A Merry Maggie Messmas: Maggie MacKay: Holiday Special, #7

By Kate Danley

Season's sleighings!  Everyone wonders how Santa get his job done, but when one of his helpers goes rogue and starts spreading too much Christmas cheer, it will be up to Maggie and Killian to get this holiday party back on track.

 

This is a Maggie MacKay: Holiday Short Story Special.  It stands outside the normal Maggie MacKay: Magical Tracker story arc and can be read no matter where you are in the series and in any order.

 

WARNING: Contains cussing, brawling, and unfestive spirits.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Katherine Danley
• Release date: Dec 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393340249

Kate Danley

Kate Danley, an award-winning actress, playwright, and author, is a member of the Acme Comedy Improv and sketch troupes in Los Angeles. Her plays have been produced in New York, Los Angeles, and the Washington, DC/Baltimore area. Danley’s screenplay Fairy Blood won first place in the Breckenridge Festival of Film screenwriting competition in the action/adventure category. Her debut novel, The Woodcutter, was honored with the Garcia Award for the best fiction book of the year, was the first place fantasy book in the Reader Views Literary Awards, and the winner of the sci-fi/fantasy category of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Kate currently lives in Burbank, California, and works by day as office manager for education and exhibits at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.

Book preview

Chapter One

Itrotted down the sidewalk.  The double suns were breaking through the grey skies of the Other Side and the smoky smell of our town's Yule log wafted through the air.  Winter was shadowy enough that the gas lamps on the street were permanently left on.  There's a lot of monsters who appreciate the longer nights.  However, the posts were wrapped with ribbon to look like candy canes, so bonus points for spirit. 

The good cheer seemed infectious.  Even the grumpy undertaker driving his hearse had tucked a festive sprig of holly in his midnight horse's mane.  I waved at a group of caroling gnomes standing on the street corner.  It appeared that they were going for a group Dickens theme, but somehow had gotten their signals mixed and all of them dressed as Tiny Tim.  Oh so many inappropriate crutches... which they used to whack one another with when someone hit a wrong note.  Well, except for one guy who was rocking the Marley's Ghost role.  He clanked his long and winding chains of past sins to his friends' high-pitched rendition of Jingle Bells.

My name is Maggie MacKay and I'm a magical tracker.  I'm hired to find both mythical creatures and legendary objects, but seeing as how said legendary objects are usually being concealed by said mythical creatures, I get a lot of BOGO crossover.  Oh, and I'm also a World Walker, which means I can create portals between dimensions, so there is literally a lot of crossover.

Speaking of which, I had just returned from an Earthly jaunt and was in a total Christmassy mood.  I got to punch a were-weasel in the face and drop him off at the Other Side correctional facilities for some neutering, so I was feeling pretty all right about life.  Plus, the check Lacy cut for the fugitive's return meant I wasn't going to spend Christmas trying to explain to everyone that it was the thought that counted.  Fa la la la la.

'Tis the season to buy stuff and all the small business owners were busting out the creative ideas to inspire others to open their wallets.  I waved to the green grocer who ran the street level shop in our building.  He had hired some starfish to swing from little trapezes over his piles of fruit and entice people in with their circus skills.  Adorable?  Yes.  Odd choice?  Absolutely not.  The Other Side has a lot of creatures who like their food moving and this was some sexy, sexy marketing to offload a bunch of bruised bananas.

He tossed me an apple and I caught it with one hand.

Season's happiness upon you! he called with a tip of his straw hat.

And also with you! I replied, buffing the apple on my jacket before taking a bite.  It was juicy and delicious, and totally hit the spot.  On the Other Side, our witches tend the land, using magic to grow crops and fight pestilence.  We might have vampires, but our food hasn't been crossbred with cardboard, and sometimes it is important to remember that things don't totally suck in this dimension.

I trotted up the steps to the offices of M&K Tracking. 

But then, I stopped. 

So much for the comfort and joy.

There was a pine forest in our hallway.  The trees were so thick I could barely see the door.  They were covered in fake snow that seemed to endlessly fall.  I reached out and touched it.  It felt warm and then melted on my fingers without leaving a drip of moisture.  I ducked as two turtle doves dive-bombed me and settled into their nest next to a pear tree.  The partridge chuckled ominously. 

Killian... I growled.

I wiggled my way through to our office door.  I could barely tell what was the frosted glass window and what was snow.  If it wasn't for the glint of the gold lettering touting our firm, I think I might have gotten lost.  Branches slapped me in my face and snagged my clothes.  I found the handle and flung myself inside just as six hissing geese bit my ankles for coming too close to where they were laying.

Killian was dressed in his Yuletide apparel.  He had on a green velvet tunic embroidered with gold swirls.  And then, in a masterful feat of outfit coordination, he paired it with gold tights embroidered with green.  I guess you live as many centuries as that elf, you figure out how to dress for success.

He was standing on a rickety wooden ladder and was hanging spiky boughs over the window.  Deck the halls with boughs of holly!  Fa la la la laaaa!

I threw my bag onto my desk.  Did you brew up any coffee?  Fa la la la laaaa!

His eyes narrowed.  Ask again, I shall get you broccoli!  Fa la la la laaaa!

I broke off our little duet and jerked my thumb toward the hallway.  "Killian.  Dude.  You have GOT to cut back a