An elf wedding, part 2

Eidin, the head research elf, came running into my office one month ago.

“Sir, we have it!” he squeaked.

Whenever Eidin is excited, he squeaks. It gets the cats excited, too!

“Have what?” I asked. I didn’t know which problem he was working on.

He was working on many projects. Good tasting ice cream that can help you lose weight, for example. Or how to make it snow in Australia in December (don’t worry, even if he found a way, I wouldn’t let him!)

“The wedding,” he squeaked.

Ah, yes, how to get the population of the North Pole to Bavaria without being seen.

Now, I am able to do that with my reindeer, thanks to a little magic, some stealth technology the elves developed, and a little help from some military leaders who ignored a certain blip on their radar screens Christmas Eve! But moving thousands of elves and creatures?

“We will use the stealth technology we used on your sleigh,” he said. As he spoke, Mathom, our cat, looked up curiously.

“Yes,” I said, “that will help.”

“And we will use the weather to hide the transporters,” he squeaked.

Mathom began to purr.

“Transporter?” I asked.

“The blimps.”

Blimps!

“That sounds interesting,” I said. “But where will we get the blimps?”

“We’ll build them,” he squeaked nervously as Mathom stood up, eyeing him. “We’ve…we’ve started building the test one already.”

He ran out the door.

Mathom looked at me, blinked, sat down, and licked her paw.

Blimps?

A few days, Eidin called me to witness the test flight.

The blimp was anchored just outside the village. It was long and white. The main part was like a fat sausage. Below it, there was a cabin with dozens of windows. There were propellers at the back.

I had never seen anything so big.

“It will hold about 400 passengers,” Eidin said.

He waved his hand and elves released the ropes holding the blimp down. Its motors roared, and it began to rise slowly. It started picking up speed, and soared up higher and higher towards the clouds. Then it entered a cloud – and was gone!

“We will hide them in clouds,” he said with pride. “The white color will blend in. That, and the stealth technology will keep them hidden.”

I did some mental counting.

“We will need at least, yes, at least 10 of them,” I said.

“We’ve started building 11 others, just to be on the safe side,” He said. “We will fly down to the middle of the Atlantic, then use the weather patterns and fly with the clouds east over France and Switzerland to Bavaria.”

“But how can you be sure that there will be clouds blowing that way?” I asked.

He gave me a look that basically said, How can you ask?

So in between all the toys and Christmas items the elves were making, they were building the blimps. They finished them just in time.

The morning of July 15, all of the elves and creatures of the North Pole climbed into the blimps. Two had them had been specially made so that even the snow giants would fit.

Alegas and Lotina were to ride in the sleigh with Mrs. Claus in me. We were going to take the direct route.

I looked up to the sky.

There were no clouds.

Eidin walked over to me.

“We will see you there,” he said.

I looked back at the cloudless sky.

Eidin laughed. “Just watch.”

He climbed aboard the nearest blimp.

Soon all 12 of the blimps were rising into the sky. It was a beautiful sight.

As they started leveling off, all of a sudden huge clouds of white began swirling out of the blimps. In a moment, they were all invisible.

“Ho! Ho! Ho!” I roared with delight.

We waited for the “clouds” to move south. Then we climbed into the sleigh.

“Dash away, all!” I called out. The reindeer began to run, then leaped into the air and we were streaking south toward Bavaria.

Shulun, our dog was hanging over the side, the wind flapping his ears.

In the wink of an eye, we were in Bavaria outside the workshop.

Anyone else standing here would just have seen a mountain covered with trees down low, and snow on the top.

I saw my home.

It was here that Mrs. Claus and I had our first real home. It was here that we started our family. It was here that we met the elves.

“Welcome home,” a tiny voice said.

I looked at the bush where the voce had come from, and out stepped Elendil, the head care-taker elf of my Bavarian home.

“Elendil, my old friend,” I said as we hugged.

After we had all hugged, he said,” Come inside. We have food ready.”

We followed him behind the bush and up to a sheer wall that vanished as we walked through it.

I stopped and smiled. My old workshop stretched out before me.

(Tomorrow: The workshop, a chocolate feast, and the blimps arrive – with a bear problem!)