The Alien Reindeer's Christmas Miracle Read online

  “I’m sorry, sir, Mike is an asshole. Please don’t think we are all like him,” she said shyly as she looked up at me. Her voice was soft and sweet, and I was even more attracted to her.

  “Don’t apologize for me, Janice! This guy was hitting on Erin!”

  She arched at brow at me, as if she was reconsidering her words.

  “I merely helped the young lady with getting her bag down out of the SUV.”

  “He’s right, he was being kind, and Mike just assumed like always! I swear Mike, if you don’t knock it off, I’m going to dump your ass! I didn’t even want to come on this trip! I could be back in California visiting my family for Christmas, but no, you had to drag me halfway across the world! All because you wanted to show up Janice!”

  Mike grabbed her bag and took off toward their cabin with Erin following him, still yelling at him.

  Janice — what a nice name. It suits her. I smiled at her and she blushed. “So what brings all of you to our little corner of the frozen world?” I asked her.

  She shoved her hands in the pockets of her parka and looked up at me with a smile. “Well, I’m not sure about those two, but the rest of us are here to research the legends of Santa Claus and other Christmas figures and how they all tie in together. It’s going to be my dissertation for my doctorate degree.”

  “I see,” I say with a nod.

  Being a Reilendeer, this worried me just a bit. We were an alien race who’d been here on Earth for nearly a millennia and we were part of the reason some of these folk legends existed. In our alternate form, we became the flying reindeer of their stories. Reilendeers tried not to be seen, but Humans were a curious species and had spied us one night near the winter solstice about two hundred years ago as they’d decided to celebrate my father’s — the king’s — 900th birthday. I was only about two at the time and didn’t actually remember it, but that was the story we were told, and the reason we now lived completely underground and one of the reasons we did our best not to use our alternate form when Humans were around.

  “So you wish to learn about Christmas legends? I am familiar with most of the stories, I would be more than happy to share,” I said, wanting to keep the pretty redhead talking. She intrigued me with her bright blue eyes and shy smile. But there was something sad behind her eyes and I used my empathic ability to study her a little more. It was then that I realized that she was incredibly lonely.

  “That would… that would be very helpful,” she said with another small smile. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure, kultaseni.” I reached a hand out, wanting to touch her, even if it was just her hand. “My name is Oskar. Oskar Halfardsson.”

  She took my hand and I would swear I saw fireworks and felt the heat of her infuse me. “Janice White.”

  I smiled. “Janice, a lovely name for a lovely lady.” I stroked my thumb over the back of her hand, enjoying the feel of our connection. It allowed me to pick up even more of her feelings. Loneliness was the overwhelming presence in her life, but behind that was a bit of anger, some determination, and ambition…and just a small bit of love for … some small creature… a cat maybe? And then maybe for a close female, a sister perhaps? I couldn’t feel any kind of love or happiness for anyone else in her life… and that made me want to bring her as much cheer and happiness as I could. She needed it. She needed me.

  Janice pulled her hand back and I let her break our connection. She rubbed her hands over her coat sleeves. “So, are you a storyteller?” she asked. “Is that even a job here?”

  I chuckled merrily. “I do like to bend an ear every now and again, but my day job is veterinarian to the small and large domesticated creatures and wildlife around here.”

  She nodded and giggled making me think of Christmas bells. “That’s so nice. Smoochy loves her veterinarian.”

  “Smoochy?” I asked arching a brow.

  “My Persian cat. Would you like to meet him?”

  “You brought your cat with you?” I said in surprise.

  “Yes, we’re going to be here for six weeks, and I couldn’t leave him for that long, so I arranged to bring him with me.” She turned and started back toward her cabin. She opened the door and said, “Do come in.”

  I did as she asked, and she closed the door behind me.

  A loud Meow! sounded from a rounded soft carrier on the ground.

  “Oh, Smoochy, I’m sorry, love,” she said, squatting down and opening the zipper more fully. She pulled a large, furry, black ball from the carrier and cradled it in her arms and turned to me. “Oskar Halfardsson, meet Smoochy.”

