Captain Holly's Wonderful Airship

Captain James Holly

Rory watched dejectedly as his mommy came out of his room with an armload of old toys. He thought he had hidden them well, under the blankets on his little bed. She looked at his sad little face and sighed.


"Don't you start with me, Rory" she said sternly. "I told you this morning that we have to clear out some old things to make room for new ones when you open your Christmas presents. You were supposed to pick out the ones you don't play with anymore and put them in the box in the hall. You didn't put anything in the box, so now I have to do it for you." She dramatically dropped the toys into the box, where they bounced off of a discarded lamp, an old clock with a broken face, and a worn out pair of women's shoes. "You see? I put my things in the box already."


Rory thought that while that might be fine for mommies, it was too much for a six year old boy to just throw away his beloved toys. These weren't appliances that had lost their usefulness, they were friends and companions. He tried to quickly grab some of the toys out of the box, but his mommy stopped him with a firm hand on his shoulder.


"No, Rory" she scolded, and then softly added, "Don't worry, baby boy, Santa Claus will bring you plenty of toys to replace these. You won't even miss them after Christmas, and that's only two days away."


Mommy wiped away the tears that were just beginning to form at the corners of his eyes, kissed his cheek, and sent him to the kitchen for a cup of water. Mommy's friend Lesleigh was there, washing a dish, and she got the cup out of the cabinet for him, with a smile. Mommy carried the box of toys and other things down the hallway, towards the door that led out of the apartment. Lesleigh saw her and went to meet her by the door.


"Mariah, you let me take that for you. It's the least I could do."


" Oh Lesleigh, there's no need to fuss. I'm just going to carry it to the garbage chute and dump it down."


"Well, I've got it now. I know what to do." Lesleigh winked at Rory as she carried the box to the door.
"Rory, come and open this door for me?"


Mommy smiled as Rory rushed over to help, then she went and plopped down into her favorite easy chair, and turned the tv on, selecting the app that played old Christmas music.


Rory watched as Lesleigh walked out toward the garbage chute in the building hallway, but she didn't stop there. She turned her head and winked at Rory, then went down the stairs to the lobby. Rory heard the big front door open, and then close as Lesleigh took the box outside. Why, she must have taken the box all the way to the trash bin in the alley, Rory thought. How very strange.


After a few minutes went by Lesleigh came back in through the big door, but this time Rory did not hear it close. She climbed the stairs with a mischievous smile, and as she entered the apartment she whispered, "the bin. Only one." Then she winked again and sat down in a chair beside Rory's mommy.


Rory thought about it for a minute, then crept out into the hallway, down the stairs, and to the big door in the lobby. Now, Rory knew that on any ordinary night, any responsible adult would have stopped him from doing this, instead of helping him. It could be dangerous for a little boy on his own after all. And yet, there was something about this night that seemed special, almost magical, as if it were a night that the universe meant for young boys to have daring adventures, in complete safety. Also, Rory wanted at least one of his toys back. So, out the door he went. The air was chilly, and Rory suddenly realized that he was in only his pajamas. Oh well, it would only be for a minute, and there wasn't any wind. The cold air smelled like peppermint and ginger spice, with just a hint of vanilla. Christmas lights twinkled in almost every window along the street. The stars twinkled like the lights on an enormous Christmas tree that held the whole world in it's branches. One little cloud sailed across the moon, and Rory wondered if it was bringing Christmas snow.


Suddenly he remembered why he was outside, so he sprinted around to the trash bin. It was taller than he remembered, and he wondered how he could manage to get up to the opening. Then he saw a box he could stand on, just lying on the ground in front of the bin. As he moved closer, however, he was surprised to see that it was the very same box that held his toys, and he would not have to climb anything after all. Lesleigh must have put it there for him on purpose. She had also told him only one. Did that mean that she would tell on him if he took back two of his toys? He wished that he could save them all, but didn't want to take that chance, so he would have to choose his one toy very carefully.


