Free Treacherous Toys by Joyce and Jim Lavene

know.”
    “But you’re not hurt, right?” He put his arm around me.
    “No. A little shaken up and a lot curious, but that’s about it.”
    “Don’t let your imagination work overtime. It was probably just one of the new knights who lost control of his horse. You know how easy it is to let the lance slip as you’re riding. Let me check into it.”
    “Okay. I’m going to help with the Father Christmas photography again. Wait until I tell you about the new Father Christmas!”
    “I have to go and deal with this. Promise you won’t get in trouble trying to investigate anything by yourself.”
    I squinted up at him, the sun behind his head. “I don’t know why you’d ask me to lie to you that way. I’ll see you later.”

Six

    C hristine and I worked the crowd waiting to have their pictures taken with Father Christmas. There were coloring pages to give out, pictures to take, and crying children to soothe. Christine was much better at that part than I was.
    It wasn’t long before the rest of the family had joined us. The parents and children, waiting sometimes for over an hour, enjoyed talking with Christine’s kids, now dressed in their green elf outfits. The four young girls, Joy, Star, Faith, and Holly were very cute. They unwittingly did more to amuse the crowd than anyone else.
    I watched Edgar, the new Father Christmas, while I worked. He wasn’t as charming or genuine as Chris had been, but he had a certain flamboyant style that seemed to make everyone happy. I missed Chris and was sorry I couldn’t have worked with him longer. I couldn’t imagine how hard it must be for Christine and the children to carry on this way. Really, it was above and beyond what anyone could expect.
    But I understood that there were bills to pay and contracts to fulfill. Christine had to do what was necessary to get by. She didn’t have the luxury of breaking down.
    Security guards for the Village came in at about five thirty to let everyone know that the Village was closing at six P.M . There were a lot of angry people even though they were given cards that would put them at the front of the line the next day. Adventure Land hadn’t planned for people to wait in line so long, I guessed. These people should’ve been in and out more quickly, like at the games outside or the elephant rides. I wondered if there was a plan in place to make the wait shorter the next day.
    Chase came by as we were sweeping up the gum wrappers and discarded coupons that littered the manor house floor. “I wanted to let you know what info I’ve gathered so far about the crazy rider who almost skewered you two this afternoon.”
    Christine stopped sweeping and shooed the children away to other tasks. “Please tell me Jessie was wrong and that the knight wasn’t headed for either of us. I don’t think I can handle anything else.”
    “There’s no proof that it was anything more than a runaway. Some new knights have a hard time learning to control their horses. It happens.”
    “So we know who the rider was?” I asked him.
    “No. Not yet. But we’ll find out when he brings the horse back to the stables. There’s a suit of armor missing, too.” Chase shrugged. “I’m sorry. It gets out of hand sometimes. We took on a lot of new people for the holiday season. Training isn’t always what I’d like it to be.”
    “That’s all right. I’m glad no one was seriously hurt,” Christine said. “I just hope you find out who it was.”
    I didn’t say anything else. I knew Chase’s visit was to make Christine feel better. He’d accomplished his task, but he’d left me with a lot of unanswered questions.
    “Are you finished here, Jessie?” he asked with a smile.
    “Of course she is,” Christine said. “You two go on. We’ll close up here. Thanks for all your help today, Jessie. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    I smiled, too, and said all the polite, pleasant things I should, but when I got outside with Chase, I let him know how I really