J.J. was the technical wizard from the team at The Pole. Aside from computers and electronics he crafted custom sleighs that looked like classic cars. He had picked up William and Leroy in a light blue 1983 Volvo 240 station wagon.
“Hey J.J. I thought you would be super busy at The Pole. Good to see you,” said Mrs. Claus.
“Leroy told me about Mr. Claus and I wanted to see if I could help,” said J.J.
Mrs. Claus handed the burritos to Leroy and William, who both dug in right away.
“Are you hungry J.J.?” asked Mrs. Claus.
“No, thanks, I’m good,” said J.J.
“So where is your cantankerous old man?” asked Leroy in between bites.
“Qatar,” answered Mrs. Claus.
“Qatar? Why?” said William.
“Not a sports fan, huh?” said Leroy.
“Obviously not. It’s the World Cup. Of soccer,” said J.J. rescuing William from a long awkward silence.
“Oh,” said William.
“Okay, I mean what has he gotten himself into this time?” said Leroy.
“I got an e-mail from someone named Cailleach that he or she or whatever had kidnapped him to ‘stem the infiltration of capitalism and greed’ of the holiday season,” explained Mrs. Claus.
“But we make toys and give them out for free. I can’t see that we are the problem. Why don’t they blame Coca-Cola?” said J.J.
“Kidnapping Santa Claus gives a lot more attention than the CEO of the Coca-Cola corporation. They are both click bait- for sure. But Mr. Claus is so much more symbolic of the current state of the holiday season,” said Leroy.
William tried to steer the discussion back to the kidnapping, “We need to find out who this person or group is and where to find them. The name sounds Gaelic and not Arabic. Anyone know the name?”
Everyone shook their head.
“Okay. This may be a hoax but we have to treat it like it’s real. J.J. can you please check out the origin of the mail on the Aardvark work computer? And William and Leroy can you please check with Otto about who or what Cailleach is?” said Mrs. Claus putting the group to work.
