The North Pole Challenge (Flea's Five Christmases, #1) (18 page)

             
“I’m sorry, I need to ride the roller coaster,” Minko called out as he rushed through the empty, roped-off line leading to the coaster.

             
“Aren’t we supposed to be in a hurry?” Flea asked.

             
“I know, I know, if you want to head off to the school without me, I totally understand,” Minko said. “But I’ve
never
been able to walk past the roller coaster without taking it for a ride. Besides, there’s
always
a long line of elves so I have to take advantage when nobody is around.”

             
Minko’s quirkiness was so odd that Flea had a hard time taking him serious. But wearing blinking shirts and faking an attack on the most-guarded North Pole building were only the start of a long list of crazy things about Minko, a list that was growing by the minute. Flea watched his friend climb into the first of a long train of cars. The ride started moving moments later, picking up speed as the cars reached the first of many loops. Although the anxiety of being late to class – and maybe getting kicked out of the North Pole – made Flea’s stomach feel like it was also going around loops, he couldn’t help but smile at the sound of Minko’s terrified
whoops,
which echoed throughout the entire lobby.

             
As Flea waited for the long roller coaster ride to come to an end, he felt a sudden warmth in his ringed-hand – which he was quickly learning meant some kind of warning – and looked down to see a glow coming from inside his glove. He also had the feeling that he was being watched. When he spun around, Flea saw that he was right. Regardless of the style or age differences that Flea had noticed from the elves he’d met so far, they all appeared somewhat similar in the way they looked. But the elf staring at him now was clearly of a different breed.

             
If that
is
even an elf,
Flea wondered. Flea tried not to stare back so he turned his attention back to the roller coaster, hoping that Minko’s ride would soon be over. But as the train of cars finally looped back to the start, Flea was surprised to see it continue through for a second trip around. Minko, however, didn’t seem quite as concerned as he
whooped
in joy to see his ride prolonged.

             
Flea still felt the hair standing on the back of his neck, and when he glanced behind, he saw the creepy elf approaching him. This elf had similar pointy facial features but his skin was snow-white, his hair long and stringy and his eyes glowed a brilliant – yet unnatural – green. He also appeared ancient and frail, even more so than Vork, as his face was so wrinkled it actually looked painful. And as strange as Minko and the twins might’ve dressed, the long silken red robe worn by this elf was even more inexplicable. Flea felt his heart beating faster as the red-robed elf came closer. Red-robe’s feet were hidden beneath the flowing robe, making him appear to be floating. The strange elf glided to a stop a few feet from Flea and continued to stare, which obviously made Flea nervous and uncomfortable.

             
“Hi,” Flea finally mumbled to break the silence between them. Red-robe didn’t speak a single word, nor did his eyes budge from Flea.

             
Minko’s cries of joy made Flea glance toward the coaster again, where his friend was having a grand old time, apparently at Flea’s expense. He didn’t want to turn away from the coaster but he
knew
the red-robed elf was still staring at him. Finally, Flea couldn’t ignore that any longer.

             
“I’m just waiting for my friend to finish,” Flea babbled. “Were you going to ride the coaster next?”

             
The idea of this frail elf riding the coaster was almost laughable and Flea wasn’t sure why he said it. But while red-robe continued to stare at him, Flea became more talkative as his level of discomfort grew.

             
“I’m sorry, should I not be standing here?” he asked.

             
The elf raised his hand and Flea instinctively recoiled, though there was nowhere for him to go since he was standing right against the lined ropes leading to the coaster. For a brief moment, Flea thought the old elf was actually going to hit him. But instead, red-robe waved his hand in a semi-circular gesture just above Flea’s head. Flea became confused and his entire body grew heavy. The sound of the sliding roller coaster grew slower and more distant. His eyes barely stayed open enough for him to notice that the world around him now appeared sparkly.

             
“Only you can save her,” red-robe said with his strange voice, which almost sounded like the noise made by a croaking frog. But Flea hardly noticed how strained the voice was, as red-robe repeated, “Only you can save her.”

             
Flea was in such a trance that his mind couldn’t fathom a single question or even
realize
that he had no idea what the elf meant.

             
“Only
I
can save her,” Flea said. “Only
I
can save her.”

             
The sparkles in front of his eyes subsided before Flea realized that he was still muttering to himself. Minko was suddenly standing where red-robe had just been, a look of confusion etched on his pudgy face.

             
“Are you crazy?” Minko asked. “Why were you talking to
him
?”

             
Flea’s head cleared and he turned to see the red-robed elf quickly gliding away.

             
“
He
approached
me
, not the other way around,” Flea said, as the elf’s warning continued to replay in his mind.