He inspected each toy, one at a time, until finally he saw the one he would save. It was his favorite superhero figure, Captain Miraculous. The paint on the boots was chipped from kicking monsters, the cape was torn from an accident with the wheel of a toy car, and the left thumb was broken off from trying to hold onto a pencil that was just too big, but this was the toy that Rory loved best. Captain Miraculous was his friend, companion, and protector from the Ooglybonk, which was a nightmare that Rory sometimes had about a strange creature that lived in his closet and came out at night to bonk Rory on the head with a smelly fish. As long as Captain Miraculous was around, though, he could keep the Ooglybonk away with his Miraculous force field. Rory smiled triumphantly as he cradled the toy and began to go back around to the front door.


Suddenly, Rory noticed something completely unexpected. The little cloud that had been sailing by the moon earlier had stopped directly overhead, and was casting it's shadow over the building. Rory gazed upward at the strange cloud, which now seemed much closer, and bigger. A faint whirring sound echoed through the alley, and then a large object burst through the bottom of the cloud. Rory scrambled away and hid behind the trash bin. From there, he peeked out and watched the strange object descend. He had thought it was falling, but now he could see that it was being lowered by four cables, one each of which was attached to one of four corners of the object. He could see that it was sort of rectangular, made entirely of shiny brass, with large gears and levers that connected to small wing like attachments which also resembled paper folding fans. As it neared the ground, he also observed that on one end, at the top, were two matching cylinders with large funnels that were belching out steam. The steam floated out over the street, forming a low, dense fog, and started turning into snowflakes. The fog swirled around and around, and whooshed down the alley. Rory shielded his eyes for just a second, and when he looked again, the strange object had landed. It looked a bit different now, and Rory couldn't think of how it was different until he saw that it was now resting on a set of large wagon wheels. Where those had come from, he couldn't imagine. As he watched, the mysterious object, with it's mysterious wheels, continued to change. The wheels grew tires, which swelled up into truck tires. The little wings folded up and disappeared inside small brass tubes. Brass plates folded out and covered up the cylinders. The place where the plates folded out from now revealed a large windshield of dark glass. A pair of bright lights underneath the windshield lit up, and what had mere seconds ago appeared to be a large, brass, clockwork, box, now looked very much like a garbage truck.


Rory was awestruck. This was a special sort of night, indeed. A door in the front of the truck opened, and a tall man stepped out. He looked strong, and was dressed in shiny boots and a bright green uniform with red piping and lots of brass buttons and gold braids. A set of small gold wings was pinned to his uniform, below the left shoulder, and there were gold stripes on his sleeve cuffs. He wore a large white hat with a black brim and a flat top. The hat also had gold wings on it, right in front. The man peered into the alley and smiled. He gave a sharp whistle and called out, "Grüss, we've got toys!"


Now, the back of the truck opened up and Rory watched as something big and furry, with things growing out of it's head slowly emerged. Excited, he thought he was going to get to see a reindeer. However, the creature that finally exited the truck was not a reindeer at all. It was furry, and brown, but it had long curly horns, not antlers. It stood on two legs, and wore a cowbell on a chain around it's neck. It also had a large basket strapped to it's muscular back. It grumbled as it came toward the alley, and Rory saw a forked tongue slip through pointed yellow teeth.


The huge horned beast loped to the trash bin, quickly located the box of old toys, then lifted it over his shoulder, dumping the contents into the basket. Then, it began snuffling through the trash, perhaps seeking more toys. The man in the uniform watched, occasionally turning his face to the street with a wary look. Rory tried to duck down even further, making himself as small as he could to hide in the corner made by the wall of the building and the trash bin. As he tried to hide, his foot slipped and struck the side of the trash bin with a clang. The beast stopped it's snuffling and peered into the corner. It saw Rory, and a wide, sharp toothed grin spread over it's face. It reached out and caught Rory by the back of his pajamas, lifting him up to it's hairy face. The long forked tongue lolled out over the beast's giant lips, and Rory screamed.


The man in the uniform instantly took notice and ran over to them. "Hey now!" he exclaimed, "what in the name of jingle bells is going on here?" The man looked at Rory and grinned in a friendly way. "Uh, oh, Grüss, looks like we've been caught. Go ahead and put the boy down."


The beast gave the man a cross look for a second and snorted loudly before gently setting Rory back down on the ground. The man bent down on one knee to look at Rory face to face. "Well now, little man, do you mind telling me what you're doing outside, by yourself, in the middle of the night? Do your folks know where you are?"


