"We're in the Forest of the Snowflakes on the edge of my kingdom," Prince Stephan explained. "This is the domain of the Sugarplum Fairy and her cavalier Sir Jeffrey. The Mouse King knows better than to try anything funny here."
"Yeah," added Mack, "he knows what Lady Hilary will do to him if he so much as puts a paw in her territory."
Betty shivered. "Could we find this Sugarplum Fairy of yours and possibly get indoors? It's kind of cold out here and I have one bare foot!"
"What's going on out here?" shouted a voice. Betty, Stephan, Mr. Eldridge, and the toys were suddenly surrounded by a large group of women in white gowns, their light hair sparkling like the snow on the ground. Their pale skin glittered with frost. An auburn-haired lady in a pink gown and jeweled tiara led the dainty white-dressed girls. She had delicate pink wings and carried a long wand that ended with a large, beribboned star. "What business do you have in the Forest of the Snowflakes?"
Stephan pushed the wand out of his face. "Oh, for heaven's sakes, Hildy, we aren't mice. Quit waving that thing around."
She shook the pink stick. "Call me Hildy one more time and I may do more than wave this around! How would you like to be a Nutcracker again?"
Mr. Eldridge got between Lady Hilary and Stephan. "Prince Stephan, your ladyship, please! This is no time to quarrel! The Land of Christmas is in terrible danger, and unless we stop the Mouse King from destroying the holiday, Pittsburgh may be next!"
"And then the world, I know. Some of my girls who work in the Pittsburgh area saw the whole battle and reported it to me." She nodded at Betty. "This must all be so confusing for you, Miss Roberts. They told me about you, too. That was a very brave thing you did tonight, dear."
"The girls?" Betty asked. The women in white behind Hilary giggled.
Hilary nodded. "My primary job is trying to keep certain parts of the world, such as Pittsburgh and Elkheart, white for Christmas. It doesn't always work everywhere, and there are some years where the girls simply will not cooperate and dilly-dally with the icicles." She glared at her girls. "Don't you all have work that you could be doing?" she asked pointedly. The snowflakes giggled again and pranced off into the woods. "And if any of you even try to dilly-dally with my Jeffrey," Hilary called after them, "I'll see that you're demoted to a raindrop!"
"Hilary!" exclaimed another familiar voice. A tall, slender young man rushed over to the Sugarplum Fairy. He wore a thick velvet cape over his vest and shirt and carried a sword. Snowflakes nestled in his brown curls and embedded themselves in his cape and heavy trousers.
Hilary brushed the snowflakes off of his outfit. "What have I told the girls about landing on you, Pumpkin?"
The young man shrugged. "I didn't encourage them, Mittens. It just happened."
"Uh huh, Jeffrey. That's what Ebeneezer Scrooge said after four ghosts paid him a visit on Christmas Eve."
Jeffrey nodded. "Well, anyway, I just talked to some of the snowflakes who work near the Christmas Castle." Hilary glared at him but he put his index finger on her mouth. "Don't even start, Hilary. I just wanted to know what the Mouse King was doing."
"What's he up to now?" grumbled Mack. "Calling ol' Saint Nick and telling him to cancel the whole thing?"
"He apparently wants Queen Glory to sign the Land of Christmas over to him. His lawyers have the documents prepared and everything. He just needs her name on the paperwork and her consent." Sir Jeffrey nodded at Stephan. "The snowflakes claimed to have looked at the documents through a window. They said that the agreement would disinherit Stephan, ban the Sugarplum Fairy and her snowflakes from the Land of Christmas, and generally turn the Kingdom into another part of Mouseton."
"Oh, great," muttered Dolly, "we get to live with a bunch of dirty cheese-snatchers."
"We can't lose this job!" Hilary added. "The Land of Christmas is our third biggest client after the North and South Poles."
"Who inherits the Land of Christmas in my place?" Stephan demanded.
Jeffrey frowned. "I'm afraid the Mouse King does."
"And you won't stop me from getting my way this time!" snarled a voice from above. Betty looked up gasped. The Mouse King rode a large brown bat. He was accompanied by a large group of mice, all astride bats.
"I thought this was Christmas," Stephan cracked. "Halloween's in October. I think you have the wrong month."
