Sorry this is late, guys.  I was busy – hubby and I went to see Rifftrax Live do Santa Claus Conquers the Martians!  It was awful in a really, really funny way.  But here is today’s story!

***

“Brr! It’s cold out here!”

 

Molly grinned at Drew as he stamped his feet on the frozen ground. “It’s winter, remember?” she teased. “What did you expect?”

 

“I know, I know,” he said. “Remember, I’m not from Maine originally. I’m not used to it being THIS cold.”  He squinted up into the slate grey sky. “At least I was used to some cold. Poor Steve is going to freeze solid one of these days.”

 

That was an image that made Molly laugh. Steve, one of the other techs up at the Gate station, was from Texas, and as soon as the temperature dipped below sixty, he started to shiver. “If he’s planning on staying up here, he’d better get used to it,” she said, after she got herself under control. “Global warming isn’t going to make it that warm up here.”

 

“True.” Since it was fairly common knowledge that Steve was deeply in love with one of the new postal carriers, who had made it very well-known that he wasn’t leaving his hometown, the Texan was working to up his tolerance to the cold. “How much longer are we going to be here?”

 

Molly looked at her watch. “It should be any minute now.” As if that was the cue it had been waiting for, the bell rang. “See?”

 

Lily and Zoey ran over to them. “It’s cold today!” Lily announced. “Too cold to make snowballs, sadly.”

 

“You’re right,” Drew said. “So we’ll have to postpone our snowball fight.”

 

“So we’ll have to get you another way,” Zoey said, and before he could move, they both jumped on him and knocked him into the snowbank.

 

“Hey! Help!” Drew squirmed, trying (but not very hard, Molly noticed) to get away from the two girls, who proceeded to wash his face in the snow. “Help!”

 

Schrodinger and Jack leapt into the fray, pulling Zoey and Lily off him, so he could fight back. She sat on her swing and laughed at them all. “You guys are going to be soaked!”

 

At the sound of her voice, they all turned to look at her. Drew leaned in and whispered something to Lily and Zoey, who both nodded.

 

“Don’t you dare,” Molly warned them, as they all got up and started towards her. “I mean it. Don’t you dare!”

 

They dared. In fact, Drew not only scooped her up from the swing, but he, Schrodinger and Jack held her down as Lily and Zoey dropped snow on her face. Molly shrieked in laughter and promised them all doom when she was free.

 

Finally, when they were all chilled through, they trooped down to the tea room, stopping briefly by Molly’s apartment so she and Drew could change. Lily and Zoey had snow pants on, but Molly’s jeans were soaked through, and so were Drew’s. Once they were changed, they went down to CrossWinds Books.

 

“I wonder what the advent calendar has in store for us today!” Zoey said, as they entered the back door of the bookstore. Her eyes were bright and she pulled at one of her braids. Molly noticed they were tied with gold ribbons today, and there were tiny bells in the center of the bows.

 

“Well, come on and find number five!” Lily told her, hurrying over to the calendar. “It’s your turn today!”

 

Molly smiled as she watched the four scrutinize the picture, searching for the elusive number five. It was Lily who finally found it, curled up under one of the stars in the night sky. Zoey reached out and touched it with one fingertip, then she stepped back.

 

As they were used to now, the paint crumbled away in a perfect square around the number, and a silvery, shimmering snowflake came out. It hovered in front of Zoey, who held her hand out expectantly.

 

She wasn’t disappointed. The snowflake spun and, to her surprise, two carrots and two perfect sugar cubes dropped into her hand, along with a note. She handed the note to Lily, who squinted at it and then read aloud, “I hope you have warm clothes! This is going to be a cold one!”

 

Carrots? Jack nosed her hand. Are we making more snowmen, then?

 

If we were, then why the sugar cubes? Schrodinger asked.

 

Maybe we need to sweeten their disposition? Jack said, and Lily giggled.

 

“No, silly! The sugar would melt!”

