BreadCrumb Trail (The Yellow Hoods, #2): Steampunk meets Fairy Tale (6 page)

The line of children awaiting a gift started at the sleigh, then wound and snaked away so far that Nikolas couldn’t see the end. There were Mineau guardsmen throughout, more as a reminder to everyone to behave well, than for any specific action. Nikolas loved seeing the children of the poor and rich alike, standing side-by-side, and eventually talking to one another. He’d seen remarkable friendships develop because of the Solstice lines.

Some people out for an evening walk stopped and stared, not sure what to make of everything. Some watched from a distance, often being approached by someone participating and thus being drawn into the event. If anyone had an issue with what was taking place, they kept it to themselves.

“I can’t believe you guys made all this stuff,” said Tee. The Yellow Hoods were responsible for taking gifts from the sleigh, one by one, and handing them to Pierre, who handed them to the line of Cochon brothers and guardsmen, and then on to Captain Gabriel Archambault of Minette and his Mineau counterpart’s right-hand man, Deputy Captain Samuel Davis of Mineau, and finally to Nikolas, who handed each gift to a child.

It was Isabella, many years ago, who insisted Nikolas be the one to hand the gifts to the children, instead of being the one taking them out of the sleigh. The Magistrate of Minette had made a point of telling Nikolas, with Isabella at his side, that if Nikolas wasn’t going to be the one to hand the gifts out, then there would be no community celebration. The Magistrate at the time felt it was very much Nikolas’ creation. Nikolas was certain it was a bluff, but relented. From then on, he required everyone involved in the gift giving line to train together, so they could get through it quickly, without the children feeling they were having toys thrown at them.

The Magistrate of Mineau sat at the table closest to where the gifts were being handed out, but had been too suspicious at first to participate. He watched for twenty minutes as each present was placed into the hands of an appreciative child, on the stage he’d insisted be built for the purpose. Then, to the surprise of many, he got up and took the place just before Nikolas. He didn’t feel right taking the spot he’d originally demanded, that of being the one to actually hand the presents to the children. He struggled to keep up, often forcing Deputy Captain Davis to toss gifts above or around him to Nikolas to maintain the flow. It made for a wonderful spectacle and drew cheers from the crowd.

After the last child, Tee looked down the line and saw there were still several gifts in people’s hands. “Does that mean we actually have too many, for the first time ever?”

Bakon chuckled. “I thought that one year, but no. This is only the first wave. You guys weren’t old enough before to help with the second wave—if you’d even realized there was one. Some people are so poor or embarrassed about something that they don’t come out until everyone else is gone. They eventually do come out, hoping that Monsieur Klaus and the sleigh are still here. That’s why we have the other sleigh full of gifts.”

“What other sleigh?” asked Elly and Richy.

“The one that William and Jennifer brought,” said Squeals. “You didn’t know there was another sleigh, did you?” He and Bore chuckled.

“Yeah, Mister Nik is sneaky. Your mom and dad sneaky too,” said Bore, in his dim-witted, deep voice. He was tapping his head and acting goofy.

“Grandpapa, why all the secrecy?” asked Tee as he approached, having caught wind of the conversation.

Nikolas removed the knit winter cap from his bald head and put it in his coat pocket. “That is because greed is a sad thing, and it does many things to the way people think. The second sleigh is smaller—don’t think it is this size; it is not. It only has about two hundred more toys, maybe, but hopefully it is enough.

“And will they come? Every year they have, and so that is why we will sit here until dawn. Well, that is, except for right now,” he said, looking at his pocket watch and picking up a lantern he had in the sleigh. “I have an appointment I must get to. Squeals, tell Jennifer and William to bring the other sleigh in now, yes?”

Squeals nodded and smiled. “No problem.”

As Nikolas walked off, Squeals turned to the Yellow Hoods. “Go enjoy the town. You guys deserve it with all the good you’ve been doing lately.”

Elly, Tee, and Richy exchanged uncertain looks. They loved the idea, but they each had a deep sense of duty.

“Are you sure, Squeals? I mean, we can wait with you guys,” said Elly.

Bakon chimed in. “After these guys get back from bringing the other sleigh,” he said, pointing to his brothers, “we’re sending them off to enjoy the night, too. Egelina-Marie and I are sitting with… Nikolas… until morning, and then I’m having breakfast with her family.”

