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A Christmas Without Santa Claus

By Terri Whitman © 12-2-07

The television blared something about how it seemed like all of the Santa stuff was gone. There was also something about a man having problems with the pants of his Santa outfit and his legs disappearing. Not even trying to make heads or tails out of the last part, Steve McGarrett thought the news comcast meant the stores had sold out of all of the Christmas icon, so he did not give it any thought.

He was alone as he walked out to his apartment’s lanai, warming his hands around a hot mug of coffee. I guess all I’ll ever be is the perpetual bachelor, he pondered.

The Five-0 office was going to be closed for both days with the office party happening the day before Christmas Eve. From the comments he heard, it turned out to be one of the best Danny Williams managed to put together.

Because Chin Ho Kelly had family, McGarrett did not feel right asking the Oriental detective to man the fort on this year. Kono Kalakaua, when he could swing it, always went to the Big Island to be with his family. His second-in-command, Danny Williams, had left the days before for the Eastern Coast to spend the holiday season with his elderly Aunt. Even Jenny Sherman, his secretary, had special plans for both days when a long time friend came to the islands to visit her.

That left the head of Five-0 all by himself. Oh, he could have gotten a date. There were plenty of women who would loved to spend the day with him but for now, he did not have anyone.

A light wind blew a cold drizzly rain onto him. Ignoring it, he savored the hot beverage as he looked out over the island landscape. Several of the lanais on his building and on others were decorated with Christmas lights. Some were even decked out with Christmas scenes. Smiling at the sight of some of the decorations, he did not relate the newscast nor did he notice that something was missing.

One of the main Christmas icons was missing. The figure of Santa Claus in every type and form was nowhere to be found.

*****

“Are you sure?” A white haired matronly woman dressed in a red and white long woolen dress pushed the glasses up on her nose after bending down a little to question one of the helpers.

“We’ve looked…we’ve looked every where…he’s not any where…not any where,” came the excited slightly high-pitched replies from the small group. Most were dressed in a green woolen outfit, their shoes and hats all had a curl at the ends. Some even had bells at the end of these curled endings.

“Did you find out who might have been the last one to see him? He’s got to be somewhere. He knows he’s got to leave in a few hours,” the woman asked as she finished whipping her hands off. “How about the stables?”

“Everyone’s been accounted for and we’re just about finished loading his sleigh. What are we going to do…going to do…if we can’t find him…find him,” several of the taller helpers asked.

“I think we need some help and I know just the person to ask. Get my sleigh hooked up. I’ve got to make a fast trip to a small island in the middle of the Pacific,” she said before going back into her warm kitchen to get her coat.

*****

Walking back into his apartment, McGarrett looked over at the stack of presents his staff had given him. He had not opened Danny’s yet because they were going to call each other and open their presents while on the phone.

Reflecting back on what he bought for the others, he knew his young friend would really appreciate the gift card for the new business suit. He needs it after ruining his last good suit, he mused thinking back to case that ruined his and his friend’s clothing.

He knew the others would also like their gifts. After covertly questioning his staff, he had gone out of his way to find out exactly what they had wanted this year. The only one he had problems with was Jenny’s. He had not realized just how little he really knew of this woman he saw every day. Thankfully, Danno had helped him figure out what the perky little woman wanted.

A tired yawn came over him. Stretching, he refilled his mug before sitting down on the couch. Mentally he was not ready for sleep, but physically he was. That is why he wanted more coffee…something to energize his tired muscles. Normally he did not make it a habit of watching any television, but it was a fast way of knowing if anything needed his immediate attention. Sitting back, he took a sip of his hot brew before setting it down to watch the news. He did not notice his head starting to fall back upon the cushion and within seconds, he was asleep.

*****

“Hold on. You don’t just rush into this type of person’s home without some precautions,” the woman said getting out of the sleigh. “Whew, it’s warm here.” Shedding her coat, she carefully placed it into the back of the sleigh.

She motioned to one of her helpers to come over to her. “You’ll need to stay here and you know what to do if you see someone coming, right?”

“Yes. I have everything…everything I need with me. I’ll keep everyone’s strength up…strength up by giving them some of the goodies…some of the goodies we made for them. Do you think he’ll help us…help us?”