 

“Maybe you aren’t thinking it through,” Aunt Margie said, coming into the kitchen. She had a large bag in her hands, and from this, she pulled out scarves, mittens, and hats. “It’s a good thing these showed up today, I guess!”

 

“Where did they come from?” Zoey asked, as she accepted a set of lovely gold and green mittens, with a matching hat and scarf.

 

“I bet I know!” Lily said, peeking out from under the silver and purple hat she’d crammed on her head. “Gramma! Gramma makes the best knitted stuff for us!”

 

There were even scarves, hats and mittens for Molly and Drew, and as she drew hers on, Molly thought that Lily was probably right. Mrs. Barrett loved to knit (a common habit in Carter’s Cove, and one that made sense, considering how cold it was every winter), and her products were welcomed by everyone who got them. She’d included scarves and hats for Schrodinger and Jack too, and it was a testament to how cold it was that Schrodinger didn’t object to the hat.

 

“Okay, we’re ready, snowflake!” Zoey announced, giving one of the carrots and one of the sugar cubes to Lily. “Where are we going?”

 

In answer, the snowflake sparkled through a rainbow of colors and shot out through the front door of the kitchen, heading out the front door. They all trooped after it, waving to DC as she checked out a customer, and headed back out into the cold.

 

The snowflake led them back down to the park, and Molly wondered if maybe Jack had been right after all. But instead of leading them to the clearing where the two snowmen lived, it flashed along another path that led to the other side of the park, where they saw a large, ornate sleigh with two large draft horses hitched to it.

 

“Who’s that?” Zoey asked.

 

“Doc!” Molly raised her voice in greeting, and the older man in the captain’s great coat raised one hand in response. “Doc” Robbins had been a merchant marine in his younger years, before retiring to the Cove and farming. No one knew why he was called Doc – as far as Molly had ever heard, it was a nickname given to him when he sailed the Sea Gates.

 

Every December, Doc hitched his two Percherons Daisy and Shredder to the sleigh he’d built with his own two hands, and gave rides around the town to look at the lights. It was a tradition that Molly had enjoyed as a child, and now she looked forward to sharing it with Zoey and Lily.

 

“Ah, I see you’ve come well-prepared!” Doc said, as they got closer. Doc had one rule: he never charged for his sleigh rides, but Daisy and Shredder needed to be bribed, or so he said. The gentle beasts loved both carrots and sugar cubes, and Molly had taken two apples from the refrigerator, as well as a small package of scones for Doc himself. This he accepted with a grin and a wink.

 

Then he showed Zoey and Lily how to give Daisy and Shredder their bribes. He had them balance the sugar cubes on their outstretched hands, and the two horses leaned their massive heads down to daintily lip the treats from the girls, who giggled. Daisy was all grey, with a white blaze down her face, while Shredder was dappled grey and black. Both had red and green plaid ribbons and holly sprigs braided into their manes, and their harnesses were covered with bells.

 

“All aboard!” Doc cried, after Lily and Zoey had offered their carrots as well. Molly knew they’d have the chance to do the apples at the end.

 

Doc helped them all to climb into the sleigh, where they snuggled down under layers of blankets and sheep skins. Then he climbed up into the driver’s seat, picked up the reins, and called out to the two horses. “Giy-up!”

 

Daisy and Shredder perked up, and began to haul the sleigh forward. Molly leaned back against Drew, Schrodinger snuggled on her lap, and enjoyed the ride.

 

Lily and Zoey were up on the edges of the sleigh, wrapped in blankets, looking with bright eyes at the glory of the snow sculptures around the Cove. Every year, the artisans in the town went out and put the snowmen that many towns had as decorations to shame. It was another part of what Molly loved about Christmas in her town.

 

The middle school had done a Charlie Brown theme this year: sculpting the various characters as they skated around the frozen pond (which Molly realized was ice that glowed blue). To Lily and Zoey’s delight, as the sleigh slowed down to give them a look, another small magic made the snow sculptures actually move around the pond, and they heard the strains of music from the classic TV special.