“Did you just say
Nikolas
?” asked Tee. “It looked like it was painful to say.”

“Almost as painful as saying you’re having breakfast with her family,” added Richy.

Bakon shifted uncomfortably and smiled awkwardly. Part of him wanted to lash out, but that was the old him, impulsive and raw. Grudgingly he said, “He asked that Egelina-Marie and I call him that now. It’s like trying to get a rock out of my mouth, every time. I guess it’s… I don’t know… it’s weird.”

“You’ll get used to it. You can do anything,” said Richy. He admired something about Bakon. Maybe it was that his reputation as a thug had been a disguise for work he was secretly doing for Captain Archambault back in Minette, or maybe it was because Richy couldn’t imagine anyone being tougher.

Bakon gave Richy a wink. He then clapped his mitted hands. “Okay, enough. It’s Solstice! Get out of here before I have to create a crisis for you Yellow Hoods!”

“Yeah, go have fun!” boomed Bore.

“Okay, okay,” said Elly on behalf of the trio as they started to wander off.

Elly turned to Tee. “Isn’t permitting someone to call him by his first name a big deal for your grandfather?”

Tee nodded as she thought about it. “It’s a biggie. He’s formal about things like that. I don’t know if everyone from the eastern kingdoms are so formal, but he is, at least. I remember a story about how Grandpapa tortured my dad. Every time my dad wanted to talk him about proposing to my mom, Grandpapa just changed the subject.”

“That’s it? Just change the subject back. How hard can it be?” asked Richy.

“It took my dad months, and he needed the help of my Grandmama,” answered Tee.

“Seriously?” said Richy. He pulled his coat in, as the winter night air was getting a bit nippy.

Elly gave a raised eyebrow to Richy. “Have you had a conversation with that man that he didn’t want to have? His mind is an island unto itself.”

Richy gave Elly a fake, surprised look. “
Unto
. Wow. Pulling out special words for the holiday, are we?”

Elly gave Richy a shove. “It’s a word.”

“Oh, I know it’s a word. It’s an
un
loved,
un
wanted word. A problem
un
to itself, if you ask me.”

Rolling her eyes, Elly said, “That doesn’t make sense.”

“You know, last year,” said Tee, changing the subject, “we were just three kids running around playing with our homemade yellow cloaks.
Now
look at us.”

“Well, not all cloaks were created equal. You had yours from your grandfather, Elly made hers with her mom, and… I made mine,” said Richy.

Elly smiled at Richy and said, “Well, yours was less of a cloak and more of an honest effort in trying to get a bed sheet to bend to your will.”

Tee started laughing. She tried not to, but it was true.

Richy looked a bit hurt. “Hey! I lost blood putting that thing together. I don’t know how you girls do sewing.”

“Oh, we know you lost lots of blood—it was all over that yellow cloak! Well, yellow and red, really,” said Tee, laughing.

“Really gross,” added Elly, shaking her head in mock disapproval. “I’m glad we have these ones now. I still wonder what they’re made of.”

Richy stopped and crossed his arms. “Really? You’re so superior at sewing?”

“Well, like you said, you don’t know how we girls do it. We’re born with it. Born to make things, from babies, to buildings, to…”

“Got stuck looking for another ‘B’ word, eh?” said Tee, switching sides.

“Head plant,” said Richy. “So
close
. You nearly finished me off, but just as you rounded the corner, the wheels fell off and you flipped your cart. Ha!”

Tee looked over to Richy. “Someone’s been spending a bit
too
much time with his sail-cart.”

Richy smiled uncomfortably, and a sudden chill doused the playful mood. Elly and Tee hadn’t asked Richy what was going on at home, but it had been clear over the past couple of months that something was awry. Whatever it was, they hoped that if and when he was ready, he’d talk to one of them. They were surprised when he’d mentioned his family life to Nikolas earlier, in front of everyone. Clearly, it was worse than they’d thought.

For a few minutes, they walked in silence, occasionally waving to the kids they knew as they wandered the colored lantern-decorated streets of Mineau.

Richy sighed, letting go of the tension, and said, “They decorate differently here. Have you noticed the red, yellow, and green leaves together on every business? Not on a house, just on a business. I never saw that before.”

