Christmas

This happens in the second Christmas holiday at Unicorn Farm. Wizards and witches from other schools and academies have come visiting, and the Lion Dancers from Germany among them.

As Christmas day dawned at Unicorn Farm, Susan crept over to the window in the key-room, where she had slept together with Knud, Anna, Kalle, Kirstin and Rósa. The room had grown to accommodate more of them, and with it the number of beds. Susan peeped through the curtains, it was a cloudless day, perfect for the party they had planned.
  They were served a wonderful breakfast in the Barn, the Nisser did their very best to cater for all the exotic guests, Susan saw a lady dressed in a sari made of a costly looking golden fabric, and Rósa almost choked on her hot cocoa, when she caught sight of some of the members of the pipes and drums band from Scotland wearing kilts. Kirstin pounded her on the back and tried to hush her at the same time. Some clansmen were very touchy in matters concerning their attire.
  After breakfast they were set to work. Susan was sent off to buy some radishes, as the Nisser insisted on those to garnish the dinner, and obviously somebody had eaten the ones already purchased during the night.
  "I did not eat them," Susan insisted, "why do I have to go shopping? I'd rather help Knud and Kalle level the rubble on the road."
  "You go shopping," Thora said. "You know the island and the shops, and you know how to look normal. We can't send someone dressed in outlandish dresses, who does not speak the language, and generally acts strangely. Being suspicious would be a major setback for this school."
  "Oh, yes I see," Susan said. "I'm sorry I was so recalcitrant. Do I have to walk all the way, or can I fly as far as the parking lot on the beach. Nobody's down there this time of year."
  "You see why you have to go shopping?" Thora asked. "Nobody else knows where people go and where not. Being unobtrusive is a good ting. Take Rósa along with you, and ask the Nisser if they need anything else; and yes, you can fly. But don't get caught doing it!"
  "We won't. Thank you!" Susan said and ran off to find Rósa.
  Together they ventured into the kitchen. Timidly they asked the the Icelandic nissewoman, as she and her husband were the youngest and less set in their ways and feelings of propriety. They were handed a long list of things to buy, and promised to return as fast as possible.
  As Susan had suggested, they followed the beach below the cliffs to the southernmost parking lot Nobody was down on the beach this early on a cold, clear winter morning. The cliffs grew lower and lower and as they reached the bushes on the nearer side of the parking lot, they dismounted and deactivated their brooms. The parking lot was a rather small space, hemmed in by wild rose bushes on two sides, road and beach making the other two, and ten or eleven cars was all it took to fill it up. They hid their brooms in the bushes and walked the rest of the way to the grocery. They were able to get most of the things in the shopping list, only not radishes. The shopkeeper suggested that they buy a humongous white root instead. He called it a daikon, and said it tasted almost like a radish.
  "We'll take it. Thank you." Susan said. "They need it for garnish. I'm sure they could dye it if it has to have red rims." Susan also paid, and together they succeeded in putting all the stuff  into the two bags they had brought along.

***

When they reached the parking site they experienced a setback to their plans. A family in an old blue car was just arriving and the girls reached the patch of wild roses hiding their broomsticks. "Now what," Rósa asked Susan. Now we wait," Susan answered. "We'll say we're waiting for my dad to pick us up. If they ask. They won't stay for long, at least I think so. It's cold, they're not going to swim or something as if it was summer." Susan and Rósa sat down one the big boulders and placed the bags between their feet. As expected, the lady came over to them. She was wearing a baby on one arm, and a small girl held her other hand. The man stood at the water's edge with an older boy. From the smell he had been sick.
"Hello, and merry Christmas!" the lady said.
"Hello and Merry Christmas to you as well," Susan answered, while Rósa smiled at the baby, and began talking to the small girl.
"What are you doing here?" the lady asked, just as expected.
"Waiting for dad to pick us up," Susan answered. "We wanted some fresh air after what felt like hours in the car, and we volunteered to go shopping, while he and mum unpacked the car. He'll come for us soon."
"Fresh air, yes I can sympathize, and Brian there even more I suppose," the lady said with a smile to them and an anxious look to the pair at the water. "Are you also on holiday here."
"Yes," Susan answered, "I suspect we're not that many celebrating Christians on this island."
"We're having a small party one of the days," the lady answered, "it's kind of become a tradition." The man and the boy returned from the water.
"Are you OK. now Brian?" the lady asked.
"He'll be OK," the man said. "Let's drive on, then I can go shopping while he relaxes in the hammock and you take care of the two small scoundrels. Then when I return, we can unpack. If you can get the heat going, and put a kettle over for coffee, I would be a happy man," the man added smiling.
"I'll certainly try," the lady said, "Those two were smart," the lady said with a nod towards Susan and Rósa.  "They went shopping and got some fresh air, while mom and dad unpacked the car."
"Smart girls," Brian said. "I'll remember."
The small family said their good byes and drove off. The little girl kneeling on the back seat and waving until they could no longer see the car.
Then Susan and Rósa hurriedly got on their brooms and flew off direction Unicorn Farm.

