THUNDERBIRDS 1, 2 and Shadow were arriving at Coralville Hospital. At the suggestion of Dr Pringle, they landed in the field on the opposite side of the road to the hospital so as to not give away their presence to the children inside. Once on the ground, they disembarked and headed over the road where Dr Pringle, Dr Lang and Nurse Pollard were waiting for them.

"Mr Tracy," said Dr Pringle, shaking Jeff by the hand. "Good to see you again. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you, too, Dr Pringle," said Jeff.

"Let me introduce my senior staff," said Dr Pringle. "Dr Lang and Nurse Pollard."

"My sons; Scott, John, Virgil, Gordon and Alan," said Jeff. "And our Head of Security; Tanusha Kyrano."

"Tanusha?" said Nurse Pollard. "That's a lovely name."

Kayo smiled. However she decided not to mention everyone called her Kayo. It would take too much explaining.

Scott then noticed a familiar vehicle enter the gates of the hospital grounds. "Say, look who's here!"

Everyone looked and saw FAB1 approaching them. It looked a lot fuller than usual which was because it wasn't just Penelope who was in the back of the vehicle. Lord Patrick and Lady Patricia were there as well.

After pleasantries, Gordon and Penelope got a moment to themselves. "How was your birthday?" Gordon asked.

"Different to usual," answered Penelope. "I've never spent my birthday in New York before. It was quite magical with all the snow."

"No dramas then?" said Gordon.

"No, thankfully," said Penelope. "No crazy men trying to get me to marry them."

"Or snakes from another planet trying to tear down London," added Gordon.

Virgil then joined them. "Say, Penelope, you didn't happen to see Hayley whilst in New York, did you?"

Penelope thought for a moment. "No, I haven't," she said. Then she remembered something. "That said, I'm sure I saw a GDF Cheetah parked on one of the streets."

Virgil lowered his head and gave a sad sigh.

"Oh, Virgil, what's wrong?" asked Penelope, pushing past Gordon to put a caring arm on Virgil's shoulder.

"Nothing," Virgil responded, doing his best not to sound too upset. "It's just…she had an assignment in New York and I was hoping she'd finished it before Christmas. Now it looks like I won't get to see her this year."

Penelope rubbed him on the arm.

Jeff then called out. "Listen up, everyone! I've just had a message from Saunders at Tracy Aerospace. The rocket has launched successfully as is on its way. Should be with us in about ten minutes."

"Stay strong, bro," Gordon said to Virgil. "Think of the kids and how excited they'll be to see us."

Virgil managed a small smile and gave a grateful nod. "Thanks, Gordo."

Harman stared in disbelief at what he was seeing. Never in a million years could he have imagined himself looking at a large hole in the wall between one of his storage rooms and the secondary vault of the Second National Bank next door. And yet there it was, now blocked off by Police Tape whilst the bags of gold remained where they were.

"I don't believe it. I just don't believe it!" Harman said at last. He turned to Captains Liberty and Lavender. "Are you trying to tell me that the two men I hired to play Santa this year were THIEVES?!"

"That would appear to be the case, Mr Harman, yes," said Alexa.

"And the two elves I hired?" said Harman. "What about them?"

"They were undercover officers trying to catch them," said Rigby. "Unfortunately even they were fooled like you were by those two."

"And where the hell are they now?" demanded Harman.

The sound of squealing tyres from outside made Alexa go and look out the window. She was just in time to see the Cheetah disappear from view. "It would seem they're going after the rocket," she said.

"Impossible!" said Desmond. "There's no way they'll be able to beat that rocket to Coralville."

"My assistant is right," said Harman. He fixed the two officers with an unimpressed stare. "It looks like you'll need a miracle to catch those crooks now."

"You underestimate them, Harman," said Rigby. "Now that we know where they are, those thieves are as good as caught."

"We'd better get after them, too," said Alexa. "Come on!"

Hayley's Cheetah was now racing across one of the suspension bridges to get out of New York. Hayley and Amanda had used a distraction made by Alexa and Rigby to change out of their elf costumes and back into their proper scarlet and green GDF uniforms before racing to the Cheetah.