  I held a hand out to the cat, allowing him to sniff my scent and Smoochy stuck out a little pink tongue and licked my finger. I took that as a good sign and rubbed his head. “Hello there, you komea kissa.”

  She smiled. “He is a handsome cat, aren’t you, Smoochy?” she said.

  Smoochy meowed again, as if agreeing.

  I could feel how content he was in her arms and how much love he had for her. “He is a lucky cat to have an owner like you.”

  “Thanks,” she said softly, her cheeks turning pink and I knew it wasn’t from the weather.

  “So you speak Finnish?” I asked, recalling her translation.

  “Only a few words, I’ve been working on it, in case I need it to speak to people or to translate text. I’m much better with the written words than speaking it though, so I’m glad to know some of you speak English.”

  I grinned. “Most of us do speak it, as well as some Russian, Sami, Swedish, Romani, Karelien and of course Finnish.”

  “You speak seven languages?” she asked, her big blue eyes wide behind her glasses.

  “Joo,” I said with a nod. Technically I spoke eight, but Reilendeer wasn’t exactly something I could tell her about.

  “Wow.” She smiled again and it warmed me up.

  “I should let you get settled, kultaseni,” I said, not really wanting to leave her presence, but I knew I needed to. “Perhaps you will meet me later at the tavern and I will buy us some mead and tell you all of the stories about Christmas that I know.”

  “That would be nice, yes, thank you.”

  She set her cat down and he went over to the fireplace and curled up in front of the fire Sven must have started to make sure the cabins were toasty warm when the guests arrived. Janice moved to the door and opened it, letting in a blast of Arctic air.

  “I will see you around six?” I said with a smile, moving through the door, feeling as if I were leaving a bit of my heart behind with her.

  “Perfect.”

  Chapter Three

  Janice

  I closed the door and leaned against it. Oskar was a huge man, with thick curly blond hair and a blond beard. He had the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. They were crystal clear, and soft with nary a blemish in them. And when he smiled, his eyes lit up and shone brightly. His arms were thick beneath the coat he wore, and he had a broad chest. He was friendly and open, and I’d been immediately drawn to him.

  That worried me, because most of the men I was drawn to always turned out to be assholes. Guys like Mike. Well, no, that’s not fair. The guys I chose to date were worse than Mike. They’d seemed fine at first, friendly, just wanting to get to know me, but then after a while they turned into one of two types of guys.

  The first was the kind of guy who issued demands and didn’t take no for an answer. Things had to be their way or no way. That was usually when I dumped them. Who had time for that kind of crap? I certainly didn’t.

  The second was almost worse. They were great at first, but then started to make excuses for not seeing me, not remembering things I’d told them, like being allergic to strawberries and buying me food with strawberries in it, which had resulted in a trip to the hospital for an epinephrine shot. Eventually, I would catch them cheating on me with some cute little nineteen-year-old and making excuses for their behavior and generally blaming it on me that they cheated.

  “You aren’t here to date, Ja
nice, you have work to do,” I reminded myself as I pushed off of the door. “Oskar is just part of your research, not a potential boyfriend. You’re only here for six weeks and you’ve sworn off men.” Shaking my head, I grabbed hold of my luggage and dragged it into the bedroom.

  The room was lovely. Another fireplace, already going with a crackling fire, was set into the outside side wall. The back wall held several windows and there was a huge skylight over the bed. A big wooden dresser stood in the middle between the four windows. To the right of the entrance to the room stood two doors. One led to a walk-in closet and the other to a full, spacious bathroom with a garden tub and a standing corner shower with tiled walls and a glass door.

  The bed was king size, covered in handmade quilts and looked soft and inviting. Part of me wanted to curl up in it and take another nap, but the practical side of me wanted to get my things unpacked and put away. I thought maybe if I hurried, I could manage to get it all done and still get in a nap before anyone came to get me.

