Someone Is Stealing Christmas Wishes, Charlie Boone! - 1. Chapter 1

Story note: This tale presupposes you have read the other stories in the series, and have some idea of who everyone is and what they are talking about!

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Kiri Snorkum and her brother, Kiley, stood in the main street of Twombly and gazed at the lights strung overhead. Those tiny orbs glowed every color of the rainbow and then some, passing from building to building on strands that wove back and forth above the entire length of the town's main thoroughfare. Others strands of lights outlined the buildings on both sides of the street, and even extended down to wrap the Christmas trees in front of each building. The snow on the ground reflected the light from above, giving the main street and its structures a rosy, cheerful hue, especially now that the sun had gone into hiding behind the peak to the west of their own. Yet there was something amiss in all this illuminated joy, something that could not be ignored.

Well, it could be ignored, and it had been by the rest of the town, it seemed, because no one not curious about the number of lights bothered to keep track of them. The people of the town bustled about them, calling happy holiday cheers to each other, and just generally oblivious to the fact that something might be wrong. The evening was young, the seasonal joy deep, and the people too focused on the holiday to consider anything but positive thoughts.

Kiley frowned as he looked around at the town and the happy people. "The number yesterday was 35,491 wish lights." He turned to his sister. "What do you get today?"

Kiri squeezed her eyes shut and frowned, her eye of the world talent more than up to the task of counting the number of lights present in the town. After a moment, her eyes opened, and she sighed as she turned to look at her brother. "I count 35,312."

Kiley gasped, and stared at the lights above them. "That's, um...179 less than last night!"

His sister nodded. "You're right. It's true!"

"Someone is stealing wishes," Kiley said softly, unable to believe it could be happening. "I felt it! We have to tell dad!"

But Kiri reached out a hand to stop him as he turned for home. "Wait. I don't think dad can help with this."

Kiley stared at her. "Someone has to do something, Kiri!"

His sister nodded, and smiled at him. "Someone will. And...I think I know just who we can ask for help!"

* * * * * * *

Charlie Boone followed his boyfriend, Kippy Lawson, from one room to the next in their home, unable not to smile at the other boy's highly visible sense of elation. Each room they passed through contained a small Christmas tree, duly decorated with lights and baubles, with each three-foot-tall tree positioned carefully on a piece of furniture so that they were at eye height. No two were decorated the same, and each one was cheerful and full of Christmas spirit.

But after the fifth room, Charlie pulled his boyfriend to a halt. "You don't think it's just a little much, Kip? One in each room, I mean?"

Kippy tsked, and favored him with his special frown -- the one he reserved for times when he thought Charlie was being unnecessarily difficult. "You don't think it will be Christmas in every room of this house? And we had a small tree in every room last year. It's tradition now!"

"One year is hardly enough to call it tradition," Charlie argued.

Kippy glared at him. "It is if I say it is!" He sighed then. "Lugh and I worked hard on these little trees, Charlie. The least you can do is enjoy them!"

Charlie gave an inward sigh, feeling his arguments crumbling rapidly. "Of course it will be Christmas in every room. Whether it has a tree, or not."

Kippy pouted. "You don't like them?"

Charlie let his breath sigh out, and smiled at the small tree near them now. "Well...they're very cheerful."

"Then why are you complaining? It's just once a year. We may as well enjoy it!"

Charlie took in the look in Kip's eyes, that determination he knew so well, and his final objections folded on the spot. Charlie moved forward and pulled the other boy into his arms, and kissed him tenderly. "We could be on a deserted island with nothing at all, and it would still be Christmas for me, as long as I'm with you."

Kippy sighed, and nuzzled his face against Charlie's cheek. "Oh, Charlie. You say the sweetest things."

And then he drew back, and grinned happily. "Wait until you see the big tree I have in the parlor!"

Charlie just nodded, and pointed the way. "Lead on."

Kippy laughed happily, and grabbed Charlie's arm, drawing him along. They passed through several more rooms, each hosting another small tree, and then looped back through the kitchen to the parlor, where Kippy made Charlie cover his eyes before he led him into the room and positioned him just so.

"Okay, open your eyes."

