I glanced down at my candy cane brooch anxiously. I had only said goodbye to Phoebus a matter of minutes ago, though I was already debating on asking for help. I stared back at the computer screen and brushed that thought away. That girl in the grounds couldn’t be the real Snow Queen could she? That was crazy! But then again, I had just being chatting with an enchanted snowman about Santa’s rebel son, so the idea wasn’t so far-fetched. Curling up in my bed, I closed my eyes and thought over my options. Santa Claus had entrusted me with the task of watching after Noel, he might think I wasn’t up to the job if I went running to Mr Sparkle for help so soon. However, if that girl really was a ‘sorceress of great power’ and Noel was in cahoots with her, this could spell big trouble. Yawning widely, I felt the land of dreams beckon and decided maybe I should wait till the morning, I was probably just overreacting, it wasn’t going to hurt to wait a few hours, was it?

Waking up the next morning, I rolled out of bed to discover I was half an hour late for class. No breakfast for me. After pulling on my wrinkled school sweater and skirt, I set off down the corridor to first period Geography. I noticed Mrs. Bertram must have been about this morning, as there was not a trace of tinsel left in the hallway. Our residential supervisor was a bit of spoilsport when it came to decorating the dorms, anything not a notice about room cleanliness was considered unnecessary mess. She and Scrooge would get along famously. When I finally reached class, I had managed to tame my hair into a high ponytail and applied a touch of blusher, there was nothing I could do about the massive bags under my eyes at such short notice, but hopefully my rosy cheeks would brighten up my somnolent face.

“Why good morning Miss Palmer, nice of you to grace us with your presence.” Mrs Somers called out cheerily as I crept into the room. Hmm, Scrooge was right about one thing, I so wasn’t stealthy.

“Sorry I’m late.” I mumbled, taking a seat next to Charlie. “I didn’t sleep so well.” My teacher gave me a sympathetic nod.

“Well, you do look a little worn out. The class we’re just discussing glacier erosion , Mr Aspinall will catch you up.” Charlie tutted facetiously and passed me his notes.

“What happened to you Holl’s? You look rough.” I ignored Charlie’s customary bluntness, and started copying down his notes.

“I just couldn’t sleep,” I whispered back, failing to tell him of my altogether bizarre night. “Thirteen days till Christmas!” I always annoyed him with my daily countdown but instead of laughing like usual, he just stared at me.

“Till what?” He so wasn’t funny.

“Er, only the best day of the year.” He regarded me blankly.

“What’s so good about the twenty-fifth of December?” I looked at him like he had just admitted he was wearing frilly knickers.

“You‘re not funny.”

“I think you need to get some sleep.” He chuckled, patting me on the shoulder. Putting down my pen, I gazed around the classroom. Why had Mrs Somers taken down the paper chains and snowflakes? She was always the first teacher to decorate her room for Christmas. I felt someone’s eyes burning into my neck, shifting around in my seat I was greeted by the cold stare of Noel Pringle. As our eyes met, I felt my stomach lurch.

What in the name of Rudolph’s red hooter had he done?