  I dragged my luggage over to the bed, lifted the two on top of the large suitcase off and set them on the floor. I took off my coat and laid it on the pillows, then picked up the large case and set it on the bed, clicking it open. I’d been meticulous in my packing, using those space saver bags to keep things organized. I opened the bag with my undergarments, pulled them out and started filling dresser drawers. Then I put my shoes and boots in the closet and took out a brand new plastic litter box, setting it on the bed for now. As soon as that bag was emptied, I picked up the garment bag next and walked to the closet. I unrolled it and hung it up. It held some of my nicer things, a couple of dresses and suits that I wasn’t sure I’d need but had brought just in case.

  With that finished, I picked up the third bag and began pulling out my computer, tablet, the plug converters and power strips that I’d brought, along with all my notebooks, pens, and other things I thought I might need. I took them all back into the living room and set everything up on the desk.

  Once I had that bag emptied, I picked up my carryon bag which contained a smallish bag of litter, cat food, Smoochy’s food and water bowls, some of his toys, his little cat bed, a couple of mystery novels, an extra change of clothes, my purse, as well as my bathroom essentials in Ziplock bags, and the treats I’d bought at the duty free store in Rovaniemi.

  The cabin didn’t have a kitchen per say, but there was a medium sized fridge with a freezer, a counter with a sink, a microwave, coffee maker, and a toaster oven, as well as a few cabinets and drawers on the left side wall that held plates, glasses, and cutlery. A round table sat in front of the left side front window. A tv was mounted on the wall above the fireplace and a large, brown, sectional couch took up much of the middle of the room. The desk sat on the same side as the door to the bedroom, closest to the wall of windows. There was an upright coatrack in the corner on the right side of the door in front of the window.

  I put the cat litter in one of the bottom cabinets in the kitchen area, and the cat food in the one next to it, I’d have to buy more soon. I put the treats in the fridge and noticed that it had a small selection of drinks, bread, lunch meat and cheese inside. I would have to thank the man at the front desk for that. I took the extra clothes and bathroom things and put those away, grabbed my coat and the litter box from the bed and went back to the living room. I hung up my coat on the rack, and pulled the litter back out, filling the new box.

  Looking around the room, I decided to take it into the spacious bathroom and keep it in there. At home, Smoochy had two litter boxes, but I didn’t want to travel with enough litter to fill two, so I’d opted to bring just the one. The cabin was smaller than my apartment, so I figured he would be fine. I went back to the living room and picked him up so I could show him where to use the potty. I set him on the ground, he looked at it, then up at me and wove in between my legs for a moment before returning to the living room to lay on the rug in front of the fire. I had a feeling that would be his new favorite spot.

  Smiling, I took his little bed into the bedroom and set it at the foot of the bed, about the same distance from the fireplace in there as he was in the living room. Then I moved to the sink in the kitchen and filled his water bowl. I poured some of his hard food in the second bowl and then mixed in half a can of soft food. I set the two bowls on the floor near the front wall and put the half can of food in the fridge.

  Feeling accomplished, I hung my purse on the coatrack, took the carryon to the closet and put it away, and then looked at the clock. It was still morning, only a little after eight. My stomach rumbled and I thought about going out and getting breakfast, but I really didn’t want to leave my cozy little cabin. Instead, I pulled the bread, ham, and cheese from the fridge and made a sandwich, putting it on a plate I found in one of the upper cabinets. I put the fixings away and grabbed a small bottle of water, then went over to the couch and sank into the plushness of it.

  I quietly watched the fire as I ate. I’d need to add some of the wood to it to keep it going. I hoped that they had someone come and replenish the wood a couple times a day, because I wasn’t sure the few logs in the holder next to the fireplace tools were going to last for very long. I finished my sandwich, set the plate in the sink to wash up later, and then went over to the fire and added a new log, poking it to make sure it was sitting properly and caught. The fire snapped and crackled, making me smile.

  I headed into the bedroom and did the same for the fire in there, and then, after taking off my shoes, crawled up on the bed. I pulled out my phone and set an alarm for early afternoon. I didn’t want to sleep the whole day, I did have some work to do for the dissertation, and I wanted to be able to sleep tonight too. I set my phone down on the night table, fluffed the pillow and laid down.