“I think once I’ve explained it, he’ll do what he can. He’s always been a very good person and very resourceful,” she told him before laying her finger next to her nose.

*****

“Tsk, tsk…he didn’t do…didn’t do any decorating.”

“That’s because he’s been to busy, but I know he allowed his friends to decorate the area where he stays the most…sort of his home away from home you might say.”

The duo walked over to the sleeping man. Smiling at the peaceful sight, the woman steepled her fingers…lightly touching her lips with them as she tilted her head to the left. “I remember when he was an altar boy. He was a fun loving child but one who had to grow up all too soon. Much in his life has tested his faith, but his faith was strong enough to endure everything.

“Now, if he’ll be able to help or not. He’s known to be the best detective around…” the woman said reaching forward with her gloved right hand.

“I sure hope so…hope so.”

*****

The touch was soft and oh so tender. At first, he thought he was imagining it like in a dream, but the sensation continued. Slowly his mental faculties kicked in. McGarrett did not know why he did it, but he smiled as he opened his eyes.

“Merry Christmas Stephen,” said the woman who stood back up.

McGarrett looked at her and then to the diminutive person standing a little bit behind her. His grin grew larger at the sight of the green clad being.

“I must be dreaming,” he said as he sat up, rubbing his face to help clear the sleep from his face a little faster.

“No dream…no dream…we are real,” the elf sized little man said.

“I know you,” said McGarrett squinting his eyes a little to study to two standing before him.

“That you do…that you do.”

“Hush Fhin. Yes, he knows who we are but I don’t think he believes that we’re real quite yet. Am I right Stephen?” the woman asked him.

McGarrett shook his head a little thinking the manifestation standing before him could not be real, but when he looked back up, they were still there.

“Don’t take this wrong…but…exactly…who are you?” he asked.

“I’m the wife of the man you tried to wait up for every year during Christmas when you were small and this is Fhin. He’s been watching over you since your birth.”

McGarrett rubbed his mouth and chin before leaning on his right hand, both elbows resting on his knees. Tilting his head, he looked outside. It was dark and the clock on his wall said it was almost 8 PM. He took a deep lung filling breath and slowly let it back out as he turned back to his unexpected guests.

“Okay…okay…I know I’m not going crazy so this must be real. So you’re Mrs. Claus?”

“Oh yes, oh yes. That is she…that is she. And we’ve come to ask for your help.”

McGarrett narrowed his eyes as he gave the elf a hard look, but he could not help but keep his smile. Looking up at the woman his eyes soften. “Please…have a seat. You’ve clearly come a long way.”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll stand…actually we don’t have much time. With every moment we waste here another Santa is disappearing from all over the world, but Fhin is right though, we need your help,” Mrs. Claus told him.

Nodding, McGarrett found himself standing. “I don’t totally understand and it’s obvious that you have a problem. What is it?”

“Santa Claus is missing and I need you to find him.”

*****

The bedlam in the toy factory caused McGarrett to cover his ears. He did not remember leaving his apartment nor arriving here. It was not until he was inside that he realized the truth of what the duo had told him. “I don’t believe it,” he said watching the fever pitched activity going on all around him.

“That’s because…because…as you grew your childhood…childhood beliefs were buried,” Fhin told him as he introduced the Five-0 chief to many of those there.

“This is Nim'tim…Nim'tim. He’s in charge of finding out who’s naughty or nice. This is Anebila … Anebila …she’s the one who makes the dollies for the little girls,” said Fhin. “Ah, this is Thonnyla…Thonnyla…she helps Mrs. Santa in the kitchen.”

“Fhin…we don’t have time to introduce Stephen to everyone,” reminded Mrs. Claus. “We only have until one hour before dawn.”

McGarrett gave her a questioning look.

“That’s how long Santa can take to deliver all the presents around the world if he’s rushed. Hopefully you’ll find him well before that,” she told him.

McGarrett bowed his head a little as he shook it. A slightly crooked smile caused his eyes to twinkle a little. “How can I help you?”

Mrs. Claus led the way back to her home. Inside, she indicated to McGarrett to sit. For the next hour, she went over their attempts at trying to locate her missing husband.

“So no one saw him leave,” McGarrett said. “Have you made a head count of everyone here? Is anyone else missing?”