 

At the Gate Station, the theme was A Christmas Carol. Molly identified Scrooge, the three Ghosts of Christmas, Tiny Tim and more. These didn’t move, but they all carried various forms of light that flickered in the mid afternoon gloom.

 

“You guys did really good this year,” Molly told Drew.

 

“Mac is a slave driver,” he replied. “At least this year, we didn’t have to replace all the lights on the mansion.”

 

Carter’s Cove land Gate was housed in a large mansion on the outskirts of the main town area, and Molly and Schrodinger loved to walk to it on their days off. It wasn’t far from the bookstore or her apartment, and many of the techs and engineers knew they were welcome to stop by the tea room for some homemade goodies.

 

Doc then took them down by the harbor, where Lily and Zoey cheered the large three-masted ship Daughter of Stars, which was lit by thousands of magical lights. Captain Carter’s historic ship was permanently moored in the harbor he’d discovered by sailing through the Sea Gate, and it was the centerpiece of the harbor’s display. There were smaller ships that were lit up as well, and at the end of each wharf was a tree that was decorated according to the type of ship that docked there.

 

Then it was a swing through the commercial district, where the shops all had their window displays up. In addition, many of them had musicians that played, and the music was piped out to the outdoors. Molly much preferred that to the muzak that many other stores in other towns had.

 

Finally, Doc brought them to Happy Garden, the only Chinese food restaurant in town. There, he turned around and handed Lily, Zoey, Jack and Schrodinger a jingle bell that matched the bells on Daisy and Shredder’s harnesses. “This is a magic jingle bell,” he told them solemnly. “If you are ever worried, or scared, jingle the bell, and remember this ride.”

 

“That’s magic?” Zoey asked him.

 

Doc smiled. “There’s more magic in memories than you can imagine, little one. Much more.”

 

She looked down at the jingle bell clutched in her hand. “Wow.”

 

Molly handed the apples to Doc and then they went into the restaurant. The fresh air had stimulated their appetites, and they fell onto the food as if they hadn’t eaten in months.

 

“This has been awesome,” Lily declared, finally leaning back and putting her chopsticks down. She’d learned to use them over the summer and was very proud of that fact. “This has been one of the best days ever.”

 

Zoey nodded. “You know, though, that we’re saying that almost every day.”

 

“Maybe that’s part of the magic too,” Lily told her. “You know? The magic of Christmas seems to be rediscovering the wonderful things around us.”

 

Molly hid a smile behind her mug of tea. Well, well, well, my niece is beginning to realize there’s more to life than what she can get out of her elders because she’s cute. That’s a very good thing.

 

Lily wouldn’t do that! Schrodinger objected, but on their private wavelength. She’s a good person!

 

I didn’t say she wasn’t, Molly said. She’s young, and she’s self-centered. Most youngsters are. It’s the ones that don’t grow out of it that are worrisome.

 

Oh.

 

They walked back to the bookstore through a clear chilly night, with Lily and Zoey singing “Jingle Bells” at the top of their lungs. When they walked in, Molly saw that Mrs. Allard was seated at one of the small tables. She had a book in her hands, which earned her points in Molly’s world. Maybe she wasn’t as bad as Molly had been thinking after all.

 

“Mom! Look what the advent calendar gave us today!” Zoey saw her mother and ran over, brandishing the jingle bell in one fist. “A jingle bell!”

 

Donna Allard put her book down and smiled at her daughter. “Oh, how pretty! What did the calendar have you do?”

 

Lily and Zoey shared the story of the afternoon, telling her all about the snow sculptures and the lights and the music. Donna listened, her face genuinely interested.

 

“And now you came here!” Zoey finished, throwing her arms around her mother. “So you can see the calendar! And you can meet Molly and Jack and Schrodinger and Drew!”

