Who Shot Father Christmas?

Thus the wheels for the planned compulsory redundancy notice of Father Christmas, also known as Santa Claus, were irrevocably set in motion.

***

Mickey last visited his Pop's farm in the hills a few miles inland from St Nicholas City on Thanksgiving Day and it had been a depressing holiday. The farm was performing badly and the grape harvest from the vines had been one of the poorest ever. Now Pop was in a panic, the bottling of the latest vintage had been stopped because the wine was so acid and astringent. This would be fine if the alcohol content was high and the wine could be stored for a few years or more for the wine to mature, but the alcohol level was so low it would never last that long or turn into anything which would repay the expense and effort. Pop was at a loss what to do and Mickey was helpless to offer advice, leaving his father even more disappointed in his only offspring and facing financial ruin, losing everything the family had ever worked for.

Mickey drove up to the farm on the Sunday morning before Christmas. Even the front gate was hanging off its hinges. The buildings had a hangdog look and badly needed painting. Mickey vaguely remembered when he was very young and his mother was still alive, the farm had a retail shop which sold the products grown on the farm and she also used to run the winery, she had the skills for it which his father lacked. Pop's farming methods were probably old fashioned and the hired help he had were as old and worn out as the equipment he couldn't afford to replace. Before lunch Mickey fixed the gate and did a few other essential repairs around the place. It wasn't much but it was a help.

Pop opened a bottle of wine produced ten years earlier for lunch and it was superb. He also opened a bottle of last year's and another of this year's and neither of them was even vaguely drinkable.

Unable to help, Mickey drove away depressed, a box of wine bottles rattling away on the seat in the back, each bump in the road reinforcing his sense of abject failure in being the son that his father so needed right now.

***

Ella Bertoni-Colombo had an enjoyable flight down from Seattle to California, with a short-haul connecting flight from LAX to St Nicholas City Airport. She had her hotel reservation papers posted to her along with her car rental details and more than sufficient spending money for gas and meals for a week's stay in California. Also included in the envelope was a new drivers license, in the name of Adele Glass. The accompanying letter suggested she call herself Della, so if she did react to the name Ella, she could argue that she thought they had said Della. In future she would have to train herself in the use of alias. As for the rest, she had more than adequate firearms and unarmed combat training. Ella felt confident, not overly so, but comfortable that she would not let Manny or herself down.

For less than a week before Christmas Ella thought the climate was pleasantly warm and she felt rather overdressed after travelling down from a cold sleety rainstorm in Washington State to brilliant sunshine in California.

The hired car that Uncle Manny had arranged for her was a nondescript low-powered foreign car which wouldn't attract any undue attention from even the most observant member of the public. It was a rather more recent model that the old banger that Ella ran at college, so she felt very comfortable in it driving down the sunlight roads towards the coast, where the tiny city of St Nicholas nestled on the flat fertile coastal plain between the gently wooded limestone slopes of the interior and the rocky coastline. As she topped the final rise ahead of the settlement, the vista of the bright blue sparkling waters of the Pacific extending through to the distant horizon filled her with excitement, in anticipation of the event for which she had trained and the knots in her stomach as she realised at last she was going to fulfil her destiny.

As her alias Della Glass, Ella soon settled into the small hotel she had been booked into. It wasn't one of the main ones in the tiny city but a nondescript Mom and Pop establishment just off the main road on the edge of the city, one in which she would not be noticed coming and going and therefore couldn't possibly be involved in the terrible act due to be committed within the city boundaries on Christmas morning.

Her first task after a good night's sleep was to pick up a small package addressed to her alias at the local post office, situated at the other end of the long main street which was all that was of consequence that constituted the city of St Nicholas. She decided to stroll down there on foot, it was a nice morning and she wanted to find her bearings. She had already received a postcard from Uncle Manny, although it was signed apparently by a dear supposed brother of Della Glass and showed by counting through the words for just certain numbered words in the content that the hit was to take place on the road between a private airfield outside the city and the Lighthouse road on Christmas morning between dawn and 10am. She would have to check out that road along its complete length in the next day or two and pick her spot for the hit. Her hotel room was booked until the morning of December 26th, on a morning flight out to LAX, connecting onto Seattle. If everything went to plan it would be easy as falling off a log.