"Flying relatives do come in handy sometimes," the Mouse King leered. He turned to his mouse officers. "Bring me the human girl and the old man. Do what you want with Prince Stephan, the toys and the Sugarplum Flake."
"Fairy!" Lady Hilary screamed. "I'm the Sugarplum Fairy! If you want a flake, go chase after some of my girls!" The angry fairy turned three mice and four bats into snow sculptures. Dolly and Jack-in-the-Box leaped onto Mack. Stephan fought with another bat, and Mr. Eldridge froze three mice dead in their tracks.
Betty swung a stick at several bats. She felt two large paws lift her off of her feet and onto something furry. The Mouse King clamped one paw over her mouth and held her arms with the other. He noticed that the last remaining bat was empty. "Where's the old man?"
"I don't know!" whined the bat. "I had him for a minute but he just disappeared!"
"Forget him, then!" the Mouse King shouted. "Queen Glory will punish this human troublemaker. I'm sure whatever she comes up with will be far worse than anything I could envision, including being transformed into an insignificant Nutcracker!"
Betty struggled, but the Mouse King held her firmly. The bats flew through an increasingly blinding blizzard. Betty saw small brown huts and tree stumps and the skeletons of odd buildings below her. Indeed, once they got out of the forest there were no evergreens at all. Only a few limp oaks dotted the countryside.
That's right, Betty thought, the Mouse King had all the Christmas trees chopped down. The landscape seemed so bleak. She could see empty places where large Christmas decorations once stood. When they flew low enough, she could even spot battered, careworn toys, very much like hers, going about their daily business. No wonder they're so sad. Most of them are in such terrible shape that they'd be lucky to be sold in a five and dime, much less wind up in Santa's sleigh.
A large, forbidding castle loomed in the horizon. It looked dark and gloomy. She shivered. The Mouse King laughed like a villain from an old-time stage melodrama. "Cold, my pretty human?"
"N...no," Betty said through chattering teeth. "Not at all."
"You will be after Queen Glory gets through with you," the Mouse King snarled. "After she finishes your punishment, I'll have her sign the papers that will make the Land of Christmas mine forever!" They landed on the castle roof. The Mouse King took Betty's arms and dragged her off of the bat. Betty kicked and struggled, but the giant mouse was stronger than she was. He led her to a room at the end of a long, ornate hall. The stained glass windows looked like they may have been made of rock candy, but they were dirty and dull with disuse. The dark floors were scuffed and stained. The Mouse King stopped before a tall door. He opened it and looked around.
The room was a spartan affair, just a few pretzel-log chairs and a dusty piano that appeared to have seen better days. A small, beautiful woman dressed all in black velvet sat on one of the chairs, staring out the window. She wore a golden crown on top of her gossamer black veil and long white hair. Her dark eyes were full of sorrow and longing. "Yes, Mouse King?" she asked, turning from the window. "What is it?"
The Mouse King shoved Betty into the room. "This...this human," he spat, "has been nothing but trouble for me since she carelessly stepped on my beautiful rear appendage. She is dangerous and must be stopped! I leave her to your judgement," he bowed low, "your majesty. After you deal with her, we'll discuss some trifling little legalities involving changes in property and ownership." The mouse stomped off.
Betty gulped and turned to the woman who was to decide her fate. Could I convince her to not sign those papers? Betty mused. I have to! Stephan and the entire Land of Christmas is counting on me!
Betty never met a Queen before, so she attempted a very awkward curtsy. "Um, your Majesty, I'd like to talk to you, on behalf of your citizens and your son..." She dipped too low and ended up in a tangled heap on the floor.
The Queen laughed and helped Betty to her feet. "You don't have to do that with me, dear, especially if you're a friend of my son's." She sighed. "I wish I knew where he was. The Mouse King told me that Stephan left the kingdom for greener pastures."
"Your majesty...Queen Glory...that's what I want to talk to you about," Betty explained. "The Mouse King is letting the Land of Christmas go to ruin. I don't know what he told you, but it probably wasn't true. Stephan and his army are in the Forest of the Snowflakes. The Mouse King turned him into a toy Nutcracker when he defended his homeland. I turned him back."
