Ferry decided to never take off his gloves again, unless necessary. At home, he didn't say anything about what happened a day before. He didn't want to upset his mother now when things were back to normal.

His raven was missing again. But Ferry knew that his raven was watching him from a place where no one, not even him, could see.

Christmas was almost near. A joyful frenzy gripped the whole town, growing with each passing day. Ferry loved the commotion of his town. The cold didn't bother him anymore ever since that day when he and May went sledding. That was when he discovered how wonderful winter could be.

For a while, Billy and Danny didn't trouble him. They avoided looking at him every time they met. But Ferry knew that wouldn't take long. And he also knew Billy found out about his weakness─ his fear of iron.

That Sunday morning, his mother was ready for the Christmas shopping. Ferry was accompanying her as usual. There were only a few days left until Christmas and the shopping list was rather long. Mrs. Donovan decided on making some stuffed turkey with potatoes and sweet corn and cranberry sauce, and also some jelly chicken, Mr. Donovan's favorite. Then, for dessert, she had decided on raisins and cheese pie, butter muffins, wild berries pie, and lettuce and apple salad, Ferry's favorites. The drinks were also homemade. Eileen was skilled in preparing chocolate liqueur and wine with cinnamon. Unlike other years, their neighbors, as well as Mr. Donovan's working mates and their families, were invited to the Christmas dinner, and they were to be spoiled by his mother's dainties.

After shopping, Mrs. Donovan decided it was the perfect time for a walk. The streets were full of people; the houses were decorated, and the people were happy. They passed by May's house and they saw her arranging some Christmas decorations in her parents' store window. The coronets were made from pine branches with scattered cranberry and mistletoe berries. At first, May didn't see them. But Ferry knocked on the window, and May raised her eyes and saw him. She looked happy to see him, small roses flourishing in her cheeks. She gave him a little wave and smiled. Mrs. Donovan also smiled, with tears in her eyes. Her boy was growing up...

They went to the central square, now full of peddlers and their stalls, of laughter, noise, and shouts. They could smell baked apples and roasted chestnuts, all sorts of pits and seeds while the gingerbread and the lollypops were hanging on red ropes in the upper part of the stalls. They were brightly colored. The stalls were packed with trays of all sorts, containing cakes, pies, tarts, and soufflés cut in small, delicious squares. Mrs. Donovan bought Ferry a sugar-coated apple. A hairy hand, the hairiest Ferry has ever seen, offered him the much-wanted treat. Ferry raised his eyes and met the vendor's eyes. He was stunned by his look. Under a funny bonnet, a hairy face was hiding which looked similar to the one of a... wolf. The odd man smiled from under his long, wiry mustache.

"Here you are, young master," he said.

"Have we met?" Ferry wondered.

"Well, you are famous where I come from, that's true," the salesman answered.

Ferry was about to ask for explanations, but Mrs. Donovan was not that curious. She paid for the apple, muttering, "Ferry, how many times have I asked you not to talk to strangers? It doesn't matter if he says he knows you. You DON'T talk to strangers! Am I clear?"

But not even the incident with the sweets' vendor could not spoil her good mood.

The next day, he went playing with Ben and Matilda. They decided to go to the bottom of the hill near the forest although they knew they weren't allowed. But the forest was calling them with silent voices. It had such a power over them, they couldn't resist.

The snow was perfect for playing. They built a snow fort and played the brave knights fighting the snow dragon. Then, they started a snowball fight. Ferry was happy he could play in the snow, just like the other children.

But then, the snowfall began, out of a sudden, and the children could barely see through the curtain of snow. The snowfall came with the blizzard, so they had to hold to each other's hand so they could advance through the white wrath ahead of them.

"I can't see a thing!" Matilda shouted. "If we keep going, we'll get lost. If we haven't already...."

Even their voices were scattered by the cruel blizzard. The three children stopped, not knowing where to go.

"Matt, why didn't you bring your dog?" Ben shouted. "He would have known the way home."

