Sunday, December 18
“Did you guys have a good time last night?” Molly asked, as she brought the Advent castle into the tea room.
“It was the BEST,” Gideon said solemnly, nodding his head. “I can’t wait until next year!”
“Me either,” Lily said. “I hung my mask above my bed when I got home, so I can see it all year! And the Snow Queen gave me an extra one for Zoey!”
“Oh cool!” Molly said. “Jade is a good friend.”
And Caliban didn’t ruin it, Schrodinger said over their private channel. I’m glad of that.
Me too, she said quietly. Do you think he was there?
I didn’t sense him, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t. The CrossCat said. The Librarian said he’s been very quiet lately. Which isn’t really like him.
Molly shook her head, and then put thoughts of Caliban out of her head as Gideon said, “Oh, look! There it is!”
The 18 was half-obscured by a length of ivy on the left-hand side of the main hall, and if they hadn’t already found the 8, Molly would have wondered if this was that instead. The window opened, and the sweetly-spicy scent of gingerbread filled the room.
Inside, the room was dominated by a huge house, made entirely of gingerbread. Chefs in white aprons and hats swarmed around the structure, adding icing and all sorts of decorations. Candy canes sprouted from the front yard, surrounding gumdrop trees and snowmen made of marshmallows, pretzel arms outstretched. One chef was even up on the roof, gluing down bits of “snow” around the chimney.
“Wow,” Kaylee said softly. “Look at that.”
Then she gasped in delight as one of the snowmen actually turned to look at her, bright black gumdrop eyes winking. It picked up a handful of what looked like snow and tossed it at them.
“Powdered sugar!” Lily said, as it showered around them. “They’re using powdered sugar!”
Some of the sugar crystals shimmered and turned into chef’s hats, falling on their heads with a soft “plop.” A piece of paper fell into Gideon’s hand, and he read out loud, “It’s time to decorate! Are you ready?”
“I know what this means!” Lily said excitedly. “We get to decorate the houses today, right, Molly?”
“Right! So let’s get the castle put away, and then we can start working!”
Molly put the castle back in the pantry, and then she and Kiaya (who was taking the week off from writing) got everyone set up on three of the tables in the tea room.
Three tables, because what she brought out made them all exclaim excitedly.
“It’s a gingerbread TRAIN!” Gideon shouted. “You’re making a TRAIN!”
It was. There were ten cars in total, everything from the locomotive to a shiny red caboose at the end.
“Are you sure you want us to decorate it?” Lily said dubiously, looking at her aunt.
“Absolutely,” Molly said. “I trust you. And really, you guys are going to do awesome. Here’s what I want you to do.”
She’d already laid down the royal icing and put the train together. Now, she brought out all the various candies to decorate it, and explained what she wanted.
“Gideon, you and Kaylee are in charge of the gumdrops,” she said, handing them the bowls of little sugared jellies. “I’ve put marks everywhere I want one. Take this icing,” and she handed them each a small tube of royal icing, “and put a dot like this.” She put a small blob of frosting on the flat bottom of a gumdrop. “Then, stick it on.”
She put it on the side of the locomotive, where she’d put a small red “X” before.
“We got it,” Gideon said, and Kaylee nodded.
“Good! Schrodinger, you and Jack are in charge of making sure they don’t miss an X, okay?”
We got it, Schrodinger said, and he jumped up next to Gideon, as Jack joined Kaylee at the other end.
“What about me?” Lily said.
“You get to help me in the kitchen, since Kiaya’s going to watch these guys,” Molly said, leading her older niece back with her. “We’ve got other houses to decorate, and I know you have a pretty steady hand.”
The afternoon flew by as they decorated, and by the time Corrine came to pick Lily, Jack, and Kaylee up, they had made amazing headway. There were more that Molly had to do, but she knew she’d be fine finishing it.
>Activity: Make a gingerbread house, of course!