"Hayley, you can't seriously be thinking we'll beat that rocket to the hospital, are you?" Amanda asked.

"This car's fast, Amanda, but even it has its limits," said Hayley. "Fortunately, I have a plan."

Before she could make the call she was going to though, the radio beeped. "Madison here."

But it wasn't Rigby or Alexa like she thought it was going to be. "Madison. Are you okay?"

"Colonel Jennings? Now that we're free, yes."

"What happened to the thieves?" Colonel Jennings asked. "I saw Captain Liberty chase off after them and then your contacts gave out."

"They managed to hide themselves inside the canister of the Christmas Rocket," said Hayley. "Now they're headed for Coralville."

"You're in pursuit?"

"Yes, Colonel."

"As much as I admire your determination, Madison, even you won't be able to beat that rocket in time."

"I'm aware of that, Colonel," said Hayley. "I have a plan, but I need to enact it now rather than later."

Colonel Jennings nodded. "If you can pull this off, Madison, I may well forget that you got yourself and Thompson taken prisoner," she said. "Jennings, out."

"She's not seriously gonna hold that against us, is she?" Amanda asked.

Hayley didn't answer. She was annoyed that Jennings had called, wasting time they desperately needed. Instead she made the call she'd been intending to make. "Captain Madison to International Rescue. Come in, Thunderbird 5?"

To Hayley's dismay though, it wasn't John who answered. "Hello, Captain Madison. What can I do for you?"

Amanda was surprised. "Who…is that?"

Hayley sighed. "That's EOS. Thunderbird 5's AI," she replied. "Hey, EOS. Is John there?"

"I'm afraid not, Captain," answered EOS. "He's on Earth with the others waiting at Coralville Hospital for the Christmas Rocket to arrive."

"Damn it!" Hayley cursed. "I should have realised that-" She suddenly broke off as an idea came to her. "Actually, EOS, I expect John would have gotten you to help anyway so I need you to help me with something."

"I'll do what I can," said EOS. "What's the problem?"

"Long story short, two thieves broke into the Second National Bank last night," Hayley said. "I believe they're now trapped inside the canister attached to the Christmas Rocket. Can you scan it for life signs?"

"Scanning now," said EOS. There were a few moments of pause whilst EOS used Thunderbird 5's powerful scanners to locate the rocket. "Got it. Confirmed. Two life signs detected inside the canister."

Hayley and Amanda looked at each other.

"How long before the rocket reaches the hospital?" Hayley asked.

"It will be there in two minutes," said EOS.

"We won't get there for another twenty at least," said Amanda. "It's hopeless."

Hayley thought hard for a moment. Then she made her choice. "EOS…hack into the rocket's guidance computer. Send it on a wide circular orbit around the hospital. Do NOT let it drop that canister."

"Is that an order, Captain?" asked EOS.

Hayley hesitated before answering. "Yes, EOS. I can't let the guys at the hospital open the canister before we get there. The thieves might have the chance to escape."

"In that case," said EOS. There were a few moments of silence. "Guidance computer hacked. Setting a new temporary flight pattern."

Hayley sighed with relief. "Thank you, EOS." She then looked at Amanda, then pushed her foot hard down to make the Cheetah go as fast as possible.

Saunders was in the control room at Tracy Aerospace. He had been feeling pleased and relaxed since the launch of the rocket. That was until one of the controllers called him over. "Sir, we have a situation!"

Saunders came over. "What's going on?"

"Something's happened to the rocket's guidance computer," said the controller. "It's receiving new instructions."

"I didn't order new instructions!" snapped Saunders.

"It's not us, sir!" insisted the controller. "Someone or something is trying to hack into the computer on the rocket!"

"Move aside," ordered Saunders. "I'll handle this." The controller moved aside and Saunders took his place in the control seat. He then began typing furiously into the keypad. "Think you can hi-jack my creation?" he growled. "Well, let's see how you like it, huh?"

But the computer screen just flashed red and buzzed with an error message.

"We're locked out, sir!" said the controller. "We have no control over it!"

Saunders ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't get it. HOW?!" he roared.

