oh my G this confession will break all

stomping on each others lawn chairs, and dumping lukewarm cocoa on each others Santa Clausâ€“hatted heads. The fight was big enough and ridiculous enough to make the local news. Flobie said that they were taking measures to make sure it didnt happen again, but I never believed that. You cant buy that kind of publicity. But I wasnt thinking about that when my parents drove off to get in line for piece #68, the Elf Hotel. And I still wasnt thinking about it when I was drinking my eggnog latte and whiling away the time until I got to go to Noahs. I did notice that my parents were later arriving home than usual. They usually got back from Flobie around lunchtime on Christmas Eve, and here it was, almost four oclock. I started doing some of the general holiday duties to keep myself busy. I couldnt call Noah I knew he was busy getting ready for the Smorgasbord. So I added some extra ribbon and holly to his presents. I switched on all the power strips that power the Flobie Santa Village, setting all the enslaved elves to work. I turned on Christmas carols. I was just stepping outside to turn on the lights on the front of the house when I saw Sam advancing toward our house with his stormtrooper stride. Sam is our lawyerand when I say our lawyer, I mean our neighbor who happens to be an extremely highpowered lawyer in Washington, D.C. Sam is exactly the person you want to take on a huge corporation or to represent you when youre being sued for a billion dollars. He is not, however, Mr. Cuddles. I was about to invite him in to try one of my delicious eggnog lattes, but he cut me off. I have some bad news, he said, ushering me into my own house. Theres been another incident at the Flobie showroom. Inside. Come on.

I thought he was going to say that my parents had been killed. He had that kind of tone. I envisioned huge piles of the Elf Hotel flying off the belt, taking down everyone in sight. I had seen pictures of the Elf Hotelit had sharp candycane spires that could easily impale someone. And if anyone was ever going to be killed by an Elf Hotel, it would be my parents. Theyve been taken into custody, he said. Theyre in jail. Whos in jail I asked, because Im not superquick on the uptake, and because it was much easier for me to envision my parents being taken down by a flying Elf Hotel than it was to think of them being taken off in handcuffs. Sam just looked at me and waited for me to catch up on my own. There was another fight when the pieces came out this morning, he explained, after a pause. An argument about who was holding spots in line. Your parents werent part of it, but they didnt disperse when the police told them to. They got hauled in with the others. Five people have been booked. Its all over the news. I felt my legs starting to wobble, so I sat down on the sofa. Why didnt they call I asked. One phone call, he said. They called me, because they thought I could get them out. Which I cant. What do you mean, you cant The idea that Sam couldnt bust my parents out of the county clink was ridiculous. It was like hearing a pilot come over the intercom and say, Hey, everyone. I just remembered Im no good at landing. So Im just going to keep flying around until someone has a better idea.

I did my best, Sam went on, but the judge isnt budging. Hes sick of these Flobie problems, so hes making an example of them all. Your parents instructed me to take you to the train station. I only have one hour, then I have to be back for hot cookies and a singalong at five. How quickly can you pack This was delivered in the same gravelly tone of voice that Sam probably used when pounding people on the stand about why they were seen running from the scene covered in blood. He didnt look happy that this task had been foisted on him on Christmas Eve. Still, a little touch of Oprah would have helped. Pack Train station What Youre going to Florida to stay with your grandparents, he said. Couldnt get a flighttheyre being canceled all over the place because of the storm. What storm Jubilee, Sam said very slowly, having concluded that I was the leastaware person on the planet, were about to have the biggest storm in fifty years! My brain wasnt working rightnone of this was going in. I cant go, I said. Im supposed to see Noah tonight. And Christmas. What about Christmas Sam shrugged, as if to say that Christmas was beyond his control, and there was nothing the legal system could do about it. But why cant I just stay here This is crazy! Your parents dont want you alone for two days over the holiday.

I can go to Noahs! I have to go to Noahs! Look, he said, its all arranged. We cant reach your parents now. Theyre being processed. I bought your ticket, and I dont have a lot of time. Youre going to have to pack now, Jubilee. I turned and looked at the tkling little cityscape next to me. I could see the shadows of the doomed elves as they worked away in Jubilee Hall, the warm glow of Mrs. Muggins Cake Shop, the slow but merry process of the Elf Express around the little expanse of track. The only thing I could think to ask was, But what about the village Chapter Two Id never actually been on a train before. It was taller than I imagined, with secondstory dows that I guessed were the sleeping cars. Inside, it was dimly lit, and most of the people stuffed in there looked catatonic. I expected the train to steam and chug and shoot off like a rocket, because I watched a lot of cartoons in my misspent youth and thats how cartoon trains work. This train glided off indifferently, as if it had gotten bored with standing around. Naturally, I called Noah the moment we set off. This was a slight violation of the ImgoingtobeslammeduntilsixsoIlljustseeyouattheparty nocall policy, but never have circumstances been more understandable. When he answered, there was a cheerful clamor in the background. I could hear carols and the

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