Charlie did so, and found himself facing a most splendid Christmas tree, indeed. It rose almost to the height of the parlor's 10-foot ceiling, and was tastefully decorated in white candle lights and colored ornaments, not too much, not too little, just right, in fact. The ends of the branches were lightly flocked with snow -- of course, it couldn't be real snow, but it certainly looked like it was real -- and there was another circle of the same stuff beneath the tree, giving it a certain cool seasonal charm that could not be denied. There was an art to the tree that was all Kippy's own, and that his boyfriend had a knack for creating beautiful things was clear. Charlie could see the love in the tree, the happiness his boyfriend had heaped upon it in creating its beautiful setting, knowing he was going to share it with some special others.

The aroma of the tree filled the room, just as if it were real, providing that special scent that always reminded of Christmas. And there was holly on the fireplace mantel, and red candles on each end which would never burn down, and mistletoe over the doorway, just waiting to be used. Perfect.

Charlie sighed happily. "It's gorgeous, Kip." He turned to his boyfriend, and pulled him closer. "I see the love in it."

Kippy's eyes twinkled happily. "There's a lot in there, definitely. For you, and for Rick and Adrian, and all our friends." Kippy smiled. "And little Browbeat, who will just love it all."

Speak of the devil! They heard the front door open, and then Rick as he called out in a shrill, woman's voice, "Honey! We're Home!"

That was followed immediately by a buzzing sound, and Browbeat sailed into the room. His small face lit up in delight when he saw them, and then his golden eyes settled on the tree. "Whoop! It's Christmas!"

"You like it?" Kippy asked, turning to smile at the tree.

Browbeat buzzed around the tree lickety-split, his golden eyes taking in every gem-like bauble, every winsome light. He whooped again, and then buzzed over to hover before Kip. "It's beautiful! Stupendous! Flaganorian!"

Kippy blinked at the last descriptive. "Flaganorian?"

"Sure! Flaganor was the Harf-king of the Pompadours, back on my home planet. He built the biggest, coolest royal nests of anyone. They were grand!"

Pompadours? Charlie and Kip exchanged amused glances. That so many words in Browbeat's native language, even extending to his own name, resembled words in the English language was a continuing source of amusement for them. Charlie had always imagined some future ambassador from Browbeat's world someday meeting his counterpart from Earth, and the two of them immediately descending into confusion over so many similar-sounding words.

"Flaganor had good taste, I take it?" Kippy asked carefully.

"The best!" Browbeat whipped around the tree one more time, and then came to a gentle landing on Kippy's shoulder. "It's beautiful, Kip. It makes my heart warm to see it."

Kippy sighed. "That's what it's for, sweetheart."

Browbeat tittered happily. "Friends! You sure have some nice holidays here! This is much better than Norbil Wooster Day back home!"

Kippy sighed contentedly, and smiled at Charlie. "I won't even ask him."

Rick and Adrian came in then, carrying bags with store markings on them. These they set down, and then set about undoing their coats and scarfs, while happily examining the tree. Rick emitted a soft whistle of appreciation, and Adrian pointed to the bags they had just set on the floor. "We have some things to put under that fabulous tree, too."

"So do I!" Browbeat said, with a titter. "Up in my room. Stuff I got at the market on Engris. Casper helped me to wrap them and bring them home."

Kippy nodded. "Well, when you're ready to bring them down and put them under the tree, you just let us know, and we'll help you."

"This will be so fun!" Browbeat gave a massive sigh for someone so small, and then leaned fondly against Kippy's cheek. "I''m so happy here!"

Kippy aimed a pout at Charlie, and gently wiped at his eyes. "We're happy to have you with us, sweetheart."

Charlie nodded. "It looks like it will be a peaceful Christmas, mostly just us."

"We're late getting to the holiday this year," Rick agreed. "That thing with the poppers at Halloween, and then that job in Minnesota with the haunted light house. We've almost worked right up to the holiday!"

"It was fun, though," Adrian said, smiling. He pointed at the tree, and then waved a hand at the other decorations in the room. "This is about the latest we've ever gotten ready for Christmas, though. It's only three days away!"

Kippy pouted at that. "We waited so long that everyone is away, or busy!"

"We'll see some of the others," Charlie countered. "Nicholaas and Ronja invited us to Christmas dinner, with our families. Max and Frit and Pip and Auggie will be there."