The package from her uncle would contain a dossier on the hit, so Ella could identify him or her, and the weapon chosen for the task. If Manny paid attention to what she had said to him on earlier occasions, it would be one of the half-dozen types of guns she was familiar with at the Pittsburgh and Seattle gun clubs.

Ella was impressed by the little city as she took her gentle stroll. The people on the sidewalk seemed unhurried and small-town friendly, in complete contrast to her experience of city life bustle in Pittsburgh and Seattle where she had spent her entire youth. There were some interesting shops and most of them seemed to be open and filled with goods, thriving in the last few days leading up the festivities, with shoppers carrying brightly-coloured parcels homeward to secrete away for eventual presentation to their loved ones.

Ella suddenly felt guilty that she had neglected to buy any presents this year, so obsessed she had been with Uncle Manny and the potential of this first momentous hit. She allowed herself to be lured into a store that sold women's garments and picked out a nice blouse for her Momma, which she paid cash for and had both gift wrapped and then extra bubble-wrapped for posting. Happier now, Ella carried on down the main street towards the main post office.

***

Bella wondered why Mickey was so down this morning. They were busy with the Christmas rush, everyone was trying to get their last-minute parcels and Christmas cards in the post to arrive before the actual event. Mickey normally thrived on this, or he certainly had in just the three weeks he had worked thus far, so Bella was extremely concerned. She cared for all her staff, but she had come to rely on Mickey as a kindred spirit and particular, even best, friend and wondered what could be the matter.

"Mickey, come and sit down in the office for a moment, would you?" she said to him.

"Sure, boss." They walked together to the office that Bella rarely used except when wanting to speak to anyone quietly. Mickey knew how attuned to the moods of her staff Bella was so he had no doubts about what she wanted to speak about. She waved him to a chair and moved a chair around from behind the desk for herself.

"What's up Mickey? I know I can always rely on you being upbeat and cheerful. Anything getting you down?"

"Sorry, Bella, nothing to do with work, you know I love it here." He paused while he marshalled his thoughts. He liked and respected Bella and she had proved immensely helpful to him, even trying to persuade him to follow a career in the post office. He put great trust in her. Should he involve her in his family's problems? Well, she was asking.

"My Pop has got problems with the farm, particularly the vineyard side of the business, which has always provided the major part of the winter and spring sales in the past. It looks like he might lose the farm as he cannot raise enough cash flow to keep the mortgage payments up. The Christmas wine trade was always a large part of the business and they are going to miss out this year."

"Is this a logistics problem?" said Bella, softly, "Maybe we can sort something out, we have contacts with a lot of other carriers if we need to find some spare capacity."

"No, it is down to the product, it is poor quality, low in alcohol and tastes of nothing at all. It's not particularly nasty, a little acidic but basically it is just boring. If you were given a bottle you wouldn't bother to finish it after the first couple of sips. My Pop is at his wit's end and I feel like a failure because I have left him to run it on his own and he had raised me expecting me to take over the business by now. He's only 53 and it looks like he is going to lose everything he has worked for all his life and I'm upset because I've let him down so badly."

"Can't he blend the wine with some from the previous year to liven it up?"

"No, last year's is almost as bad and he has bottles and bottles of it that were returned from the merchants and really should've been flushed down the drains long ago."

"Do you have any of the wine here that we could taste?"

"Yeah, got a dozen bottles, nine from this year and three from last, back at the Lighthouse."

"OK, Mickey, we'll pop down at lunchtime and have a taste, I might just have an idea that'd help."

"Be great if you could." It was a much more cheerful Mickey that returned to the sorting lines after the short meeting. Bella went down to the front office and dealt with customers calling to collect or post out mail.

