“Oh no!”

 

Zoey’s anguished wail echoed from the living room where all the kids had fallen asleep. Molly, sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea, watched the snow continue to fall outside and smiled. They’d be coming in soon enough, she knew, as Lily’s voice joined Zoey’s.

 

And sure enough, both girls came running in, followed by Jack and Schrodinger. “Molly, what are we going to do?” Lily said, tears threatening. “It’s still snowing!”

 

“I know,” Molly said, taking another sip of tea. She glanced outside. “We must have at least three feet out there, and WCOV says it’s going to snow until tonight sometime.”

 

“But then how are we going to get to the retirement home to bring them their garlands?” Zoey asked, her lip trembling. “They’re expecting us!”

 

Schrodinger looked sharply at Molly. You have a plan!

 

“I do.” She didn’t get to say more, as the phone rang. Molly picked it up from the table and said, “Hello?”

 

“Hey, beautiful, is the heat still on?” Drew’s voice flowed through the phone, wrapping around her like an extra blanket.

 

“You know it is,” she said. “Dwarven generators don’t usually break. How about at the Station?”

 

“Dwarven generators here too,” he reminded her. “So the only difference is that we have to eat our own cooking.”

 

“Poor you,” she said. “However are you surviving?”

 

“Badly.” He laughed. “Take pity on me and invite me to breakfast?”

 

“As if you need an invitation,” Molly said, looking down at the faces in front of her. “However, I’ll make you a deal. If you can find a way to get me, Lily, Zoey, Schrodinger and Jack to the Carter’s Cove Retirement Home this afternoon to deliver the garlands we made for them, I’ll not only make you breakfast, but I’ll feed you lunch and dinner too.”

 

“I will break a trail myself,” Drew promised. “They’re right there, aren’t they?”

 

“Of course.”

 

“Then I won’t say any more, because I know Schrodinger and Jack have sharp ears. But yes, I think I can help you out.”

 

Molly smiled down at the now-hopeful quartet in front of her. “I knew you could! See you in about an hour?”

 

“Sounds good.”

 

She hung up the phone and said, “See? You have to trust in the magic, guys.”

 

And in devious people, Schrodinger said, on their private channel. You had this all worked out.

 

Molly winked at him and then stood up. “So, since we’ll have company for breakfast, I think we should do something extra-special. What do you think?”

 

“French toast!” Lily said eagerly. “With your special bread!”

 

“I don’t have any of my Texas toast at this point,” Molly said regretfully. “But let’s see what I do have.” She led the way over to the refrigerator, and opened it, peering inside, knowing exactly what she was going to do. “How about cranberry orange French toast instead?” she asked, pulling the loaf out. “With some bacon and sausage?”

 

“Yes!” Lily and Zoey chorused. “How can we help?”

 

She set them to scrambling eggs and cream together as she cut thick slices of the cranberry orange bread she’d made the day before, and then heated her cast-iron griddle pan. Lily brought over the bowl and then retreated to the table, knowing to get out of Molly’s way while she was working.

 

By the time the door bell rang, Molly had a pile of bacon and sausage in the oven, keeping warm, and had just put the first pieces of cranberry French toast on the smoking hot griddle. “Schrodinger, can you go let them in?” she said, and the CrossCat hurried to the door.

 

Zoey watched as Schrodinger went to the door – and vanished.

 

“Where did he go?” she demanded. “How did he do that?”

 

“He’s a CrossCat,” Molly said. “They can move through other dimensions. It’s easier for him than opening the door on this side.”

 

“But how’s he going to open the door downstairs?” Zoey asked.

 

“There’s a switch on the inside of the door,” Molly told her. “Mrs. Collins had it installed this summer when she got the generator installed. It’s much safer than hiding a key outside.”

 

Zoey thought about that as they listened to boots climbing the stairs. “I think that’s really awesome,” she said finally, just before someone tapped on the front door of the apartment. “The way magic is just sort of accepted here at the Cove. I don’t think I ever want to move.”

 

Most of us don’t, Jack said, looking keenly at the door. Molly knew he was ready to protect them all if anyone other than Schrodinger or Drew came through first. You’ll find that most Cove folk stay in the Cove.

