Chapter 16 #3
They all watched in silent disbelief as Max waddled across Christmas Gardens carrying the precious white box between his tiny claws.
The costume was definitely not the best to wear in snowy conditions as he was slipping and sliding all over the place.
Those tiny, costumed arms were not the best for holding anything, let alone a highly breakable porcelain bauble.
Quinn’s precious bauble was likely going to end up as a casualty in this charade.
Max teetered to the left so severely they all gasped.
He managed to right himself but then lurched violently to the other side.
The box wobbled in his tiny claws. He slipped and waddled and staggered then suddenly his two feet shot up in the air and everything seemed to happen in slow motion as the box flew up in the air too.
Max landed on his back, but miraculously the box fell on top of him, which hopefully managed to cushion its fall.
Max wiggled and rolled around in a desperate attempt to get back up but to no avail.
‘Should we go and help him?’ Alex said.
‘I’ll go, stay here with Zara,’ Quinn said.
‘Why?’ Zara moaned.
‘Because dinosaurs are dangerous.’
He quickly got out and ran across the gardens to where Max was lying. ‘Are you OK? Are you hurt?’
‘No, thankfully the inflatable part of the suit cushioned my fall.’
‘I’m not sure the T-rex costume was the best choice,’ Quinn said, helping his cousin to his feet with a great deal of effort, since Max’s feet kept slipping and sliding underneath him.
‘No, with hindsight, probably not, but I thought it might make Zara laugh.’
‘It’s definitely something she will remember. Here, give me the bauble.’
Max readily handed it over, obviously happy to be free of the responsibility.
‘Are you OK to get back?’ Quinn asked.
‘As soon as I’m out of sight, I’ll get out of the costume.’
Quinn suspected the getting-out-of-sight business would take a lot longer than Max was hoping.
Max waddled off and Quinn watched him for a short while to make sure he didn’t fall again, then he took the bauble back to the car.
‘Was he OK?’ Alex said.
‘Yes, he was fine.’
‘So who was it?’ Zara asked.
‘I don’t know, I didn’t ask.’
‘You didn’t ask?’ she said incredulously.
‘Well no, the man had clearly gone to a lot of trouble to preserve his anonymity. I didn’t want to ruin that by unmasking him or asking the T-rex for some ID. But I can confirm he was a man. Or a very deep-voiced woman.’
‘I can’t believe you didn’t find out,’ Zara said.
‘It just didn’t seem fair, not when he was on his back like a beached whale.’
‘And you didn’t recognise the voice?’ Alex asked, clearly playing along.
Quinn shook his head. ‘But I did collect the bauble from him.’
He handed it to Zara.
‘It’s a rugby ball!’ Zara said in delight.
‘Ah, that would explain the message,’ Alex said, quietly. ‘You like rugby, Quinn, you should have this bauble.’
‘Ah, umm, no, I mean, I do, but I’d rather someone else had this bauble.’
‘No, you haven’t had one yet, you should have it,’ Zara insisted.
‘Max and Xander like playing rugby too, maybe we can give it to one of them,’ Quinn tried.
‘And Mr Gillespie next door loves watching rugby, we could give it to him,’ Alex said, giving Quinn a look that said she knew she was fighting a losing battle.
Zara shook her head. ‘No, I want Quinn to hang his bauble on our tree next to ours. It’s a family tree and he’s part of our family.’
Fortunately he hadn’t painted this bauble for anyone specifically, just as another clue for Alex, but it looked like he’d now inadvertently given himself one of his own baubles.
‘OK, we can hang it on your tree,’ Quinn said, giving Alex a shrug.
‘Shall we go home?’ Alex said. ‘I’ve got something I really need to take care of.’
She gave Quinn a look and he quickly started the engine. ‘Yes, let’s go home.’
He drove deliberately round the full length of Christmas Gardens just to make sure Max wasn’t flat on his back somewhere, struggling to get out of his costume, but when there was no sign of him, he drove back up the hill towards Alex’s house as Alex hurriedly packed all the snacks away.
They walked back into the house. There was no sign of Immy but Jacob was curled up in his basket fast asleep.
‘Go and brush your teeth and get changed for bed, I’ll be up in a few minutes to read you a story,’ Alex said to Zara.
‘Can Quinn read it to me?’
‘Yes, of course,’ Quinn said.
‘Yes!’ Zara ran upstairs.
Alex looped her arms round his neck. ‘So it was you, all along?’
‘Yes, are you mad?’ He wrapped his arms around her.
‘No, not at all. How could I be mad?’
‘Well, I never directly lied to you, but there was a whole lot of deception.’
‘In the best possible way. This was such a lovely thing to do. Thank you.’ She leaned up and kissed him, pressing herself up against him, and he held her tighter.
She pulled back. ‘And maybe I have special ways to thank you tonight.’
‘Well I look forward to that.’
‘Will you stay?’
‘All night?’ Quinn queried. ‘What about Zara?’
‘We’ll deal with any questions she might have about that tomorrow.’
‘Then yes, of course. But now you’ve figured it out, a deal is a deal. You get one custom bauble of your choice.’
‘Then I’d like one of Jacob, for Immy.’
‘I’ll have it ready for Christmas Eve.’
‘And I meant what I said before,’ Alex added. ‘I’m going to make you a bauble too, something you really want. Just as soon as I figure out what I can make for you.’
‘You don’t need to do that. I didn’t do it for any kind of reward, just to put a smile on people’s faces.’
‘I want to.’
‘OK.’
‘Quinn!’ Zara called from upstairs. ‘I’m ready for my story.’
‘OK! I’m coming.’
He gave Alex a brief kiss and pulled out of her arms.
‘Make it a short story,’ Alex said as he ran out the room.
‘Oh I will.’