Kris Kringle

Three days passed since the Shepherds’ meeting in the Pasture. Kris had been unable to think about anything else since that night except the princess’ note and what it could mean. Each day and night when he would retire to his home for a meal or for sleep, he would first pull the note out from under one of the legs of the table near his bed where he hid it. As if he hoped some new words to magically appear on the paper, he read the same sentences over and over again.

“The knowledge of Percy’s Parchment dies with the king,” he read aloud quietly to himself one afternoon as he ate a large sandwich made with a fresh-baked roll from the bakery and a hearty portion of chicken meat and cranberry jam. “Who on Earth is Percy?” He had no answer, no matter how many times he asked himself that question.

Kris finished his lunch, and returned the note to its hiding place. He made his way back to Elpert’s ranch with a full stomach and a puzzled mind. He had been working on repairing a fence in around the open horse field of the ranch and began to resume his work there. It was then that Kris heard the familiar clunking of Jack’s ice wagon as it made its way into the ranch. Kris turned around and waved to him. While both of them had been consumed by the idea of deciphering the Princess Eva’s message, neither had communicated with the other since the meeting at the Pasture. Jack himself spent every moment (that he was not working or sleeping) in the library, researching every book and record he could get his hands on. If there was any text that had any mention of Percy’s Parchment, he was determined to find it. But as of that afternoon, he was no closer than he had been three days ago.

Jack pulled his wagon alongside where Kris was working on the fence.

“Anything?” Kris asked him. It was just a one-word question with no context but Jack knew immediately what his friend was referring to.

“Nothing,” was the reply, “Not a single thing. I’ve torn the library apart, as well as my own memory, and I cannot find any answers or clues. I don’t mean to boast—okay, maybe I do—but I know a great deal about a great many things. And it absolutely drives me mad that there is something out there that I know nothing about!”

Kris chuckled. “Yes, I too have been tormented by it. Although unlike you, I am used to not knowing things.” Kris sighed as he wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. “Resting our minds for a bit would probably do us good. Dinner at the tavern tonight?”

Jack nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

Kris motioned with his head toward Jack’s wagon.

“Need help?”

Jack shook his head. “It’s not much. Your boss isn’t too needy for ice it seems. Now if you were offering to help me when I make my delivery to the butcher’s down at the marketplace, that would be a different—“

Jack suddenly stopped, for he was suddenly distracted by a man walking outside of Elpert’s home on the opposite end of the horse field.

“Kris, wasn’t he one of the men in the circle the other night?”

Kris turned around. “Yes, I believe he was.”

A moment later, Mr. Elpert emerged from the house as well and began making his way over to Kris’ location by the fence.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Elpert,” Jack said, tipping his top hat to his customer as he got closer, “Got your ice right here for ya. Usual spot?”

Mr. Elpert was an older man with a stronger build and gray hair that came down to his shoulders. His clean-shaven face rarely showed a smile. It was not that he was a mean or unpleasant man, but he had never been one to crack jokes or laugh loudly.

“Yes, please. Thank you, Jack,” Elpert replied, “How’s the fence coming along, Kris?”

Kris surveyed his work. “Almost done, sir. Just need to secure a few more beams along the final posts here.”

Mr. Elpert examined the fence with an emotionless face. “Yes, yes. It looks good,” was his simple observation, “Keep it up.”

Kris nodded. He was caught off guard, since his employer usually did not check in on his work as conspicuously as he was now.

“Well, take care boys,” Elpert said finally, “Peace to you.”

A small smile appeared on Kris’ face. Now he knew why Elpert had made this unusal trip out to the field to chat with one of his workers.

“Goodwill to all,” Kris obediently responded. Elpert nodded to both of them and began to walk back toward the house.

Jack let out a little snort of amusement.

“Guess we won’t be spending our evening at the tavern after all.”

Felix was a young elf who was always taking walks through the forest. He did not have any close friends, but this was not a point of concern or sorrow for him. He simply enjoyed spending his time alone, observing nature and discovering new places and animals. He had never met a human before, but this was not unique. Most elves his age had never known a world outside the forest. The elves found refuge in the forest nearly 100 years ago, after increasing threats from humans to the south of the forest had driven them there. Elves possess powers and abilities that most humans would term “magical” or “supernatural”. Some humans were frightened by these powers—such as the ability of an elf to become invisible; other humans wished to abuse the elves’ unusual talent to create and build in remarkable time. In either instance, the elves found themselves and their livelihood in danger, and so they had long ago vowed to live in solitude, far from any human interaction or influence.