“Does that mean I’m Cove folk now?” Zoey asked.

 

“Of course you are!” Lily told her, and hugged her fiercely. “You just weren’t born here. That’s okay.”

 

“Yay!” Zoey said happily, and hugged her back.

 

“Come in,” Molly called out, when another tap came on the door. “It’s open!”

 

The door opened, and in came Schrodinger, Drew and someone Molly hadn’t been expecting. He was a welcome sight, though.

 

“Pavel!” she said happily. “You’re finally back!”

 

Pavel Chekhov, captain of the Roads ship The Heart’s Desire, doffed the woolen cap he’d been wearing with a rakish grin. “That I am, and fair starved. The rations were thin, and when I dropped in to see my friend Drew and he mentioned your name and breakfast in the same sentence, well….”

 

Molly laughed. “Your cook will beat you if he hears that,” she said, shaking a finger at him. “You don’t look starved to me.”

 

“Ah, but my cook isn’t a kitchen witch, and isn’t as young and beautiful as you,” Pavel said, then turned to see who else was in the kitchen. “But if you don’t have enough to feed a poor, hungry sailor, I understand…”

 

“You scaliwag, you know I have plenty,” she said, still laughing. “And I’m happy to see you. Just don’t scare my other guests.”

 

Pavel turned around and looked at Lily and Zoey, who were staring at him. “Ah, Miss Lily! So good to see you again!”

 

“Be careful around him,” Lily whispered to Zoey. “He’s a pirate.”

 

“Really?” Zoey asked, staring at Pavel in awe. “He doesn’t look like a pirate.”

 

In truth, today Pavel looked like a lumberjack, as did Drew. They were both dressed in jeans, heavy boots, flannel jackets, knitted hats and scarves. But as Pavel shook his hair out (and Molly had to admit he had a lot of lovely hair), the gold in his ear winked in the lights of the kitchen, and under his flannel, he wore a white silk shirt that clung to him. A gold and crimson sash around his waist glittered as he moved.

 

“Okay, now he looks more like a pirate,” Zoey said, and both Drew and Molly laughed. She looked up at Pavel. “But where’s your ship?”

 

Pavel leaned down and winked at her. “Well, you know, Drew’s kind of an official type now, so I have to keep that quiet. But you say the word, little lady, and I’ll be happy to spirit you away to join my crew.”

 

She giggled at that. “But you just said the food was bad! Why would I want to do that?”

 

“She’s got you on that, mate,” Drew said. Once he’d doffed his outerwear, he’d gone over to the stove and put his arms around Molly, drawing her in for a quick kiss. Then he let her go, and got plates and other accoutrements from the cabinets. “Besides, she’s underage. Jamie would be after you so fast, you wouldn’t know what happened.”

 

Yeah, and we’d come after you too! Jack said, and Schrodinger nodded. No kidnapping our friends!

 

“I think I’m outnumbered!” Pavel dropped dramatically into one of the kitchen chairs. “I surrender! Just please, feed me before you kill me!”

 

They all laughed at that, and then settled into breakfast. While they ate, Pavel wove stories of the sea Roads that he and his crew traveled, to Lily and Zoey’s delight. Schrodinger’s too – Molly knew he dreamed of one day traveling the Roads the way that Pavel did.

 

Only if you come with me, he said, stroking the side of his cheek against her leg. I wouldn’t want to leave you behind.

 

Good, because I’d miss you! She picked him up and hugged him, something she rarely did with people around. He leaned against her and purred.

 

“Now,” Pavel said finally, pushing back his plate with a happy sigh. “After that fine meal, I hear you have a delivery to make. It just so happens that I have some horses that need some exercise, so I think we can help one another.”

 

“For a small fee, right?” Drew said, winking at Molly. “I know how you work.”

 

“And what’s wrong with making a small profit?” Pavel asked, appealing to Lily and Zoey. “After all, I don’t see what’s wrong with you parting with, say, a tin of cookies for my poor starving crew, in return for transportation? Do you?”

 

Lily giggled, but Zoey frowned seriously. “I don’t know,” she said. “Do you really think it’s right to take advantage of us? We have an important duty to fulfill. I think you should take us for free, and then, if Molly wants to, she can give you some cookies.” She cocked her head. “Don’t you think so? It’s Christmas, after all.”