The Tracy's, Kayo, the Creighton-Wards, Parker and the hospital staff were all gathered outside the main entrance to the hospital waiting eagerly for the Christmas Rocket to arrive.

"How much longer?" Alan asked.

"Must be soon," agreed Kayo.

John checked the time on his communicator. "One minute."

Nurse Pollard gave a little happy stamp with her feet. "I'm so excited. I can't wait," she said.

Dr Lang then spoke up. "I think I can hear it."

Everyone listened. Sure enough, the familiar rumble of a rocket's engines could be heard gradually getting louder.

"Is that it?" asked Lady Patricia.

"It must be," said Lord Patrick.

"Yeah, that's gotta be it," Scott said to Virgil.

"I wonder if it looks as good as it did on the TV?" said Virgil.

The rumble of what sounded like retros firing was then heard.

"Here it comes!" said Nurse Pollard excitedly.

They all watched and waited eagerly for the rocket to appear. Then Kayo began to frown. "Why does it sound like it's moving away?" she asked.

The others listened.

"Is my hearing going, or is it getting quieter?" asked Gordon.

Jeff pulled out some binoculars and began scanning the sky for any sign of the rocket. Then it came into view. "There it is!" he said.

Everyone watched on in surprise. The rocket was now clearly visible, but as a tiny green speck in the distance, flying beyond the field where the Thunderbirds were.

"What's it doing over there?" asked Dr Pringle. "It's supposed to be over here!"

Scott went up to Jeff. "Dad, I don't like the look of this."

"Neither do I, son," Jeff replied.

"Look!" said Parker, pointing. "It's looping around!"

It was indeed. They all watched in confusion as the rocket looped around and disappeared behind the hospital buildings before reappearing on the other side.

"It's going round in a circle," said Penelope.

"What the hell's going on?" demanded Dr Pringle.

Jeff had already gotten his communicator out. "That, Doctor, I intend to find out," he said firmly. "Excuse me." He then spoke into the radio. "Saunders. Jeff here. What's going on with the rocket?"

"Jeff!" Saunders' voice said over the radio in Jeff's sash. "Thank God. Something's gone very wrong. The rocket's guidance computer has been hacked! We have no control over it!"

Everyone began exchanging alarmed glances with each other.

"Hacked?! How is that possible?" Jeff asked.

"I have no idea," answered Saunders. "I've tried everything I know, but it's no use. I can't regain control."

"Who would want to hack a rocket full of presents?" asked Gordon.

"Someone wanting to play a prank no doubt," answered Scott.

"Techno," muttered Kayo.

"What was that, Kayo?" asked Virgil.

"Techno!" said Kayo. "Who else could it be?"

"We ain't heard from him for months, Kayo," said Penelope. "I can't believe he'd be behind this."

"We can worry about that later," said John, who was using a holographic radar on his wrist controller to track the rocket. "What matters now is regaining control of that rocket. Leave it to me. John to Thunderbird 5. Come in, EOS."

"Hello, John. I was wondering when-"

"Sorry, EOS. Christmas wishes must come later," said John shortly. "We have a situation. Someone has hacked the computer of the Christmas Rocket and its circling the hospital. I need you to try and hack in yourself to regain control of it."

"The Christmas Rocket?" EOS asked. She was already feeling uneasy as she knew full well that John and the others hadn't a clue it was actually her who had taken control of the rocket. "Oh, yes! I'll see what I can do, John."

"Thanks, EOS," said John. "Make it quick though. That rocket can't keep flying forever."

"It can't have much of a fuel tank?" said Scott as the rocket flew around again.

"No, it's only got enough to get from New York to Tracy Aerospace on one direct route," said Jeff. "If it continues for much longer, it won't make it back."

"What if it runs out of fuel before we can regain control?" asked Alan.

"Then it would crash to the ground and explode, destroying all the presents inside," said Jeff.

Nurse Pollard gasped in horror.

"You can't let this happen, Mr Tracy!" said Dr Pringle. "Can't you guys fly up there and do something?"

"That rocket is fast, Dr Pringle, and we can't risk tampering with it at this low altitude," said Jeff. "The slightest miscalculation could cause it to crash into the hospital potentially."