And that is why Felix’s experience during his walk in the forest that day would be considered so unexpected and singular.

For as he strolled in between the evergreen trees, enjoying the sights and smells he was so familiar with (but never grew tired of), he heard a faint rustling in the brush nearby. He paused, waiting in anticipation for a rabbit or small deer to emerge. For several minutes he sat there waiting. He knew the creature had not left the brush, but the rustling had ceased.

“C’mon, I won’t hurt you,” Felix called out, walking slowly toward the thick bushes that blocked his view of the animal.

To the great astonishment of Felix, he heard in response not a bark, chirp, or hiss, but an actual voice.

“….hhhhelp…”

Felix could hardly hear the voice, for it was extremely weak, and he could tell the individual it came from was in great distress. He ran to the brush and hurriedly pulled aside the braches and leaves. He gasped at what he saw. Without hesitation or another thought, he ran back to the elves’ village deep in the heart of the forest. As he approached, he saw three elves he recognized climbing a tree and sawing off its branches.

“Donner! Comet! Blitzen!” Felix shouted up at them. They looked down from their position in the tree and gave him a friendly wave.

“Get down here immediately!” Felix begged, “I need your help!”

The elves quickly made their way down the tree with the branches they had sawn off.

“What is it?” Comet asked. He, like Felix and his two companions, was a young elf with lots of energy.

“Do you have tools?” Felix asked. Donner nodded and pointed to a box of tools by the tree trunk. Felix ran to the box, snatching the branches from Blitzen’s arms as he did so. The three elves stood there in great confusion as Felix quickly assembled a wooden stretcher before them.

“Everyone grab a side,” Felix ordered.

The elves, still confused, did as they were told, hoping that Felix would soon offer some explanation for what was going on. Felix quickly led the elves with stretcher in hand to the area of the forest where he had just been.

“Help me,” Felix said simply, dropping his side of the stretcher and digging into the brush. Donner, Comet, and Blitzen followed behind and froze when they saw the creature before them.

“What is it?” Comet asked.

“I don’t know,” Felix answered, “But he’s badly hurt. We need to get him to the village and see if Grinkers can help him.”

The other elves were a little hesitant. They were unsure about the strange creature before him and what he might do. But they eventually agreed to help and together lifted the injured individual upon the stretcher and carried him back to the village. As they made their way past the trees and small huts and holes where the elves lived and worked, audible gasps filled the forest air. It seemed every elf in the village had stopped what they were doing to get a better look at the strange cargo being brought into their village. Within seconds of the four elves setting the injured creature on the ground outside Grinker’s home, a large gathering of elves had crowded around them, whispering loudly about what they were seeing.

“What is it?” some asked.

“Is he dead?” an elf child asked innocently.

“Where did he come from? What happened to him?”

All the questions and conversations ceased suddenly when Grinkers emerged from his hole in the ground.

“Grinkers,” Felix addressed him respectfully, “I found this creature in the woods. He is badly hurt.”

Grinkers said nothing, but walked slowly toward the cause of everyone’s excitement. Grinkers was the only one still alive in the elvish race who had known a life with humans. He was a young elf when his race had made the promise to live outside the world of mankind. He therefore was the only one who actually knew what kind of creature he was looking at. It was a human. He was old as evidenced by his white hair and beard. He wore a red robe with white trim, but it had clearly been torn apart by some kind of animal and was now stained with dirt, grass, and blood. There were several deep cuts across his abdomen, this too serving as evidence of his encounter with some kind of beast. He was still alive, but Grinkers did not know how long that would be true. He knelt down by the human’s head and looked at his face with a kind of familiarity. This did not go unnoticed by the elves around him.

“Grinkers,” Felix said softly, asking what everyone else wanted to ask, “Do you know him?”

Grinkers took another close look at the man’s garb and face, as if to convince himself it was true.

“This is the man from my dream.”