"Shadow has been missing for days," she shouted back. "Besides, he wouldn't have been able to manage on such weather. He can't fly, you know... By the way, why didn't you bring your lizard?"

"Izzy's missing, too..." Ben also shouted.

"Then Ferry should call his raven," Matilda suggested, and they both turned to Ferry. He had no choice but whistling and in a few moments, they could hear the raven's croak above them. But they still couldn't see anything through the snow falling upon them, denser than before.

"What are we going to do? We can't just stay here. We're going to freeze to death..." Ben whined.

Ferry looked around. He couldn't come up with anything. He couldn't even see a few steps ahead. They would have definitely got lost if walking randomly. That looked even more dangerous so close to the forest.

Then, he saw the tracks. They were strange ones like he'd never seen before.

"Ben, what kind of tracks are those?" he asked.

Ben bent over and looked at the tracks on the pristine snow. "If I didn't think this was impossible, I would say they are kangaroo tracks," he said, his eyes big with astonishment.

Ferry gave it a thought, then he started following the tracks. "Matt, Ben, come on!" he shouted. "Whatever they are, they are going to get us out of here."

"How do you know?" his friends shouted through the blizzard.

"Because they are ski tracks," he said. It was the first thing that came to his mind.

Ben was being suspicious. "Ski tracks? Shouldn't be any tracks of the ski sticks? And how come we didn't see the skier? Shouldn't those tracks be behind us, too?" 

"Can we go already?" Ferry yelled, tired of Ben's questions. He hated to admit, but Ben was right. Yet, he couldn't see any way out. And the raven's stone started to pulse again. A sign they were in the presence of a fairy.

They followed the tracks in the snow. The cold was even harsher, and the blizzard was making them slow down. But the children continued their way, holding onto each other. Ferry was the first. He was also the first to notice the creature who left the tracks. It was right in front of them. Still far, but enough for Ferry to observe it. At some point, he even had the strange feeling that the creature was waiting for them. And when they got too close, it was moving again. Soon, the snowfall slowed down and Ferry could see more clearly. It was a woman dressed in a checkered long, old-fashioned dress, with a green and red pattern. She was wearing a big, pointy, green hat. A witch's hat. But that wasn't the strangest of all. The way she was walked was a lot strange. In fact, she wasn't walking at all. She was... hopping. Like a giant rabbit. Fortunately, the town was close, and they all made it home safely. That woman, whoever she was, helped them not get lost.

Now the blizzard was over, and the children could breathe easily. They could see the first houses of the town right in front of them. The tracks stopped out of a sudden as if the person who made them has vanished into thin air.

His friends forgot about the danger and they soon started a snowball fight, running in front of him. Then they stopped. When Ferry finally caught up with them, he could see why. Right in front of them, there was the mysterious person who led their way. She was smiling. Or at least, she was trying to because her smile looked like something else. It was more of a grin. From underneath the pointy hat, a rabbit's mouth was emerging. Even though her eyes looked human, that mouth with two prominent front teeth and the notched upper lip made the children stuck in place. If the woman's appearance hadn't been that peculiar, the children would surely have paid attention to her hat. Yes, that pointy, witch-like hat. But it was the most beautiful witch hat Ferry had ever seen.

It was made of green leaves and decorated with the frailest summer flowers. Which was curious since it was the middle of the winter. Ferry even had the feeling that the top of her hat was... moving.

"Are you all right, children?" she said, smiling. Her voice was soft and gentle, the voice of a young woman.

"We're fine..." Matilda mumbled, her eyes on the woman who kept on smiling.

Ben made himself smaller and Ferry tried to continue on his way home. He saw the woman's eyes staring at him.

"How about you, Garrett? Are you all right?"

Ferry was intrigued, "My name is not Garrett!"

"That is right..." the woman hesitated. "Forgive me," she said and took a small curtsy.

Matilda fussed, "Ferry, let's go! This woman looks... odd," she whispered.

The three children headed towards the town, without looking back. After a few steps, they started off at a run as if chased by wolves.

⃰

The happening with the hopping lady was soon forgotten. That was what usually happened with children when something more interesting came in the way. And what could have been more interesting than Christmas?