 

“You wound me!” Pavel pressed a hand to his chest. “Do you think that I don’t feel Christmas? Of course I do! But I still have to make a profit!”

 

“Every day?” Zoey asked, her eyebrows raised in disbelief. “Even from your friends?”

 

“You are not thinking like a pirate,” he told her. “We always look for profit. But since you won’t do it for cookies, how about this – I’ll take you to the retirement home, and in return, you come with me to make a special delivery.”

 

“Just me?” she said doubtfully.

 

“No, all of you.” Pavel indicated the table. “It’s a very special delivery.”

 

Zoey looked at Lily, then Jack, then Schrodinger. “I think we could do that,” she said, after thinking about it for a few minutes. Then she looked at Molly. “Couldn’t we?”

 

“I think we could do that,” Molly allowed. “So everyone needs to go and get dressed! Lily, you know where your extra clothes are – I think there are two sets, so Zoey has something clean too.”

 

It didn’t take more than 15 minutes for them to get ready to go. Molly had packed up the garlands the night before, so Pavel and Drew brought them downstairs while the others got dressed. Then Molly locked everything up, and they hurried outside.

 

Pavel had brought his shiny black sled that she remembered from last year, with the black horses pulling it. The plows had been through, but with the snow still falling, the sleigh was definitely a better option.

 

“This is so neat!” Zoey said, as Molly arranged the blankets over them. “Evansville never had anything like this!”

 

Lily, who had ridden in sleighs all her life, blinked at her friend. “Really? How did you get around in the winter, then?”

 

“In a car,” Zoey said.

 

“But what about when the snow was too deep for the car?” Lily persisted.

 

Zoey shrugged. “We stayed home.”

 

“Huh.” Lily sat and digested that for a while. “Weird.”

 

“Not everywhere is used to this kind of weather,” Drew reminded her.

 

The trip to the bookstore was fast, and Molly hustled them inside. “Fast, remember?” she told them, as she disabled the alarm. “We don’t want to leave Pavel’s horses standing for too long.”

 

They nodded at her and hurried over to the Advent Calendar as she gathered up the picnic baskets of cookies she’d made the day before. Then she watched as Zoey searched for the 12.

 

She found it lying against the flank of one of the horses pulling the sleigh and pressed her finger to the calendar, then stepped back.

 

Pavel whistled as the square melted and the snowflake drifted out. “This is truly the most wonderous Advent Calendar I have ever seen! What does the snowflake do?”

 

“It tells us what the adventure for the day is,” Lily told him. “Sometimes it gives us stuff. Sometimes not. So we have to watch.”

 

They all stared at the snowflake, and it spun in response. Then it changed, into a small iridescent dragon that blew a tiny gout of flame at them and then vanished.

 

“So what does that mean?” Pavel asked after a few moments of silence.

 

“I…don’t know,” Lily admitted, and Zoey shook her head. “It’s never done that before.”

 

Schrodinger looked, not at the calendar, but at Pavel. That dragon looked an awful lot like Ember, he said. Would that be an omen, maybe?

 

Pavel shrugged, radiating innocence that Molly didn’t believe for a minute. “I do not know,” he said. “I’m but a simple pirate.”

 

“I don’t believe you’ve ever been a simple anything,” Molly said, and he laughed. “All right, guys, we’ll figure this out later. I think our benefactors might know more about this than they’re saying, but we need to get over to the retirement home.”

 

As the horses flew over the snowy streets (the plows had come through, but Molly was definitely glad they had the sleigh and not a car), Zoey said to Schrodinger, “You’ve mentioned Ember twice. You really know a dragon?”

 

Oh yes. Schrodinger nodded. Drew helped Old Man Winter rescue her last year.

 

Zoey looked at Drew, who flushed a little. “Someone had set a trap, using iron,” he said. “Old Man Winter couldn’t touch the trap, so he asked me to help.”

 

Molly hid a snort at that. The real story was a little more bleak, but the girls didn’t need to know that.

 

“Why couldn’t Old Man Winter touch the trap?” Zoey asked.

