I told the others on the way back to the North Pole what I had learnt in New York, Cupid and Vixen had insisted that none of us were to stay behind. Alex, Sarah and Nicki had assured us that they would look after them and reluctantly we had agreed to leave without them. They had told us that when we found the detonator to get in contact with them. We had left Liam in Tokyo with Comet and Prancer, Billy with Donner and Blitzen in Paris, Reece with Dancer and Dasher in London and now The Prosecco Triplets in New York with Vixen and Cupid. Friends and Reindeer scattered around the world but without them near those bombs the Reindeer didn't stand a chance.
The mood on the Van of Dreams was one of sheer determination to stop Carl and more importantly put an end to whatever it was that Clarence was up to. I was angry that it had been kept from me, how was I supposed to protect people if I didn't know the truth from the start, it was something that I would have to discuss later on because as we burst through the cloud cover I could see hundreds of Leprechaun's heading towards the front gates of the village. All heavily armed with swords and shields a man at the front leading the way.
"Have we made contact with Laura yet?" I asked Jacob
"Not yet I'm afraid" he replied "There seems to be some sort of signal jam that's stopping us from getting through to her".
"Will they know we are coming?" asked William nervously
"Yes I'm sure of it" I replied with more certainty than I felt. If we couldn't warn Laura of our return our only hope was that the others had got through to her as promised.
"Strap yourselves in this isn't going to be an easy landing" Jacob said as we descend from the sky towards the snow covered ground.
We passed over the top of the stables and landed with a big bump just behind them. A little shook up from the landing we all scrambled for the door and to get to cover as quickly as possible. I was the last one out making sure that we had all that we needed. The others had made it to the stable doors in front of me, expectant but also unsure of what to do next.
"Good evening my friend" a voice came out of the stables
I smiled and walked towards Henry the King of the Penguins. A shield in one hand and a sword around his waist he looked older than when I had last seen him.
"Hello Henry, and thank you for coming" I said warmly
"No need to thank me my friend" he said, "You once saved my people from a civil war after my father was killed by Carl, this is the least I can do". He returned my smile but their was something else that eyes gave away and it worried me.
We embraced and as we did so he whispered in my ear "Its not looking good my friend"
I nodded an acknowledgement and said nothing. I was grateful for his candour because we were about to face the unknown and I didn't want to make the others feel anymore nervous than they already did.
"You know the others" I said as a way of an introduction
"I do indeed" he said taking Emily's hand and gently kissing it "When is he going to make an honest woman of you?" he asked her mischievously
She smiled and said "This is not the time Henry" removing her hand from his grasp.
"I agree, but allow me a moment of respite from this battle that we face" he said "Come, please take shelter in the stables where we can discuss our plans"
We followed him into the warmth of the stables, lanterns lit up the inside but the bays were empty. Where once the Reindeer had happily slept there was nothing but emptiness, a feeling I wasn't used to when being in here. A table was set up with a map on it in the middle of the stables, the widest part as this was where we kept the tools to groom them, Some of the Penguin Kings men where standing around studying it and greeted us as we walked towards them.
"Sammy you know Horace my second in command and please also allow me to introduce my son Jackson who is a Captain in my army" Said Henry proudly.
"Pleased to meet you both again" I said. Horace had been a true friend in my battle to stop the Penguin's turning ion each other when Henry's father had been killed by Carl. It was due to Horace's photographic memory that we had managed to stop it going any further.
"Its an honour, as always Sammy" said Horace nodding his head towards me.
"Now that the formalities are out of the way let us discuss how we plan to stop them from taking over the village" Henry said placing his hand on the map "They are currently working their way towards the front gate, all communications have been lost inside the main building. Laura sent us a message about half an hour ago saying that Carl had offered her a deal, if she surrounded then he would spare her life. She replied that thought she thought his offer generous but he could shove it up his ever expanding nose!". Henry laughed at that bit "She hasn't changed since she was small girl has she, courageous to a fault
"No she hasn't" I smiled "What about Rudolph, Father Christmas and Mrs Christmas any sightings of them yet?"
