Chapter 39 - Third time lucky

Gammelnok had nearly run out of firewood and was getting both depressed and desperate. The snow was now deep and in perfect condition for Santa's Sleigh to both land and take off again. If only it would come.

Over a week had passed since he lit the first fires. His hopes were fading and his spirit was low. He was cold and tired of repairing the fire pits every day, compressing the snow into near mirror perfection and then placing his meagre supply of wood in the hollows. December was slowly approaching and he knew there would be a constant demand on Santa's helpers to prepare all the requested presents. He sadly figured his needs would be at the bottom of the list.

Gammelnok was out tending his fires in the cold night when he thought he heard a rush in the air and a tingling of a bell in the distance. Holding his breath, looking northwards he could not see anything. All was dark until suddenly a small red light glowed in the dark. Could this be it? He held his breath, crossed both fingers and toes and waited. Within minutes, the sleigh was down; reindeers led by old Rudolf trundled towards Gammelnok, leading a team of younger reindeers Gammelnok did not recognise. Then Santa himself jumped out of the sleigh, lifting Gammelnok into the air and kissed his hairy face.

"Good to see you again, old friend." Santa boomed as he looked around the landing site. "As usual you are not short of ideas when it comes to the crunch. We spotted you quite a way out. And here we are as requested. What have you been up to and what can we do for you?"

Gammelnok explained his desire for a ride to his retirement pond in the English garden he had seen briefly on a trip made years before when they were delivering presents to that part of the world. He felt sure he could find it again and promised to tell Santa all about his adventures on the way there. The pond, he explained was at the top of a south facing hill, clear of obstructions. However at the very top there were tall sycamore trees surrounding the garden. Landing would be impossible, due both to lack of room to manoeuvre and probably the lack of snow as well. Did Santa think they could move in slow and low enough without losing momentum and without crashing? If so, Gammelnok would climb out of the sleigh, hanging on to the runners and try to soften his landing by dropping into the pond.

Santa decided they would give is a go, but if it failed they would continue northwards until they found an area with enough snow to let Gammelnok out and he would then have to continue his journey southwards on his own. At least he would be in England and could travel by road.

On their way north, Gammelnok related his amazing story, leaving nothing out. The time passed quickly and soon they were over the hills of southern England approaching the garden from the south. Skirting rooftops they approached the garden, spotted the pond and made a big sweep around to approach it from east to west in order to avoid the tall trees at the back. Gammelnok crawled over the side, hung onto the runner, his Haversack secured over his shoulder and waited for the sleigh to slow down as the pond came into view again. His vision blurred, the speed was too fast and he panicked. They passed the pond with Gammelnok still hanging on for dear life.

It was no good, the approach was too difficult, the area too cramped with trees, fences and garden sheds. Santa made Gammelnok climb back on board and they headed north in search of the first available snow covered hillside.

It did not take long. The Chiltern Hills were only a few minutes flying time to the north. The sleigh managed to set down in light snow. Much lighter than Santa would have preferred but a chance was taken, Gammelnok stepped down from the sleigh. Having said goodbye and thank you to Santa and Rudolf, he was soon left on his own on the hillside. The sleigh disappeared north and was soon gone from sight.

Now what to do thought Gammelnok. At least he was much closer. He would just walk south. After all the distance was nothing compared to his walk from Seville to Granada and beyond.

Three days later he stood at the wooden gate leading into the garden. It was not locked and he carefully entered what he had longed so long for: His retirement garden and his garden pond. The pond looked a lot smaller than he remembered, but he immediately felt at home and at peace. This was where he wanted to end his days. He walked to the furthest corner where the grass was high and laid down to rest.

He soon fell asleep and did not notice anything, even as he was poked with a stick and then covered with an old sack.

He woke to sunshine and looked around him. He saw a large house at the bottom of a garden that was landscaped in several tiers with wide steps leading down what looked to be at least six levels.

It felt safe up there by the pond and he lay down to rest again. It had been a long and hard journey on foot, lasting over half a year. He needed to recover his strength.

Two nights later, with a full moon shining and reflected in the pond, he was awakened by several animals that had gathered around the pond to drink. Hidden in some shrubs a level below was the old man from the big house watching and listening..