"And Robin," Adrian reminded.

"And Horace and Amy," Rick added quickly.

Kippy nodded. "Oh, I know. But this will be the first Christmas where something didn't come along to occupy us right up until the day. Something exciting and interesting."

Charlie sighed, having to agree with his boyfriend. "Yeah. I'll kind of miss that."

Ricky cleared his throat then, and offered a smile. "Um...well, on that particular subject...we ran into someone at the front door. He appeared just as we were getting out of my Yukon."

He turned then, and looked towards the doorway. Bob Travers peeked around the door frame then, and waved happily at them. "Hi, all."

"Whoop!" Browbeat launched himself from Kippy's shoulder and flashed over to the man, to halt in a hover in front of him. "Hi, again, Uncle Bob!"

Bob came through the doorway then and extended an arm, allowing Browbeat to land. "You just saw me out front."

"But it's like it's new all over again!"

Uncle Bob laughed, and nodded. "Well, then, hi again. How are you doing?"

"Stupendous! It's almost Christmas!" Browbeat tittered joyfully, and Bob couldn't help but to laugh.

"Someone's got the Christmas spirit going on," the man said. He turned eyes bright with humor on Charlie and the others.

"Me!" Browbeat called, at the same moment that Kippy raised his hand and shouted the same thing.

"They both have a lot of the spirit, as you can see," Charlie offered, grinning.

Bob laughed again, and let his gaze slowly circle the room, before sighing appreciatively. "This sure is a pretty room, all made up for the holiday."

But Charlie's curiosity was up now, and that prompted him to lean forward towards the new arrival. He had...he had a feeling. "This is an unexpected surprise."

Kippy squinted at that, and turned to Adrian. "You feel that?"

"Yes! Something's up!"

Bob nodded, his eyes smiling. "I know. This isn't just a friendly visit."

Ricky looked intrigued by that. "You have a Christmas magic gig lined up, or something?"

"No, it's not that, either, though there is a relation to the subject." Bob's smile softened into a frown then. "I got a call from Kiri Snorkum, in Twombly. She and Kiley want to see us."

Kippy looked delighted. "Oh, Kiley!" But then his cheeks took on a rosy hue. "Um, and Kiri! How are they?"

Uncle Bob's smile returned. "They're okay. But something is happening in Twombly that they say they need help with."

Charlie and Rick exchanged puzzled looks at that.

"Since their elders all got their full powers back, they shouldn't need any outside help," Rick said. "Last time we talked to them, everything was progressing nicely there."

"I know. And they say things are still going well. Except for one small...well, problem. They seem to think we can help with this in some way. She asked for all five of us."

"You mean all six of us, don't you?" Browbeat said, looking alarmed now. He spun on Bob's arm to look at Charlie. "You guys can't go off and leave me at Christmas!"

Charlie had to smile at that. "Relax. We won't do that."

The little flyer blew out a relieved breath. "I was worried there, for a second!"

Uncle Bob grinned at him. "She didn't say only the five of us. She meant at least the five of us. She just wants our help."

"Now you're talkin' crackers," Browbeat said, smiling again. "Whoop!"

"Did she say what sort of problem they were having?" Kippy asked, curious now.

"No. She said she didn't mean to be mysterious, but that she thought it would be better if they told us in person."

"Can you go, Unk?" Rick asked, smiling at the man.

"I don't have anything going on until after the holiday," Bob admitted. "Oh, there's the holiday itself, of course. Family stuff, and all that. I was hoping for a Christmas magic gig this year, you know? But there were no takers. Magic seems not to be big this holiday season."

"That's a matter of opinion!" Kip said, waving a hand. "Magic is always in season!"

Bob smiled. "I happen to agree. But this year, I guess it wasn't selling as well for some reason."

Charlie pursed his lips, thinking. They didn't have anything in the works at the office just now, having left their schedules after that last job clear until after the first of the year. Their Halloween adventure had exhausted them, and then the job in Minnesota right after that, and they had been sort of expecting a quiet Christmas. But...Kiri and Kiley...these were friends asking for help!

"We don't have anything in the way of us going to Twombly," he decided then. "It's still three days until Christmas. We do want to be back home again for the holiday, though." He smiled. "Nicholaas is going to do his time thing again, so we can all have dinner there and not miss the holiday here."