A pretty young woman was next in line when Bella took over. She had thick chestnut brown hair and green eyes, a very attractive woman. Bella thought the woman was a little young, at least a couple of years younger than Bella, but beautiful and she was certain that Mickey would find her attractive. Bella had not seen her before, so perhaps she was a recent addition to the city's resident population. The newcomer said her name was Adele Glass and was expecting a parcel from her brother that was supposed to arrive today. Bella looked for her parcel but could find nothing. She explained that the next delivery from the central LA depot would be about three in the afternoon so, if she came back, say about four-ish and they would keep an eye out for it. Miss Glass had a parcel to post, to arrive before Christmas in Pittsburgh, to a Mrs Bertoni-Columbo, Bella noted, so they despatched it express. Must be another relative, Bella thought, this Adele Glass looked Italian.

"See you later on today, Miss Glass," smiled Bella at the newcomer, who also smiled charmingly before walking out of the office. Bella made a mental note to be sure to ask Mickey to look after the collections desk after lunch.

Talking of lunch. The time came around quickly and Mickey and Bella had their midday sandwiches at the Lighthouse where Mickey opened a bottle each of the two wines he had brought back. Bella was not a great lover of wine, and sampling each glass failed to inspire much enthusiasm. Bella remembered that her mother had always made hot mulled wine, flavoured with cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg among other ingredients. Bella had learned the recipe and popped next door knowing that the ingredients would be near at hand this close to Christmas. When she got back she mixed up a tiny batch of the herbs and spices as a hot cordial. She added a small amount to each of the opened bottles and replaced the corks.

"We'll let that infuse and settle and taste it again tonight to see if we can salvage each of these wines," she said and Mickey was enthusiastic, whatever the taste of the wine, his kitchen had never smelt so good or so Christmasy!

Bella sorted through the parcel mail that came in mid-afternoon and soon found the heavy little parcel that Della had called for earlier. She took it down to the front office and handed it to Mickey, telling him that a young lady would be calling to collect it later and that she was new in town and Bella hinted that she probably needed someone to show her around the city.

It was a quarter past four when Ella Bertoni-Colombo, posing as Della Glass, called into the post office to seek out her expected parcel. She was quite surprised when the seriously handsome man behind the counter smiled so cutely and had her parcel all ready to hand for her.

"Here we are, 'Miss Adele Glass, For Collection, St Nicholas City Post Office'. It is too bulky to pass through the slot on this counter, so if you go down to the open counter at the end of the office I'll pass it across to you." He smiled at her. She was very attractive, this Della Glass. She had the same dark hair and green eyes that so attracted him to Bella in the first place. Her skin was slightly darker, evidence perhaps of a Mediterranean origin. She was seriously pretty. When she smiled at Mickey, having found that her package had arrived, he felt that she lit up the whole office.

"Not seen you around St Nicholas before, have you just moved in?" he asked, conversationally, while he slowly as possible filled in the collection form for her to sign.

"Just staying for the week, on vacation," she said smiling sweetly, "Have you lived here long, yourself?"

"All my life in this area, my father has a farm and vineyard outside town just past the private airfield and I've lived at the Lighthouse on the Point for about seven years now."

Wow! thought Ella, I need to check out the road running from that airfield all the way down to the Lighthouse. This man may give me the chance to travel along that road with one of the locals without raising any suspicions.

"I want to see the coast, I arrived in town yesterday and have only explored the main street so far. Also, my family being Italian, I am always interested in wines and would love the opportunity to see around a winery. Do they open for tours?" she asked innocently.

"Not anymore, unfortunately," answered Mickey, clearly very interested in this girl, everything about her seemed so natural, so nice, although when he touched her hand as he handed over the package he seemed to sense some "naughty" in her as well as nice. That couldn't be a bad thing, surely? And where the hell did that come from?, he thought, that had never happened before. "I would be happy to guide you round. I must admit I don't know much about the actual wine-making process, but at least I know where everything is."