Mrs. Claus diverted her eyes as she though. Cocking her head to the side, she glanced over at Fhin. “I don’t think we have.”

“I can go…can go check and see…and see.” Fhin quickly left to do what McGarrett had suggested as McGarrett watched him leave.

“Does he always repeat himself,” he asked.

Mrs. Claus’s eyes sparkled. “I’m afraid you’ll have to excuse Fhin. He tends to stutter when he gets excited, but his heart is in the right spot.”

It did not take Fhin very long before he returned. “Mrs. Claus…Mrs. Claus…he’s gone…he’s gone!”

McGarrett quickly rose and stood next to Mrs. Claus. “Who’s gone?” he asked briskly.

“Falowas and he’s left this note.” Fhin handed Mrs. Claus the letter.

Her facial expression saddens then turned to one of worry. “Thank you Fhin,” she said handing McGarrett the letter.

Santa Claus will never return unless you quit giving out the presents to the children of the world. It was signed…Wo Fat …aka Falowas

*****

“I had a feeling. Even in my dreams he’s been a thorn in my side,” McGarrett said crumpling the letter and throwing it to the floor.

“Wo Fat…Wo Fat…I know that name…that name. He’s…He’s on the top of the bad list and has been there….been there since he was a small child…small child,” said Fhin.

“You know this man?” asked Mrs. Claus.

McGarrett’s jaw muscles rippled as he struggled to control his frustration at this latest Chinese spy’s caper. “Unfortunately, yes. I’ve come up against him several times. Each time his plots were worse. He’s always dreamed of controlling the world and somehow I’ve been able to stop him.”

“Well, you’ll just have to stop him again. Do you have any idea on how you’re going to do it this time?” asked Mrs. Claus.

“Without my team, I’m not sure. I could use someone like Che Fong right now. He could tell me a lot about this letter.”

“We have one…have one…just like him…that would be Labi … Labi. He can do it…do it.”

*****

“Interesting. This paper is from our old workshop,” Labi said after removing the sheet from under an interestingly put together microscope. “You know the one, Mrs. Claus. The one we closed a few years back because we didn’t have enough room.”

“You think he might have Nick there?” asked Mrs. Claus. The old building was something like a fort. It had high walls and a set of large wooden doors and was located on the far northern end of the compound. Its primary use was to house old Christmas decorations and furniture, so seldom did anyone enter it.

“Are there other buildings near it?” asked McGarrett. “Can someone watch it without being seen?”

“Oh yes…oh yes,” chimed in Fhin. “We have just what you need…what you need.” Fhin’s little legs moved very fast, faster than McGarrett imagined such a small person could move. Both McGarrett and Mrs. Claus almost had to run to keep up with Fhin.

“Fhin…slow it down,” said Mrs. Claus.

“It’s over here…over here…remember Kimas said you can watch…can watch, but no one sees,” yammered Fhin. He reached up to remove a cloth off what looked like an old movie machine. “You can look…can look inside and see.”

“That’s the old viewer that Nick had set up so he could check on things from the old bedroom. I thought it was left in the warehouse with all the other stuff,” said Mrs. Claus.

“Santa had us…had us bring it out of storage…out of storage. Said he might use it…use it for watching other places,” Fhin said looking up at McGarrett and Mrs. Claus.

“What do you mean…other places?” asked McGarrett, as he looked the machine over. On the side was a handle and on the little ledge in front was a set of levers. “How does this work?”

“Well, we’ve sort of tapped into the various satellites orbiting the earth. It’s my newest invention so to speak. We now can monitor the weather all over the world,” said Kimas.

McGarrett’s brow wrinkled as he gave the elf a disbelieving look. Kimas just smiled as he pulled out his long pipe and tapped it on his hand before filling and lighting it. “I sort of dabble in this type of thing during the off season. With technology improving each year, we might as well take advantage of it.”

Nodding his head in agreement, McGarrett gave out a light chuckle. He was remembering that there was only one other person he allowed to smoke in his presence and this elf reminded him of his oriental friend.

“So does it still have the ability to look within the old building?” he asked hoping for a possible way to checking things out before storming the place.

“Oh yeah,” said Kimas as he stepped over to the machine dragging a small step so he could look into the viewer. Reaching over, he turned the handle several times, and then moved some of the levers. He did this several times until he stepped back down grinning from ear to ear. “Found them!”