Dr Pringle gulped. "Oh…of course…" he said.

EOS then let out a squeal.

"EOS?!" exclaimed John.

"Ohh, John!" EOS said shakily. "Whoever's taken control of the rocket has put some kind of malware into it. I had to sever the link before it took control of me. I'm so sorry."

"Relax, EOS. That's not your fault," said John. he then turned to the others. "No good," he said. "EOS was almost attacked by some malware."

Jeff looked back out at the rocket which was making another pass. "Then there's nothing we can do!"

"Can't we call in Brains?" asked Scott. "Surely he can-"

"Scott, if EOS can't regain control, what chance does Brains have?" Jeff asked. "And besides, if that malware is deadly to EOS, we can't risk it entering our own systems."

Five minutes passed. Then ten. Then fifteen. Throughout that time, the rocket continued to circle round and round with those on the ground getting more and more frustrated at not being able to do anything.

Eventually, Scott's patience snapped. "I'm done sitting around.," he snapped. "We need to do something."

"And what do you suggest, Scott?" asked Jeff.

"Our ships can keep pace with the rocket," said Scott. "If Virgil uses Thunderbird 2 to create an EMP, we can disable the rocket and then I can catch it with Thunderbird 1's towline. We can then lower it to the ground before it crashes."

The others all looked at each other. Jeff did not look too sure.

"Jeff," said Lord Patrick. "Let them try at least."

Jeff sighed. "Okay, Scott. Virgil, go get that rocket."

"F-A-B!" Virgil and Scott said together.

But they'd barely gone ten metres when John's holographic radar beeped suddenly. "Hold on, guys. I'm picking up another air contact." He frowned. "It's a GDF Flyer."

Now everyone was confused again.

The Cheetah zoomed around a bend and headed along a straight section of road. On the right side of the road was a sign that said 'Coralville Hospital'.

"We're almost there," said Hayley.

"There's the rocket!" said Amanda, noticing the rocket flying over the road.

"Great," said Hayley. "You ready?"

Amanda nodded with determination. "Let's do this."

Hayley spoke into her cap radio. "Madison to Liberty. We're approaching Coralville. How far away are you?"

"Closing in on your position, Madison," Captain Liberty replied over the radio. "We'll be with you in two minutes."

"You should be in time then," said Madison. "Out." The cap microphone swung back up into position. Then she spoke to EOS. "EOS, this is Captain Madison. We're almost at the hospital. Reprogram the rocket to carry out its original instructions and then let it go."

"Understood, Captain," said EOS. "Just so you know, John called to try and get me to retake control of the rocket. I didn't let on to him that I already was."

"Well done, EOS. And thank you." Hayley then turned to Amanda. "Well…this is it."

John was still watching the Flyer on his radar screen.

"I don't understand," said Kayo. "Why would the GDF be coming here?"

"Maybe word has got out about the rocket being hacked?" suggested Alan.

"Guys, hold on!" said John, suddenly leaping off the bonnet of FAB1 where he'd been sitting. "The rocket's changing course again."

"Where's it headed?" asked Jeff.

John hesitated and checked his radar just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "Straight towards us!"

"You mean its coming?" asked Virgil.

"Yeah!" said John. "At its present course it's gonna overfly the hospital."

Everyone now turned to look up at the sky. They could hear the rocket's engines getting louder and louder as it approached. Then it appeared above the trees and overflew the hospital grounds on the exact course it was originally meant to be on. Then with a clunk, the clamps holding the canister were released and it dropped out of the rocket with the parachute deploying seconds later. Its chemical rockets then roared into life and it climbed away from the hospital heading off to Tracy Aerospace.

"It dropped the canister!" said Penelope.

"Thank God for that," said Lord Patrick.

Jeff called Saunders. "Saunders, the rocket's just dropped the canister. Was that you?"

"Negative, Jeff. we've not done anything," Saunders answered. "But whoever was in control has lost control. The rocket's back on its original programming. I don't know if its got enough fuel to make it back to us though."

"I'm relieved to hear that," said Jeff. "If you ever find out what the problem was, let me know, please." He signed off and joined the others to watch as the canister drifted down towards the snow-covered grass in front of them.

