Who Shot Father Christmas?

I was used, god-damnit! I was suckered in and fell for it, almost fell for him too. God, I even liked his old man, Pop, he was nice. I even liked Bella until now, I thought she was encouraging me to go for him. I guess she was just testing him, wondering how far he would go, and the fact that Mickey rang her told her he wasn't with me at all. She said damn! to herself and held back the tears while she spoke to the clerk.

***

Back in her room Ella read the message from "her loving brother" handed to her by the clerk and received the tip off from her Uncle Manny that Father Christmas was flying into the private airfield on the edge of St Nicholas City a day early.

She woke early in the morning and changed her flight, instead of flying back to Seattle on the 26th, she altered the ticket to the last flight out on the 24th via LAX to Pittsburgh.

"Hi Momma."

"Hello baby, you sound a bit down, you OK, Ella?"

"I'm coming home this evening Momma."

"Oh that's great baby, d'you want me to pick you up at the airport?"

"No Momma, I'll get a cab."

"It'll be real expensive, baby, let me come collect you, what flight you on?"

"No, it's alright, Momma, I've been working so I can afford it just this once."

"OK, but I think you sound ... unhappy. Have you got that flu that's doing the rounds?"

"No, Momma, I'll see you later, love you."

"Love you too, baby."

She packed her bag, checked out of the hotel and drove straight up to the airfield. Having already cased the length of the road to Lighthouse Point, she had decided to wait by the red Corvette and meet the target there. On the way she received a cell call from Mickey saying he had been called up to the regional office at the last minute and wouldn't be back until late. Ella was cool and calm and told him no problem, she would entertain herself during the day and wait for him in her room tonight. Mickey seemed relieved that she hadn't made a fuss and told her he would see her later. Not if she saw him first and got a bead on him, she thought, viciously holding back her tears.

From her earlier visit, Ella was aware that the car was stored in a hangar, covered by a brown sheet to keep the dust off. When she got to the airfield she drove around the side and parked behind a hoarding sign out of sight and used a set of wire cutters to get through the fence. She crept up to the hangar. The double sliding doors were slightly open. This was an unexpected opportunity to slip inside unnoticed, which she did, taking care because there must clearly be someone or perhaps more than one person around. It was easier than breaking in.

Sure enough, there was the old guy she'd seen earlier, lovingly polishing the gleaming red Corvette sports car. Ella edged silently around the perimeter of the hangar and hid behind some packing cases behind where some straw had been put down in some rigged up pen. The old man was absorbed in his polishing, smiling at his rewarding efforts, with a rather stupid expression on his wrinkle-riven face thought Ella, as he whistled an old dance tune through a sizeable gap in his protruding front incisors.

They both heard the sound of a car screeching to a halt outside the hanger, both looked up alarmed with Ella feeling more than a little guilty at the imminent arrival of a possibly unwanted witness to what either of the occupants were up to. Ella remained hidden behind the packing cases, while the old man made one or two steps towards the door, picking up a wicked looking pitch fork leaning against a pile of straw bales stacked up near the Corvette.

An old woman, dressed, Ella observed, in a green hospital uniform, pushed her way through the gap in the doors. She was wider than Ella and did have to widen the gap with a push which send a screeching noise echoing through the lofty hangar. As she pushed and entered, creating the screech, she added a reverberating screech of her own as she uttered the shout of,

"Stan ... Are you here honey?" as her eyes adjusted from the bright sunshine outside.

Now she was through the gap, Ella could see she was a rather short fat old woman with a dumb unintelligent look on her dull unremarkable face, which so seemed to match that of the old man, they could have been bookends. Ella lowered the weapon that had appeared out of nowhere gripped in both her hands and held away from her body, ready to fire. She had no conscious thought of how she had come to adopt the stance so automatically, but Ella had realised that there was no threat here. The old man relaxed his grip on his weapon of choice too, and tossed the pitch fork back onto the bales.

"Betty, wha' you doin' up here?"

"You left your lunch on the counter, Stan dear, so I brung 'em up for you." Ella noticed she held a package of presumably sandwiches in her hand. The woman called Betty had a distinctive Latino accent, probably Mexican.

"Well, thanks sugar, you better go, though, He is coming a day early and due to arrive any time now. Y'know how secretive he is, it might unsettle him to have people he don't know around. I usually make myself scarce too, except the reindeer are due to leave again after a short rest, so I will help load up the sleigh for him."