"I wouldn't hurt Stephan for the world," Glory admitted, "but without his father, I don't know if I'll be able to go on. I know I won't be able to think of Christmas in the same way." She sat down on the bed and Betty joined her. "Benjamin and I enjoyed many wonderful Christmases together." Glory indicated a large portrait above her bed. The painting depicted Queen Glory, a much younger Stephan, and an older man with silver hair who very much resembled the Prince. A giant Christmas tree loomed majestically over the trio. "The castle artist did that painting a week before Benjamin went to talk shop with the Mouse King. We had everything prepared, from the feast to the arrival of Santa Claus and the community sing-along on Christmas Eve. Benjamin sent most of his presents to Stephan and me before the storm hit, but he had one special gift that he just had to deliver to us on Christmas Eve. Stephan and I never saw him again." She removed a handkerchief and dried her sudden tears. "I haven't been a very good mother or a very good queen since then," she added.
"No, no," exclaimed Betty, "think of Stephan. He loves you and he hates seeing you like this. Your subjects are unhappy, too. I've met some of them. They're in such a terrible state of neglect that Santa will never consider taking them to the good children. And furthermore," she added, "local, um, gossip says that the Mouse King wants to annex the Land of Christmas and hog the whole holiday season for himself and his mice. No one would have any Christmas at all then!"
"What does it matter?" Glory wailed. "I don't have my Benjamin and I'll never have him back! He died because of Christmas! If it hadn't been Christmas, he never would have made that trip in the middle of a snowstorm!"
"He died because he cared about you!" Betty exclaimed. "He wanted to come home to you and Stephan and spend the holidays with his family! I have a family that I want to spend the holidays with, and at the rate things are going I may never see them again!" She stood. "Family is what this holiday is all about, Queen Glory. Christmas started with a family!"
The door swung open before Betty could continue. The Mouse King marched into the room, clutching a short stack of parchment in his paws. His two head generals followed. He handed the Queen a long, white quill. "Let's just get this over with quickly. I have an appointment at four with the manager of the cheese factory in Mouseton and I'd like to get the announcement out about my being the new ruler of the Land of Christmas." He glared at Betty. "Why are you still here, you silly human? Didn't Queen Glory punish you?"
Glory frowned. "You never gave me a reason to, besides her stepping on your tail, which is a poor reason to punish anyone." She peered behind the large mouse. "If anything, I rather like it with all the bandages. Gives it stature."
"Now I know where your brat of son gets his sense of humor," the Mouse King groaned. The other two mice grabbed Betty. "I'll deal with you later, human girl," he snarled. He turned on his brightest smile for the now-skeptical Queen. "Glory, all it takes is your signature, and this annoyance of a country will be out of your hands forever."
The longer Glory read the parchment, the more her face darkened. "This wasn't part of our original deal at all!" she exclaimed. "You told me that you'd keep the Land of Christmas separate from Mouseton. And why would I want to disinherit my only son? If anything, I planned on Stephan ruling in my stead."
The Mouse King's smile grew clammy. "The boy just staged a revolution in Pittsburgh. Now, why would you want a rebel to rule in your place? I would be far more suited to ruling this kingdom, especially after I ban that nuisance of a Sugarplum Flake from the premises."
"It's fairy!!!" screamed someone from the doorway. Betty turned and gasped, but this time with delight. Stephan stood in the doorway, pointing his sword at the two mice who held the human writer.
"Mom," he shouted, "don't do it! The Mouse King lied about everything!" The Mouse King stared at him in shock. "The rest of the toys are on their way. I even asked Kris Kringle to drop by after he finished this year's Christmas run to help handle ol' Mousie King here."
Mack dropped a parchment from his jaws. Jack-in-the-Box picked it up, but Dolly grabbed it from him. "Read this," she wailed. "It says that every toy in the kingdom that ain't in the dungeons are gonna be sent to work in the Mouse King's salt mines!"
The Queen glared at him. "Benjamin and I outlawed slavery years ago!"
Stephan took her in his arms. "Mom, if you love me, if you love our country, don't sign that paper!"
The Mouse King waved Stephan away. "Never mind him. Remember your husband! Remember why he died!"
Glory shook her head. "I hesitate to do something so radical. I can't just condemn my people and my son to a life of imprisonment!"