"We have received information from one our spies that Carl has them hidden away in one of the tunnels beneath the village. It appears they are not heavily guarded if at all. It will be difficult to find them, with all the tunnels under there but not impossible, but with the numbers we have we cannot defend the village and send people to look for them at the same time. However we have managed to trace the signal from the call Laura got and it seems he is in one of two rooms. Our only hope is to surprise him and hope we get it right the first time. To do that though is very risky, because if we fail, its all over Sammy, you know that as well as I do". He said gravely
I nodded and studied the map for a few moments. I couldn't fail I had come this far and a plan started to form in my head. I looked at all the people around me and hoped that they understood what I was about to say to them.
"Me and Tommy will do it" I said confidently "I know what room he will be in"
"Do what?" Emily asked nervously
"Me and Tommy will go through the tunnels and rescue them, Carl is a creature of habit, he will be in the same room that he was in when he was here last time. He will want to rub it in about how clever he is and will tell them about how he used the same room last time to plot against them. Henry you take the others and go through the village and defend the main entrance. If I can get to the Carl and his detonator I know I can stop this". I looked at Tommy and he nodded in agreement.
"No Sammy that's suicide" said William sharply
"No its not" I said "We know Carl, we've faced him before and we can do this again can't we mate? We know where he will be and we can get there quicker than any of you" I said looking at Tommy
He took a big swallow and nodded yes.
"If you insist my friend" said Henry "Then that shall be your wish"
I shook his hand in agreement and turned to Emily "I promise Ill come back okay".
She nodded and then stepped forward and kissed me hard on the mouth "You better" she said
I smiled and hugged her tight, hoping that I could keep the promise I had made her.
"Good luck" said William patting me on the back
"Thank you" I replied
"Here Tommy, take this" said Jacob handing something small and round to him, "It may come in handy" he smiled.
"Thanks" said Tommy taking it and putting it in his pocket
"Okay lets do this" said Michael and we all nodded in agreement "Are you sure you want to do this on your own? We can help you know" he asked making sure I was certain I knew what I was doing
I smiled and looked at all my friends.
"I'm so very proud of what we have achieved so far, but I cannot put you in anymore danger than you have already been in. I know Carl and I know how dangerous he can be. Laura needs you just as much as I do and I want you all to follow Henry and his men and stop this before it goes any further. If anything happens to me and Tommy its down to you all to stop it. Is that clear?" I said sternly
"Crystal" Michael replied
"You got this" boss said Jacob
"Then lets go Tommy" I said.
Myself and Tommy left the others in the stables and walked across the snow towards the door that was built into the wall of the mountain in front of us. It was just a few metre's from the stables but making our way across that open space I was more scared than I had ever been. I felt like I was waiting for something to happen and when we got to the door and opened it, I took a deep breath not realising that I had been holding it all this time.
"Okay mate?" I asked Tommy
"About as good as I'm going to get" he replied smiling
"Good lad, right lets see what's in here then shall we" he smiled back
"After you" he said waving me forward
I smiled again and stepped through the door, Tommy closing it behind us.
It was dark inside and I turned my torch on so as we could see a little better. The walls were cold and made of stone, wooden supports kept the roof from falling in on us as we slowly made our way deeper and deeper into the tunnels. We must have walked for at least half an hour, turning this way and that, crawling for some of it and standing straighter for others, when we came across a wooded door in front of us. I placed my finger over my lips and to tell Tommy to be quiet and placed my ear against the door to see if I could hear anything on the other side. If I was right this was the room that Carl had been in last time.
"You'll never get away with it Carl, don't you see what your doing? You can't just take what isn't yours!" The voice was rich and deep and I recognised it straight away. I'd found them.
"Oh listen to you old man, what do you know? You're the past, but you cant see it, I have nothing because of you!" The voice got higher as he spoke the anger flowing through it, vibrating around the walls of the room.
