Chapter Six
Liza was in the middle of a very inappropriate dream involving herself and Jaspar, naked and lying on a pile of furs, when she was rudely interrupted. Somebody was calling her name – somebody with a terrible sense of timing.
“Go’way,” she mumbled, and pulled her pillow over her head. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to remember where she’d left off. Jaspar was licking his way up her inner thigh…
Somebody snatched the pillow off her head.
“Liza, wake up.” Marjan was standing next to her bed. La La was by her side, holding an armful of peppermint sticks.
Liza sat bolt upright and squinted at them. “It’s seven a.m.,” she groaned. “Is everything all right? La La, where did you get all those peppermint sticks? Save some for later, for heaven’s sake!”
In response, La La stuck all of them in her mouth – wrappers and all.
“Do you just like to deliberately annoy me?” she said. La La made a happy squealing noise, and Marjan looked down at her, nodded, and laughed.
“Do you actually speak Srilaa?” Liza climbed out of bed, yawning and rubbing her eyes.
“I understand it. Nobody can speak Srilaa but the Srilaa.”
“Interesting. What did she just say to me?”
“She said yes, of course, because it is funny when your face turns red.” Marjan grinned. “But that’s actually the highest form of compliment, coming from a Srilaa. They only annoy those they truly love.”
“Urgh. And she’s decided she loves me? Why am I so lucky?” She scowled down at La La. “You should be out playing with your friends and entertaining customers.”
La La shook her head and hugged Liza’s leg.
Liza plopped back down on the bed. “Why are you guys even here so early?”
“There’s a long line of people waiting for sleigh rides, and your grandparents are getting ready to open up early. They sent me in to get you.”
Marjan left, and she lured La La into following her by waving a peppermint stick at her and leading her out.
Liza dressed quickly and hurried outside. To her surprise, the line of families waiting to ride Santa’s sleigh snaked all the way to their front gate.
Her grandparents were doing a brisk business at their outdoor booth, selling roast chestnuts, apple cider, and hot buttered rum to the grown-ups. The peppermint sticks were going fast, too, as the delighted children fed them to the equally delighted Srilaa. The Srilaa did handsprings and backflips to show their appreciation.Handsprings? Pawsprings?Liza thought, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
She hurried over to her grandparents.
“Pawpaw, what’s going on?” she asked as the Santabot landed his sleigh and a laughing family climbed out. Another family quickly climbed in.
“A Christmas miracle!” Pawpaw beamed. Everything good that happened, any time of year, was a Christmas miracle according to her grandfather. “Apparently, that woman went to a Christmas party and complained about the Santabot that insulted her and her whole family, and everyone thought that sounded hilarious. They all came to check it out.”
“Huh,” Liza said. “Who could have seen that coming?” Apparently an Insult Santa was a pretty good gimmick. She never would have thought of that one on her own. Too bad they wouldn’t be able to use it again next year.
Whatever. At least it looked like their final Christmas wasn’t going to be a bust after all. The customers were happy, and the money was pouring in.
She hurried behind the counter.
“Next customer! Ho, ho, ho!” she yelled, and there was actually some genuine holiday cheer in her voice.
* * * * *
During the day, while Liza and her family were greeting wave after wave of customers, Jaspar was checking up on the Harbinger Clan.
He and Sterran and several of his other clan members did some long-distance surveillance of the Harbingers at their hotel, observing their comings and goings. Nothing stood out as suspicious.
He sent Korl and half a dozen members of their clan to the spot where their negotiations would be held. It was in a conference center located five human miles from Liza’s family property. They checked for booby-traps, they checked for any bugs that might have been planted there. They found nothing but a chilly, empty building.