Rory didn't know quite what to say, so he just held up his action figure in front of him. The man looked at the toy and smiled knowingly.


"Ah, I see how it is. Your folks threw out your old toys, and you just couldn't bear to part with this little guy, huh? So, you snuck out to get him back, huh? Very brave. It's a little silly to do it in your pajamas, though. It's cold out. You could get sick."


Rory knew that the man was right. He was starting to shiver, and hadn't even noticed. The man saw him shivering and quickly took off his coat, placing it around Rory's shoulders, tucking it up under his chin.


"There you go. Let that warm you up for a minute. We haven't been properly introduced. I'm Captain James Holly, Jolly Holly to my friends, and this furry sourpuss over here is my first mate, Grüss Von Krampus. Say Hello Grüss."


Grüss snorted again and rolled his eyes.
Captain Holly laughed. "Old Grüss takes some getting used to. You haven't told us your name yet."


"Rory," replied Rory.


"Well, we're very pleased to meet you, Rory. Say, I have an idea. Why don't you come inside for a minute, and warm up with some hot cocoa while we talk. I'm starting to get a chill, myself. You're not allergic to chocolate, are you?"


Rory shook his head no, wide eyed.


"Well, good. Come this way, new friend Rory." Captain Holly walked toward the truck, followed by Rory, with Grüss Von Krampus behind them.


"Watch this," said Captain Holly, with a wink. Then he reached up and pulled on one of the many levers on the side of the truck. With a hiss of released steam, gears began to move with a clacking sound, and the side of the truck opened up. Brass plates and glass panes slid out of hidden recesses, moving into new positions until a kind of pavilion had been formed. It had a large glass window formed from many individually framed panes, and glowed from many small lights in the walls. They stepped inside, and Rory saw a small counter with four stools and a large, complicated, machine set behind the counter. Captain Holly gestured to the stools, and Rory climbed up on one of the middle ones. Grüss perched awkwardly at the end of the counter. Captain Holly pressed a few buttons on the machine, and it began to whir and hiss. A little door opened up, and three mugs filled with delicious smelling hot cocoa slid out onto the counter. "Marshmallows, or whipped cream?"


Rory didn't choose, he just nodded his head with a smile. Captain Holly pushed two more buttons, and a pair of small brass arms emerged from the machine, dropping marshmallows and large dollops of whipped cream into the mugs. Rory watched it all in amazement. He thought this was the most wonderful thing that he had ever seen. Grüss held up his mug, with one clawed pinky pointed daintily in the air, and slurped the cocoa noisily. Rory giggled and picked up his own mug with two hands, and sipped the sweet, hot, wonderful, delicious drink. Captain Holly sat straight up on his stool, took his mug firmly by the handle, and drank deeply. He set it down and sighed contentedly.


"Ah, there's nothing quite like a good old cup of cheer," said Captain Holly.


Rory looked at his face, and saw that he had whipped cream on his upper lip. It looked like a sloppy white moustache, and it was so silly that Rory couldn't help laughing.


"What?" asked Captain Holly "do I have something on my face? Is it here? It doesn't look as silly as yours, does it?"


Rory was startled and crossed his eyes trying to get a look at his own lip. Now Captain Holly started laughing. Grüss Von Krampus licked the cream off his own lips, then chortled throatily for a moment.


"Oh my sweet jingle bells! Rory, we just made a krampus laugh. This is an historic event!"


Grüss snorted and went back to scowling. Captain Holly and Rory laughed together. After a few minutes, Captain Holly looked at Rory's toy and said, "You know, Rory, I can spruce up your little friend. If he looked a little newer, he might be less likely to get thrown out. Would you like that?"


Rory was thrilled by the idea. "Yes, please!"


"All, right then. We just need to go up to the ship."


"What?" Rory was confused.


"Oh, my tools are up in my airship. It's floating up there in that snowcloud. This part that we're sitting in now is just the landing module. We would need to go up there for a few minutes. But after that, we need to get you back inside to your folks. Are you okay with that?"


Rory thought about it for a minute while looking over Captain Miraculous. He had to admit that the toy had looked better. A sprucing up might be a good idea. He lifted his gaze to Captain Holly's friendly face, and nodded.