             
“I’ve never seen one of
them
inside the dorm,” Minko said. The strange elf disappeared through the lobby doors in the distance and Minko explained that they better get to class now. Although the two should’ve been in a rush, neither walked very quickly. They took no chance of catching up with red-robe.

             
“Only I can save her,” Flea repeated.

             
“Huh?”

             
“Only I can save her,” he said again. “After that strange elf put me in some sort of trance, he gave me that warning over and over. Any idea what it means?”

             
Minko slowly shook his head. “I doubt
anyone
would understand something one of
them
said.
Those
elves are very old and mysterious, I’m pretty sure they play a big role in Santa’s…” Minko lowered his voice to a whisper. “…Santa’s magic. I don’t know where
they
live or stay and I’ve never spoken to
them.
In fact, I’ve gone years before without seeing a single one of
them
.”

             
“He said
her
, only I can save
her
,” Flea said. “Which
her
could he possibly mean?”

             
“I have no idea,” Minko said when they reached the lobby doors. They both glanced around the North Pole grounds and saw no trace of red-robe. “But if we don’t get back to school soon, we’ll have to worry more about saving
ourselves
.”

             
As they jogged toward the school, Flea noticed that a few more elves were out and about, most of them standing just outside the toy factory. The elves just stood around, undoubtedly enjoying the fresh air after being stuck inside the factory for countless hours. Many of the elves stared openly at Flea and whispered to one another but he didn’t have time to worry about this –
or
to worry that they were all dressed similarly to Niko, minus for the big red hat. Flea just kept thinking about red-robe’s warning and more specifically, about which ‘her’ he was referring to. But once they entered the school and walked into the classroom, Flea realized that he’d only met one ‘her’ so far.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Vork’s Three Gifts

“Take you long enough?” Rome asked. “I’ve been waiting over an
hour
for you.”

             
She looked very mad but Flea could only smile at her. He suddenly knew the course of action he needed to take (although he still didn’t know
why
he had to take it). Flea turned to his teacher, who didn’t appear nearly as annoyed as Rome to have been left waiting for so long.

             
“I’m really sorry, Mr. Vork. I was sleeping and never received word from Niko about having class again.”

             
“Sleeping
already
? You sure are new,” Vork said. “And you could be weeks late to this class for all I care. It doesn’t matter to me if the three of you
ever
become proper builder elves.”

             
“Well it matters to me,” Rome said angrily. She ran her fingers through her hair to make sure it was perfectly in place, but suddenly pulled out a long piece of colored paper. For some reason, Rome blushed as she crumpled up the paper and threw it toward the two boys. “Now hurry up and get to your tables so we can start already.”

             
Flea followed her orders and rushed to his table. Minko, however, stood in place for several long seconds before casually strolling away.

             
“I’m not going to my table because
you
told me to,” he said to Rome. “I’m going to my table because I
want
to.”

             
Vork looked at the two bickering students and shook his head.

             
“Now that we’re all here and ready, class can begin,” Vork said. “After considering your initial evaluations, I’ve come up with three presents that will help each of you improve your building skills.”

             
Three similarly wrapped gifts sat on the table at the front of the classroom, two smaller boxes and one significantly larger. Vork picked up the first present and handed it to Rome.

             
“Thank you,” said a surprised Rome. She shook the box and apparently liked the sound as a huge grin appeared on her face. “I know clothes when I hear them.”

             
“Open it,” Vork instructed.

             
The teacher walked away from Rome’s desk while she ripped off the wrapping paper. Flea noticed a sly grin appear on Vork’s face and knew this was going to be bad for her even before she opened the box. Rome frowned.

             
“You
must
be joking,” Rome said. For the first time, she spoke to Vork using the same annoyed tone she normally reserved for Flea and Minko.

             
“What did you get?” Minko asked excitedly.

             
“I’m
not
joking,” Vork said. “Go ahead and take out your present so your classmates can see.” Rome hesitated and looked desperately to her teacher, though Vork was unaffected by her beauty
or
her pouting. “They’re going to see you wearing it anyway.”

             
Rome sighed and pulled out an outfit that looked similar to the ridiculous elf costume that Flea wore.

             
“Finally, you’ll have some style like Flea and me,” Minko said.

             
Rome made a noise somewhere between a frustrated grunt and an angry shriek before she dropped the clothes back into the box. “There’s no way I’m going to wear that, no
possible
way.”

             
“Yes, you will,” Vork said. “Because if you don’t wear it, you’ll be expelled from this school. If that happens, there won’t be enough students left for this class and
none of you
will graduate.”

             
“Come on, just wear it already,” Minko snapped at her. “Don’t make all of us suffer because you’re selfish.”

             
Rome crossed her arms and stared stone-faced at her fellow students. Minko’s insults obviously weren’t about to convince her.