 

“Because iron is deadly poison to spirits like Old Man Winter,” Pavel told her. “Iron and magic do not mix.”

 

She frowned, and Molly could see her working it through. Zoey’s worldview had taken a serious beating over the last two weeks since the Advent Calendar had come into her life, and Molly wondered if it was a testament to the resiliency of youth that she was fairly accepting of it.

 

“So he’s not just an old man,” she said finally.

 

“Right,” Pavel said. “He’s Old Man Winter. He’s the spirit of Winter in flesh.” When she still looked confused, he added, “He IS Winter. The embodiment of the season.”

 

“But how can that be?” Zoey said. “A season is just a season. There’s no consciousness.”

 

“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong,” Pavel said. “And I think this is where your modern science is having issues as well. Each season has a spirit, an avatar. And when the avatar becomes ill, or upset, the weather of the season reflects it.”

 

“It was awful cold last winter,” Lily told her. “Dad says it was because Old Man Winter was around so much.”

 

“That, and because he had grown bitter,” Pavel said. “His heart was as cold as the winds from the poles. If it hadn’t thawed, who knows how cold it would have been this year.”

 

He is a good friend now, Schrodinger said, and sounded just a bit smug about that. I hope we get to see him this Christmas.

 

“If nothing else, I heard that he was planning on attending the Snow Queen’s Ball,” Pavel said offhandedly. “I might attend myself this year. I haven’t ever been to one yet.”

 

“Ball?” Zoey’s eyes widened. “You have a ball here?”

 

It’s amazing, Schrodinger told her. The Snow Queen creates a ball room in the middle of a field, with no walls, and we dance until the early morning.

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, but we don’t get to go.” Lily’s face was sad. “It’s only for grown-ups.”

 

“Oh.” Zoey’s face fell too.

 

Molly glanced at Drew, who winked at her. “Well, don’t worry,” she said. “The Snow Queen’s Ball has happened every year since the founding of the Cove. Soon enough, you’ll be old enough to go.” Then she changed the subject. “Look, we’re almost there!”

 

The sleigh had turned into the driveway of the retirement home, and the kids cheered, the Ball momentarily forgotten. They all piled out of the sleigh when it came to a stop at the front door, and Mrs. Dawson came out, smiling.

 

“You made it!” she said. “I was worried that you wouldn’t!”

 

“We wouldn’t have left you without your decorations!” Molly replied, handing down the first box of garlands. “And we brought muscles to help us hang them!”

 

“And we have some help too,” Mrs. Dawson assured them. “Several of the nurses are eager to help.”

 

With so many willing hands, the garlands were quickly hung on the trees in the courtyard, and as soon as they went up, Mrs. Dawson invited them into the ballroom for hot chocolate and cookies. There was another surprise waiting for them: Declan and Starsha were there, with his harp, singing Christmas carols.

 

Pavel was in his element, flirting with nurses and residents alike, and Lily and Zoey were reduced to giggling at him. While he was amusing himself and them, Molly got a chance to talk privately to Drew.

 

“Do you know what this delivery is that he wants us to make?” she asked, all the while watching the kids.

 

“Maybe.” Drew grinned at her. “What’s it worth to you?”

 

She turned to give him a look. “I’m serious.”

 

“So am I.” He laughed when she scowled at him. “Don’t worry, Molly. I can assure you that Pavel is on the up and up this time. He was pretty amazed at that calendar, though. It was spot on.”

 

“It was, huh?” Molly considered that. “Which means…”

 

“Which means don’t worry so much, and enjoy the day.” Drew gave her a quick kiss. “Have fun.”

 

“I am having fun,” Molly protested, but she finally smiled. “I just want to make sure he’s not going to get us in over our heads. He’s good at that.”

 

“I can promise you that he’s not going to,” Drew said.

 

And she had to be content with that.

 

After the kids had warmed up, Pavel announced that they had to go. “After all, I’ve another delivery to make,” he reminded them. “And I don’t want to be late!”

 

“Can you tell us where yet?” Lily asked him.

 

“Not yet,” he said, leading them back out to the sleigh. “You’ll see soon enough.”

 

Once they were tucked back into the blankets, he turned to his driver and said, “The Gate station.”