"All right. Hold on to your caboose." He pulled another lever, and the whole landing module started to vibrate as the cables drew it up toward the cloud. Minutes later, the module settled into the body of the ship with a deep metallic clang. The side wall opened up again, and Rory gasped at what he saw. Rows of spherical, floating lights showed that they were inside the cargo bay of a very large ship, and it was filled with overflowing baskets of toys.


"What are all of those for?" asked Rory, in wonder.


"Ah, well, those are what our work is all about" replied Captain Holly. "Grüss and I fly the CS Wonderworker all around the world, rescuing lost, forgotten, and discarded toys, which we then repair and find new, loving homes for. It might be one of the most important jobs in all of Christmas, if I do say so myself."


"Are you gonna rescue my Captain Miraculous?"


"Of course! That's what I promised. Let's go get my tools." Captain Holly strode out purposefully toward a far wall, with Rory and Grüss in tow. They passed through a brass portal set in a fine wooden wall, and entered a narrow corridor that Grüss could barely fit through. Rory noticed a well worn groove in the wall just below the ceiling, running the full length of the corridor. Taking a look back at Grüss, he discovered that the krampus' right horn was fit perfectly into the groove, and he was just walking along with a sort of bored look on his hairy face. Apparently this was perfectly normal. Rory noticed another portal, with a closed door, on the same wall as the groove. There was a small round window in the middle of the door, and Rory peeked inside. He saw stacks of dried out old Christmas trees, and hoppers filled with wood chips.


"Oh, hey. What's that for?" Rory asked.


"That's just the chipping room, where we make the fuel that runs the boilers. Those old Christmas trees are really flammable, you see, so they make great fuel. Plus, they're charged with residual Christmas magic, from all the presents that get opened in front of them on Christmas morning, or whenever. There's no better power source than Christmas magic, that's for sure."


Rory was quiet for a moment, just letting all that information sink in. He thought it was all wonderful, but one thing puzzled him. "Whenever?"


"What's that?" asked Captain Holly.


"You said whenever the presents get opened. Don't all the presents get opened on Christmas morning?"


"Well, no. There are twelve days of Christmas, you know. People in other countries traditionally open presents on different days, according to their own local customs. Do you understand?"


"I think so, but does that mean Santa Claus brings the presents for all the twelve days?"


"Ah. Well, sort of. I guess you didn't know that Santa Claus is not the only Christmas visitor that brings presents during Christmas time."


"He's not? Wait, you don't mean the ghostes do you, Captain Holly?"


"Rory, you're my friend now, and you can call me Jolly. And no, I don't mean the three ghosts of Christmas. Come on, I'll show you."


Captain Holly opened the portal at the end of the corridor, and he and Rory stepped through. Grüss followed them and let out a sigh of relief as he stretched his neck. His head had been stuck in one position for several minutes in the corridor. Now they were all in a workshop, with tools and paintbrushes, paint pots, and tubes of glue on shelves, hung on every wall, and piled in every corner. There was a large workbench against one wall, and Captain Holly went over to it. There was a framed picture hung on the wall over the bench, and he took it down to show it to Rory.


"Take a look at this, Rory" he said.


Rory obediently inspected the picture, which showed several people in a group pose. From left to right, background to foreground, Rory noted in order, an attractive woman in a peaked hat, holding a broom, a trio of men wearing colorful silk robes, turbans, and fanciful moustaches, a raggedly dressed man with a face covered in soot, a tall gruff looking man in a blue robe and hood, with a white beard that touched his toes, and finally a pair of old bearded men in red clothes. Captain Holly pointed each one out to Rory.


"These are the good Christmas visitors from around the world" he explained. "There's La Befana, the Christmas witch, the three wise men, Balthazar, Melchior, and Caspar, Belsnickle, Ded Moroz, Saint Nicholas the second, and that's Hana Koko on the end there."


"All of them bring toys at Christmas?"


"Yes, each on their own day, and each in their own way, in their own little piece of the world."


"What about Santa Claus?"


"Oh, you mean Saint Nicholas? That's him standing next to Hana Koko. I know they sort of dress alike."


"No. You said that's Sain' Nich'las the second. Where's the first?"


