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Rising over the top of Diamond Hill, Jebidiah and Levi had a view of the now sleeping town of Cumberland. With snow swirling and wind howling, a pre-Christmas blizzard was in full swing. The houses, trees, and roads hidden by the drifts gave the impression of a white blanket covering everything.

But Levi knew soon they would awaken to the reality of all the decorations having disappeared in the night. The parents would be at a loss to explain why such a thing would happen to the kids. He also knew Jebidiah Joseph would find great amusement in their sadness.

There was something else bothering Levi. The explanation for Jebidiah’s war against Christmas didn’t make any sense. Why would he go to such extremes over a sled design? There had to be another reason, which was the key to solving the problem.

“What’sss going on in that mind of yourssss?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“You can asssk, but I may not anssswer.”

“What else happened to you to make you so angry with Christmas?”

Jebidiah looked at Levi for a long moment, then returned to the reins. Instead of reindeer, the sleigh was pulled by a menagerie of creatures, all of them miserable. And with every crack of the whip, the animals cringed and cried.

And every time they cried, Levi had to push Kevin back into his pocket. The dog was angry about the way these animals were treated. But Levi knew now was not the time.

“What makesss you think there wassss anything elssse?”

“I don’t know; it just seems to me that there had to be more to it,” he said, then settled back into the seat.

They flew silently for a few moments, and then Jebidiah handed him the reins. “You fly, and I’ll tell you the story.”

*****

Gliding low over the ground, Mrs. Claus proved a remarkable pilot. She flew just high enough to avoid the tallest objects, then brought the helicopter down, almost to the ground, hugging the terrain as they flew along.

After a few episodes of hanging her head out the window, Jane had finally grown used to the movement.

“How you feeling, dear?”

“Better, Mrs. C. sorry.”

“No worries, when I was learning to fly, I had my own, shall we say, head-out-the-window moments. Now open that compartment in front of you. Just push that blue button.”

Jane pushed the button, and a small screen opened up. After a moment, the screen came to life. Scrolling across the screen were the letters. SNKTGPS.

“What is SNKTGPS?”

Mrs. Claus laughed. “Santa’s Naughty Kids Tracking Global Positioning System. We use it to track the real naughty ones to keep an eye on them. I modified it for our little expedition, and it will track Levi for us. He’s often on the naughty list, so he’s in the system.”

“Wow, I didn’t know we had all this technology?”

“You’d be surprised, dear. We even had a message from that Amazon guy wanting to take over our delivery service. Said they could do it more efficiently. Maybe so, but the disappointment of losing Santa’s personal touch would be devastating.

“But there are some things we can use, like that little system there. Here,” she handed Jane a piece of paper, “punch this number into the keypad, and the system will find Levi.”

After entering the number, a spinning globe appeared. Then, the screen zoomed in closer and closer until it showed a red dot moving slowly along a river.

Mrs. Claus glanced at the screen. “Hmm, it would appear they are flying. Probably in that sleigh Jebidiah built.”

“What sleigh?”

“When Jebidiah worked with us he…”

“Wait, he worked for Santa?” Jane said, shaking her head.

“Yes, long story, dear. He built a sleigh for us. But we realized the old sleigh was what everyone expected so we decided not to use it. Jebidiah took the sleigh he had built when he left us. Soon after, the Heart of Darkness started causing problems.”

“All because of a sleigh? Because Santa didn’t use his sleigh?”

“You know, that is a good question. I always thought it was something else but never could figure it out.” She leaned over to get a better look at the screen. “Okay, dear, tighten your seat belt. They’re flying along the Blackstone River, and we’re gonna follow them wherever they go.”

Jane felt the acceleration push her back in her seat, and her stomach started to rebel. She fought it off and focused on watching the red dot.

Mrs. Claus had the biggest smile as she guided the helicopter along. After a few quick maneuvers through the woods, they found the river. “Hang on, dear, the chase is on…”

Tomorrow: Sometimes it is the Littlest Things