"About time, too," said Dr Lang.

Suddenly they all heard a strange roaring sound coming from the road.

"What the blazes is-" began Scott. "WOAH!"

There came a roar of jet engines and everyone jumped in surprise as the red Cheetah suddenly leapt up from behind the wall with its wings extended. It came over the wall and bounced down along the grass, kicking up the snow as it went, spinning around before coming to a stop about twenty metres away from where they were all standing.

"Wait…isn't that Hayley's car?" asked Gordon in surprise.

"We saw that car yesterday!" added Lady Patricia.

The doors of the Cheetah opened and Hayley and Amanda scrambled out just as the canister landed about five metres in front of it.

"STAY BACK!" Hayley shouted, drawing her pistol. "NOBODY GO NEAR THE CANISTER!"

"What's the meaning of this?!" demanded Dr Pringle.

Virgil ignored Hayley's warning and stormed over. "Hayley, what the hell is-"

"Virgil, not now!" Hayley snapped.

Virgil stopped dead in his tracks. He'd never known Hayley to get angry with him before. It was quite a shock.

Hayley and Amanda went to opposite sides of the canister with their pistols aimed at the double red doors. They nodded to each other, and then Amanda pushed the button which opened the doors.

Despite Hayley's instruction, everyone had come over to see what was going on. Nurse Pollard gave a gasp and her hand flew over her mouth. As did Lady Patricia. Everyone else just stopped dead in their tracks with their mouths agape.

"What the?!" exclaimed Jeff as his eyes fell upon the two unconscious men inside the canister amongst the presents.

Hayley and Amanda checked their pulses. Once satisfied they were alive and not a threat, they lowered their weapons. Hayley then turned to the others. "I'm sorry about this," she said. "But I couldn't let you open this and discover them."

"Are they…dead?" asked Alan.

"No, they're just out cold," said Hayley.

"The gravity force must have knocked them out," said Amanda.

"But who are they?" asked Penelope.

"Two crooks who broke into the Second National Bank," said Hayley.

Everyone gasped.

"The Second National Bank?!" said Jeff. "But that was right next to Harman's Toy Store."

"Exactly," said Amanda. "When confronted, they made a run for it and managed to hide inside the canister."

Just then the GDF Flyer appeared over the trees and landed nearby. Captains Liberty and Lavender hurried out along with their task group.

They soon began to remove Marv from the canister. He slowly began to regain his senses and wake up. It took him a few moments to realise who it was getting him out when he recognised the GDF uniforms. "Ahhh, AHHH! HARRY! HELP! IT'S THE POLICE! I'M BEING KIDNAPPED! HELP!"

"Hey, SHUT UP!" thundered Captain Liberty, punching Marv across the face. He fell to the ground banging his chin against the canister and then lay whimpering in pain. He was then handcuffed and pulled to his feet whilst two more officers heaved the now awakening Harry out.

Harry too took a moment to realise what was going on. When he did, instead of panicking like Marv had done, he began cursing and swearing out loud that Dr Lang and Lord Patrick had to move Nurse Pollard and Lady Patricia away so that they couldn't hear the foul language.

Scott then realised something. "Hey, wait a second!" he said, moving forwards towards the now handcuffed Harry. "Aren't you the guy we rescued from the flagpole?"

"Yeah? So what if I am?" Harry snarled.

Scott turned to Virgil. "Am I going crazy? This is the Santa guy we rescued, wasn't it?"

"I'm sure it is," replied Virgil. "The voice sounds the same."

"I'm afraid so, Scott," said Hayley.

Scott stared at Harry in disgust as he backed away. "So you were a crook this whole time?! If I'd known that, I'd have let you fall from that flagpole!"

"Scott!" hissed Jeff, elbowing him. "Not now."

"Wait, you're the guys who rescued Harry?!" asked Marv, looking at Scott and Virgil. "Oh, thank you so much. I couldn't have robbed the bank without him."

"SHUT UP, MARV!" screeched Harry, kicking him in the ankle.

"GET THEM OUT OF HERE!" ordered Captain Liberty.

The soldiers marched Harry and Marv away, the two bickering and throwing insults at each other as they went.