Moving over to the viewer, McGarrett bent down to take a look. The sight before him amazed him. It was as if he was right there.

A small round elf walked into the room. From the furnishings in the room, he estimated the elf to be about 4 foot tall. He wore a red and green outfit and had a green cap on his head.

“Does this thing have sound?” asked McGarrett.

Kimas reached in front of McGarrett and moved one of the levers on the table. “You can adjust the sound with this. We’ve not got all the bugs out of it yet, so the sound isn’t the best. Most of the time you can only hear that the sounds of their voices and not their words.”

Sure enough, the noise was just a babble of sound…nothing discernable. McGarrett continued to watch occasionally moving a lever, which changed the view. “It doesn’t look like your husband is in this room,” he said looking up at Mrs. Claus. “Are you able to look in different rooms?”

“Yes, move the handle a little.”

A smile crossed McGarrett’s face when he thought he saw the man they were looking for. A hefty man with white hair and beard dressed in a red jumpsuit and black boots was walking around the small room. “I think I found him!”

Stepping over to the viewer Mrs. Clause looked for herself. “That’s him! It looks like he’s in the upper left tower. You can see some of the Northern Lights from it,” she said with a relieved sigh. “Now how to we rescue him?”

Taking over the viewer again, McGarrett moved the handle some more. Some of the rooms of the building were unoccupied…only filled with cartons of all types and shapes, along with the furniture Fhin had mentioned. The building had many rooms, some big and some small and some were dark so nothing within that room could be viewed. He was just about to quit when a familiar shape came into view.

“There you are. Gotcha! You won’t get away this time Wo Fat. No way,” said McGarrett who continued to watch. He followed the man for several minutes before looking up.

“I take it you’ve found your man?” asked Mrs. Claus. “But how are you going to gain entry and rescue my husband?”

McGarrett started walking around the machine, snapping his fingers as he thought. “We’ll need to get inside. When do you normally move things into the warehouse?”

“Usually not until after Santa has made all of his deliveries,” Labi told him. “But we could arrange for some things to get moved before then.”

McGarrett grinned at the elf. “Yeah, and we could have some of the elves hiding in the boxes and I could hide behind them. How soon can this be arranged?”

All faces turned to the sound of a loud bong of the wooden clock sounding it was now 9 PM.

“Time is getting short…getting short,” proclaimed Fhin.

*****

The long covered sleigh pulled by a team of reindeer made its way toward the remote building. When it reached it, it stopped. Farimian and Nim’tim got out and walked over to the big doors. Each elf grabbed a ring and gave it a pull. The old hinges creaked loudly as they opened.

The reindeer did not need to be guided through, as they seemed to know what to do. Both elves walked on either side of the sleigh. They deliberately left the big doors open.

Once inside they continued over to one of the many doors, which they propped open. Looking around, they walked to the back of the sleigh they removed the cover holding it high enough to allow McGarrett a chance to get off and through the doors. The two elves then began unloading some of the boxes. As each box was brought it, the top opened up so another elf could exit. Soon there were fifteen elves. Each taking their cues from either McGarrett, Fhin, Farimian or Kimas.

McGarrett held a finger against his lips indicating silence. “We don’t know how many are helping him so be careful. Fhin, you come with me. Bring some guys with you. Farimian and Thr’tan, you take a few too. The rest go with Kimas and Labi.”

Carefully the three teams made their way through the building. Each group checked and secured the various rooms as they made their way toward the left tower. So far they had not found anything.

Just as two of the teams reached the bottom of the stairs, they heard a loud commotion.

“Stop!” A loud thud and cries of pain could be heard in the ensuing fight.

Being faster, McGarrett reached the troubled area ahead of the others. Both Kimas and Labi were helping those with them. Several were injured but nothing serious.

“What happened?” demanded McGarrett sensing his wily adversary had once again escaped.

“Falowas surprised us. He had a sleigh all set up and had Santa in it,” reported Kimas.

“We were powerless to stop him,” added Labi who was holding a cloth to the head of one of the injured elves who was unlucky enough to be ran over by the fleet reindeer.

*****

“We’re running out of time,” reminded Mrs. Claus who just got back from tending to the injured.