On Christmas Eve, Ferry set off to bring presents to his friends. They were special presents, made by his own hands and with a little help from his mother, of course. He had turned some of his wonderful drawings into paintings. Then he made frames from branches, on which he glued cones and acorns. Matilda's painting represented some a treehouse through the branches of which magical sparks glittered. For Ben, he made the one with the enchanted rock. On one side of the rock, there was a forest during the night while on the other side a beautiful land was stretching where unusual plants dangled in the twilight. He saved the most beautiful one for May. It was a meadow full of the most charming flowers with dancing fairies in the middle, surrounded by a milky light.

His friends' joy at the sight of the presents could not be put into words. Each one offered Ferry, in return, a small symbol of their friendship. He got a leather bracelet from Matilda which she made it herself.

Ben's mother had crocheted a pair of gloves (as if Ferry didn't have enough). They were colored gloves, the same colors that represented the Knights. May gave him a notebook made by herself, decorated with dried flowers which still kept a touch of summer inside. Ferry couldn't be happier. His friends, the presents, the holiday, even the winter were making him feel like flying.

Then a thought came to his mind. Christmas was for spending precious time with family and friends. It must have been awful to spend Christmas alone. And he knew quite a few lonely people. Perhaps the loneliest one was Lavender Sky.

He found a few forgotten pennies in his pocket. So he bought a few pieces of apple pie from one of the strolls in the market. He wrapped them in a small, nice box and headed towards Lavender Sky's cottage.

There was no sign of her when he arrived. The garden looked just like he had left it, bright and colored as if it never snowed. He knocked on the back door and waited. Then he pushed it and he was not surprised to find it unlocked. He entered the cozy, warm living room, where a teapot was whistling above the fire in the fireplace. It was early in the afternoon, and he thought she might be taking a nap.

"Miss Lavender, are you home?"

No answer. He saw her hat and veil on the back of a chair. He loved that small chamber. He would have liked to examine every small thing, but he thought it wouldn't be nice of him to just rummage a foreign house. He put the small box on the table and went out to look for her.

But the fairy was nowhere to be found. He thought it would be best to leave. When he came out the door, the white hill appeared in front of him, as majestic and silent as always. That was when he saw her. She was standing still, on the top of the hill, near a gray stone. The wind played in her hair, her silver locks dancing along. But she couldn't care less. She was just standing there watching the gray stone. Her husband's tombstone. And Ferry felt he shouldn't be there, troubling that fragile moment when probably the fairy wanted to be alone with the memory of her beloved husband.

He went down to town with a heavy heart. And just like the other day, a stranger was waiting for him. His appearance surely captured attention. He was wearing a raincoat and a hat. Just like a detective in the movies.

"You shouldn't walk alone in such lonely places..." the stranger hissed.

"Excuse me, but do I know you?" asked Ferry without stopping. The stranger joined him. And although he looked curious, Ferry felt comfortable in his company. He wasn't afraid. Just as he wasn't afraid in the presence of all the other stranger he had met the days before. On the contrary, he felt safe.

"Maybe you don't know me, but I know you," said the man.

Ferry could take a better look now. His face, although hidden behind the collar of his raincoat, was reflecting an odd, greenish light. And his yellow eyes were blinking differently. He was blinking sideways, like a reptile.

"Have we met before?" Ferry asked him.

"Well, more often than you might think," he laughed.

"And what is your name, if you don't mind?"

"I don't believe my name is important. What I do is of bigger importance..."

Now Ferry was really curious, "What is it that you do?" he asked.

"I protect..." the stranger said right before vanishing under his very eyes.

But that didn't come as a surprise to Ferry. He kind of gotten used to all the peculiar things happening around him. He wasn't surprised that all their pets vanished the same time the strangers came into town.

But soon, the whole town was to find out about the strange visitors who showed up when least expected and then vanished into thin air. 

Thank you for reading this new chapter! I'm really, really curious to find out what you think of it. So please comment and let me know your thoughts :)

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