After several seconds, Elly grumbled. “I wanted to make a killer snarky remark about how you wouldn’t notice something obvious, but I drew a blank. A blank!”

“Oh my goodness—maybe you’ve lost your right to the throne!” said Tee, teasing her long-time best friend.

“Oh, no,” said Richy, starting to laugh. “You’re but a simple commoner now! Doomed to be snarked upon by your betters! Doomed to—”

“Watch it—I still have
plenty
of quick wit in my quiver,
Aldrich
,” said Elly, squinting cheekily.

Richy and Tee stopped in their tracks and looked, mouths wide open, at Elly.

“Did you just declare a full and proper names war?” said Tee, scooping a handful of snow.

They had a sacred rule: Not one of them was fond of their proper name, and it was not to be used under any circumstances. Violation of this rule unleashed all manner of chaos.

“You’re going down, El—” said Richy, interrupted by a snowball in the face from Elly.

“Snowball fight!” yelled nearby kids. They started to leave their parents’ sides, in droves, in order to join in.

Within minutes, almost a hundred kids were laughing and throwing snowballs under the glow of the city’s lanterns. The heavy snow that fell was perfect for compacting snowballs.

“Reminds me of when I was a kid,” said one man to a beige-hooded figure beside him.

“I was never a kid like that. Might have been nice.” The figure then walked away.

“What’s her problem?” said the man to a guy beside him, who shrugged in response.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Bakon & Eg's Breakfast

Gabriel Archambault was Minette’s captain of the guard. He’d already been proud of his daughter, Egelina-Marie, for following in his footsteps. He’d been in complete disbelief when he’d learned that not only was she an expert sharpshooter, but that she had also saved the life of Nikolas Klaus, a close family friend, on her first day on the job.

At the breakfast table, Gabriel tried to speak, but simply ended up glaring at Bakon. The men felt awkward. Conversation had done little more than start and stop. Everyone waited for Gabriel to say something, but instead he took another mouthful of sausage.

Egelina-Marie’s mother, Victoria, had decided it was time for her daughter’s boyfriend of a few months to meet them. It was an innocent idea, but she’d forgotten the local significance of Solstice breakfast. Where she grew up, Solstice night was the only thing that mattered. Here, the Solstice breakfast was about very close family. If boyfriends or girlfriends were invited, which was rare, it was a sign the family was expecting them—very shortly—to be joining the family. Egelina-Marie knew what her mother had simply intended in arranging the breakfast, yet she still wasn’t completely comfortable.

“I’d like to say again—the sausages are amazing,” said Bakon, trying to find something to say. “I particularly like the fried potatoes.” The breakfast truly was excellent, and he savored every bite. He hadn’t had homemade sausage, cooked beans, and pancakes in a long time. It reminded him of when Isabella Klaus used to cook for the family on special occasions. 

Victoria smiled. She appreciated his comment this third time as much as she had the first. At this point, if they made it through breakfast with only minor injuries, she would declare it a success.

Bakon squirmed. He’d secretly been working for the captain for two years, as a covert hand of justice and for information gathering. Gabriel had always been more than happy to have the Cochon brothers rough up a stranger to get information, or drive an undesirable out of town. Gabriel had a soft spot for the brothers since the day Nikolas had taken them in—a day Gabriel remembered well.

“Bakon, what are your brothers doing this morning?” asked Victoria, trying to get things going again.

Bakon sighed in relief. He could answer that question without causing problems. “They’re having Solstice breakfast with Jennifer and William Baker. It’s the first time since Tee was born.”

“I guess you wished you were there, then?” said Gabriel, sharply.

Egelina-Marie and Victoria shot angry looks at him.

“What?” he said, raising his hands in his defense. “He said it’s been a long time. It probably brings back memories of good times. He probably
would
like to be there.” Gabriel growled under his breath.

He had been happy for his daughter when he’d heard she had a boyfriend. He’d hoped it was someone up and coming, maybe even someone in the Magistrate’s office. When he’d learned it was Bakon, he had misgivings. Whenever Egelina-Marie mentioned Bakon by name, he’d tried to pretend she was talking about someone else who happened to have the same unusual name. His wife had now made it impossible for him to continue fooling himself.