“I know. Does anyone have ANY type of idea now where he might have taken Santa?” asked McGarrett. The viewer was of no good now since they did not know where to look.

“I’m not sure…not sure. But we’ll have to make…to make some sort of arrangements for Christmas…for Christmas if we don’t find him in time,” Fhin said reminding Mrs. Claus of the time line.

“I know Fhin, but we might not have any choice,” she told him as she looked over at the tall dark hair man in their midst. “It would stop it and with some padding and maybe a wig…”

*****

“Don’t worry. The reindeer know what to do and where to go and Fhin and the others will help you out. The suit has all the magic you need as long as you wear it,” Mrs. Claus told McGarrett who could not believe they had managed to talk him into filling in for the night.

“I don’t know about this,” McGarrett said. He knew he had done many undercover stints both in the Navy and on a case with Five-0, but he never did it to deceive children.

“If you are discovered by anyone, just say you’re helping Santa out tonight. You won’t be lying because you really ARE helping,” said Anebila the female elf who had magically transformed the top Hawaiian cop into a passable Santa Claus.

Standing in front of the mirror, McGarrett could not believe how much he looked like the jolly old man. “Ho! Ho! Ho!”

“Perfect! Let’s get going. Time is running out.”

*****

The rustle of the wind going through the reindeer’s antlers and occasionally clanking together was something new to McGarrett. The cool brisk air chilled his cheeks and nose giving them a rosy glow.

“Come on…ah…Comet, Dasher…ah…” He was trying to remember all the names while still dealing with the reality of what part he was filling. It was still too unbelievable to him.

They had barely started their trip when Fhin yelled out. “Over there! Look!”

Off to the left was another sleigh pulled by six young reindeer. Frequently a crack of a whip could be heard as their driver tried to get them to move faster. In the back of the sleigh was a larger person in a red suit and hat…Santa Claus.

McGarrett pulled hard on the left reins, pulling his team over to follow the fleeing team. “Move it! Faster!” he yelled. Fhin had to grab the side of the sleigh to stay in it as it jerked. Farimian and Kimas were busy trying to keep what packages there inside for the turn had loosened some of the presents.

“Give it up Wo Fat!”

“Ah, Mr. McGarrett…we meet again!” yelled back Wo Fat. “I think this time you will lose as I’ve got the faster team.”

“There is no where you can hide,” McGarrett said slapping the reins down onto the reindeers’ back to encourage them to faster speed. He pulled reins forcefully each time as Wo Fat tried to out dodge his follower. Up and down the pair of sleighs went. Turns were sharp, several times threatening to toss people or contents out of sleighs. Fhin gave McGarrett several concerned looks as he fought to retain his seat on the wild ride.

The lead reindeer bleated loudly several times as if trying to call to the other reindeer. An answering bleat could be heard, but it was followed by a loud crack of the whip as Wo Fat slapped the tip of it onto the rear of the leaders. “Get on with you. Move it faster,” he demanded.

But instead of continuing, the team dove down to the ground. Just before it seemed like they were going to hit some trees, the reindeer swept up. This act caused Wo Fat to lose his grip of the reins. As he desperately reached forward to get the flying leather, he was suddenly slapped in the face by one of the reins causing him to fall back away from the punishing pain.

The reindeer immediately knew he had lost control and swerved violently towards the other sleigh. That jerk caused Wo Fat to lose his balance and fall out. The trees below rushed up at him, but cushioned his fall as he fell.

McGarrett saw all of this and tried to get his team to turn to follow the man down, but Fhin was pulling on his coat and yelling almost hysterically pointing to the wildly zigging and zagging team of six. Somehow Santa had managed to get free of his bonds and had climbed into the front seat, but he also couldn’t reach the wildly flapping reins.

Seeing the old man’s problem, McGarrett hauled heavily in on the left reins to bring his team up along the other. Now both teams were racing across the night skies. As the teams paralleled each other, McGarrett tried to reach over to grab the reins, but they were too elusive.

“Fhin…grab these reins. I’m going to try to jump over to the other sleigh and help Santa get hold of the reins,” said McGarrett handing the elf both of the reins.

Carefully, McGarrett eased himself into the standing position. Several times the sleighs bumped each other almost knocking him off his feet.

