The Truth About Rudolph

They visited several other towns and villages that night. Although it never took more than ten minutes for the sleigh to arrive at its next destination, these places must all have been at quite a distance from each other because the differences between them were so big. The first town lay under a clear, starry sky; in the village they visited next it was snowing so hard they could hardly see where they were going. Still the elf holding the reins somehow knew where to lead the reindeer.

After that they visited several villages in which it wasn't snowing, but the moon and the stars were hidden behind clouds. The elf in the coachman's seat knew the way every time and he would guide the reindeer in the right direction, but Rudolph's shiny nose proved to be very useful as well: it would illuminate every roof just enough for the reindeer to find the best place to land.

The next village they visited was by the sea, under a clear sky and without a trace of snow. Once again it seemed to be very far away from the last place they had visited, yet it didn't take them long to arrive there. Rudolph had the impression that they had been travelling on invisible snow-covered paths in the sky, paths that were somehow shorter than any road on earth.

In each of the villages they visited they would stop on the roof of a big house with a spacious chimney, and Klaus would climb down into the fireplace with his bag of Floo powder; the elves would find the presents he was calling for with amazing speed and throw them down the chimney for him to catch. It was fascinating to watch at first, but after a while Rudolph felt a bit bored.

In one of the snow-covered villages they must have made too much noise while they were landing on the roof, because a light soon went on in the house across them. Rudolph noticed a silhouette against the lit window; then the flickering light of the lamp left the upstairs room and appeared downstairs; soon the door opened and a little girl stepped out of the house dressed only in her nightgown. She raised the lantern she was holding in hand as high as she could, as if she thought it could illuminate the sky.

A few moments later a man and a woman came out of the house and the man took the child in his arms. All three of them started talking at the same time; Rudolph could hear the girl saying: "But I'm sure I heard..." and the mother telling her in a worried voice that she'd catch cold. The lantern the child was holding was casting a golden light on them. In a few moments they were inside the house again and the door closed behind them. Everything was dark again.

Rudolph kept looking at the house, a painful feeling growing inside him. What were his parents doing now? Did they think something terrible had happened to him? Had they gone to search the woods for him?

He felt like crying, but he couldn't: reindeer don't cry. In frustration, he raised one of his front hooves and then slammed it hard onto the roof.

"Hey! Watch what you're doing!" said one of the other reindeer. "What we're doing is supposed to be a secret!"

Finally the sleigh was emptied and it was time to return to the Ice Palace. The reindeer started whispering among themselves about the delicious hay they were going to have for supper. To his surprise, Rudolph himself felt that hay was the tastiest meal he could possibly imagine, and the only thing he wanted even more than hay was a good night's sleep... or, to be correct, a good day's sleep.

The elf cracked his whip and Rudolph took off into the air, followed by the other reindeer. After a minute or two he heard heavy snoring; obviously, Klaus had fallen asleep in the sleigh.

Not before long the invisible path in the air sloped downwards and led onto the same hill over which they had ascended into the air. The ice palace sparkled in front of them, reflecting the starlight. Feeling very tired now, Rudolph led the way through the gates and into the courtyard. Rudolph noticed that a different pair of polar bears was on guard duty now. He was surprised that he was able to notice that; in his human shape he would never have noticed the difference between two polar bears' faces.

In the courtyard the elves quickly unfastened the reindeer's harness straps, talking among themselves about how sleepy they were and how they were going to sleep the whole day. The reindeer hurried to the side of the palace where hay and water were waiting for them.

***

Rudolph felt very sleepy, and so did the other reindeer, which fell asleep almost immediately after eating. They slept outside, in the courtyard; a shelter wasn't necessary that night because the sky was still clear and full of stars. Tired though he was, Rudolph didn't like the idea of sleeping outside very much so he went inside the palace.

The hall was just as busy as it had been the first time he saw it -- the elves working the day shift were already busy wrapping up presents, and Klaus was giving them instructions. He noticed Rudolph and gave him a kind smile. The elves that had been helping Klaus during the night passed by on their way from their dining room to the dormitories, talking and laughing and nibbling on Christmas cakes.

Nobody seemed to mind Rudolph being there, but he felt uncomfortable after a while. The icy floor of the hall was too smooth; it wasn't exactly slippery, but snow had felt much better under his hooves. It was also too warm for him inside -- the warmth from the fireplace would undoubtedly have felt good had he been in his human shape, but it felt uncomfortable for an animal with thick fur. Finally Rudolph went outside to sleep in the courtyard, like all the other reindeer. When he closed his eyes he saw the faces of his parents again, and wondered if they thought he was dead.

"Well, at least Octavian might be accused of my murder and sent to prison," he said to himself. The thought of Octavian behind bars brightened him up somewhat so, tired as he was, he fell asleep easily.

***

When he woke up it was dark again, and elves were already starting to load the sleigh with presents. After eating his breakfast -- or perhaps it was his supper, because it was evening -- Rudolph came over to the elves to watch what they were doing. They were glad he was there because this night was not quite as bright as the previous one; the moon would occasionally hide behind a cloud, and then Rudolph's nose would illuminate the sleigh like a lantern.

After a while Klaus came out of the palace and, seeing Rudolph there, said to him:

"Ah, there you are, red-nosed reindeer. You'll be glad to learn that the elves have repaired the broomstick you have damaged. It's almost as good as new, although not quite."

Klaus gestured for Rudolph to follow him inside, went over to one of the large tables where the elves were wrapping up presents, and picked up a broomstick that was among the yet unwrapped ones. He held it for Rudolph to see; it was the Nimbus 1722 he had tried to steal. The teeth marks he had left on it were now just barely visible under a new layer of polish; indeed, Rudolph wasn't at all sure whether he would have seen them if he hadn't known exactly where to look for them.

After a few hours the sleigh was loaded with as many presents as it could carry and more, and all the reindeer were in harness, with Rudolph in the front just like the previous night. Klaus called out:

"Everyone ready? Is the Floo powder here? All, right, let's go!"