 

Molly looked at him, and he grinned. “No, I’m not kidnapping you, Molly. Although the thought has crossed my mind a few times. But this time, I promise, is not one of them.”

 

Zoey had never been to the Gate station, so she was scanning the horizon with great interest. “Are we going in?” she asked, after Drew pointed out the mansion that housed Carter Cove’s land Gate.

 

“Not exactly,” Pavel said, winking.

 

“The sleigh and horses are too big to get in the normal door,” Drew told Zoey. “So there’s an entrance in the back that the larger vehicles, like this, use.”

 

Molly had never been through that entrance either – all her travel had been on foot, through the front door. So when the sleigh pulled around to the back of the complex and into the stables, she watched with interest as they entered a covered tunnel that connected the stables to the main house. It was well lit, with wall sconces that were decorated for the season with holly and ivy swags, and opened into the main Gate room.

 

“Oh wow,” Zoey breathed, as she took her first look at the massive room that took up most of the interior of the mansion. “It’s warm!”

 

It’s the magic of the Gate, Schrodinger told her. The excess energy has to go somewhere when it’s used. In the Gate room, the entire roof was glass, like a greenhouse, and grass grew over much of the floor. And to one side, the great stone Gate stood, a simple arch, with a faint shimmering contained within it.

 

Molly and Drew waved to Mac, the Gate Station manager, as the sleigh came to a stop in front of the Gate itself.

 

“Where are you off to, folks?” Luke asked, coming up to the side of the sleigh.

 

Pavel gave him the coordinates, and he nodded, then went over to a computer terminal and typed them in. They hadn’t sounded familiar to Molly, but Luke didn’t seem worried, so that soothed her a bit.

 

Do you really think Drew would let him do something underhanded with the girls here? Schrodinger said quietly.

 

Molly had to admit that he wouldn’t, and she sighed, settling back as the glow between the walls of the arch intensified.

 

“Will it hurt?” Zoey asked. “Going through that?”

 

Not at all, Schrodinger assured her. If anything, it tickles.

 

“You’re all set,” Luke called. “Safe travels!”

 

They waved at him as the driver slapped the reins on the backs of the horses. The sleigh surged forward and through the Gate, and with a slight bump, they landed on a Road.

 

See? Schrodinger said to Zoey. Nothing to it.

 

 

“This is even better than flying!” she said, her cheeks pink with cold and excitement.

 

Really? Jack asked.

 

“Really!” she assured him. “Flying, you’re in a plane. You can’t feel anything. With this, you can feel it all.” She spread her arms out as if hugging the wind that was flying past them.

 

They raced down the Road, and Molly became aware of another scent on the wind: pines, lots of them. Wherever they were going, it was in the woods.

 

Another Gate loomed before them, and without missing a step, the horses charged through it, and they burst into a world of sunshine, snow and trees.

 

I know this way! Schrodinger said suddenly, sitting up. He looked at Drew. This is the way to the cottage!

 

Drew nodded. “We’ve been invited to lunch with some old friends,” he said, grinning.

 

“But then what’s the delivery?” Lily asked, turning to look at Pavel. “You said you were making a special delivery.”

 

“I am indeed,” he said, echoing Drew’s grin. “And you are all going to be very well received indeed.”

 

“You’re delivering US?” she squeaked. “To who?”

 

“To me,” came a familiar rumbling voice, as the sleigh came to a stop in front of a tall man with a long white beard.

 

“Old Man Winter!” Lily squealed in glee, and the sleigh had barely stopped moving before she was out of the blankets and throwing herself in his arms. “I missed you!”

 

“I missed you too!” he said, enfolding her in his massive arms. “I missed you all!”

 

“That’s really him?” Zoey whispered to Molly, looking at them. “That’s Old Man Winter?”

 

“In the flesh,” Molly said. “But he’s not the only one we’re here to see.” She pointed beyond him, to where a lovely green figure curled in the snow.

 

Zoey’s jaw dropped, and she couldn’t say anything for a moment. “That’s…that’s…”

 

A dragon. Schrodinger said, climbing out.

 

“A real dragon.” Zoey couldn’t even move until Molly nudged her.

 

“A real dragon,” Molly agreed. “Why don’t you come and meet them?”