“Try to keep them steady, Fhin,” he said as he positioned himself again.

“Be careful Stephen. The suit won’t protect you if you fall from this height,” warned Santa who was trying to help the Five-0 chief.

“Easy…easy…” McGarrett said mostly to himself as he waited and gauged his timing. Then in one swift movement, he jumped into the other sleigh.

Fhin kept the team next to the other as he watched in horror. McGarrett almost didn’t make it for the other team dove sharply again, but when they came back up, he saw his fears were unfounded as both McGarrett and Santa were still in the other sleigh.

“Fhin, try to steer them into a circle,” yelled out Santa. “Blitzen, that’s your son up front…tell him to stop diving,” he said as he moved over more. He had a hold of McGarrett’s belt as McGarrett had the longer arms and could better reach the elusive reins.

Finally, after several tries, McGarrett got a hold of one and then the other. Straightening up, McGarrett sat back pulling hard to stop the runaways. Slowly, the six reindeer came back under control.

“Fhin, find us a landing area,” yelled out McGarrett who had a giant smile of success.

Gradually, the larger team made their decent. A large snowy field was off to their right and this is where both teams landed.

*****

“It looks like your enemy escaped you once more,” said Santa Claus after getting out of the sleigh.

“Yeah, once more he’s gotten lucky,” McGarrett commented. “But this time I think he might have been injured from that fall. I’d like to go looking for him, but we’ve got a time line to meet too.”

“Well, with your help I think that can be done. If you take some of the bags and do the other side of the streets, we can finish this up in no time at all. Just remember, the suit has all the magic in it that you’ll need,” said Santa as he climbed into his regular sleigh.

“Do you mind answering a question for me first?” asked McGarrett.

Standing in front of the Santa bedecked McGarrett, the real Santa chuckled. “Name it.”

“You’re wife mentioned that all the Santa items were disappearing with every passing moment. What exactly did she mean?”

“Well, it’s a bit of a long story and it goes all the way back to the original Santa, but if the current Santa ever totally disappears and another doesn’t take his place…even for a moment…Santa will be no more. There would be no more Christmas and the North Pole would vanish into the time void never to return.”

When everyone was ready, both sleighs took off. The full moon, which had been covered by thick clouds during their flight, now lit their way. A double set of ‘Ho! Ho! Ho’s!’ could be heard that night as all the missing Santa figures reappeared throughout the world.

*****

“Steve!” came the loud voice from behind closed doors. “Steve! Are you there? Are you there” it repeated.

Hearing the noise, McGarrett opened his eyes. It took him a moment to realize where he was. Sitting up, he rubbed his sleep-filled eyes and yawned. Getting up, he flexed his fingers a few times to remove some stiffness he felt.

Going over to the door, he opened it, for now he recognized the familiar voice calling his name. “Morning Danno. I thought you were going to be with Aunt Clara?”

“I was, but something said I needed to get back here to help you. For some reason I thought you were in danger,” said Danny following his friend and mentor into the apartment. “I took the red eye to get back here this morning.”

Walking over to his kitchen, McGarrett started up his coffee pot. Soon the sounds and smells of fresh brewed coffee filled the air.

“No, I wasn’t in any danger, although I was having a really wild dream just before you arrived.” Why did his memories see Danno looking somewhat differently? Shaking his head a little, he poured some the strong brew into the mugs. Handing his young friend a cup he joined him in the livingroom.

“I thought…I thought you weren’t going to decorate this year.” Danny was looking at the beautifully adorn eight foot Christmas tree that had many brightly wrapped boxes under it.

“Ah…I didn’t…I don’t know where this stuff came from.” Why did it seem normal to hear Danno repeating sentences.

“And where…where did you get this Santa hat? The fur looks real.”

Looking over at the mentioned piece of clothing, it all came back to him. It had not been a dream. It really did happen. Smiling, McGarrett did not offer any type of explanation.

“It is.”

Mele Kalikimaka and Hau`oli Makahiki Hou

*****

Elf names translated:

Anebila = Jenny

Falowas = Wo-Fat

Farimian = Kono Kalakaua

Fhin = Danno

Kimas = Chin Ho Kelly

Labi = Che Fong

Nim'tim = Jack Lord

Thonnyla = Marie Lord

Thr'tan = Chief Dann

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