had laughed her silvery laugh that dispelled all gloom, and he had felt much better.
Except for that one small corner of his heart. And as the night wore on, the troubled feeling in that corner spread and spread.
Klaus and Dasher delivered the toys to the houses of his own village in good time as well as to the three villages east and west, but for the first time it brought Klaus no real pleasure. He was distracted.
Is Anna all right?
he kept wondering.
Should I have left her?
Dasher was racing up the steep track that went over a shoulder of Mount Feldberg and was just clearing the tree line when Klaus suddenlysignaled for him to stop. The sleigh slid to a halt. Dasher snorted once, and then all was silent. The winter stars and half a moon glimmered down on the two. Klaus got out of the sleigh and stood beside it.
He did not know why he had stopped. He had never done so before unless there was a runner that wanted fixing or a harness buckle to adjust. But now he felt a need to be still. Something was happening, he felt, though he did not know what.
He looked down into the valley at his village. Waves of frigid air rose up from there and made him shiver. He pulled his crimson coat close, but he could not get warm. The cold current made him feel exhausted to his very bones. He caught a glimpse of his beard, almost all white now, as it caught the icy breeze and danced before his eyes.
I’m old,
he thought,
too old to keep making these deliveries.
For it seemed to Klaus that the weight of the years he had ignored for so long now piled themselves upon him all at once. They made him stoop and stagger.
At this Dasher grew alarmed. He stamped a hoof and snorted again. He rubbed Klaus with his glossy flank, as if trying to rally him. He caught Klaus’s gaze in his large, brown reindeer’s eyes, and to Klaus it seemed as if those eyes were urging him to do something. But what? He wasso tired. Impulsively he threw his arms around Dasher’s neck, his own eyes filling with sad and weary tears.
“Great heart,” he spoke low into the ear of the beast, “I feel my strength is gone. I feel I’m at the end of things. What shall I do?”
Now it happened that Dasher had been waiting through all these decades for Klaus to speak to him spirit to spirit. For though he was Anna’s deer, in truth he had been made for Klaus. And now that Klaus had finally spoken to him not as a man talks idly to a beast but as one soul seeks out another, Dasher was able at last to reply.
“Your strength is not gone, Klaus,” he said. “Indeed, the beginning of your true strength is about to come upon you.”
“Are you—are you
speaking
to me, old friend?” Klaus asked Dasher in amazement.
“I am,” Dasher said. “You have spoken to me as one soul to another. And that has unleashed the Magic. Cover your ears, O Man!” And then Dasher threw back his great antlered head and bugled as no reindeer had ever bugled before or ever has since. The sky rang with the immense sound as it echoed and re-echoed up into the Heavens. Then silence fell while Jupiter, Klaus’s Jovial star, beamed benevolently down on them.
“What will happen now?” Klaus asked in an awed whisper.
“Wait and see,” Dasher said. In the hush, the mountain, the man, and the reindeer, the very air, seemed poised for something—something even more extraordinary than Dasher finding speech at last. Klaus caught a scent in the air, clean and bracing.
Why, it’s peppermint,
he realized, and felt much better. Still he waited.
Then he heard the joyful sound of sleigh bells. He looked back down the track to see who was approaching. But the sound wasn’t coming from the track. Nor was it coming from anywhere on the shoulder of the mountain or from the valley below.
It was coming from above Klaus’s head.
He looked up in wonder, and this is what he saw: Coming fast from the north, cleaving the cold air in strict formation, were seven reindeer, six almost as large and
Except for that one small corner of his heart. And as the night wore on, the troubled feeling in that corner spread and spread.
Klaus and Dasher delivered the toys to the houses of his own village in good time as well as to the three villages east and west, but for the first time it brought Klaus no real pleasure. He was distracted.
Is Anna all right?
he kept wondering.
Should I have left her?
Dasher was racing up the steep track that went over a shoulder of Mount Feldberg and was just clearing the tree line when Klaus suddenlysignaled for him to stop. The sleigh slid to a halt. Dasher snorted once, and then all was silent. The winter stars and half a moon glimmered down on the two. Klaus got out of the sleigh and stood beside it.
He did not know why he had stopped. He had never done so before unless there was a runner that wanted fixing or a harness buckle to adjust. But now he felt a need to be still. Something was happening, he felt, though he did not know what.
He looked down into the valley at his village. Waves of frigid air rose up from there and made him shiver. He pulled his crimson coat close, but he could not get warm. The cold current made him feel exhausted to his very bones. He caught a glimpse of his beard, almost all white now, as it caught the icy breeze and danced before his eyes.
I’m old,
he thought,
too old to keep making these deliveries.
For it seemed to Klaus that the weight of the years he had ignored for so long now piled themselves upon him all at once. They made him stoop and stagger.
At this Dasher grew alarmed. He stamped a hoof and snorted again. He rubbed Klaus with his glossy flank, as if trying to rally him. He caught Klaus’s gaze in his large, brown reindeer’s eyes, and to Klaus it seemed as if those eyes were urging him to do something. But what? He wasso tired. Impulsively he threw his arms around Dasher’s neck, his own eyes filling with sad and weary tears.
“Great heart,” he spoke low into the ear of the beast, “I feel my strength is gone. I feel I’m at the end of things. What shall I do?”
Now it happened that Dasher had been waiting through all these decades for Klaus to speak to him spirit to spirit. For though he was Anna’s deer, in truth he had been made for Klaus. And now that Klaus had finally spoken to him not as a man talks idly to a beast but as one soul seeks out another, Dasher was able at last to reply.
“Your strength is not gone, Klaus,” he said. “Indeed, the beginning of your true strength is about to come upon you.”
“Are you—are you
speaking
to me, old friend?” Klaus asked Dasher in amazement.
“I am,” Dasher said. “You have spoken to me as one soul to another. And that has unleashed the Magic. Cover your ears, O Man!” And then Dasher threw back his great antlered head and bugled as no reindeer had ever bugled before or ever has since. The sky rang with the immense sound as it echoed and re-echoed up into the Heavens. Then silence fell while Jupiter, Klaus’s Jovial star, beamed benevolently down on them.
“What will happen now?” Klaus asked in an awed whisper.
“Wait and see,” Dasher said. In the hush, the mountain, the man, and the reindeer, the very air, seemed poised for something—something even more extraordinary than Dasher finding speech at last. Klaus caught a scent in the air, clean and bracing.
Why, it’s peppermint,
he realized, and felt much better. Still he waited.
Then he heard the joyful sound of sleigh bells. He looked back down the track to see who was approaching. But the sound wasn’t coming from the track. Nor was it coming from anywhere on the shoulder of the mountain or from the valley below.
It was coming from above Klaus’s head.
He looked up in wonder, and this is what he saw: Coming fast from the north, cleaving the cold air in strict formation, were seven reindeer, six almost as large and
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