The International Rescue team and hospital staff were just in complete shock by what they'd just witnessed.

Dr Lang looked inside the canister. "Looks like half the presents are missing," he said. "Not all of the children can get presents now."

Everyone's hearts sank. That was until Alexa then spoke up. "Actually, we found the presents they'd thrown out inside the elevator. We took the liberty of gathering them up and bringing them with us."

Another group of soldiers then emerged from the Flyer carrying the missing presents.

Everyone's spirits now lifted. "Great," said Jeff. "Thank you, er, I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met?"

Hayley decided to make the introduction. "Guys, this is our newest captain, Alexa Lavender."

Alexa gave a salute. "International Rescue. It's an honor to meet you all."

"Pleasure to meet you, Captain Lavender," said Jeff. He looked at the canister which had now been filled up with the missing presents. "Okay, people. Now that this little, er, incident is over, let's do what we came here to do. Let's make this something to remember!"

For the children of Coralville Hospital, not in their wildest of dreams could they ever have imagined what they would see on Christmas Day. The members of the International Rescue team made their way around the various wards in pairs, handing out the presents from each sack filled with the contents of the canister. Jeff and Scott went round as one pair. Virgil and Gordon were the second. Alan and John were the third and Penelope and Kayo made up the fourth. They had the hardest task of all, visiting the girls only wards whilst the others could spread themselves out a bit more with the boys only ones.

For the team too, the job turned into a somewhat emotional one, talking to each child and their families, learning of their conditions, and in the case of some, knowing this could be a child's final Christmas brought more than a few tears to the eyes. Alan in particular found it the hardest and had to have a few moments to himself on more than one occasion.

After a good three hours of handing out presents, the entire group gathered in the hospital's staff area where Dr Pringle had gathered his senior staff. Harman had also arrived from New York, having finished giving statements and helping the Police and GDF to clean up the crime scene between his building and the bank.

"Ladies and gentlemen," said Dr Pringle. "Today will go down in the history of Coralville Hospital. With the help of International Rescue, Tracy Aerospace and Harman's Toy Stores, the Christmas Rocket was a success, even if things did get a little more exciting than we were expecting. I cannot thank you all enough for this. Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!" everyone said in unison.

As the family exited the building to head back to their ships, they found most of the GDF Forces had now left. The four Captains were there too, being debriefed by Colonel Jennings. She did not seem entirely pleased.

"We need to consider ourselves very lucky. This could have been a lot worse, but it could have very easily been prevented," she was saying. "Madison, Thompson, it would be wrong of me to say that you should have realised the two Santas were the ones who were really behind the planned robbery, but all the same, you could have kept your gear hidden on your person perhaps and taken them down straight away. Regardless, your eye contacts, Madison, caught the whole thing. They won't be getting off lightly." She then turned to Captain Liberty. "As for you," she began. "Weren't you told to-"

"Ahem," interrupted Alexa, nodding in the direction of the approaching Tracy's.

Colonel Jennings saw them now and stopped. "We shall continue this later," she said. She then turned to Jeff and the boys. "Jeff."

"Abby."

"Merry Christmas," said Colonel Jennings. "I'm sorry you got slightly caught up in this."

"No harm's been done," said Jeff. "Could have done with being a little less exciting, but we like that kind of thing."

Colonel Jennings smiled. "The evidence we've gathered will ensure those two crooks are put away for a very long time," she said. "In the meantime, I expect you'll be wanting to head home?"

"We shall," said Jeff. "Unless you still need us?"

"No, that won't be necessary," said Colonel Jennings. "I may have a Christmas gift for one of you." She looked at the brothers who were all looking confused. She then turned back to the Captains. "Madison?"

Hayley stepped forwards. "Yes, Colonel?"

"I said that your extended leave would begin once this assignment was completed. Consider it completed. Go and enjoy yourself."

Hayley couldn't believe it. Neither could Virgil. Their joint Christmas wish had come true.

There was much celebration in the Tracy household that night. It was lucky that Grandma had cooked more than what was actually required as they had one extra guest.

