Santa’s Stand-in

A magical story

Seraphina hid behind the chimney when she saw a small boy ambling along the street. Unfortunately, he’d already spotted her. “What are you doing on Mr Wilson’s roof?” he shouted.

“Shush. Be quiet. You’ll wake the whole neighbourhood,” Seraphina hissed. Nervously, she glanced around her. It would be just her luck to get arrested and charged with loitering with intent on a rooftop. Her father would have a fit if she spent Christmas in jail and the toys didn’t get delivered.

She patted her padded stomach and gave her false white beard a playful tug. “Ho, ho, ho,” she croaked. “You must know who I am, young man.”

The boy sniggered. “You’re not

Father Christmas. You’re a girl.” He wiped his nose on his coat sleeve. “Anyway, Santa don’t exist.”

Heaving a big sigh, Seraphina clambered down from the roof. This was definitely not how she’d planned to spend her Christmas Eve. She should have been with her boyfriend, Noel, and her mates, having a good time.

Instead, she was slithering around on rooftops and sneaking into houses with a magic key. How humiliating was that? And, if she had to eat another mince pie… well, she’d explode.

When her dad, Father Christmas, had asked her to do the “Santa run” this year she’d been horrified.

“No way,” she’d shot back at him. “I’ve arranged to go ice skating on Christmas Eve with Noel. Then we’re going to a party.”

Her voice trailed away when her father pointed to his leg, encased in plaster. “You know I can’t do it, Seraphina,” he said in a cajoling tone. “It’s only one night, dear. Think about the children.”

Seraphina folded her arms in a gesture of defiance. It was her dad’s own daft fault he’d broken his leg. Whatever had possessed him to go snowboarding with the elves two weeks before Christmas? Whoever heard of Father Christmas snowboarding anyway?

She turned to her mother for support. “Don’t look at me,” Merry snapped, pulling a tray of biscuits from the oven. “While your dad’s been indisposed I’ve had to help in the toy factory, so I’m way behind with the baking.”

She took off her oven gloves, blew out her pink cheeks and plunged her hands into a bowl of dough. “And those elves still need feeding.”

Father Christmas smiled wistfully. “You used to enjoy delivering the presents with me on Christmas Eve, Seraphina.”

“Yeah. When I was eight, not eighteen,” Seraphina muttered, but she couldn’t help smiling.

It was true. Travelling around the world with her father had been the highlight of her year. They’d started in the South Pacific and then on to New Zealand and Australia and…

“You know the route like the back of your hand,” Santa continued, as if reading her mind. “It would take me days to teach one of the elves about the twenty-four different time zones and the best flight paths.” He took a sip of sweet sherry. “And you know how to handle Rudolph and the other reindeer if they become hyperactive and start playing up when they’ve eaten too many carrots.”

Eventually, Seraphina found herself agreeing. Reluctantly, she removed her nose stud and covered her blue-streaked hair with a white wig. Then she stuck on the false beard and tied padding round her waist, before slipping into her father’s red outfit.

“The sack of emergency toys is under the seat,” Santa said, leaning on his crutches while the elves loaded the sleigh. He chuckled. “Children always forget some things until the last minute. You’ll probably find scribbled notes under Christmas trees.” He handed his daughter his iPad which contained the list of children’s names and toys.

Seraphina gave him a peck on the cheek. “Don’t worry, Dad. I won’t let you down,” she said, climbing into the sleigh.

What were you doing on the roof, Miss?” The child’s voice brought Seraphina’s mind back to the present. Now she was

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standing in front of the boy he looked younger than she’d thought – around six or seven, she guessed.

He had big, intelligent eyes but a pale, thin face.

“I told you,” she said, laughing. “Delivering presents.”

The boy flashed her a suspicious look. Before he could say anything, Seraphina rushed on, “You don’t think one Father Christmas can deliver toys to all the children in the world, do you? There are a few of us, you know. Anyway, what are you doing out at this time of night?”