 

“Yes, I can!” Donna laughed as her daughter tugged her out of the chair and started dragging her towards the kitchen. “That’s why I came down! I had to meet all these people!”

 

Schrodinger moved over to them. I’ve been waiting to meet you, Mrs. Allard, he said politely, holding up one paw in welcome. Zoey has been a wonderful friend to share the advent calendar with. I’m Schrodinger.

 

Donna paused, her eyes wide as she took in the large CrossCat sitting before her, one paw raised, his hat and matching scarf still on, his intelligent eyes upon her. Molly held her breath, wondering what the woman would do. Would this be the point where it fell apart, and she dragged her daughter out, determined to keep her away from anything magical?

 

Then she knelt down to get to Schrodinger’s level, took his paw, and shook it. “It’s very nice to finally meet you, Schrodinger. Zoey’s told me so much about you, and I wasn’t sure how much of it was true. But you are. Very, very real.”

 

And soft, Schrodinger added modestly. My fur is very soft.

 

“Yes, it is,” Donna agreed, chuckling.

 

“Please don’t feed his ego,” Molly said, moving forward before Schrodinger could say any more. “It’s big enough as it is.” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Molly Barrett, Lily’s aunt.”

 

“Very nice to meet you, Molly.” Donna stood up and shook her hand, and then Drew’s as well as he moved forward to greet her. “Thank you both so much for making Zoey feel welcome here. We were worried, moving her so far from her friends and family so close to the holidays, but it was such a good chance for Peter.”

 

“She’s been a sweetheart, Mrs. Allard,” Molly said, and Drew nodded. “She’s very talented.”

 

“Please, it’s Donna.”

 

“Donna.” Molly smiled. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

 

“And you can see the calendar, Mom!” Zoey said. “And meet Jack!”

 

Jack had hung back, knowing that Donna couldn’t hear him. After all, Zoey couldn’t. Now he came forward, his tail wagging, and she stroked his head. “Zoey tells me you can talk too, but she can’t hear you,” she said. “Why is that?”

 

“We think it might be because she wasn’t born here,” Drew said. “When you’re born into a CrossRoads town, you’re kind of steeped in the magic of the Gates, and it expresses itself in all sorts of ways.”

 

“So there’s actual genetic manipulation?” Donna asked, following them into the kitchen.

 

“Definitely,” Drew said, and Molly looked at him. “They’re doing some studies in some of the bigger CrossRoads towns, especially Boston, on exactly what that genetic change is. The studies are fascinating.”

 

“I’ll have to look into that,” she said thoughtfully. “Genetic manipulation has always fascinated me.”

 

“It’s really interesting,” he agreed.

 

“Look, Mom! This is the advent calendar!” Zoey, impatient with the talk, pulled her mother over to the giant calendar. “Isn’t it amazing?”

 

“It certainly is,” Donna agreed, leaning forward to inspect it as if it were a painting hanging in the Louvre. “And you still don’t know who sent it?”

 

“We have suspicions,” Zoey told her, and Molly smothered a laugh with difficulty. “But no proof.”

 

“You sound like a detective,” Drew said, ruffling Zoey’s hair. “Going to give Jamie a run for his money?”

 

“Maybe,” she said. “I’d make a good detective.”

 

“Yes, you would,” he agreed.

 

Donna declined the cup of tea, declaring that she needed to get Zoey home for school tomorrow. But she did stroke Schrodinger’s and Jack’s heads before she left.

 

DC stuck her head into the kitchen, a grin on her face. “And there goes another victim of Schrodinger’s charm,” she reported.

 

“Oh?” Molly looked up, intrigued. “What did she say on the way out?”

 

“This town is so much warmer than I thought it would be! Weirder, but in a good way. Maybe magic isn’t as bad as I thought it was,” DC recited, and Molly giggled.

 

Schrodinger, however, looked insulted. I am NOT weird!

 

Molly knelt down and hugged him. “Oh, you are, Cat, but honestly, I like you that way.”