***

  Finally Susan and Rósa crossed the line of trees and flew directly to the kitchen door. Some of the Nisser stood outside on the steps, obviously waiting for them. They dismounted and handed the two crammed bags to the Icelandic nisselady and turned to leave. "Oh no you don't just leave," the nisselady said. "I need you help here in the kitchen." Rósa and Susan looked timidly at one another and none of them dared follow her inside. Susan just stood there,a s if she had grown roots, and Rósa trued to hide behind her. The Icelandic nisselady discovered that they were not following, and returned for them. She grasped Susan's arm, and pulled her inside: "Come on now. I do not bite. I'm Katla by the way." Susan took small steps after Katla all the way to the kitchen, and Rósa was right behind her. The other nisser, who had been outside waiting, were right behind Rósa. There just was no turning back. As they came through the low door to the kitchen a confusing sight met them. Pots and pans and plates covered almost all surfaces in the room. Even more pots simmered or boiled on the stove, half obscuring the room in mists. The smoke from the stove did not help any.
  A happy voice greeted Susan, and she was piled into a bony embrace. "Oh Susan good to see you again. We were shanghaied the moment we arrived by one of those tiny ladies here. We've been working ever since diligently cooking rice, cutting up fish and so on."
  "Kensuke!" Susan said, "is that really you! Welcome to our slave pen."
  "Yes it's me," Kensuke answered drolly, "and Teiko and Ella are here somewhere too. Cooper and Liam are in Australia for Christmas."
  "Oh nice!" Susan said smiling. "This is Rósa, she might look small, but she's brave and clever." 
  "Hello Rósa, nice to met you." Kensuke said bowing from the waist.
  "Hello Kensuke, nice to meet you too," Rósa said. "Susan has mentioned you and your friends a couple of times."
  "Oh, is that a big root!" Kensuke exclaimed.
  "Big root," Susan said smiling. "Do you mean that giant veggie, the greengrocer palmed off on us as he has no more radishes."
  "Daikon," Kensuke said clearly, fighting the language spell. "Yes it means big root. It is much better than radishes. I love them, and so do Teiko. Let her prepare it. You'll love to wrap your teeth around the result."
  Susan turned to Katla: "Sorry we're talking up a storm here, we're old friends ..."
  Katla nodded energetically and said: "And you want your Japanese friends to be entrusted with that monstrosity there?" Susan nodded, still a bit intimidated. "Go on, go on." Katla said. "We have enough food even if we'll have to do without radishes for garnish."
  "Well," Teiko added, "That root is big enough for both. Let's get working."
  And in something that suddenly reminded Susan of the busy evening in Ella's Granny's house, they cut, grated, boiled, dyed - yes using the red dye Susan and Rósa had bought to go with the daikon - and put on plates. Admittedly amid much more noise and laughter than in the small German house.

