the fake base. The stars burst into shimmering steel lines as they flew forward then they wrapped around the plaster, the star ends digging into it with a satisfying crunch. Grinch smirked, pleased that it was already working, and he gathered more stars and did it again. And again. The others watched with bemusement, along with most of the town. Word had traveled that Grinch was up to something, and everybody had gathered to see what it was. Cindy-Lou and Donna were there, too, and they approached to stand beside Bricklebaum.

"What's he doing, Grandma?" Cindy-Lou asked Elena.

"I'm not sure, dear."

Cindy-Lou approached Grinch while he was pulling out more stars and spoke to him for a moment. He didn't have very much to say, but Cindy-Lou suddenly laughed and skipped over.

"I get it now," she said.

"What's he doing then?" Elena asked.

"Ever put rubber bands around a Woozlemelon?" Cindy-Lou asked, grinning.

The old gang burst out laughing and Timonius shouted for joy. "Grinch is gonna pop this baby open! You just wait and see!"

"Pop what open, Grandpa?" Groupert asked.

None of them answered. They watched as Grinch increased the pressure around the middle of the fake base, throwing handful after handful of stars at it. After one last handful, there was a sudden crack that split the air like a whip snapping, and the plaster crumbled to pieces. The stars immediately went loose and fell away. Grinch stayed still for a moment, breathing heavily. Then Brilla and Elena were there, throwing their arms around him.

"He did it again!" Prunella shouted. "Oh, Grinch! You can always do the impossible!"

The group surged forward, but Grinch stopped them. He pulled out a magnet and activated it. The stars came flying toward him, a hundred or more, sticking to the magnet. Grinch pressed a button on the magnet and the stars immediately became stars again, the lengths of steel thread disappearing. He tossed them back in the box.

"Now," he said, and they all ran over and began tossing chunks away. As an old building came into view, a startled ripple passed through the crowd. Nobody had even know that was there! The statue base had been there ever since the old orphanage was torn down. That's when the realization swept across everybody. The thing all those people, besides Bricklebaum, had in common was so obvious. They had been the orphans under Illicure's terrible care. Did that mean Grinch was, too? That certainly put a new light on things.

"Door's jammed!" Silvanus suddenly shouted, yanking fiercely on the door of the small building.

"Not for long," Grinch said, and he reached down to pull out a screwdriver.

Ozzy suddenly whooped. "What do I always say, Cindy, eh? They always forget about the hinges!" he crowed.

"Exactly!" Grinch declared, and he tossed the screwdriver to Silvanus, who began undoing on the hinges.

There were several minutes of anticipation as Silvanus and Timonius worked the old screws out of the rusty sockets. They got it done then grabbed the door and began working it free. The frame was warped from the weight of the plaster, so it took some doing. Grinch leaned down and grabbed a light stick from his bag and strode over as they finally got it free.

"Careful, Grinchy," Brilla said softly. "That doesn't look stable."

"About as stable as Illicure," Grinch said dryly, and a bitter laugh arose from the orphans, hushing the crowd.

"You think he took them?" Elena asked.

"He wouldn't have," Grinch said, cracking the light stick and shaking it so that a brilliant glow dazzled everybody's eyes. "Not after what he told me that Christmas." He walked forward and ducked inside the building, looking around. It was all there. He set the stick down and began passing out old crates. He heard cries of triumph from his old friends, but he wasn't satisfied with his stolen trinkets. He wanted proof. And he finally found it in the back corner in the very last crate. Grasping it, he carried it outside.

As soon as he came out, his gang stopped talking.

"Is that the last one?" Elena asked, her eyes huge.

"Yep," Grinch said.

"What's in that box?" Prunella asked, her voice shaking.

"Please tell me he didn't take them," Timonius begged.

Grinch balanced the box then reached in and held up a leather-bound book. There was a long silence before the gang shouted and began to celebrate. Grinch padded over to his satchel and pulled out a constrictor box, which he packed the books in. Sometime along the line, his gang began going through the crates, pulling out their childhood toys and treasures and sharing them with their grandchildren. Bricklebaum approached Grinch, still holding the squeeze bottle.

"So there was something here," Bricklebaum said.

"Yep," Grinch said. "He never showed it to anybody outside the orphanage, but we all knew it was here. I'm going to go through these journals then share them with the others and we'll decide from there."

"You're not giving them to the town?"

Grinch looked at him evenly. "I don't want to talk here."

"Then come to my house. "I'll make lunch and you can tell me about it."

"I'll do you one better," Grinch said. "You can read some of them, if you won't talk about what's in them. Which I doubt you'll want to."

"Really?" Bricklebaum asked.

"Sure. You're my friend, aren't you?"

Bricklebaum could tell Grinch was nervous about the answer, so he gave his biggest, warmest smile and tried to be nonchalant. "Of course, Grinchy."

"Then let's go. My work here is done, and more Whos than not don't trust me right now."

He turned and shouldered through the crowd, Bricklebaum on his tail. Max came bounding when he whistled at the park gate, and it was only then that the crowd noticed that Grinch wasn't staying. The former orphans stood up and watched him go, their expressions all unreadable. Then Prunella smiled and reached down to grab Elena's old teddy.

"Elena, look what I've found."

Elena turned and gave a shout. "Mr. Iverson!"

The rest of the gang went back to pawing through their childhood belongings. They all knew this wasn't over. They weren't going to let Grinch leave again. Prunella had already suggested that they have a get together with the whole gang and their spouses, even if she'd have to drag Ignatius there kicking and screaming. They all agreed, but they'd give him a few days. He had the journals, so they knew they were safe, and that was the most important thing. They could wait a few more days for their friend. He had a lot to go through, and they were all secretly glad it wasn't them.