Jingle Spells. Rhonda Nelson

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       Chapter 1

       INTERNAL MEMO: Christmas countdown, minus 20 days

       FROM: Cole Evergreen, CEO, Evergreen Industries

       TO: All staff

       Thanks to centuries of intel monitoring, the North Pole is widely accepted as the home of Santa Claus. That misinformation has allowed the Winter Clan, under the guise of Evergreen Industries, to operate undetected in Gingerbread, Colorado, as we employ our magick in the service of Christmas.

       But magick has its limits, and computer technology is more efficient for information storage and retrieval. Because of the sensitive nature of our database, specifically the “Naughty or Nice” list, our security system is constantly being updated.

       However, I regret to inform you that despite our best efforts, we’ve been hacked. While I investigate the source of this breach, be advised that your current usernames and passwords are invalid. When you create new ones, use the strongest possible codes. Failure to maintain secrecy is not an option.

      The memo, as Cole had expected it would, brought his three siblings to his office on the fifteenth floor of the Evergreen Industries building within minutes. It was the tallest structure in Gingerbread, and also the deepest. Besides having fifteen floors aboveground to house Evergreen’s Christmas ornament business, it had five subterranean floors dedicated to the secret task of Christmas toy production.

      Ethan, Cole’s next oldest brother, arrived first with a typically optimistic attitude. There was a reason Ethan had been put in charge of Christmas cheer. Ethan was the sort of wizard who, if he found a box of horse manure under the Christmas tree, would look around for the pony.

      “It was a fluke.” Ethan commandeered one of the two leather swivel chairs in front of Cole’s desk. “I’ll bet it was a total accident and they won’t be back.”

      “They knew exactly what they were doing. They left me a message.” A message that had made his pulse leap when he realized who had been prowling through his database.

      “What message?” Belle, the youngest Evergreen, walked in carrying a mug of coffee, because she had to be different. Everyone else in the company drank cocoa.

      It must have been an emergency ration she’d brewed herself, because it clearly hadn’t come from Cup of Cheer, her favorite coffee shop in Gingerbread. She claimed that the stress of her job as head of human (and elf) resources, especially her work with Santa, Mrs. Claus and the elves, required large quantities СКАЧАТЬ