"Ah, yes. Good old Father Christmas. You're pretty sharp to notice that Rory. Don't you worry though. He's still around. Just didn't have time to pose for this picture. He's got his own good work to do, same as he did over sixteen hundred years ago."


"What is his work, besides bringing the presents?"


"Ah, Saint Nicholas is responsible for Christmas spirit throughout the world. He spreads the love and joy of the holiday, filling people with hope in the promise of life that Christmas time embodies. That's why he's called Father Christmas, after all."


"Ooooh" Rory replied. He looked at the picture closely, until he noticed something else.


"Jolly, how come you're not in the picture?"


"Well, I was the one taking the picture. Now then, let's see about giving ol' Captain Miraculous that sprucing up you wanted." Captain Holly put out his hand, and Rory gave the toy to him. Then, Captain Holly selected several colors of paint, a few paintbrushes, and a small tube of epoxy. He worked the epoxy with his fingers, and applied it to the toy's damaged hand. Then he painted over all the little chips in the paint, matching the colors perfectly. With a bit of cloth from a drawer, he fashioned a brand new cape. In a few minutes, Captain Miraculous looked as good as that Christmas morning when Rory had first opened up his package. Rory took him and smiled with joy. When he looked back up at Captain Holly, he was smiling too.


"Jolly, how did you get your job?"


"Oh, now that is a story," said Captain Holly, as his voice became soft and wistful. "The short version is that a very long time ago, I was an inventor and a tinkerer, lucky to be where I was. I dreamed about building airships, but I spent most of my time building and repairing toys for the folks in my town, and I loved doing it. One day I made a mistake on a large order of clockwork carousels, and because of that I happened to meet a mysterious customer that I had only ever spoken to through letters. He gave me the best present I had ever received, by making it possible for me to build the airship that I had always dreamed of. I named her Wonderworker, in his honor. Soon after that, I was visited by the Kristkindl, and got made one of the few blessed people whose work it is to bring Christmas to the world. I was never happier, and I've been doing it ever since. Okay, Rory, I think it's time to get you back home to your folks, don't you?"


"Oh! I forgot! I've been gone so long!"


"Nothing to worry about, Rory. Trust me."


So, back they went through the corridor, and into the cargo bay. They climbed into the landing module, but sat in the front section this time. Down to the ground, they rode the cables. Snow was drifting all around the street now. Captain Holly took back his coat and walked Rory to the big front door of his building. It was still open just a crack.


"Good night Rory. It was a pleasure to meet you. I hope you have a very merry Christmas."


"Thank you, Jolly! I hope you have a merry Christmas too. Say Merry Christmas to Grüss for me!"


"Will do, little man."
Captain Holly went back to the landing module, and Rory ran up the stairs to his own home, where his mommy was asleep in her chair, and Lesleigh was sitting with her.


"Well, Rory," Lesleigh said to him cheerfully, "have you been having a good time? Did you find the one you wanted to keep?"


Rory nodded enthusiastically.


"Well come on, bring it over here and let's have a look at it."


Rory brought his toy over to his mother's friend as Christmas music continued to play, and snow swirled around the window.


"Now then," she remarked quietly, with a secret smile creeping in around the corners of her lips, "he didn't do too bad a job, did he? No, not bad at all. This little fella looks just like new."


Rory was confused for a second, but was quickly distracted as his mommy woke up.


"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed in a hushed voice. "Why I must have fallen asleep as soon as I sat down! I hope I didn't miss my favorite song."


The song that began playing a moment later was Holly Jolly Christmas, and that caused Lesleigh to perk up.


"Aha! It's my favorite song!" and she began to sing along and dance around the room. Mommy got up and danced around with her. As Lesleigh's voice rang out "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas, it's the best time of the year, I don't know if there'll be snow, but have a cup of cheer" Rory looked out the window, and saw a cloud sailing across the moon. For just a second, the moonglow illuminated the cloud, and Rory saw the shadow of the airship hidden inside.


"Merry Christmas, Jolly! Merry Christmas, Grüss! Merry Christmas, Wonderworker!" he said excitedly.


Mommy stopped dancing and put her hand on his shoulder. "What was that all about?" she asked, bewildered.


Lesleigh came to her side. "Girl, did I ever tell you about my cousin James?"