The sun was starting to set over the candy cane fields when Lacey and Peter arrived from their search of Jinxy’s cottage. The fields dazzled in the dusky sun rays, providing a stunning display of crystal whites, reds, greens, and a kaleidoscope of other colours. Candy cane stalks grew straight out of the ground like crystallised reeds, with smaller clusters branching from the larger ones.

  Unfortunately, the snow from the past days was layered evenly over the ground, enough to obscure any past signs of passage. There was only one set of tracks leading into the fields, ending at a diminutive, solitary figure moving about in the distance.

  ‘Oh look, there’s Danji,’ Peter said.

  Lacey took a second look. She had to squint in the glare of the sun’s rays, which reflected off the crystallised candy-cane surfaces. It was indeed Danji. That short bob of dark hair and her thick-framed, candy-cane rimmed glasses were unmistakable. Danji had an oversized carry bag slung over one shoulder, into which she was depositing candy canes as she picked them.

  ‘If anyone knows what has been happening around these fields, it will be Danji,’ Peter said confidently as they walked towards her.

  ‘Oh, she gets in these fields a lot?’

  ‘Since she is our resident candy crystollagist, yes.’

  ‘Candy crystollagist?’

  ‘The settlement expert who oversees crystal growth and candy cane field harvesting. Not that I’d normally have to explain that to an Aurora elf. You probably know all this already since the Candy Cane Crystal Cultivator’s Educational Facility is in the Aurora settlement. Where you come from, right?’ He raised a sardonic eyebrow at her.

  Lacey ignored it, saying, ‘Well, let’s go ask her if she’s seen anything.’ Not waiting for his reply, she set off to where Danji had paused to raise what looked like a thermometer in the air. She squinted at it before making a note on a clipboard, which she pulled out of a side pocket on her bag.

  ‘Hey, Danji,’ Lacey said, causing her to startle, almost dropping the thermometer. Her glasses slid down her nose as she fumbled, making her look even more startled.

  ‘Oh, hi Lacey, Peter. I didn’t see you there. What are you two doing out here?’

  ‘Still looking for Jinxy, I’m afraid,’ Peter answered for both of them.

  Danji’s face fell at the reminder of her missing friend. ‘Have you made any more progress?’

  ‘No, but Lacey is helping me now. I’m sure we’ll find something soon.’

  Lacey’s heart swelled at Peter’s words. The way he referred to her help almost made it sound like they were a team. It made her feel unexpectedly connected to him. Don’t get used to this, she cautioned herself. She was not going to be at the North Pole forever.

  She pushed the feeling into the background, speaking to Danji instead. ‘We found a note to Jinxy from someone asking her to meet them here at the candy cane fields. Do you perhaps know about it, or have you seen her or anyone else here?’

  ‘No, Jinxy didn’t mention that to me, and no one came around looking for her specifically. Do you perhaps have the note? If it were one of our friends, I might be able to recognise the handwriting.’

  ‘What a good idea! We should’ve thought of that,’ Peter responded, pulling the note out of his coat pocket and showing it to Danji, who frowned.

  ‘I’m afraid it doesn’t look familiar. In fact, it doesn’t look like anyone in our village’s handwriting.’

  ‘You know everybody’s handwriting?’ Lacey asked, amazed.

  ‘No, not specifically, but everyone who grows up here writes the same way — the teachers are very strict about penmanship. This doesn’t look like it. See, Peter, none of us loops x’s like that and the y’s tails are much shorter than normal.’

  ‘You’re right.’ Peter frowned as he studied the note again. ‘But if it didn’t come from any of the villagers, who could it have been?’

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  ‘I don’t know. The only beings who didn’t grow up here are Albyrne and …’ She paused, looking uncomfortable.

  ‘You can go ahead and say it,’ Lacey sighed in the silence. ‘It’s me, isn’t it. I’m the only other stranger around here.’ It was absurd, since she’d only met Jinxy that morning. But logic didn’t care about feelings.

  ‘But Lacey’s not a suspect,’ Peter said, to Lacey’s relief. ‘She was in the workshop the whole time on the day Jinxy had disappeared. Plus, she had only met her that morning. Why, she didn’t even know about the candy cane fields before today!’

  So, I had been a suspect before, but he’s already eliminated me from the suspect pool. She didn’t quite know how to feel about that. On the one hand, she was disappointed that she hadn’t had his complete trust. On the other hand, it was the logical way to approach an investigation into Jinxy’s disappearance.

  ‘You didn’t know about the candy cane fields?’ Danji said in amazement. ‘But, you’re from Aurora!’

  Gee, thanks, Peter. He looked apologetically at her.

  ‘I guess I used to focus so much on my work that a lot of things just passed me by.’ The statement wasn’t even that much of a lie; in retrospect, it was the way she lived her life on Earth.

