Lacey took off her boots inside Mathilda’s back porch and vigorously knocked them together to shake the snow off. She had returned by herself, as Peter had gone to check on the reindeer.

  Walking into the kitchen, the smell of cinnamon and pumpkin filled the air. A steaming pot of thick, orange soup slowly bubbled on the stove, while inside the oven a large loaf of bread rose in its tray. Mathilda stood at the counter, piping snowflake patterns onto a batch of cookies.

  ‘Oh my, this looks and smells delicious!’

  Mathilda smiled. ‘Doesn’t it? I saw these pumpkins at the market and just knew we had to have soup tonight. Did Peter go on his rounds?’

  ‘Yes, he did. Will he come join us for supper?’

  ‘No. In the evenings he generally just grabs something at the Reindeer Common Room.’

  Lacey didn’t know whether she was disappointed or relieved at those words. Despite everything, they did work together well – him having knowledge of the village and the elves, and she bringing a new perspective from the outside. If he were solely focused on finding Jinxy they would’ve gotten along fine. But, even though he considered her an ally in their search, he kept poking at her, trying to unravel her secret, and it made her uncomfortable.

  ‘Mathilda,’ she asked. ‘You really won’t tell Peter about where I’m from?’

  Mathilda ended off another line on a snowflake. Putting the piping bag aside, she looked Lacey in the eyes, her face earnest.

  ‘Lacey, I take my work as a nurse very seriously. Neither Peter, nor anyone else, will hear your secret from my lips. Besides, as a friend I would never reveal a confidence. I promise you can trust me.’

  Lacey sighed with relief. ‘I know, I’m sorry. Of course you would never do that.’

  ‘But why are you worried about it, though? Even if Peter knew, you know you can trust him with your secret too.’

  Did she know that? Peter did seem trustworthy. Everything he’d done so far spoke of someone who acted honourably and, when under pressure, would hold the line. But still, the idea of him knowing her secret was uncomfortable. It felt too much like— Lacey pushed the thought away. Mathilda was still watching her, far too closely.

  ‘Look what I got today,’ she said instead, pulling the snowflake-patterned candy cane from her pocket and holding it out to show Mathilda.

  ‘Oh my, a snowflake candy cane! Those are real special. Did Peter tell you that sweethearts give them to each other? When a couple eats it together, it gifts a touch of magic to their relationship.’

  ‘And what if you have no one special to give it too?’ Lacey asked, not mentioning that Peter had actually given it to her.

  ‘You can have it by yourself as well, and it will heal a wounded heart and restore faith in love. Are you going to eat it?’

  Somehow, it sounded like there was more to Mathilda’s question. A question that Lacey didn’t want to answer.

  ‘Ah,’ she said with a little laugh. ‘My heart’s fine. Maybe I’ll just hang on to it for a little while.’

  ‘Of course. Let me get you a jar to put it in, so you can protect it from moisture.’

  Mathilda rummaged around in the cupboards under the counter, pulling out an empty preserves jar.

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  ‘Let’s add some rice to the bottom; it’ll help keep the air dry,’ she said, opening another container and pouring in a layer of rice. ‘There you go.’

  Lacey gently inserted the candy cane and locked the airtight lid into place. The kitchen’s cosy light reflected through the candy cane’s little facets, making it sparkle in a hundred shifting colours.

  ‘You should place it on the windowsill in your room. Sitting under the starlight will make the magic even more powerful. It may even catch a little bit of a charge from the northern lights,’ Mathilda advised, inserting her hands into reindeer oven mitts and pulling out the bread.

  ??

  Later that night Lacey stood in her bedroom. Supper had been delicious, filling not only her belly but her heart too. How could homemade soup and bread, made with such love, do anything else? And now, the cottage was quiet, the leftovers long since put away and the kitchen clean and ready for tomorrow. Even the sounds from Mathilda’s bedroom had ceased.

  Lacey pulled the jar out to look at the candy cane again. Why had she kept it for herself? She should’ve just given it to Mathilda. I’ll do it in the morning, she resolved. And for now, she can place it on the windowsill. If she’s giving it to Mathilda, she might as well add a little starlight charge – Mathilda deserved every sparkle it added.

  Pulling the curtains open, she gazed at the sprawling vista of the village spread out in front of her. Mathilda’s cottage was towards the edge of the settlement, placed at the beginning of the rising slope towards the Southern forest, raising it slightly above most of the other cottages. It made for a pretty sight, all the quaint little houses rising up from the snow, their windows lit in warm, cosy hues. Here and there a bundled up shape was still out, but for the most part the streets now lay quiet in the night.

  In the sky, the stars were brighter and more numerous than she had ever seen on Earth. The whole expanse twinkled and glittered, even more brightly than one of Jinxy’s specially accented toys. She placed the candy cane jar on the windowsill under the starlight. Was it her imagination, or did it glitter more? Well, there were certainly more than enough stars to ensure a good magical charge, if that was really how it worked.

  She sighed, feeling a sudden melancholy despite the picturesque view. Here, in the prettiest place she had ever seen, she was quite literally an outsider. And it had been the same on Earth, although she had been a human there, surrounded by humans. Doubly so in the group-foster home. Cassy had made sure of that.

  Lacey pulled her borrowed nightgown tighter around her, suddenly feeling a chill even though Mathilda’s cottage was comfortably heated by the woodstove in the kitchen. She hadn’t thought of Cassy in years, why should she do so now? Cassy had betrayed her in the worst possible way, ensuring her isolation. Even Ms Gabby, who had been the closest thing to a mother for her, had never looked at her in quite the same way ever again.

  Another lonely coat-wrapped figure strolled past her window. The thick mop of red hair poking out from under its hat was unmistakable. It was Golly, heading home after closing up the Reindeer Common Room. Hopefully Peter had finished his rounds and eaten before closing time.

  Mathilda said that he was trustworthy, and Lacey wanted to believe that. But, once upon a time, she had also thought she could trust Cassy. That Cassy was her best friend.

  Lacey sighed. It wasn’t just that Cassy had turned her into an outcast. It had also spoiled Christmas, her fondest connection to her parents, for her. Never again had she decorated her part of the shared bedroom for Christmas.

  At least Ms Gabby had enough sense to move her out of her original room – the one she had shared with Cassy. It had been the largest of the bedrooms, reserved for older girls. A part of her had been bitter that Cassy got to keep it. Lacey, having been there longer, should’ve been the one who stayed. But ultimately it had been worth it to get away from Cassy.

  The only thing she couldn’t bear to let go of was the lights. Even though she never put up her own lights again, she would still watch as their suburb became lit every Christmas. The lights became her secret, her connection to her parents, that she would never put on display again. That’s why she didn’t mind when Wesstler Brothers and Associates ran late into the Christmas season. It was a good way to keep her mind occupied with something useful.

  She was about to turn away from the window, when she saw a flash from the corner of her eye. She watched in wonder as the shooting star streaked across the night sky, bathing the world in the bright light of its tail. The candy cane in the jar flashed, as if in response.

  Unbidden, a hidden wish flared in Lacey’s heart. I wish, I wish. She couldn’t bring herself to form the second part of the wish. The wish she wanted to complete by saying maybe Peter is the one for me. And that maybe they could live happily ever after.

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