"OK, I'll get going, I'll pop your lunch down on this bale." They kissed each other on the cheek and then Betty walked towards the doors while Stan went back to continue polishing the car.

Reindeer? Sleigh? thought Ella. What's going on?

Just as Betty reached the double doors, there was another screech of tyres, swiftly followed by another and Betty called out to Stan, "There's a Post Office truck and a rusty old pick-up outside." Stan quit his polishing and joined her at the doors.

"Hi there, Bella," called out Stan, when he saw who had stepped out of the truck. The other man looked familiar to Stan, having seen him around the place, but didn't know who he was, but he sure looked a lot like Bella's brother, Father Christmas. The guy who stepped out of the pick-up was a much older stranger, a guy with a cleft chin. Stan didn't have a clue who he was.

Ella, from her hiding place, wondered what was Bella doing here? Did Bella know that Ella was there waiting to shoot her brother? And who actually was her brother? All this talk of reindeer and sleigh so close to Christmas was confusing her. Was the mark, Nicky Claus, playing Santa for some local festival?

Bella entered the hanger wreathed in smiles. "Nicky not here yet? He's running late. Any word from him Stan?"

"Nah, not lately. Had a call from him a couple or three hours ago saying he had changed his schedule and was coming down this morning, but nothin' since, I'm afraid I left my cell phone at home and cycled here so haven't had time to go back an' fetch it. Nicky said something about havin' to hitch up some trailers. Never heard of anythin' like that before."

"Unique situation this year Stan," smiled Bella, "Can I introduce you to Mickey Klass and his father Pop Klass, they are here to help with a special pre-Christmas run."

"Yeah, pleasure to meet ya both, this is my wife Betty, she works down the hospital. Mr Nicky said you was doing an extra run and needed the trailers. You need a hand loadin' up?"

"Thanks, Stan, appreciate it."

"Anything I can do to help?" piped up Betty, "I was gonna get off before Santa arrived, but you guys have blocked my car in."

Mention of Santa again, thought Ella from her observation post. Why were Mickey and Bella here? The last thing Ella needed was witnesses, especially when one of them was the man she was in love with, his other lover and his only living parent. This was supposed to be a simple out of the way hit and was not only getting complicated but it was conflicting her emotions, too.

"That's OK, Betty, so long as we are not keeping you from getting to work." Bella pointed at her uniform.

"No, just got off night shift and noticed Stan had left his lunch on the side. Don't have to go into work again until tonight and I can have my sleep later. This is so exciting, I've never met Father Christmas before."

Now Ella's head was spinning, Father Christmas? Am I losing my mind?

"That's all right, Betty, Stan's been our trusted helper for years, so no reason why you shouldn't be trusted with the secret too, so you must meet my brother Nicky when he flies in," beamed Bella. "Oh! I think I can hear someone coming, now."

They all turned and waited for a moment, then in through the door walked Mr and Mrs Claus. Nick looked around the room.

"Looks like we're almost all here, then, except ..." He looked disappointed.

"Hi, Mummy, Daddy." Bella walked over to greet her parents and kissed them both in turn. Her mother lovingly tucked Bella's arm in hers as they turned to the others.

"Hi, Mr and Mrs C," waved Mickey. From her hiding place in the shadows, Ella's heart missed a beat as her lover waved at the new arrivals and they both smiled back at him.

"Hi, boss," Stan put up a hand in greeting and at the same time propelled his wife a step or two ahead of him, "This is my wife Betty, she works down the hospital."

Nick beamed and closed the gap between them with a couple of strides and hugged the diminutive auxiliary nurse. "Delighted to meet you young lady at last. Think I've seen you around the town a few times but not been introduced. Your Stan's a treasure, don't know what we'd've done without his help over the years."

Mary added her hug, too and said, "We invite Stan to our Christmas dinner every year and he always declines, say you'll accept for both of you this year?"

"I'm working tonight, and sleeping all morning, so I was going to put the turkey on before going to work. There's jus' the two of us, so I could hold off for a day and come to you instead." Betty smiled gratefully and Mary beamed at her.

"That's settled, then, one o'clock not too early for you?" Mary asked.

"Perfect," answered Betty.

