Tella felt the world quake beneath her boots as Legend walked away. Snow kicked up from the ground and swirled in a frantic whirl, as if it agreed that it would be a terrible mistake to let him leave.
Don’t let him walk away.
Don’t let him walk away.
Don’t let him walk away, Tella told herself.
She pictured chasing after him. She imagined tossing a snowball at the back of his head and starting a fight that would end with both of them rolling in the snow and kissing, and then kissing even more as they lay there until the sky turned dark and her limbs turned so cold that he had to give her his jacket. Then, of course, he would grow cold too, and they’d probably have to stop at an abandoned cottage, where there just happened to be a fire crackling in the fireplace and thick quilts piled on the floor.
She’d help him with taking off his damp shirt.
He’d take off her cloak, and they’d keep each other warm until Great Holiday Eve.
They’d kiss and cuddle and when the clock struck midnight, Legend would decide he liked holidays after all. In fact, he loved them, just as he loved her.
And all would be right in the world.
Tella picked up the hem of her skirt, ready to run after him, but then she remembered a passage she’d read in How Not to Lose the Love of Your Life.
Never chase after a man. Men like to feel as if they have won a prize, as if they have something no one else can get. Instead of throwing yourself at a man, make yourself difficult to hold on to and he will try even harder to keep you.
Suddenly Tella was frozen, too scared to give chase, and soon Legend was lost in the swirl of snow.
A second later, the flurrying snow settled down. The graceful white flakes returned to the ground and to the roofs of all the porcelain shops, turning everything picture-perfect once again.
Carolers still strolled down the streets.
Horses trotted along the road, pulling sleighs full of laughing children.
Bells jingled as shop doors opened and smiling people carried out packages.
The only thing missing from this magical Holiday picture was Legend.
He’d left, and Tella couldn’t see where he’d gone.
“Candy stars! Get your candy stars!” a vendor cried as he pushed a shimmering red cart shaped like a treasure chest.
Snow lightly dusted the top of the cart, but the rest gleamed with sparkling berry red as it stopped in front of Tella.
The young vendor who owned the cart looked more boy than man, with a flop of brown hair and round youthful cheeks. He couldn’t have been more than fifteen, but he was dressed in a surprisingly fashionable pinstripe suit, complete with a pocket full of candy canes.
“Would the pretty young miss like a candy star?” The boy waved a hand toward the shiny red chest.
Tella heard a bit of clockwork creak. For a second, she would have sworn the noise came from the boy’s arm. But then she watched as the lid of the treasure chest slowly tilted open.
A ballerina, a miniature of the one inside Mr. Garland’s store window, popped up in the center. The tiny bells on her tulle skirt gently tinkled as she twirled in a circle. Only instead of presents at her feet, there were sparkling sweets. The sweets were the shape of stars and covered in glittering red and white stripes.
The boy took a candy cane from the pocket of his vest.
Tella heard another creak of clockwork as he bent down toward the chest. And this time she was certain the noise came from his shoulder.
Could it be possible that this young man was actually a toy? Perhaps one of the toys that Mr. Garland had bequeathed his Toy Chest to?
She had been less than impressed when she saw the lifelike ballerina in the window. But the ballerina hadn’t spoken, she’d just twirled in a circle. She also hadn’t looked quite this human. Upon first seeing her, Tella had thought Toy. But when Tella first saw this young vendor, she’d thought Boy. The boy—who might have been a toy—straightened with another creak, followed by a tinny whirling that made Tella fairly certain he actually was a
toy.
He held out his candy cane, which now had a sparkling candy star stuck on the end of it.
“Thank you,” Tella said, “but I’m not really hungry.” And she wasn’t sure how she felt about taking food from animated dolls.
“Are you sure?” The clockwork boy’s eyes twinkled—a real twinkle, the kind that made him look quite kind—as he continued to hold out the treat.
“These aren’t just regular sweets. They are quite special.” The clockwork boy twirled the candy cane in his hand, making the red-and- white-striped star shine even brighter as it spun. “If you take one bite of this candy star, I promise that you will find your one true love by the time the clock strikes midnight on Great Holiday Eve.”
“Again, thank you for the offer, but I already have a true love,” Tella said.
“Are you talking about the fellow in the top hat who walked away just now without even giving you a kiss?” The clockwork boy made a sound that could have been a snort or just the whirling of more clockwork. It was oddly difficult to tell. “That didn’t look like true love to me.”
“You only saw us for a minute!”
“Sometimes that’s all it takes.” The boy twirled the candy star in his hand, making the red stripes shimmer even brighter. “What are you afraid of? If that fellow in the top hat is your true love, this sweet will lead you
back to him.” He gave the candy another twirl, filling the air with the scent of hot cinnamon and sugar. “If he’s not your one true love … well then, you can thank me next Holiday Eve Eve.”
Suddenly the candy cane with the star on top was in Tella’s hand. Or perhaps it wasn’t so sudden. Perhaps she’d actually taken it as soon as the clockwork boy said it could lead her back to Legend.
If this candy led her to Legend, then she wouldn’t have to worry about rules from How Not to Lose the Love of Your Life or finding him the perfect gift. She would know that he was her true love and
she could go back to not worrying at all or standing on the street talking to disturbingly lifelike toys.
It was only after she’d taken the star that she thought about asking what it would cost. She reached for her coin purse.
“I have no need for money. Consider it a Holiday gift,” said the clockwork boy as he waved an arm and the lid to his treasure chest closed with a crisp click.
Tella brought the candy star to her mouth and took a tiny bite.
At first, it tasted just like it smelled, like hot cinnamon and sugar. But then there was another taste, a third taste that coated her tongue in sticky cotton. And then everything felt like cotton. Her throat, her eyelids, her head—all of it went fuzzy.
Her vision blurred and then the world turned white.
Except for the clockwork boy. She could still see him in his pinstripe suit, grinning as she fell.…
“Happy Great Holiday, Princess.”