***

As Kensuke, Teiko, Ellen, Rósa and Susan were sent from the kitchen to get dressed for the festive meal, they discovered that they had not been the only ones working hard. Knud and Kalle had been levelling the roads, Several of the Yellow team had been cleaning out the stables, polishing the statues in the niches; and the blue team had been sweeping all corridors and putting up extra tables. Of course they were also using magic, but much of the menial work went as fast, and left them not as tired in both body and mind when done by ordinary means.
  Now all the guests were somewhere else, dressing in their finery, and the apprentices gathered in the Barn by the wardrobes. On their pegs hung new, festive clothing from nicer fabric than the coarse cotton of their ordinary school uniforms. The green team found green tunics with the openings bordered by embroidery in different colours and patterns, all pleasing to the eye and well done. The tunics had vents at the bottom - also embroidered - and belts in fitting colours. The skirts and trousers, white with black and purple stripes as always, were made from some silk-like material, soft and supple, but still warm. They all washed hands and faces first and combed and brushed their hair. Then they put on the finery, which fit them just as well as the normal uniforms. Shoes or boots were supplied as well. Made from soft leather with fasteners and strings in colours to match their tunics, and they were even comfortable. Susan felt suddenly shy. She did not know where she was supposed to go, or if she should go and sit down at all. The lay out for the tables was new and unusual. She just stayed by the wardrobe, as did most of the other apprentices.
  The small door in the back of the barn was opened, and the teachers came in, each ushering a bundle of guests. 
  Tähti and Taavi were dressed in traditional Finnish dresses, in subdued colour, but still striking. Taavi gallantly held the door and a bevy of Greenlanders came through; the three men and boys in white anorak and black trousers contrasting nicely with the small, smiling lady and a girl dressed in pearl embroidered tops and white trousers. Taavi offered her arm to the lady and led her to the furthest table, Täthi and the rest of the Inuit trailing behind.
  Jon and Martine were dressed in Norwegian bunad, he looked a bit strange, but the white shirt and deep blue woollen vest and trousers with silver buttons set off his black skin nicely. They warded a small company of The Saami all dressed in their traditional tunics in primal colours and reindeer hide boots. They went to stand near the next table.
  Birgitta was dressed in something very much like Martine's bunad, but the choice of colours made her for all the world look like she just stepped from Carl Larsson's Christmas painting. Some of her guests were well known to Susan and her friends, but how different they looked! Ella was wearing a dirndl in a striking red colour, tied together with strings of some silvery material over a white blouse; while Kensuke and Teiko looked fabulous in kimonos, Teiko's were a very soft, light blue colour, almost like a starling's egg, getting paler towards the bottom of the dress and patterned with flowers in pink, golden and green. Kensuke's was simpler, dark green with a subtle pattern in darker and lighter shades, making a rippling effect when he moved. Instead of the traditional sandals, they wore ninja boots, where the big toe was separated from the other four, giving them a funny, almost reptilian look. Susan found them practical and was almost a bit jealous, even though her boots were the best, she had ever worn. They waved at Susan and she smiled timidly back at them.
  Thora, Gilvi and Torben were dressed in their normal attire, only now sparkling clean, and made from finer fabrics. Thora as always in white shirt under a dark green dress, her only concession to dressing was a silver brooch, and Gilvi looked much like the day Susan first met him. Torben wore a suit in dove grey, a white shirt and a bow tie, his festive looks. Among their guests were some that none of the apprentices recognized. A lean, dark-haired man in white shirt, black trousers and clogs caught Susan's attention. Wearing clogs to a party, she thought, really strange. Heidi noticed her looking and told her that it was a Dutch tradition. The rest were dressed in a mix of Slavic embroidered blouses, modern clothes and sombre Italian dresses.
  Thora gently levitated until she was at least a head taller than everyone else around, then she clapped her hands: "The Yellow teams will sit at the table furthest from the wardrobes with Tähti and Taavi and our honoured guests from Greenland." The  yellow apprentices looked at her, and she looked back at them. "Now, off you go," she said encouragingly, and the yellow-clad apprentices, with Sif and Edwin in front walked off.
  "And the green team will sit with Jon and Martine and our Saami guests." Thora continued. "Off you go." After a bit of jostling and nervous giggling Knud took Susan's arm in an imitation of Taavi and Tähti and led her off towards the tables. Surprisingly Terje emulated him, grasping Hilde's arm and soon all the green apprentices were seated with Jon, Martine and the joyous looking Saami.
  "And now," Thora said, "now it becomes easier. Purple team, you go and sit with Birgitta and our visitors from Japan, Austria, Germany and Switzerland." They did with Finnbogi, the only in red leading Lis. Tage quickly grasped Ingrid by the arm and followed. Heidi and Olav did the same. and the rest followed closely so as not to be left behind.
  As they sat, Thora spoke again: "Lastly blue team come and sit here with us and visitors from Eastern and Central Europe."  David and Grani, the two eldest boys on the blue team almost fought to be the first at the table, leaving the Swedes, My and Selma to follow as best they could. Still after only a short while everybody was seated.

***

Jon and Martine engaged the Saami witches and wizards in a discussion on the use of music in magic. Susan was reminded of the wand-singing she and the other apprentices were learning, but she did not know if she was allowed to talk about it or not. Neither Tähti nor Thora had ever told them to keep it secret, but neither had they ever spoken of it outside the lessons. She looked at Rósa and Anna, who were both in the green group as well and they looked back at her. Anna leant over to her and Rósa and asked in a whisper: "Are we allowed to speak of wand-singing at all, or is it a secret."
"I do not know," Rósa answered, and Susan shook her head slowly and whispered back: "I'll go and ask Thora."
She worked her way to Thora's seat at the other end of the first table towards the back of the room. It was crowded and noisy. As she reached Thora, the witch held her hand in the air to stop Susan and continued her discussion with the German wizard in Lederhosen and alpine hat with a purple brush. Susan sat down next to Veronika and prepared to wait. She looked around, revelling in the many different dresses, colours and costumes in the Barn. Then she noticed that the lean, dark-haired with the clogs, whom she had notice earlier on, sat talking quietly and intently to Torben. Susan did her best to look interested in the conversation Veronika was having with a Dutch lace-decked witch all the while listening  in at Torben and his companion's talk.
They were rehashing old resentments, repeating all the slights, burnings, witch-processes and so on that the magical people had suffered from the hands of stupid, ignorant, and often frightened people.
After having waited for ten minutes or more, Susan felt the urge to pee. "Well I can do that while waiting," she thought. and walked the rest of the way to the small corridor and the necessary rooms behind the brown door.
She was just about to leave the cubicle again, when she heard someone enter. She recognized the sound of clogs on the floor. It mus be one of the Dutch. Then she heard Torben say: "We have in short been suffering without doing anything for far too long." 
And the she overheard  Tristan whispering to Torben: "But when we have been elected, a new golden age will be dawning." and with that single statement, he steamrollered her happiness right into the ground.