"Sir, I'd like to introduce you to my father," said Mickey, "Evan Klass, but everyone calls him 'Pop'!" Ella had already met Pop the previous day and was wondering why he was here, why both of them were here, in fact?

"Pleasure to meet you," boomed Nick. "I'm sure I can extend the invitation to include you both, Mary still cooks as though we have a tribe of elves to feed!"

Elves! Ella's incredulity was being stretched further at every moment.

"Of course, you must come and share our Christmas dinner, Pop, I know Mickey's coming already," insisted Mary with a welcoming smile.

Mickey and Pop looked at one another before Pop said, "I'd love to come, if I can bring the wine."

"Excellent," boomed Nick, "Bella told us about the wine and Nicky's agreement to help. Even the elves are all pitching in, I think they're aware they were taking a few liberties without Mary and I there and are volunteering to help out. Mind you, knowing those elves they may drink more than they sell!"

"Never mind, it'll be better than it all going to waste," Pop said with a grin at the thought of an unruly mob of elves high on his grape juice.

"I was hoping to spend the day with my girlfriend ..." began Mickey.

Ella almost squealed out loud, which would have given away her position, when Mickey mentioned a girlfriend. She might've guessed he had another girlfriend as well. I knew he was too good to be true, all men are just like my Poppa, she thought bitterly.

"Bring her along too, Mickey," chipped in Mary, "Bella thinks you must be serious about this girl."

Mickey looked distinctly embarrassed. You might just squirm, Mickey-boy, thought Ella, grimly.

"I've been a little side-tracked lately, but now that I've got that out of my system I think I am ready for the next step," Mickey said, shamefaced.

Ella almost screamed: so, I was just a distraction, huh! I bet you are ready for the next step, Buddy! Maybe I should put a cap in your ass, rather than Nicky.

Nick shook Mickey's hand, saying "About time, too, boy!" and Pop grabbed and hugged his son in a rare display of emotion, adding "I'm so glad to hear that, son!"

Ella just felt completely sick to her stomach as she saw Mickey's handsome grin extend from ear to ear. A smile for someone else not for her, she felt he was laughing at her. Maybe she could shoot both Mickey and Nicky and explain it away to Uncle Manny as collateral damage?

It was Bella who reacted first and she moved towards the double doors. "He's here," she said, just as the jingle bells could be heard by everyone. They all moved to the doors and Stan and Nick started to push the doors fully open.

Then in came a sight that Ella thought she could never describe to anyone without risking being locked up and the key thrown away. Through the doors came more than a dozen reindeer, all harnessed with leather straps and decorated with tiny golden bells, leading to a highly-ornate red and gold sleigh driven by a young man in a green Santa suit lined with white fur. He sat upright and proud in the driving seat, and dragging another dozen or so sleighs behind, all different but predominately red and gold in color. The first amazing thing about the vehicle was that it appeared to glide across the ground where there was no snow, there was never snow in these parts. Not that that mattered because neither the sleighs nor the reindeer actually touched the ground until the whole entourage slewed around in the giant hangar so that they faced the door again. They stopped and only then did they drop an inch or so and settle on the concrete ground of the hangar. The second amazing thing was that the seat beside Santa, plus the two rows of seats behind him and all of the seats in the trailing sleighs were filled with ... what Ella could only imagine as being elves, little people, all dressed individually in very bright clothing. Despite the journey in an open-topped vehicle none of them appeared to be cold.

As soon as the elves entered the doorway they were jumping about and waving excitedly, calling to the people gathered around the door. Nick, Mary and Bella waved back furiously, their faces as alight with delight as the elves were. Once the vehicles alighted, the occupants decamped immediately like lemmings over cliffs and milled around the larger humans being introduced to those present who they hadn't met before. Ella noticed that Stan calmly unhitched the reindeer without comment and led them towards where Ella was hiding, behind the straw-strewn pen, while the green-clad Santa carried a crate of what must be food for them over to the pen as well.

Ella saw him reasonably close-up as he put the box down and slapped Stan on the back and grinned happily as the pair exchanged greetings and pleasantries. Ella was devastated how closely he resembled Mickey, his hair a dark blond, with open honest, good-looking face nicely tanned, his blue eyes flashing with happiness. He smiled warmly and broadly, white teeth standing out brightly above his slightly cleft chin. As far as she could tell he could have been Mickey's twin brother, the cleft chin being the only marginal difference between them.