After a massive dinner, everyone gathered in the lounge whilst the brothers stood around the piano, singing carols whilst Virgil played the music.

"Away in a Manger, No crib for a bed

The little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head.

The stars in the bright sky, look down where he lay

The little Lord Jesus asleep in the hay."

"Splendid, boys," said Jeff. "That was excellent."

Kayo, Hayley and Penelope were sitting on one couch together. "Don't they look smart in those suits?" Kayo whispered.

"Gordon in particular," agreed Penelope.

"Hmm, Virgil clinches it for me," said Hayley.

"Of course he would," teased Kayo and the three burst out laughing.

"What's next?" asked John.

"I think one more carol, boys," said Jeff. "Then it will be time for more refreshments."

"Not more food, surely?" asked Scott.

"I couldn't eat anything else," said Gordon.

"I could use a second helping," said Alan.

Brains had been quiet for most of the evening. Everyone had been so busy enjoying themselves that they hadn't realised one person was missing. Brains looked out of the window and made a secret signal. Then he turned his attention back as the boys began to sing again.

"Oh, the weather outside is frightful.

But the fire is so delightful.

And since we've no place to go,

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!"

It was at that moment that Lady Patricia happened to glance to her left. She let out a massive gasp and covered her mouth.

Everyone stopped and looked at her alarmed. "What is it, Mother?" asked Penelope.

But Patricia was too stunned to speak.

Parker then glanced out of the window and he saw it, too. "Crikey!" he exclaimed before turning to the brothers. "'ow did you manage that?"

"Manage what?" asked Scott.

"Good grief!" exclaimed Jeff, jumping to his feet and staring at the window.

One by one, everyone turned to look in the direction of the window. And everyone except for Brains gasped in surprise. There was snow falling from the sky and settling onto the island.

"SNOW?!" exclaimed Gordon. "But…But how?!"

"This has to be a trick!" said Alan. He sprinted from the room and hurried down the stairs outside.

Everyone followed him outside. They couldn't believe it. It wasn't cold outside, and yet there was really snow falling from the sky. It was settling too, much to their shock.

Virgil scooped some up in his hands. "This is real!"

"But how?" asked Lord Patrick. "Snow can't fall in summer!"

John then noticed Brains standing by the door with a rather satisfied look on his face. "Brains? Did you do this?" he asked.

Brains smiled as he stepped forwards. "Y-Yes, I did," he said. "Although not without a l-little help."

There came a rustling in some nearby bushes and The Mechanic appeared wearing a Santa hat over his mohawk. "Happy Holidays," he said with a smile.

Now realising what had happened, the confusion and surprise turned to one of joy as Gordon had picked up a handful of snow and thrown it at the back of Alan's head. "OH, YOU DID NOT JUST-" he began before retaliating with a snowball of his own.

Soon a big snowball fight had broken out with everyone whooping and cheering with happiness.

Jeff chose not to join in to begin with. He instead went over to Brains and The Mechanic. "I don't know what you did to pull this off, but you've given us a proper old fashioned Christmas," he said. "Thank you." He gave them both a hug, much to the surprise of The Mechanic, before grabbing a snowball and throwing it at Scott and Kayo nearby.

If anyone was going to get extremely drunk that evening, anyone would have put money on one of the brothers. But no, it ended up being Lord Patrick who had the largest amount to drink, and by the time everyone had worn themselves out, Lady Patricia was having to help him back through the house to go to bed, whilst he was drunkenly sinking "Good Kingwenseslarse stuck out…"

"Language."

"-and his feet were steaming…"

One by one, everyone began to head inside to go to bed, until only Virgil and Hayley were left outside. The snow machines had finished and now the area around the house was covered in a white blanket which they found themselves sitting on the edge of. "Who would believe it?" Hayley asked. "Look one way and it's a Winter Wonderland. Look the other and it's a warm Summer's night."

"Brains is always full of surprises," said Virgil. They fell silent and looked lovingly into each others' eyes. "Just think, this time next year, we'll be married."

Hayley slipped her arm through his. "And I cannot wait for my first Christmas as Mrs Tracy," she said.

As they began to kiss under the bright light of the Moon, neither could have been more happy than they were right now.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers