Fraud at Snowfields Read online

  ‘Dammit!’ Stunt said.

  ‘What is it?’ Will asked.

  ‘Look!’ said Stunt, and pointed out of the window.

  Will stood next to him. Then he saw it too: a sleigh with reindeer was flying away from the building—and Beltorec was on it.

  ‘What are we going to do now?’ Will asked.

  Stunt shrugged his shoulders and sighed. ‘There isn’t much we can do. Let’s go back and see how the others are doing.’

  They hurried back through the building, into the cellar, and out into the corridor where they had left the others. When they reached the scene of the fight, Will was relieved to see that Wonderock had recovered already and was helping the others, who were just coming round.

  Wonderock looked up when he heard them coming. ‘Stunt! What did you find? Did you catch Beltorec?’

  Stunt made a face. ‘No, sir, I’m afraid not. We were on his trail. He had broken into the hidden study in the table room, but it didn’t look as if he had the time to take anything valuable. We followed his tracks up near the roof, but then we saw him through a window as he was flying away with a sleigh. Sorry I failed you, sir.’

  Wonderock shook his head grimly. ‘No, that’s not your fault. We have all failed. Now we need to get back to the school as fast as possible. That’s most likely the place he’ll go. Can you two walk?’ he asked Lektrarissima and Contractus, who were just standing up.

  Contractus nodded stiffly, and Lektrarissima replied, ‘Yes,’ although she looked rather white and her voice was husky.

  ‘Good.’ Wonderock nodded. ‘You’ll lead the way,’ he told Stunt. ‘Let’s go!’

  ‘Where’s Conrad?’ Will asked quickly.

  ‘Oh, he helped me come round, then he had to leave for his headquarters to seek medical attention. Nasty magical burn there. But don’t worry, he’s tough, he’ll be fine.’

  Stunt led them along the corridors towards the school—the same corridors Will had walked down with Beltorec not so long ago, not knowing that the vice chancellor was the real enemy. Finally they reached the school and stood in front of Beltorec’s office.

  Stunt turned to Wonderock. ‘Sir, you should lead the way from here. You can easily take us past the door, past Crown.’

  ‘Right,’ said Wonderock, and walked towards Beltorec’s office. He thumbed the smooth plate on the door. A face melted out of the wood, and Will recognised Crown. He looked rather annoyed.

  ‘Who…?’ Crown started to speak even before his face had formed completely. Then he recognised his old master.

  ‘Sir! What are you doing…. Oh, sorry,… I mean… welcome back, sir. It’s good to see you.’

  ‘Open the door, Crown,’ Wonderock told him brusquely. ‘Is Beltorec in?’

  ‘No, sir,’ Crown replied quickly as the door swung open.

  They went inside. The desk of Beltorec’s secretary was empty, and the door to his office stood open. They entered carefully. There was no one in there. In fact there was not much of anything in there. Beltorec had beaten them to it and had taken most of his belongings away.

  Stunt poked through the meagre remains. ‘Not much left here. He seems to have planned his disappearance well in advance. What are we going to do now?’ He looked at the others.

  In turn they looked at Wonderock. Nobody volunteered anything. He thought for a moment.

  ‘Well, nothing we can really do about it now. He’s gone for good… or bad. Hopefully he won’t come back—but I fear this won’t be the last time we’ve heard from him. No, I fear it won’t.’ He sighed and slowly shook his head.

  ‘I could try to follow him, sir, to catch him. If I use a fast sleigh…’ Stunt said, already heading towards the door.

  Wonderock moved fast and blocked his way. ‘No, Stunt, no! You won’t be able to catch him. His head start is much too great, and he’s too cunning and powerful for you to catch him like that. Look how easily he could create his Bluerorcs without anyone suspecting him. No, we’ll have to let him go for now.’ Wonderock seemed to shrink with his words; he looked more the retired teacher again than the cunning magician and fighter for justice Will had seen during the last few hours.

  ‘Well, what are we going to do then? Just act as if nothing has happened?’ Stunt demanded.

  ‘No, no, of course not,’ replied Wonderock. ‘Sadly that won’t be possible. A new vice chancellor needs to be appointed, Beltorec’s disappearance will have to be explained, the damage caused by the Bluerorcs will have to be repaired, and anyone who might have encountered them will have to be treated. But the extent and details of the fraud should remain confidential, for misuse of Bluerin is always a great danger, and this should not become known as an almost successful example.’

  Lektrarissima nodded and added, ‘You’re right sir, but if I may suggest this, we’ll need someone with authority who can take the necessary actions, and there is nobody here with much knowledge about how to handle such a situation—nobody except you, sir. Would you please consider stepping in and doing what is necessary?’ She looked steadily at Wonderock. The others nodded or voiced their agreement.

  Wonderock looked hard at them and finally shook his head in resignation. ‘Yes, yes. I fear you are right. I’ll help you do what is necessary. But’—he held up his finger—‘as soon as this is sorted out, I’ll return to my well-earned retirement.’

  ‘That would be acceptable, sir,’ Lektrarissima said, and grinned.

  Contractus cleared his throat. ‘Yes, except for one thing. I’d strongly suggest we retain a secret group to prepare for the eventuality that Beltorec will reappear. And that you’ll be part of that group, sir.’

  Wonderock nodded. ‘Yes, that would be prudent. We are agreed then?’ He looked sharply at everyone in their round, and they all nodded. ‘Good then, let’s do what’s necessary. Stunt, you will come with me. We will first deal with the damage the Bluerorcs have caused and make sure they have all been destroyed or disabled. Lektrarissima, you will use your organisation and try to find out where Beltorec has gone, and whether there is anything of the fraud left in the systems. Contractus, please take care of Will and then make sure all the Bluerin is accounted for and no more workrooms from the forgery remain. I will contact you again for another meeting. Now go and deal with your tasks!’

  They nodded and started to leave. Contractus turned to Will and looked at him gravely ‘Come with me, Will.’

  And Will followed Contractus to his office.

  ‘Will.’ Contractus turned to him, looking concerned. ‘Are you alright? Nothing happened to you? No injuries?’

  Will shook his head: ‘No, sir. Everything’s fine.’

  Contractus still looked dubious.

  ‘Really, sir, I’m fine. Part of Beltorec’s spell hit my arm, but it’s completely normal again.’ He waved his arm around in order to convince Contractus.

  ‘Okay, if you say so.’ Contractus smiled. ‘But if there is something—anything—wrong during the next few days, if you feel ill or there is anything you want to talk about… my door’s always open.’

  Will nodded. ‘Thank you, sir.’

  ***

  During the next few days and weeks, everybody was busy repairing the damage Beltorec and his Bluerorcs had caused. Miss Dustfall took over as interim headmistress, aided by Wonderock, though he stayed in the background as much as possible. Finally everything settled down again, and things were nearly as they had been before.

  But for Will it was not quite like it had been when he had started at Snowfields. He still had to think about the fraud and the forgery. Because although they had exposed Beltorec, he still had to have had helpers. And they were still in Snowfields. Certainly Richard was. Will had talked with Contractus about Richard, but apart from what the two of them had seen during the spell on Cloudy’s platform, they had nothing, and especially no proof against him. So there was not much they could do about him. And Richard knew this all too well. Every time he saw Will, he gave him a knowing and impertinent smi
le. But Will swore to himself he would continue to watch Richard and try to find proof of his involvement.

  Three weeks after Christmas, everything had been restored, and life in Snowfields was back to normal. Will and all the other students gathered in the Ferum for the traditional feast after Christmas. After they had had a delicious meal, Miss Dustfall stood up.

  ‘Students,’ she began. ‘Although we have kept it secret, I have no illusions that you all know perfectly well what has happened here this term. But now we have repaired everything, and school can go on as usual. And I can only now thank you all for your great work and your diligence on Christmas Eve. Every parcel was delivered on time. On Christmas Day there were no errors, and everybody got the presents that were designed for them. Thank you very much, all of you.’ She bowed deeply.

  There was a huge cheer and applause from the students.

  ‘And now….’ She took out her wand and performed a spell. ‘I have the great honour to present someone who wants to talk to you himself.’

  While she had been talking, Will had seen that some sort of white mist had been forming on the raised platform next to her. Now this mist became more solid, and the form of a person became visible. And in the next moment—Will jumped to his feet as all the others around him did in surprise—Father Christmas stood there. Or at least his image.

  ‘Ho, ho, ho, my dear friends.’ He looked around the room as if he could see them. ‘My warmest greetings to all of you. And to you as well.’ He nodded towards the teachers. ‘I want to thank you very, very much for your excellent work on Christmas Eve. You all did extraordinarily well. All the presents were delivered safely, and you made a lot of children—and adults of course—very happy. You helped to provide a wonderful Christmas for them all, with wonderful presents.