She was in the ideal spot now to do the deed, Ella could step out from behind the gloomy packing cases and within half a dozen steps be in a position to bang three close-range slugs in him and scoot out of the door in the confusion, maybe taking out Mickey on the way through.

That was when Ella the hitwoman lost her resolve. That was when Ella's hopes to follow the family tradition melted away like white Christmas snow in June. She couldn't do it, of course she couldn't. She could no more shoot Father Christmas than she could the love of her life. She would have to ring Manny and tell him so, then she would have to go to her Momma and cry, probably for the rest of her life.

Ella realised she still had the weapon in her hand and she replaced it in her purse and edged towards the doorway, keeping well into the shadows. With everyone busy meeting and greeting she was missed by virtually everyone and was able to get away through the doors without comment.

Nicky thought he saw Bella wearing dark clothing moving slowly and silently in the shadows behind some boxes which formed the back of the penned area. With no lights over there he thought he must've imagined her. He was so obsessed with his love for his sister that he was starting to see her face, her look, even smell her perfume, everywhere he went. Look, he thought, it must've been a figment of my imagination because there she is, surrounded by a bunch of elves all trying to get her attention and she's wearing a red coat and white furry boots. So he promptly forgot seeing the apparition of a beautiful brunette, otherwise known as Ella, who looked so similar to the vision that occupied both his gaze and thoughts now and ever, the woman in which he had invested all his hopes for the future.

***

Before she phoned her mother, a tearful Ella called her Uncle Manny from a pay phone at the airport, just before her flight left for Pittsburgh, and left a voicemail.

"Uncle Manny, I couldn't get the Christmas present you wanted, I am so sorry! I fell in love with ... a lighthouse keeper. I will pay back your money I spent as soon as I can."

She wasn't to know that it was late afternoon on Christmas Eve in Florida and Manny had taken Cherry out for a lunchtime drink and they didn't go back to the office at all afterwards. Cherry went home to her family, via the supermarket for top-up food to ensure they wouldn't run out. Manny went home to his grossly oversized wife and grossly undersized teenaged daughters, ready to start the holidays.

Manny also missed the earlier recording of Nick, requesting that the current contract be scrapped, the staff downsizing was no longer required, and accepted that the agreed fee was non-refundable and would be delivered as arranged in due course.

Ella then phoned her Momma to say she was waiting for her plane and would be home soon and would get a cab at the other end.

***

Back at the hangar, the reason for the early gathering of the elves, the extra sleighs and the double team of reindeers became clear as Stan and Nick unhitched the main sleigh and dragged it to one side. The elves, Mickey and Bella were to deliver a couple of elves, a few cases of wine and some testing glasses to each Christmas fair and wait for phone calls when any needed restocking. Pop and Stan were to ferry back and forth from the winery with more bottles.

Nick finished a conversation with Nicky and shook his hand as Mickey approached. "Son, I'm proud of what you are doing today to help out Mickey and his father and motivate the elves. I think this is going to be the best Christmas ever!"

"Thanks, Dad, I appreciate your faith in me, I actually believe I can do it at last!"

Mickey shows Nicky a branch cut from a vine with some sad yellow leaves attached. "Bella says you're good with plants ... er ... Pop's trying to grow new vine cuttings and fresh rootstock in the hothouse for planting out in spring, but look how pale and sickly they look. He faces ruin, Nicky, the sales of wine will only delay the inevitable, unless ..."

"Oh!" Nicky said as he examined the specimen, "That is definitely a classic case of chlorosis, or iron deficiency, common with grapes grown on limestone soils - I did a paper on this three years ago, it's easily treatable ..."

Pop and Nick both surrounded the pair of young men, both suddenly very proud of their respective sons. Betty looked up at them standing together and suddenly recognised the fathers from all those years ago.

"Sorry," she said, "I was confused by all the introductions earlier, but now I know who you all are." She smiled at the four of them rather stupidly, it was a look that was all her own.

"You," she pointed to Nick, "Are the father of Nicholas..." he beamed proudly at her proclamation, pleased that his son was doing the right thing and seemed to be able to help Mickey's Pop with the underlying problem at the farm, "... And you are Michael's father..." Pop grinned and nodded too at Betty's pointed finger.