The treehouse Holly was seeking was older and larger than most of the others in the elf forest, and Holly spotted it easily when she reached the far end of the woodland. A wreath made of evergreen branches, sprigs of holly, and a few white winter flowers that were found only at the North Pole hung on the oval door. Inside the wreath was a small hand-painted sign that read “Home is where the Cheer is.” Holly raised her hand to knock, but the door swung open before her knuckles could make contact with the ancient wood.
“I’ve been expecting you.” A soft, willowy voice greeted Holly as Lumi emerged from behind the door. She had short, curly silver hair and warm tanned skin and wore a thick silver sweater that seemed to be made of hundreds of ribbons or possibly small, billowy feathers. Her feet were enveloped in large white slippers. “Come on in. Let’s have a seat. All the neighbors will start gawking if you stand there too long.”
The woman’s voice made Holly’s skin prickle with recognition, and her brow furrowed as she followed the elf into the living room. She sat down on a large, plush cushion. In the better light, Holly studied Lumi’s face more closely and gasped.
“Lia!” she exclaimed, thinking her mind must be playing tricks on her.
Lumi smiled. “I wasn’t sure if you’d recognize me. I’m told I look quite different when I’m blending in with the humans.”
“But… Lia lives in Finland! How do you even get there?” Holly’s mind whirled. One of the few humans she’d struck up a friendly acquaintance with wasn’t a human at all—she was an elf.
“I have my ways. Let’s not worry about that now. Did you come here to find out about the comings and goings of elves?” When Holly shook her head, Lumi continued, “My grandelves have been bringing me treats at all hours of the day. They’re experimenting with a new recipe for you. Would you like some?” Lumi indicated a tray piled high with cookies of all shapes and sizes.
Holly picked up a sugar cookie, struggling to process that who she’d thought was her one true human friend wasn’t actually a human.What else don’t I know?Her understanding of Cheer and elves, two things she’d always had a reasonable grasp on, was starting to implode.
She chewed the cookie as Lumi took a seat and couldn’t help but savor the cloudberry-coconut treat. She’d never tasted anything quite like it. The longer she looked at Lumi’s face, the easier it was to see her old friend Lia there.
“Now, let’s get down to the reason you’re here. We all saw the North Post last night,” Lumi prompted, and Holly nodded, setting the rest of the cookie down in her lap. She would have to push aside her hundreds of questions about Lia and Finland for the moment.
“It’s the strangest thing. I feel like I remember the North Post being like that when my parents were still here, but I was never really sure until the bright light came back last night, and I was hoping you could tell me more about it. Your memory of those days might be a little better than mine.” In addition to her unusually long life span, Lumi Kringle was known to have a good memory. And apparently, she had some powers and a double life that Holly knew nothing about.
“Yes, I do remember it. Your father’s time as Santa Claus was long, and he was very successful in the role,” Lumi began.
“I always thought he must have been stronger than me somehow. I don’t remember him being gone as much as I am. He only had to collect a little bit of Cheer each cycle, and it powered the North Pole easily. Or I thought maybe the sources of Cheer have gotten weaker over the years. I couldn’t test either of those theories, though.” Holly furrowed her brow.
Lumi—Lia—smiled at her gently, the corners of her golden eyes crinkling. That expression was so familiar to Holly, even though the hair and ears were different from the woman in Finland, and Lia had always hidden her eyes behind glasses. Some expressions couldn’t be masked.
“Holly, dear, you’ve thought that all this time? That your father was more powerful than you?” She shook her head and sighed. “You are just as powerful as any Claus who has come before you. But sometimes there are… extenuating circumstances that determine the power of the Cheer.”
Holly perked up. She was finally going to get some information about how Cheer worked.
“What do you mean? What extenuating circumstances?” Holly pressed. She sat on the edge of the cushion, the half-eaten cookie forgotten in her lap.
“I’m afraid I can’t explain it, Holly. It must be experienced,” Lumi said quietly, and Holly could sense she was holding something back. “You’ve come across an example in Emerald Hollow. That’s a wonderful thing.”
Holly’s posture had started to stoop as she began to realize Lumi wasn’t going to give her any answers outright.
“I don’t understand. What have I come across?”
Lumi shook her head. “I know this is frustrating, Holly. I can’t explain it completely right now. But Cheer was never meant to be a commodity for Clauses to collect. It’s found all over the world, sure, but part of the mission is experiencing all the good the world has to offer. Up until now, you haven’t been able to slow down and experience any of that. Am I right?” Lumi rested a hand gently on top of Holly’s.
Holly wanted to beg, to insist that Lumi tell her what she knew.What do my experiences have to do with whatever is going on with the North Post?But from the set of Lumi’s features, she wouldn’t hand over the answers so easily. After all, they’d been friends for years. Holly recognized the expression in Lumi’s eyes, one of compassion but also resolve.
“So what do I do now?” Holly’s brain was working at a hundred reindeer paces per minute. Lumi knew something, but she couldn’t or wouldn’t share it. Holly hoped that she would explain more in time. But for the moment, Holly was on her own. She let out a deep breath, trying not to let frustration overwhelm her. She’d gone there for answers, but all she’d received were more questions.Isn’t that just like a Kringle elf?
“I think you know what you need to do,” Lumi said gently, and Holly looked up to meet her golden eyes. “But I’ll lay it out for you anyway. You need to return to Emerald Hollow. The answers will come to you there.”
* * *
Holly soakedin her bathtub that night, her mind whirring in frustration. She thrived when she had a testable question to experiment with. Just blindly searching for answers when she wasn’t even sure of the question was a recipe for distress. She hadalready tried searching Emerald Hollow for answers. Nothing explained why her Cheer meter had stayed so high there.
Holly stared into space as the northern lights danced outside the wall-length window. She had barely noticed the lights that evening. Thinking about Lumi again, she replayed some of her visits with Lia in Finland.Were there signs I missed?She tried to remember their first meeting.Did I seek her out or the other way around?Of course, the third option was that magic had drawn them together.
She sighed and tried to focus on what had impacted her Cheer and the North Post. Her thoughts drifted to Emerald Hollow again, and she made up her mind.If there’s something to find,Holly thought,I’ll find it.
After Holly climbed into bed, she lay awake for a few more hours. She tried to lull herself to sleep by following the gentle swirling of the snowflakes on her watch. Humans couldn’t see the movement, but she could, when she slowed down enough to pay attention to them.
Holly rarely took off her watch and only at the North Pole, just to see if she could still catch the trail of snowflakes and trace the pattern to unlatch it. But really, there was no need to remove it. Its magic caused it to be self-cleaning along with her wrist. It never rubbed or chafed. So she wore it always, like it was a part of her. Slowly, the snowflakes began to blur, and in the early hours of the Arctic morning, Holly fell asleep.