"You used to be such a nice young man, a quiet baby who was nothing but kind and loving". She spoke softly and with kindness, a mothers love knows no bounds.
"Did I Elizabeth? Was I really such a nice young man? Then why did your husband, my so called Father, even though we know that's not true, stop me from being the Chief Toy Maker? Huh why doesn't he tell us why?! he screamed
"You know why Carl, it wasn't the way we do things, we don't allow children to go without at Christmas, what you had planned would mean only the rich would get presents the rest wouldn't" the voice was calm and measured, no sign of emotion or anger
"And what was so wrong with that?" Carl shouted "After all, we would have been richer than any of us could ever have imagined. I was right you know I was, if it hadn't been for that stupid Elf I would still be here doing what I do best, and making us a lot of money in the process"
"Someone mention me?" I asked stepping through the door and seeing Father Christmas, Mrs Christmas and Rudolph all tied up in a corner. A wire leading to a big black box similar to others we had already seen strapped to the side of them
"You!" Carl shouted "I've waited a long time for this, Finally Sammy gets to see how all this will end, glad you could make it" he sneered
"It will end the same way it did before Carl, and you know it" I said walking into the middle of the room.
He stood in front of me, his hair greying a little more than the last time I had seen him, dressed in a dark green suit with a white shirt and red tie. A top hat on top of his head and a small black box in his hand with a red buttoned remote in his other hand.
"Where is he Carl?" I asked slowly
"Who?" he asked laughing
"You know who, where is Clarence?" I asked trying to keep the anger out of my voice.
"Clarence?" asked Father Christmas surprised "What's my brother got to do with all this?"
"Everything" I said "But Ill explain later, for now me and Carl need to have a little chat" and I began to clinch my fist
"Oh Sammy really? Did you think it was going to be this easy? How stupid do you think I am? You may have stopped me last time but not this time, this time I am more prepared than ever. Do you think you could just walk in here and demand I release them?" he started to laugh and raised his hand with the remote in it, into the air.
I looked at the others and then looked at the box that was tied around them. Something was wrong, something was very wrong
"Sammy your a fool, Clarence is the true heir to the role of Fatter Christmas this charlatan stole it from him and he's been peddling his lies every since. I'm here to make sure that Clarence is returned to his rightful place and these people are left where they belong out in the cold. With you in here with them, its just makes it easier. I have grown so tired of watching you race around the world. I never meant to harm the Reindeer it was all part of our plan to get you out of the way. With you gone we could get my so called parents as they returned from holiday and no one would be there to stop us. It was quite a brilliant plan". He began to walk backwards slowly.
"The best bit though, and your going to love this, as you've left the Reindeer all around the world with your stupid friends. The boxes and wires they are tied to are all fake, it was just the icing on the cake. They were never in danger we just needed fewer people around, this one though, this one is very real. When I press this button it starts a countdown that even you will not be able stop. You see you now have a choice Sammy, stop me or try and save that old fool and his wife? So Sammy what's it to be? Huh? Me or them?" he laughed looked me straight in the eye and with that he pressed the button and the countdown started on the black box that they were tied to.
"No!" I shouted running towards them
Tommy stood there staring at the count down rooted to the spot.
"Run Sammy" cried Father Christmas as Carl disappeared through another door and slammed it shut behind him.
"There isn't time!" Mrs Christmas cried as I tried to undo the chains "Save your self boys you need to stop him!"
"No I'm not leaving" I said ripping at the chains
"I'm sorry Sammy" Father Christmas said grabbing my hands to stop me, his eyes resigned to the fact that we couldn't do anything. The clock was ticking too fast.
9....8....7....6....5
I stood helpless, holding the timer in my hands that Carl had dropped when he fled, and watched as the clock ticked down, I whispered a prayer closed my eyes and............
BOOM!!!!!!!!
To be concluded on Christmas Eve....................
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