(Link to beginning of the Christmas 2024 story)

“So how do we get to Spooky Mountain?” Levi asked.

“To get anywhere,” their grandfather said, “it’s always best to start at the beginning.”

“Duh, everyone knows that!” Levi answered.

“Then why did you ask?” Grandfather smiled.

“Vel,” Levi said, ignoring his grandfather, “do you know where Spooky Mountain is?”

“I know it’s in Cumberland, RI AND I know the Gnomes are always have lookouts on the peaks where they live. The reindeer and the gnomes have a long association. I’ll bet Simon and Iriel can find them.”

“Well, then what are we waiting for? Mount up,” Grandfather said.

In a flash they were off.

As they made their way down from the North Pole, Levi turned back to look at Vel. “Do you have any idea what those letters mean?”

“No,” she shook her head. “Maybe it’s an anagram.”

“A what?”

“Anagram, letters rearranged from another word,” Vel said.

“I guess it could be but I’m not sure.” Levi turned back to face forward and saw that Simon was starting to descend.

“I think he’s spotted something,” Vel said, looking back to make sure Iriel and the others were following.

But they were gone!

“Levi, Levi,” Vel said, banging his shoulder. “Your grandfather, Wyatt, and Iriel are gone.”

“What?” Levi said, struggling to see as they descend through clouds.

Simon pulled up to land and put them gently on the ground. Levi jumped off and began calling “Wyatt, Grandfather! Where are you.”

The sound of heavy footsteps came from the woods. Levi and Vel stood next to Simon and a troop of gnomes emerged from the trees.

“Who comes to disturb our mountain?”

“What have you done with my brother and grandfather?” Levi said, marching toward the gnomes. “If anything happens to them, I’ll…”

“You’ll what?” said a grey-headed gnome, walking to meet Levi head on.

Vel stepped between them with Simon, nostrils flaring, towering over them all. The gnome retreated.

“We had nothing to do with their disappearance,” he smiled.

As soon as Levi saw the smile, Santa’s words about Gnomes liking to play tricks came back to him.

“What do you know about forgotten gifts?” Vel asked, trying to diffuse the tension.

Several more gnomes came out of the woods gathering together. One appeared quite ancient. The older one held an animated discussion with the group then sent them away,

“I am Blintzkin Wiznerman, I apologize for my son’s impoliteness. We know nothing about the disappearance of your grandfather and brother or Iriel. You must understand, these are difficult times with magical folk.

“There aren’t as many who believe in us, and we all grow weaker. But we will help you as much as we can.”

“Do you know about the forgotten gifts?” Levi asked.

Blintzkin nodded. “There is a legend of a memory thief. A creature who hoards others’ memories. By stealing these gifts, he takes their memories as well. When you began asking questions, some of the memories returned to the people who had them.

“I’m afraid you’ve made a bit of an enemy of this creature. And I am certain he has taken your friends.”

“How do we find this memory thief?” Levi asked.

“It will be very dangerous to go there. Maybe if you just stopped asking people, stopped making them remember, he might just return them to you.”

“And what if he doesn’t?” Levi said, “I’m not gonna just forget about them.”

“Me either!” Vel said, folding her arms across her chest.

Blintzkin remained silent for a moment, then reached into his pocket and produced a small stone with a pointed end. Holding the stone flat in his hand, the stone began to spin then stopped, pointing toward the north.

“What’s that?” Levi asked as he leaned in for a better look.

“It is my homing stone. We use these to always know the way home. I’ve altered this one to send you to the memory thief. We’ve been keeping an eye on him for quite some time.” He placed the stone in Levi’s hand.

Blintzkin put his hands on Levi’s shoulders.

“Remember this my brave friend, a memory thief is a trickster. He will play games with your mind, trying to trick you into giving up memories. You may not be able to save those you love without great sacrifice. Travel well and be aware.”

Levi let the stone spin again, then looked at Blintzkin. “We’ll find them and get all the memories back. I don’t care what it takes.”

Blintzkin nodded, then returned to the woods.

Levi looked at the stone once more and realized it was pointing at Diamond Hill. He had many memories of this magical place, as did so many others who grew up here. If that’s where they were, that’s where they would go.

“Ready, Vel?”

“Ready, Levi,” Vel said, and the two floated onto Simon’s back.

“Take us to Diamond Hill, Simon. But keep as low as you can. I’d like to look around before he knows we’re here.”

Tomorrow: Hold Fast to Your Memories

(Author’s note, Christmas is about sharing. Please share this with everyone you know!)

In case you missed it, here’s the link to the beginning of the story https://joebroadmeadowblog.wordpress.com/2024/12/12/rescuing-christmas-memories-the-land-of-forgotten-toys/