***

  When Torben and Tristan had left the lavatories, Susan slowly walked back to the Barn. Meanwhile the tables had been cleared and broken up into small islands, now cowered in multicoloured tablecloths and loaded with cakes, cookies, strawberry pies, apple pies, chocolates and every other delicacy imaginable. Tea, coffee and soft drinks were placed under the hayloft and everybody was mingling, talking, eating and having a good time. Only Susan felt bleak.
  Finally nobody was able to do more than nibble at the delicacies. Then Jon arose and clapped his hands: "Please everybody, clear the floor. We do not have much entertainment scheduled for tonight, but what we lack in number, will be made up for in pure energy. Give a hand to The two Collins!" Everybody moved to the walls while applauding softly, and in from the barn door came two young magicians dressed in garish colours. One had yellow trousers and cloak and an emerald green tunic, the other had a yellow tunic and green trousers and cloak. Both wore a purple tie, a red belt and an orange hat with blue plumes. The result almost hurt the eyes of the audience. The two Colins did a row of somersault diagonal to one another. Then they stood took off hats and capes throwing them through the air to Jon who caught them with ease. Then the two Colins drew their wands, did a handstand and fired their wands while upside down. Petals, butterflies and leaves began falling in droves from the ceiling. The yellow Colin turned around and pointed his wand through his legs at the green Colin - who did exactly the same. They fired again and rolled and tumbled to avoid the jets of emerald green and shining yellow steam coming from the wands. Where they hit, yellow clothes changed to green and green to yellow. The two Colins jumped, somersaulted and sprang to the best of their ability all the while firing jets of emerald and yellow vapours at one another. In the end The two Colins sat back to back with their clothes a mottled mix of yellow and green and leaves and petals in the same colours still falling around them. All the wizards and apprentices were laughing and applauding wildly at the rambunctious performance.

***

Susan found her way back to Anna and Rósa, happily noticing that the conversation had drifted to other matters than music and songs in magic. She told Anna and Rósa that while Wandsinging was not a secret, talking about it was not encouraged. All in all wandmaking was one of the more secret crafts of the wizarding community, and the less said about it the better.
  One of the sombre dressed Italian witches, all in black and grey except for a shining emerald green sash, asked Susan, Anna, and Rósa whether they were served by gnomes. "They do not look very much like the goblins, I have met in my visits to other schools for magic," she said. Even through the language spells, her accent was still heavily Italian.
  "That's because they are neither goblins nor gnomes," Anna answered, "and please do not call them either to their face. They are Nisser, our little people, and they are easily affronted, which would make your stay here a less than pleasant surprise."
  "How's that?" the witch said.
  Susan giggled. "Imagine quilts made of nettles, unsavoury dishes, salt in the sugar bowl. All such unpleasantries have been happening to some of us over the first months at Unicorn Farm." 
Rósa winked at Susan. "Do you remember the Surströmning?"
  "Oh yes I do!" Susan said, her face no longer smiling, but looking as if  someone held a rotting fish under her nose. No wonder, as this is what surströmning actually is. "It was not only a punishment for poor Tage, but for all of us, the smell, it was atrocious!"
  "Oh, it's not that bad," Anna said. Birgitta actually likes it.
  "That's one thing about you Swedes i am never going to understand," Rósa said. Surströmning and unsweetened cranberry juice. Yuck!"
  "Oh, please don't get started." Susan moaned. "We all eat things that nobody else likes. What's your local thing to put in front of unwary foreigners?" Susan asked the Italian witch, who had been listening to the girls' banter trying to decide whether they were serious, or pulling her leg.
  "Well," the witch said slowly. "We have something called Trippa. It's the very fat part of old sows' underbelly, boiled and served in a soup. It is an acquired taste, I'm told."
  Susan and Rósa shuddered at the thought of soup with blubbery sows' parts in it.