“I was looking for Sooty – my cat.” He shrugged. “He’s not allowed out at night but he got through the bedroom window.”

“I’m sure he’ll find his way home.” Seraphina gave the boy a reassuring smile. “I think you ought to get home before your parents miss you. And remember,” she added, “I won’t come to your house unless you’re asleep.”

“OK,” he mumbled. He turned to walk away. Then, as if he’d suddenly remembered something, he swung round to face Seraphina. “If you’re a real

Father Christmas…” He narrowed his eyes. “Will you bring me a blue bike?”

“No sweat. I presume you put it on your letter to Santa?”

He shook his head. “No. My dad’s been out of work six months. He’s got no money for bikes.”

Grinning mischievously, he added, “If you bring me a bike I’ll get my mam to put a picture on Facebook. I’m Jacob Benson and my mam’s called Kayla. Look, there’s Sooty.”

Without waiting for Seraphina to reply, he darted along the street after a black cat.

As soon as he was out of sight, Seraphina hurried back to the sleigh and consulted the list on the iPad.

Her heart lurched when she saw Jacob’s name. He’d asked only for small toys which wouldn’t cost more than a few pounds – colouring books, a football game, a dinosaur torch, Spider-Man pyjamas and a flashing collar for Sooty.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, she rummaged through the sack of emergency toys. She was sure she’d seen a blue bike that would be the right size for Jacob. Then, with a sinking feeling in her stomach, she remembered she’d left the bike at a large detached house more than an hour ago.

She scanned the list until she found the address. The boy’s name was Theodore and he’d asked for an electric ride-on car or a bike but Seraphina had left both items.

A wave of guilt flooded through her. She’d told herself she’d wanted to lighten the load on the sleigh because the reindeer were looking tired. But, the truth was, she was hoping if she emptied the heavy emergency sack the sleigh would go faster, so she could get home early to meet her friends.

She glanced at the time on her mobile. “Come on guys,” she said to the reindeer, “if we hurry up, we’ve got time to go back and get that bike for Jacob. Trust me, Theo won’t mind. He’ll be over the moon with the car.” She bit on her lip. “Let’s hope he’s still asleep and hasn’t seen the bike yet.”

Several hours later, Seraphina pulled the sleigh to a halt outside her father’s house. As she’d expected, he was looking out for her. His face broke into a broad smile.

“You cut that a bit fine, lass. Any problems?”

“Of course not, Dad.” She hopped from the sleigh and gave him a hug.

“Well, you can tell me all about the journey after you’ve had some sleep.

“Your mother will make you a nice mug of cocoa while I get the elves to look after the reindeer.”

After drinking the chocolate, Seraphina sat on her bed and searched for Jacob’s mother, Kayla Benson, on Facebook.

She scrolled through scores of names and, stifling a yawn, was about to give up when, suddenly, Jacob’s cheeky face was beaming at her from her mobile screen.

Seraphina felt a warm glow inside her. He was dressed in his Spider-Man pyjamas, sitting astride the new blue bike and looking as if he would burst with happiness. An older version of Jacob, presumably his father, was holding on to the bike and at their feet was a grumpy-looking Sooty.

As Seraphina wiped tears of joy from her eyes, her mobile rang.

“Sorry if I’ve woken you up,” Noel said chirpily. “I wanted to wish you a happy Christmas. I missed you last night. Hope your Christmas Eve wasn’t too boring.”

“I missed you too, Noel,” Seraphina replied. “And no, it certainly wasn’t boring. I’m glad now that my dad asked me to deliver the presents. It reminded me – you know – what Christmas is all about.”

She glanced again at the image on her phone. “Actually, it was the best Christmas Eve I’ve ever had.” She grinned. “Thanks to a little boy called Jacob and a cat called Sooty.”

As Seraphina WIPED away tears of JOY from her eyes, her MOBILE rang