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U sfl l e m --3) C frai C C (C o' Z<xS^ V ' V ÿrtfj ..tf f WrWV, ./-» W The Cat Who Saved Christmas A Yuletide Story by Peter Parrott Presented with compliments of the season from James Publishing and its employees Mr. Blunderfingers, the elf, really didn't belong belong in Toylànd. He wasn't very fat and 'he wasn't the least bit jolly. jolly. He never whistled while he worked. Mr. Blunderfingers was scrawny and bad- tempered. And, while he assembled the Christmas toys, he usually complained complained about the long hours and the cold weather. weather. But, to make matters worse, he built toys that didn't work. Have you ever noticed that sometimes an arm falls off a doll on Christmas Christmas morning or that the toy racing cars won't stay on the track? Or that some toys arrive without batteries? Or computers turn up under the Christmas Christmas tree without software? software? You can blame it all on Mr. Blunderfingers. For it seemed as though the elf actually liked to make toys which broke. And even kind-hearted Santa knew that Mr. Blunderfingers Blunderfingers just couldn't stay ana work for him in Toy- land. And so, one summer, Santa sent him, away. Now, this came as a shock to the bad- tempered elf because he couldn't believe that good old Santa would order anybody to leave Toy- land. He scowled and muttered to himself as he , packed his bags. And, before before he left, he warned all the other elves that he would make certain that there wouldn't be a Christmas that year. "No Christmas, thought the elves. Whatever Whatever does he mean? But Santa only advised them to ignore Blunderfingers' threats and get on with their work. Sure enough, without Mr. Blundernn- gers in the toy shop, the preparations for Christmas Christmas went twice as fast as normal. In fact, the toymaking toymaking was finished a week before Christmas and everybody took a holiday. holiday. They had more or less forgotten about Mr. Blunderfingers altogether. altogether. Unfortunately, the wicked elf had not forgotten forgotten about Toyland or about his threat to make sure that Christmas never never happened. Santa and the elves didn't realize that there was trouble ahead, just as surely as there's snow at the North Pole. The night before Christmas Eve, Blunderfingers Blunderfingers crept into the reindeer paddock and stole Rudolph. Then, shortly before dawn, he rode the reindeer up beyond beyond the Northern Lights where ho uncoiled a rope and lassoed the moon, dragging it from the i i i northern sky. Blunderfingers Blunderfingers hid the moon in a deep cave beside a sleeping sleeping polar bear and then he rode Rudolph back to his hut made of ice and stone. There, he tied Rudolph Rudolph to a long rope which prevented him from running back to Santa's workshop. And he had to wrap a paper bag around his famous red nose to make certain that any search parties couldn't possibly see him. Finally, Blunderfingers curled up in a chair beside beside the window and snickered as he looked over the frozen tundra towards towards the distant village of Toyland. "Let's see what Santa plans to do now," he cackled. cackled. "He has no moon to see his way south and not even Rudolph, with the red nose, to help guide his way." Blunderfingers concluded that without the moon or Rudolph, there would be no visits by Santa Claus. And without Santa there would be no presents under under the tree on Christmas morning. Without presents, there would be no Christmas. Millions of little children around the world would be disappointed disappointed and the thought of unhappy children made Blunderfingers chuckle. On Christmas Eve, the sky grew steadily darker and the darker it grew, the louder laughed Blunderfingers. Blunderfingers. Santa also noticed the night sky. As he left his cottage to hitch up the reindeer, he glanced at the darkness overhead and wondered what could have possibly gone wrong with the moon. Why, just the other night, it had been as plump as a Christmas orange in the toe of a stocking by the fireplace. Santa didn't like the look of the sky or the feel of the wind as it scattered ice pellets in eveiy direction. In the distance, a wolf howled. Santa pulled his hat more closely over his ears. "Looks like a night for Rudolph," he said, and sent one of his elves to the reindeer paddock to bring him to the sleigh. But the elf ran back to Santa Claus with bad news. He had found a few footprints in the snow but no Rudolph. The footprints footprints were of an elf and a deer. They led away from Toyland. Soon there were only the hoofprints of the deer and then nothing. nothing. This could only mean one thing. Rudolph had been ridden away and there was only one suspect suspect