  ‘And some of you did even more. But those problems have also been sorted out. Well, nearly all of them. Because this school is missing its headmaster. So it needs a new one. I’ve heard—and when I look around here, I see for myself—that Miss Dustfall has done a great job as interim headmistress.’ He turned slightly so that he could look at Miss Dustfall. ‘Therefore it’s a great pleasure for me to introduce you to your new headmaster—or better your new headmistress. Miss Dustfall!’

  There was a great round of applause from the students, as Miss Dustfall was a good, fair teacher, and she was quite liked among them.

  She looked surprised as well as pleased. ‘Thank you very much, sir,’ she said modestly, and curtseyed towards Father Christmas. ‘This is a great honour for me, and I hope I’ll be able to fulfil your expectations.’

  Father Christmas smiled at her. ‘Of that I am sure, my dear.’ He looked around the Ferum again and rubbed his hands. ‘Now that all the work is behind us, I don’t want to keep you from your holidays any longer. Once again, thank you very much, enjoy your well-earned holidays, and I am looking forward to seeing you again next term. Farewell.’

  While he waved his hand, his figure turned transparent, and then there was only a shimmering mist that cleared away quickly. There was applause from the students again.

  ‘Very well, everything is settled for now, and I hope the next term will be rather less disturbing than this one was at the end,’ Miss Dustfall said.

  Just at that moment, Will looked around and his eyes fell on Richard, who caught his look and gave him a nasty grin. Will tried to look away without acknowledging that he had seen this. He did not want to give Richard that satisfaction. But inside he feared that the next term would not be as uneventful as Miss Dustfall had wished, and that he would have to keep watching Richard.

  Miss Dustfall continued, ‘I think there have been enough thank yous and I’m sure you’re all anxious to get home to your families. So I wish you all a great holiday.’

  And with this the term was over. Everybody stormed from the Ferum and hurried to their rooms to pack their belongings. Will quickly packed his suitcase and bid his friends goodbye. He left his room, ran down a staircase, and was just passing by a dark corner in the corridor when he heard a deep but somehow familiar voice: ‘Will? If you have a moment, please?’

  He stopped and turned towards the dark corner. Instantly it brightened and Will could see Father Christmas standing there in front of him!

  ‘Will Burns, although you think we haven’t met before, I know what great service you have done this term. Not only for the White Christmas Organisation, but also for me. Without your help and your courage, Beltorec would have been able to do much more damage to Snowfields and to the whole organisation. But you have stopped him and his Bluerorcs. That was just amazing. I want to thank you personally.’

  And to Will’s utter amazement, Father Christmas bowed deeply to him. ‘I…’ Will floundered. ‘Sir, thank you very much. But I only did what I felt was right. And Beltorec escaped! And—’

  But Father Christmas held up his hand and interrupted Will. ‘No, my friend, no!’ he said softly. ‘You did a superb job, and you’ve earned my deep gratitude. Here.’ He put out his hands and pulled a beautifully-wrapped parcel out of thin air. ‘This is my Christmas present for you.’ He handed Will the parcel. ‘And now, enjoy your holidays. I’ll see you next term.’

  And with that he was gone. Will stood in the dark corner, clutching the present. He had not even been able to thank Father Christmas for the gift. He shook his head: nothing he could do about it now. Then he heard others coming down the stairs. The last thing he wanted to do was to explain this to anybody. He would wait until he was home before he unpacked the present.

  He quickly pushed it into his suitcase and hurried onwards, and soon was on his way home via Cloudy’s Transportation Service. It did not take long, and then he was standing again under the street lantern next to his parents’ house. He was glad to be home again.

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, locales, institutions, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, institutions, or persons, either living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, transmitted, licensed, or used in any form or by any means, electronic, digital, or mechanical, without express permission in writing by the publisher, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased, or as permitted by applicable copyright law.

  Published by:

  Dr. Daniel Klockenbrink

  Heinrich-Hertz-Str. 11

  28211 Bremen

  Germany

  For more information, news, the author’s blog, and more visit:

  www.fatherchristmasbook.com

  www.daniel-klock.com

  First Edition October 2013

  Cover art by Daniel Klock.

  Copyright © 2013 by Daniel Klock, all rights reserved.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13