Uncle Bob smiled. "I know. I was invited."

Rick closed one eye and leaned closer to his uncle. "You still haven't told Aunt Susan about any of this?"

"I'm getting there," Uncle Bob said, holding up his hands and waving them in a slow down motion.

Charlie laughed. "Just take her with you to dinner with Nicholaas and Ronja, and let them explain. They're mighty good at that!"

"I've considered that idea, and I just might. But...Twombly first."

Kippy clapped his hands together in delight. "It will be wonderful to see Twombly again!"

Rick suddenly grimaced. "Ooh...speaking of Horace and Amy...we were going by to see them tonight, remember?"

"That's right!" Adrian put in. "To see how they decorated the house. We promised!"

Charlie scratched at his chin, and then smiled. "Let me call them. Maybe they'd like to go to Twombly with us." He turned to Bob Travers. "You think that would be okay?"

"I don't see why not. And they may be able to help."

"This might be fun!" Browbeat offered, happily.

Adrian sighed. "A Christmas adventure! I was secretly hoping for one!"

Rick turned to his boyfriend, looking astonished. "Why didn't you say so? We could have rigged up something!"

Adrian patted Rick's arm. "You can't make an adventure, sweetie. It has to happen!"

Charlie nodded in agreement, and pulled his cell from his pocket. "I'll call them now."

He realized now that he had been hoping for something to come up, too. A quiet Christmas would have been okay...but not normal for them, at all! Holidays were supposed to be fun, and this one had looked like it was going to be a little too normal for his tastes.

He hit the speed dial for Horace's number, and as he waited for an answer, he smiled again at the beautiful Christmas tree, and started humming to himself.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go...!

* * * * * * *

"Your house is beautiful," Kippy said, looking around at the artfully decorated living room. He smiled at Horace, and then at Amy. "I see the feminine touch here!"

Horace smiled at that. "Of course." His eyes twinkled with mischief. "Gretchen had a hand in it."

Amy, standing next to him, gasped, and then turned and swatted his arm. "Oh, you!"

Horace laughed out loud then. "And, um, Amy helped some, too."

They both laughed, and Charlie could see the depth of the affection between the two. Horace and Amy had been married back in the summer, and Charlie expected it to be something that lasted forever.

"So, what's going on in Twombly?" Amy asked. "This was kind of sudden, wasn't it?"

"We don't know yet," Charlie admitted. "They want to talk about it in person."

"Will they mind us tagging along?" Horace asked. "We don't want to be in the way."

"I called Kiri and told her who was coming," Uncle Bob offered. "She said it was fine."

The ghost hunter nodded then, and looked at Amy. "Then we'd love to go, right?"

"Definitely. I've gotten used to the Christmas holiday being a little extra special."

"Christmas doesn't get much better than Twombly," Kippy said, sighing. "Those people have the holiday down pat."

Charlie glanced at his watch. "It's not even two o'clock yet. We have time to go now and still get some things done, if everyone is in agreement."

"I am!" Browbeat called, from atop Uncle Bob's shoulder.

Kippy laughed. "You're always ready for mischief!"

"I'm always ready for something interesting and exciting," the flyer answered, just a little more seriously than usual. "I didn't have much fun before I met you guys."

"You had the freedom of the lower layer," Kippy pointed out. "You'd been around, and visited a lot of the realities there."

"I know. I was on my own, though. I didn't have all the wonderful friends I have now."

Kippy took a breath and let it sigh out. He turned to Charlie and smiled. "Want me to take us?"

"I will, if you don't mind," Charlie said, grinning. "I can use all the practice I can get."

Kippy looked around at the others. "Everybody dressed warmly enough? We'll be outside some, I'm sure."

Coats, scarves, and hats were donned, and Kippy looked satisfied. "We seem ready."

"Where will we teleport to?" Uncle Bob asked. "Kiri said there were a couple of skiers at the lodge, so to be careful about just appearing in the street."

Charlie considered that. "We've been around behind the town hall. That should be pretty vacant about now."

It was agreed that seemed a safe location, and they all gathered together into a group to touch. Charlie recalled the image of the back door to the town hall, brought on the moment of transport, and in a moment they were there.