  I woke up to my phone beeping its alarm and reached over to shut it off. The light outside the windows remained the same bluish tint, but I could just see the edges of the Aurora Borealis from my bed. I got up and stretched and then moved to the window. I could see it better now, shimmering in the sky in pinks and greens. It was truly a remarkable sight. With a yawn, I headed into the living room and checked the fire again. The big logs seemed to be holding up fairly well, but I poked it just to be sure what I was seeing wasn’t an illusion. It still seemed fine, so I set the poker aside and grabbed another bottle of water from the fridge. I really wanted coffee, but there wasn’t any yet. I’d have to find out where the closest store was and get a few things. For now, I headed over to the desk and booted up my computer.

  I’d just pulled up my files when there was a knock at the door. Sighing, I headed over to answer it. “Oh, hi, Mary, did you need something?”

  She nodded. “Yes,” she said, her voice so soft it was almost a mumble. “I was hoping you’d drive me over to the store. I asked at the front lodge, but they don’t have anything but a gift shop. They have a restaurant and there’s a tavern close too, but to get to the grocery, we need a car.”

  “Okay, I need to go too, we should probably ask the others if they want to go or if they need anything.”

  She nodded again. “I wondered about that too.”

  “Come in while I get my shoes on and grab my coat and stuff.” I closed the door behind her and then went into the bedroom to put my shoes back on. I returned a minute later, grabbed my coat from the rack and put it on. I slid my hands into my gloves, then snatched my purse from the rack too. “Okay, I’m ready.”

  We checked on Carl, Mike and Erin, and then Dee. Carl, Mike and Erin each Vinmoed me money and gave me a list, but Dee opted to go with us. The trip to the grocery wasn’t too far down the road, but far enough we wouldn’t want to walk it. The shop wasn’t huge, but it carried most of what we needed. I picked up, cat food and litter, coffee, sugar and milk, some more fresh fruit, a selection of lunchmeats, and a bag of bagels and cream cheese for breakfast and some microwave popcorn. Without a way to actually cook, well other than with the microwave, I figured I would be eating dinner at either the tavern
or the nearby restaurant most days.

  I grabbed the things Mike and Erin asked for, at least what the little shop carried anyway. I had no idea why they thought they’d have toaster strudels or pop tarts here. Dee was getting Carl’s, so I didn’t have to worry about his. Once I had everything, I headed to the cashier and set their purchases on the counter and then separated them with a bar before putting mine up there. “Kaksi astia,” I said, holding up two fingers to indicate I was making two purchases.

  The girl at the register giggled. “I think you mean, kaksi ostoa. Astia means dish.”

  “Oh, right, sorry.” I blushed. “I’m much better with reading it, than saying it.”

  “No worries, I speak English.” She started scanning the items. “Have you already converted your money? Or are you using a card?”

  “Card actually, so much easier.”

  She nodded. “It is.”

  Dee joined me at the register and then Mary showed up a moment later.

  “How long are you all visiting us?” she asked.

  “About six weeks,” I replied. “We’re here researching local folklore.”

  “Great, you should talk to Oskar Halfardsson, he’s a walking tree of folklore knowledge.”

  “Oh, yes, I met him this morning. He did offer to share his stories with us this evening.”

  “He’s a good man, he and his cousins seem to keep everyone around here happy.” She smiled.

  “When did you meet this guy?” Dee asked, surprised.

  “Right after we got to the cabins. Mike was arguing with him, well, not arguing, but yelling at him because Mike’s a controlling asshole who thinks Erin is his property or something.”

  “Huh?”

  I roll my eyes. “He got all pissy because Oskar helped Erin get her bag out of the car.”

  “Oh. So how did you meet him?”

  “I went outside to deal with Mike and Oskar introduced himself. He’s a veterinarian. Seems nice. He asked why we were here and offered to meet us tonight at the tavern and share some of his knowledge on local legends.”