"That would be great," Ella said. She wondered why she was so keen to see this man again other than scout out the locality. She was hoping to maintain a low profile during her stay and that concept certainly didn't involve flirting with one of the locals, however handsome he was. Flirting! She suddenly realised that she had used that word in her thoughts and it dawned on her that she actually wanted to see him again, needed to see him again. For some reason, even though no man had come remotely close to invoking any notion of romance within her feelings, ever since before her father disappeared, this man seemed just so nice and natural, as well as handsome of course, that she had the feeling that he was almost exactly right for her. Damn it, Ella, I hope you know what you are doing, she thought.

Mickey was smiling, looks like he had a date with this lovely girl, perhaps for tomorrow, he might have to ask Bella for the afternoon off.

"My colleague and I have been experimenting with a recipe for Christmas flavoured wine, I have a couple of bottles that my father made at home if you are not doing anything this evening would you like to come with us and try it out? We could get a takeout, or go somewhere informal for dinner?"

"Your colleague?" Ella wondered, she was an expert in unarmed combat, having covered all the bases over the previous seven years or so, but taking on two strange men, that could be daunting.

"Actually, she's my boss, Bella Claus, I think you spoke to her this morning when she checked out your ID? She lives with her parents next door to the Lighthouse. So she's sort of an old friend as well as my boss."

"Oh, yes, I did meet her this morning, she seems nice," said Ella, that was an improvement on a male colleague, the woman she saw earlier did seem nice and friendly as well as helpful, beautiful, too. The thought crossed her mind, if they know each other so well why are they not a couple? She wondered if Bella or this guy were already hooked up, if not with each other but with others? She had noticed earlier that the woman wasn't wearing any rings; Ella noticed these things.

"Her name is Bella? My mother is an Isobella and most of her family call her Izzie, but some of her friends call her Bella instead, is your Bella an Isobella, too?"

Mickey thought about it for a moment, he had seen her full name written somewhere although Bella never used it. Then is came to him, "It's short for Arabella I think, you could ask her later."

Gisella flashed her beautiful smile at Mickey, making his heart suddenly pound faster in his chest, so loud he felt sure it was echoing around the office. "I look forward to introducing myself to her again."

"Great! I finish here at about 5.30, what hotel are you staying in?"

Ella told him. "I could pick you up about quarter to six, if that is OK, Miss Glass," smiled Mickey, "My name is Mickey Klass, by the way."

"You can call me ... Della," Ella said with only the slightest hesitation and showed Mickey once again her sweetest smile.

By the time she had walked back along the main street to the hotel with her parcel, she found she only had just enough time to shower and change before getting down to the foyer to meet Mickey again. She didn't have time to open the package from Uncle Manny, but knew it would keep until tomorrow, stored away safely.

Mickey collected Ella from the hotel as agreed and they drove down the Lighthouse Point road and stopped in the driveway in front of the Lighthouse. Bella was sitting on the steps leading up to the main door when they got there and waved to them as they parked.

Inside, Bella poured them out a taster glass each of the wine from the bottle and also poured a quantity from both bottles into a saucepan and heated it up. Mickey and Ella were really surprised at how good the flavoured wine was, even when served cold. When they tasted the hot mulled wine though, they both thought it tasted out of this world.

"It's a traditional family recipe, a secret formula," Bella confided.

"The secret ingredient must be magic," commented "Della" with more insight than she knew. "This hot wine is scrummy!"

With that, Bella wanted to rush down to the wholesale supermarket before they closed for the night and collect the ingredients needed to make enough for the 60,000 bottles Mickey thought his Pop had made this year. Mickey used his plastic card to finance the cost of materials, which included several large containers which were required to hold the concentrated cordial. Ella thought the whole exercise was tremendous fun and it gave her a great opportunity to get to know Mickey and Bella better. These were nice people, she decided, she really liked them.

Ella realised that she had always kept herself aloof from people, never allowing herself to get to know anyone because she hadn't wanted to complicate or compromise her chosen profession.

When they got back to the Lighthouse, the lamps at the top were already on. Ella asked about it and Mickey told her it came on automatically, because he had switched it over to auto before they left to do their shopping. Ella helped Bella chop or slice or crush the various ingredients which Bella then weighed and boiled up batches of cordial, allowing them to cool before sieving into the containers.