The sky was a light gray, and afternoon snowflakes drifted down around them. But even here, the glow of the town's Christmas lights reached them, painting the snow on the ground in soft pastels.

There was no one around. But they could hear voices fairly close by, and laughter, clear against the softer mumble of people in the street. The steps at the front of the town hall were a popular place for some of the local youth to gather, and Charlie expected the voices he could hear distinctly came from there. "Let's walk around front," he suggested.

"Kiri said she couldn't be sure where they would be, not knowing when we would arrive," Uncle Bob pointed out. He chuckled. "But she said it was such a small town that they wouldn't be hard to find. School is out here until after the holiday, so if they weren't out walking around, they would probably be at home, or someone there could tell us where they were."

"We'll check around front first," Charlie decided. "Maybe some of the kids there will know where they are." He smiled at Browbeat, perched upon Uncle Bob's shoulder again. "Behave yourself, young man."

The little flyer tittered happily. "I won't cause a scene!"

"You're okay with the people that live here," Kip reminded. "But there might be strangers at the lodge."

"I'll stay right here, and won't speak unless spoken to," Browbeat promised.

They circled the building and arrived at the front steps. There were half a dozen young people there, watching the locals go by, and talking. Kiri and Kiley were not among them.

But one boy about fifteen immediately jumped to his feet as they arrived at the steps. "The magic people!"

The others jumped up, too, and Charlie was halfway expecting to be rushed. But the kids here were disciplined, and merely formed a happy line in front of them, all smiles and welcomes. They seemed especially entranced with Browbeat, and Charlie could see they wanted to ask about him, but that they wouldn't. It just wasn't done!

Kippy could see that, too, and sighed happily. "Such nice people."

The first boy laughed, his eyes leaving Browbeat to return to them. "We'll remember that magic day forever!"

"It was the day we went home again," said a girl. "I mean, the day we got linked back to home."

"This is home!" another boy said, waving his hand around at the town.

The girl made a little face at him. "You know what I mean!"

"It's nice to see you again," the first boy said. "Can we help you in any way?"

"We're looking for Kiri and Kiley Snorkum," Charlie told them. "Have you seen them?"

"They were here just a few minutes ago," the girl answered. "They went over towards the ski lodge."

Charlie turned to look down the street at that building. "Okay, we'll try there." He turned back to the young elves. "Thanks."

The first boy grinned at him, and then at Uncle Bob...and then at Browbeat. "We'd love to see some magic again, sometime."

Bob Travers smiled. "I'd love to perform here again. We'll see what we can arrange with Mayor Snorkum for the future."

The kids all looked pleased, and made excited sounds, and Charlie and the others waved as they headed away from them. The lodge was visible down main street, its facade illuminated in the same colorful lights as the other buildings.

Uncle Bob turned a last look back at the kids watching them move away. "Best audience I ever had," he said, sighing. "What a great memory that was."

"They certainly seemed curious about me," Browbeat added, looking happy at the idea.

"More magic to them," I suspect, Uncle Bob replied, chuckling.

"What a great town this is," Kippy pointed out. "Only people that really know magic can appreciate the illusions that mimic it."

Charlie turned to his boyfriend and smiled. "That was a thoughtful idea. What brought that on?"

Rick snickered, and Adrian smiled. Kippy turned to look at Charlie. "I know you meant that honestly, and not the way certain people who shall remain nameless heard it."

Everyone laughed then, and Charlie squeezed his boyfriend's shoulders. "I meant it in a good way, Kip. I was just asking what made you say that."

"Well, think about it. Humans see a magic act, and they know it's a trick, and they wonder how it's done. They enjoy being wowed, but they don't really see it as magic." He nodded to himself. "Elves know real magic, but to them it's a perfectly explainable science, and one thing follows another very feasibly and logically. So when they see illusion, and they know it's not real magic, it impresses them even more than humans, because it seems like the sort of fantasy magic that even elves have written stories about."

Amy made a startled sound. "You mean even elves have stories about magic?"

"Sure. We tend to view the elves as all powerful, but there are plenty of things they just can't do. Fantasy stories involving elves doing those sorts of things are their ideas of magic."

Charlie nodded. "Frit and Pip have given us some of their books to read. I'd bet some of the stories would sell well here. Fantasy is pretty big these days."