"Maybe this will convince you." The Mouse King pulled something out of his pocket. It was a large, sparkling, star-shaped jewel. "I didn't want you or Stephan to find this, but if it will convince you of your folly, I suppose I must. Benjamin wanted to be home so badly on Christmas morning so he could be there when my couriers delivered this." He handed the jewel to Glory, who gasped.
Stephan's eyes widened. "The Christmas Star!" he exclaimed. "But how? Only Santa has a piece of the Christmas Star!"
The Mouse King nodded. "That's why he left. He wanted to be with his family when the Star came."
"What's the Christmas Star?" Betty asked.
"It's only the most important part of the season," Stephan exclaimed. "Someone who owns the Christmas star can keep the spirit of the season alive all year round!"
Mr. Eldridge took a piece of paper out of his pocket. "I think this will be able to help you as well, Queen Glory. A lovely woman in Pittsburgh also lost her husband and had trouble adjusting. I read her this letter from a friend after my own wife died and she cheered right up."
Glory looked at the star, then at her son, then at Betty and her subjects, then at the anxious Mouse King, and then back at the star. She slipped it on a chain around her neck. "I think this is what Benjamin would want me to do." She stood up to the Mouse King. "Your majesty, I'm placing you under arrest for treason and attempted murder. Seize him!" Two of Stephan's men grabbed the Mouse King, and several toys tackled the guards. "As for the document," Queen Glory added, "I think it's more important to spend Christmas with family." She tore the parchment into tiny shreds and threw them into the fire.
Betty yawned as the toys cheered all around her. "I think we should be getting you back," Mr. Eldridge said. He gently took her by the arm. "You sound a bit sleepy."
"But I'm not ready to go yet," protested Betty. She waved good-bye. Stephan grabbed her hand even as the old man led her to the door.
"I'll call some of my girls to carry you home," the Sugarplum Fairy added. "I have a few who are on their way to Pittsburgh right this minute."
Sir Jeffrey smiled. "Good luck! And Merry Christmas to both of you!"
"Good-bye, Betty," Stephan exclaimed as Betty and Mr. Eldridge walked into the whirling snow and bright light. He said something else, but the raging snowstorm muffled his calls. Betty thought it may have been "Keep Christmas in your heart, always!" Betty promised herself that she would. She and Mr. Eldridge made their way through the bright white light. Betty turned to ask Mr. Eldridge when they were going to arrive in Pittsburgh when she realized that he was no longer by her side. She ran in the storm, calling his name, until fatigue from a long night finally overwhelmed her and she fainted in a pile of glittering snow.
**************************************************************************************
December 25th, 1940 - 6:02 AM
Betty Roberts awoke to find herself in her own apartment, on her own sofa. She took a quick look around the room, but the toys were all in their proper places. The Nutcracker stood among them, still stolid and homely and a mere toy. The tree was its normal size. She sighed and shook her head. "What a dream! I knew I shouldn't have gone to see 'The Wizard of Oz' twice in a row last year!" She stood and went to open the door. "I'm coming, I'm..."
Her visitor was Scott Sherwood. He sported a heavy leather jacket, woolen pants, thick gloves, and an aviator's cap and goggles. "Hi there, Betty. The pilot took sick at the last moment, so I talked Mr. Capwell into letting me fly you to Elkheart myself." He grinned. "It'll give me something to do, anyway. And I already told the WENN staff that I might be a little late coming into work today."
Betty just shook her head. "Am I still dreaming?" She peeked over his shoulder. "How did you get past the front desk?"
"As far as I know, you're awake and so am I. There was no one up front. I haven't seen a soul since I came in. I think whoever's in charge of the reception area went home for the holidays." He smiled again. "Speaking of, you'd better get dressed if you ever plan on getting home yourself, Miss Roberts."
Betty realized that she still wore her dress and sweater from the night before. "I, um, just got up," she explained. "Hold on for a minute." She started to go to her room to get ready for the long flight, but she stopped for a second. "Scott?"
"Yeah, Betty?"
"Do you believe in dreams coming true?"
"Why, Betty?"
She flung her arms around Scott. "Thank you for this, Scott! I'll never forget it!"
He gazed at her in surprise, but hugged her back anyway. "You're welcome, Betty. Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas, Scott! And Scott..."
"Yeah, Betty?"
"Whatever you do, don't step on any mice!"
The End
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