The Good Ones

Chapter 4: Christmas Tree Farm

The evening of the ritual, Mavis used her curling iron to transform her hair from wild and bushy to neat curls that fell gracefully around her face. Her eyeliner and shadow made the blue in her eyes stand out like gems in a jewelry store. She wore a dark green turtleneck sweater with black slacks that tightly hugged her body. She looked more like a grown woman this time, but she still didn't feel like one.

She felt ridiculous stepping into the Nevada summer in her nice winter clothes, carrying her black down jacket. She looked around to make sure no one was in sight, then walked briskly to Alex's house. She wasn't thrilled about spending her entire evening with her mentor. Their first week together had passed like a kidney stone due to their clashing personalities. Plus, Mavis's lack of knowledge in the equine department required a lot of patience to deal with, and patience wasn't one of Alex's strongest character traits.

When Alex answered the front door, his whole body stiffened at the sight of her. He blinked several times, like he was trying to clear his vision.

"It's too much, isn't it?" Mavis asked, gesturing to her face. She'd known her eye shadow looked too much like clown make up.

"No, it's fine," Alex said, recovering from whatever spell had taken over him. He motioned for her to come inside. "Go ahead and put that coat on. You'll appreciate it where we're going."

"That's right. The North Pole." The thought still didn't seem real to her.

Alex was wearing a thick Carhartt jacket over starched blue jeans and a brown plaid button up shirt. His good boots and ranch rodeo buckle were freshly shined. Mavis had to admit that he actually cleaned up nice. On the small gold chain he kept tucked under his shirt, he revealed a tiny gold locket. He motioned Mavis toward him.

"Alright, you'll have to hold on tight." When he noticed Mavis's hesitation, he smiled ruefully and added, "Don't worry, it'll be over with pretty quick."

Mavis put her arms around Alex's middle and he placed one arm around her shoulders, holding her firmly against him. She rested the side of her face against his shoulder, feeling his spearmint breath tickle her forehead and smelling his musky cologne under his jacket.

"Well, well, well...isn't this precious," Archimedes said as he strolled into the living room from the kitchen.

Mavis thanked the Lord that Alex couldn't see her blush.

"What in the hell are you doin' in here?" Alex demanded. "I thought I banned you from the house last week."

"You did." Archimedes grabbed the remote control with his mouth, then hopped onto the couch and plopped himself down on a cushion.

Alex muttered four letter words under his breath. With his free hand, he opened the gold locket to reveal a compass on the inside. "I don't know exactly how it works, but combining your magic with the magic in one of these lockets gets you to the North Pole. It can't take you anywhere else but the Pole." Alex held onto her a little tighter. "If I were you, I'd close my eyes."

Before Mavis could ask him why, the needle on the compass began to spin rapidly...and so did the room around them. The furniture was turning around them so fast that everything became a blur, like they were in the center of a merry go round on steroids. She shut her eyes and tried not to think about throwing up on Alex, because that was definitely the direction things were heading. Then, after about fifteen seconds, the spinning abruptly stopped. Alex loosened his grip on her, but she kept her eyes shut and her face pressed into his shoulder for fear that the slightest movement would cause her to lose her cookies. The only reason she knew she wasn't in Alex's living room anymore was because the temperature had dropped substantially.