Horace smiled at that. "I never considered the idea that elves might see some magic as magic magic."

There was more soft laughter, and the ghost hunter grinned. "You know what I mean."

"I do," Charlie agreed. "They're much harder to impress than humans would be at something that seems inexplicable, and superstition is not an elf trait. But they do have a sense of wonder, and they love it when it's given a nice little push."

"I was happy to push it for them," Uncle Bob said. "And I'd be willing to entertain them again, anytime."

They followed main street towards the ski lodge, walking beneath the myriad lights that glowed with the energy of Christmas. People turned to smile at them and greet them as they passed, and Charlie could see that the elves recognized them. Browbeat was also noticed, and elicited more than a few looks of interest. But no one did more than smile and wish them well. Elves did not believe in intruding upon others, and only would have continued with any conversation had Charlie and his group paused to talk. They were intent on the lodge, though, and did not stop.

They arrived at the rustic but grand-looking building, and entered the huge great room through the front doors. There was no one among the sofas and chairs there, though a large fire burned behind glass doors in the big hearth, and they could feel the warmth of the place immediately. Coats were opened, and hats removed.

Kiri and Kiley were at the front desk, talking to the proprietor, an older woman that Charlie remembered was called Miss Mili. She spied them approaching, and the recognition in her eyes caused Kiri and Kiley to swing around.

"You came!" Kiri said, rushing forward in delight. Kiley was right on her heels, and hugs and kisses were exchanged all around. Charlie grinned at the expression on Kippy's face when it came time for Kiley to hug him, and the slightly delirious look that remained on his boyfriend's features for several moments after Kiley moved on. But Charlie felt no jealousy at that; Kippy was just succumbing to his own built-in appreciation for a pretty face. It was part of his nature, and one that Charlie had come to accept.

Kippy took a deep breath, and then smiled at him, before turning back to the the two elves. "We brought along help," he said, indicating their large group. "I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," Kiri replied. "I'm sure--" She was just getting to Uncle Bob to give him a welcoming hug, when she spied Browbeat perched on the man's shoulder. She simply stopped to stare at the flyer, before her eyes lit up with delight. "Oh. Kiley, look!"

Her brother was right behind her in the line to hug someone, and leaned forward to fix his eyes upon Browbeat. Kiley gasped then. "Oh! It's beautiful!"

Browbeat tittered happily at that. "You're pretty cute yourself, fella."

Both elf's eyes widened, and Kiri placed her hands to her cheeks in delight. "You talk!"

"Sometimes too much," Kippy offered drily, smiling at the flyer.

Browbeat tittered again, his own smile lighting up his small face. "I can keep up with the best of 'em!"

"More magic," Kiri said softly. "The real kind!"

"This is Browbeat," Charlie introduced, indicating the flyer. "Our very good friend." He moved his hand to the two elves. "Browbeat, this is Kiri and Kiley, also our very good friends."

"Any friends of Charlie's are friends of mine," Browbeat returned, and followed it with a happy titter.

"We're pleased to meet you!" the two elves said in unison. They spent another moment gazing at Browbeat, before turning as one to face Charlie.

"We have a little problem..." Kiley began, looking hopeful.

"...and we think you can help," Kiri finished up.

Everyone smiled, used to the way that elf young seemed to share their thoughts.

"That's why we're here," Uncle Bob said. He looked around the great room of the inn, but no one was present. Miss Mili had gone back into the office behind the front desk. Still, he leaned closer to Kiri and lowered his voice. "Can we talk about it openly?"

The two elves exchanged glances. "No one knows about yet it but us," Kiley explained.

"Or, no one that we know about knows about it," Kiri added.

Kiley nodded. "Can you guys come out front for a minute? It will make it easier to explain."

They returned to main street in front of the inn and stood on the sidewalk there. Their presence in town had apparently been noted, and Charlie thought he detected a general air of excitement among the passersby. The fact that many of them seemed to purposely cross the street in order to say hello sort of cemented the idea in his mind.

Kiri grinned at them. "You're popular here. Everyone wants to say hi."

They stood for a moment, greeting everyone that went by, until the foot traffic seemed to slow. Charlie nodded, looking both ways up and down the street before smiling at Kiri. "Looks like we have a free moment."

