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“Yes! Right now!”

He groaned but galloped home, yelling to Mom about how much he loved the reindeer. I trailed after him.

“Go wash your hands,” Mom directed when Harris got inside. She was baking something in the oven, sugar cookies or gingerbread. The sweet smell permeated the air.

Harris ran to the bathroom, and I followed Mom into the kitchen. “I was just at Mr. Lenny’s,” I began, but then I realized Marcus had to hear this too.

“You helped him shovel,” Mom said. Marcus must’ve told her that’s where I went.

“Yes, but that’s not all.”

I went over to Marcus’s room and knocked on his door.

“What?” Marcus called through the door.

“Come out! I want to tell you something. With Mom.”

Marcus exited his room with his What? face on and joined me and our mom in the kitchen.

“Our elf is in Mr. Lenny’s shed,” I said without any buildup.

“What?” Mom asked.

I repeated the sentence. I could see Mom’s mind working.

“Sweet old Mr. Lenny?” Marcus asked with a single laugh.

“So the Morenos stored the stolen elf in his shed?”

“Mom,” I said with a sigh. “No. Mr. Lenny is the thief. Has been all along.”

“No,” she said.

“Yes, he admitted it. Said this neighborhood and all the lights keep his kids away during the holidays, and it made him upset. He’s sad and lonely and I think kind of bitter.”

Marcus cringed. “Well … that’s unfortunate. We’ve said some pretty nasty things to the Morenos.”

“No,” Mom said again. “I saw the drag marks and sticks!”

“Maybe it was something else, Mom, because the elf is in Mr. Lenny’s shed,” I said softly.

Mom put her hand to her forehead. “That doesn’t discount the other things Mr. and Mrs. Moreno have done. How they’ve treated us for as long as we’ve known them.”

“I know, but…” But what?

“Something smells funny,” Harris said, walking into the kitchen.

“Oh no,” my mom said, grabbing a pot holder and opening the oven. Smoke poured out, and she grabbed the pan of blackened cookies and placed them on the island.

“Gross!” Harris yelled. “I can’t eat those.”

“Nobody is making you eat them,” Mom said. “I’ll make another batch.”

Marcus opened a window, and I started fanning the smoke detector with a dish towel before it went off.

In the middle of the chaos, the doorbell rang.

“Who’s that?” Harris asked.