Mr. Claus 2022

“I just got a text from William. And it’s not great news,” said Liz to Mrs. Claus.
“It is December, dear,” said Mrs. Claus and took a sip of her coffee.
“When they arrived at Mr. Claus’s house he wasn’t there but had left food in the oven. And the dog wasn’t there, either,” said Liz.
“And?”
“That’s it. They don’t know any more at this point,” said Liz.
“So, he’s kidnapped?” asked Mrs. Claus.
“He didn’t say— I don’t think he knows or he would have mentioned it,” said Liz.
“He’s not there. Let’s hope it’s kidnapping. I am sure the boys will sniff him out,” said Mrs. Claus.
“Hope it’s kidnapping— I guess that is all we can do at this point,” said Liz.
“They’ll do their thing, darling. They’ll find him,” said Mrs. Claus.

#

Veronica had planned for more than one scenario and had ended up with the most difficult. Transporting two sleeping bodies and getting them squared away before they woke up made time of the essence. She could give them more powder but she wasn’t sure of the side effects.
She taped each of them just enough to make sure they could still breath but could not talk or move freely.
Late the night before she had placed an old panel van just in front of the house and had sprinkled it with a potion that she had made from her own perspiration. With a couple extra ingredients it made the van less visible. It was still physically there but could not be seen by the human eye. To avoid anyone running into it she had put the recycling bin and garbage can right up against each bumper to dissuade anyone from even thinking about using that space for parking.
Getting each of the men from the house to the van was not a simple task. She went out and opened the side door of the van so that the inside was now visible. This version of the invisibility potion only worked on the surface of objects.
Veronica checked the street for foot traffic. There was none. She grabbed a heavy duty wagon from the inside of the van and pulled it into place at the bottom of the steps leading to the porch.
She started with Buddy, who was by far the lighter of the two, and covered him with a moving blanket. All of the cross fit paid off as it was fairly easy for her to carry him from the hallway, over the porch and down the stairs into the wagon. She quickly wheeled it out to the van and dumped him inside.
The whole process was repeated with Mr. Claus, who was more difficult to lift, but she managed.
Veronica went back in and got the dogs, who had been tied to one of the hooks in the hallway. Each of them got a special treat and followed her gladly without a hint of animosity to one another. The street was still clear of traffic so she calmly put the dogs into the van and moved the recycling bin so she could get out. When she settled into the driver’s seat she looked quickly back at the house and noticed that she had left the door ajar. At this point the contents of Mr. Claus’s house were of little concern.
She drove off with two dogs, who were all of a sudden getting along like long-lost buddies, and two men, who needed to be dealt with. Luckily she had a plan for that.