  ‘I can see that happening,’ Danji said with a laugh. ‘Once I get busy in the fields, I don’t see much else.’ Then her expression sobered. ‘Having said that, I guess it’s possible that Jinxy or someone else might have been here, and I just didn’t notice. Although if Jinxy had come by, I can’t imagine her not saying hello to me.’

  ‘That’s true enough,’ Peter said. ‘Well, let us not keep you longer. Mathilda’s probably expecting us for supper.’

  ‘Before you guys go, Lacey, can I chat with you for a moment? Like, privately?’ Danji said, glancing at Peter.

  ‘Sure.’ Lacey said, curious about what Danji wanted to say to her.

  ‘I’ll wait for you at the edge of the field,’ Peter offered, before turning his back on them and starting the walk back.

  Lacey waited for him to get out of earshot, and then spoke, ‘What’s up, Danji?’

  Danji held up her hand, waiting for Peter to get a bit further away before answering. ‘Sorry, but people often underestimate how sound can travel in candy cane fields in the moist air between the crystals.’

  Lacey reflexively checked the distance to Peter.

  ‘Anyway,’ Danji continued, ‘I wanted to apologise to you.’

  ‘For what?’ Lacey said, surprised. ‘You haven’t done anything bad to me, have you?’

  ‘Not to you, but I feel terrible anyway,’ Danji said, looking downcast. ‘I’m very ashamed of what I said about Melo yesterday at the Reindeer Common Room. It’s the glühwein. Every time I have it, I just want to kick myself afterwards. And to think Jinxy isn’t even here, and we don’t know what’s happened to her. What kind of a friend am I?’ Eyes wide, she gazed at Lacey.

  Lacey didn’t know how to respond. What she had said about Melo and her two friends had been pretty bad. Still, the fact that she recognised this and was remorseful did count for a lot. Plus, seeing the usually sweet elf in such emotional distress was hard. She settled for saying, ‘I’m sure Jinxy would understand what happened. She’s your friend too, isn’t she?’ Jinxy probably knew all about Jolly Danji and Golly, too.

  ‘Yes, and she’s been a better friend to me than I to her.’ Danji shoved her gloved hands into her pockets, blinking the moisture in her eyes away as she stared into the distance.

  ‘I’m sorry you feel this way. It’s never too late to change, though. Maybe you can start being a better friend right now?’

  Danji let out a shaky breath, as if she’d been holding it for hours. ‘Yes, maybe,’ she said. ‘Well, that’s all I wanted to say to you. I hope I can redeem myself in your eyes at least.’

  ‘Definitely.’ Lacey gave her a little shoulder bump as they started walking out of the fields. ‘I’d be lucky to have as thoughtful a friend as you are.’

  ‘Do you really mean that?’

  Lacey smiled. ‘Of course I do.’

  ??

  Peter met up with them at the edge of the village just as the last of the sun’s rays disappeared behind the horizon. The streetlight lamps had already been lit, and soft lights shone from almost every cottage.

  ‘Good luck, you two, I hope you find Jinxy soon,’ Danji said. ‘Will I see you in the workshop tomorrow, Lacey?’

  ‘I’m not sure, but I’ll definitely come to help if I can.’

  ‘Okay then, bye bye.’ And she headed off into the village, bulging bag bumping against her side as she walked.

  ‘May I ask what that was about?’ Peter asked as they watched her disappear between the cottages.

  ‘Just something between friends. Nothing to worry about.’

  He nodded in acceptance and said, ‘Shall we?’ motioning to the village.

  ‘Sure.’ They fell into step, walking towards Mathilda’s cottage. Peter’s presence felt like a solid warmth beside her. There was a comforting stability there that radiated a feeling of safety. No wonder he’s a guard, Lacey thought.

  ‘I got you something,’ he said, pulling a small candy cane out of his pocket. It was mostly white, with a delicate snowflake pattern crystallised into it.

  ‘How pretty,’ she said in wonder, holding it up and rolling it from side to side in her fingers to see the pattern better. ‘I’ve never seen a candy cane with such a motif.’

  ‘They are pretty unique, even here. We believe that giving one to your sweetheart bestows a blessing on the relationship.’

  Don’t read too much into this, Lacey warned herself as she felt her heart warming at the gesture.

  ‘Not that you’re my sweetheart, of course,’ Peter added helpfully. ‘I just thought you’d like to see one, not knowing much about candy canes even though you’re “from Aurora”.’

  Lacey rolled her eyes at him. But she kept the candy cane, pushing it into her coat pocket over her heart.

  Together, they walked back into the soft glow of the village lights.

  ??????

  Note: This chapter is the second of two prewritten backlog chapters. It’s within the spirit of the Writathon, as described in the , and counts toward my Writathon streak.