The girl nodded, and pointed at the strings of lights above them. "You know these are wish lights?"

Everyone looked upwards to take in the beautiful strings of lights.

"I remember," Kippy acknowledged. "You said when wishes from the world come in, another light gets added." He smiled, swinging his gaze back and forth across the long street. "Sure is a lot of wishing going on out there!"

Kiley nodded. "Someone is stealing wishes."

That drew everyone's gaze back to the young elf. "Stealing them?" Horace asked, narrowing his eyes. "How?"

"We don't know," Kiri replied. "It was Kiley that first noticed. He had me count the lights one evening, and wouldn't tell me why."

"She has the eye of the world," Kiley reminded, nodding. "She can count every wish light in town."

Rick whistled, looking again at the lights above them. "That would be a job!"

"It's easy for her," Kiley countered. "Just takes a few seconds."

"So, you counted them?" Kip prodded.

"Uh huh. Kiri said there were 35,491 of them. Then, when we counted the next night, there were only 35,312. Wishes are always being added." Kiley shook his head firmly. "They never go down in number."

"You've done other counts?" Adrian asked.

"Yes, today," Kiley said.

"And there are another 103 missing!" Kiri finished.

Charlie gazed up at the lights, thinking. "I'm assuming that you do not mean someone is just unscrewing bulbs and running off with them?"

Both of the elves laughed, a very cheery thing to see and hear, and Kippy sighed happily.

"They're not like that," Kiley explained. "They look like strings of light bulbs, but they actually aren't. So, if someone takes some, they just disappear off the line. The ones that are gone are so scattered around that they aren't even missed among all the others!"

"You don't think the town elders could help with this?" Kippy asked.

"They're busy," Kiley returned. "They'd want to know, I'm sure. But...Kiri and I thought that, maybe, if we could just solve this without bothering the elders, that it would make for a much nicer Christmas for them."

"They have enough to do," Kiri agreed. "Enough to worry about."

Charlie smiled at that. "That's sweet of you."

Kiley blushed, but Kiri looked pleased. "They do so much for us! It's about time we helped out here, too!"

Horace finished examining the lines of lights everywhere, and turned to Charlie. "This seems not an endeavor that can be accomplished in an hour or two."

Charlie had already come to that conclusion, himself. "Is there anyone that can't at least stay the night?" He turned to Kiley and Kiri."Are there any rooms open here at the ski lodge, do you know?"

Both elves laughed. "The two skiers that were here left after lunch." Kiri explained. "They needed to be back in Massachusetts for the holiday. So there's no one at the lodge right now."

Kiley leaned forward. "Miss Mili said she has rooms for all of you. I asked!"

Charlie grinned at that. "Seems someone was thinking ahead."

"Sure," Kiley said. "We haven't been able to solve this yet. So we knew it would take longer than one day."

They stepped back inside the lodge, and paused just inside the double doors to talk. No one needed to be back home for anything, it seemed, but it was agreed that some of them would make a teleport back to their homes to quickly pack a suitcase for a longer stay. Kip and Adrian would go back to the boys' house to pack for the four of them, and Uncle Bob would take Horace and Amy back to get their things, and then go by his own home and get some for himself. Charlie and Rick and Browbeat would see to the rooms, and have everything ready when the others got back.

Kiri and Kiley were delighted that they would stay, and rushed across the great room to tell Miss Mili to expect guests.

"Better get enough clothing for a couple of nights," Charlie told everyone. "Just in case."

"I'm glad I don't need clothing!" Browbeat said cheerily. "Boy, would I have trouble with a suitcase!" He tittered happily, and came over to land on Charlie's shoulder. "This looks like it will be fun!" he whispered into Charlie's ear.

Charlie and Rick each gave their boyfriends a quick kiss, smiled at Uncle Bob, and then the others were off with a quick series of pops.

Charlie sighed, and turned to look to where the two elves were talking to Miss Mili at the front desk. "Come on, Rick," Charlie said. "Let's go sign in."

But Rick reached out a hand to stop him. "Doesn't this all seem a little odd to you? I mean, who can steal from elves and get away with it?"

Charlie shrugged, glancing back to the street outside the lodge, and at all the happy people on the walk.

Who, indeed?