Mr. Claus walked around the fountain and found another doll- this time a snow man- tucked into a ledge part of the way up and out of the way of the water.
He nodded to Otto.
“What?” asked Otto.
“You want to be part of this. Can’t you scramble on up and get that doll?”
“Yeah, but my reach isn’t the best.”
“Give it a try. You’re not going to melt if you get wet are you?”
“No, nothing like that. I am just not as young as I used to be,” said Otto.
“That makes two of us, brother,” answered Mr. Claus.
Otto hopped deftly up onto the edge of the fountain and reached for the doll. He couldn’t quite grab it, so he took a gentle swing to dislodge it.
“What are you doing? Just grab it,” said Mr. Claus.
As the doll fell Otto reached out with his feet and kicked it gently up like a soccer ball. He caught it in midair, pivoted on his other foot and hopped gracefully down from the fountain.
Mr. Claus gave him a puzzled look.
“Taekwondo,” said Otto without further explanation.
He tossed the doll to Mr. Claus, who missed it and it fell to the ground.
“Come on Father Christmas. I guess you need to work on your hand-eye coordination,” said Otto.
Mr. Claus grunted as he bent over and grabbed the doll. As in Sedona it had a gift tag tied to its neck- this time in the shape of a highly decorated cowboy hat.
Hot Springs National Park. Public Fountain.
He showed it to Otto and said, “Looks like we are off to Bathhouse Row.”
“There’s no time limit this time,” said Otto.
“You’re right. But we should get there as fast as possible,” said Mr. Claus.
“That tag reminds me that I wanted to pick up a cowboy hat while we are here. Do we have time for that?” said Otto.
“We need to get to Arkansas. I promise to bring you back in the new year and get you whatever your heart desires,” said Mr. Claus.
He wasn’t sure that this was the wisest promise to make, but would deal with it later. Right now they needed to focus on getting William back.