in the minds of everyone everyone at the North Pole. "Rudolph has been stolen," stolen," the elves exclaimed. "Blunderfingers has taken taken him away and without Rudolph or a full moon, we'll never drive the sleigh". For the first time in Santa's long career, he ceased to smile on Christ- J.A L mas Eve. For Santa feared that the bad- tempered elf may have made good his threat. Perhaps he had made off with the moon and then stolen Rudolph. But there still had to be a Christmas Christmas and there was no time to waste. By the spluttering, wind-blown flames of candles, candles, Santa and the elves loaded the sled and hitched up the deer. But in a night lit only by faint stars, they were constantly constantly stepping on toes and tripping over sleigh runners runners and falling face-first into snowbanks. When Santa at last attempted a take-off, the deer at the head of the team tripped over the chimney of the workshop and dumped all of them in a tangled heap in a snowdrift. j Nobody was hurt, but it took over an hour to disconnect all the harnesses harnesses and to retrieve all the toys and presents. Then, Santa called all of his elves into the workshop workshop for a meeting. What must they do? Could-, they possibly hold Christmas later in the month, once Rudolph and the moon were back in their rightful places? Should they phone all of the newspapers and radio stations and TV networks to tell them that Christmas Christmas would be a little late this year. Everyone chattered about what they might do, but nobody had an answer. answer. Finally, the group- fell silent. They looked at one another and at the firelight cast by the lamps and the open hearth of the workshop. Everyone was there. Dasher and Dancer and Donder and Blitzen and Prancer and Comet and Cupid and Vixen. There were all of the elves and Mrs. Claus and Santa's husky dog and his pet walrus and seal and even a polar bear pup. The only ones missing were Rudolph and Santa's cat. Rudolph, of course, had been stolen. But Icicle, Icicle, the cat, had better things to do. Icicle had come to the North Pole as a tiny white kitten that Santa had discovered one Christmas Eve as she shivered and mewed in a dark alley behind an apartment in one of the big cities Santa always visits. Icicle was like cats 1 the world over. While it was clear that everybody at the North Pole worked for Santa Claus, Icicle worked for herself. But she always chased the mice out of the workshop. And she never failed to ho the first one to greet Santa on Christmas ."'.y morning when he would open the door to his cottage cottage and bound indoors shouting "Merry Christmas, Christmas, everyone!" Each year, on Christmas Christmas Eve, Icicle would always always approach Santa Claus and purr and mew as she looked pleadingly into Santa's face. She was tiying to tell him that she wanted to join him on his rounds. But Santa would always always give her a reassuring reassuring pat on the back and say: "Sorry, Icicle, but there's so many toys on the sleigh that we couldn't find room for a 15 pound cat. So, if you can't fly and can't pull the sleigh, I'm afraid you'll have to stay put. Then, Santa would carry carry Icicle into his cottage and leave her beside the fireplace where she would yawn and fall asleep. , As Santa and his workers workers considered the possibility possibility of a year without a Christmas, the only sound was a rustling in the back storeroom. "What's that noise?" asked Santa. "It's only Icicle," replied replied one of the elves. "She's chasing a mouse in the dark". "In the dark?" asked Santa. Then he smiled broadly and laughed. For Santa had an idea. "Ho Ho Ho," roared the Jolly Old Elf as he called his favorite cat to his side. 'Thanks to you, Icicle, Icicle, we may manage to have Christmas after all. And you'll get your wish to fly around the world on Christmas Eve". And so, it came to pass that a strange sight was recorded in the skies over the world that night. Flying overhead was Santa Claus and his eight reindeer. But, perched on the antlers of the lead reindeer was Icicle, Icicle, the cat. She was holding holding on just as tightly as her claws would allow. And as they flew across the sky, Icicle whispered directions into the reindeer's reindeer's car. She would say: "Move a little to the left" or "up a few hundred feet" or "turn left quickly, there's a radio tower dead ahead!" You sec, cats have very good eyesight and they can see their way in even a little bit of light. The faint glow of the stars on Christmas Eve provided enough light for Icicle to find her way around the world with Santa that night. So, Christmas came again that year. It came to France and England, It came to the Sahara. It came to Tibet Turn to Page 2 E JOSl Irai (E /a£m