Leonard walked into the house. The two sleigh girls had caused some consternation among the elves more for their size and their mane tail and fur than their lack on clothing. He had acquired them when the women had answered an ad that Agatha had placed. It had cost him four smaller prettier sleigh girls in barter for these two, but their stamina and power more than made up for their lack of physical beauty.

His cousin, Nicholas, had asked him to come over. It had been a long time since the Claus cousins had sat down together. The argument started with a simple remark. Nicholas thought that his reindeer were better for pulling a sleigh than Leonard's girls. The rift just opened wider as each elf tried to outdo the other. Finally when William Claus retired, he gave the family business to Nicholas. Hurt and enraged, Leonard left, never to return.

Things were going fine until Leonard got a message from Nick's wife, Martha. He arrived at the North Pole right after Agatha had finished with the last of his girls. Dismounting he handed the reins to Seymour, the old elf foreman. Seymour, as always, looked disapprovingly at Leonard's choice of propulsion but lead the girls away to be cared for.

Martha was waiting on the porch. “Tsk Tsk” she admonished “couldn't you at least put clothes on them?”

“Clothes? Ah, Martha!” Leonard said “when are you going to run away with me?”

“And compete with them?!” Martha exclaimed. “You're as big an old fool as your cousin. He doesn't know I sent for you. He needs your help. We need your help. I was hoping you two could put your feud aside and come together.”

“What did he do now?”

“The fool went on “Dancing with the Stars.” I told him he was too old, but does he listen to his wife of 500 years? NOOOOOO! He wants to dance with some young chippie. Although he was doing pretty good until he blew out his Achilles tendon.”

“His what?”

“Yeah I know. I'll let him explain it.”

Leonard walked into the living room. His cousin was seated in an overstuffed easy chair. A heavy cast on his right foot.

“What are you doing here?” Nicholas asked.

“Martha asked me to come.”

“What!! Martha get in here.”

“Oh calm down! You pompous ass. She told me about your latest fiasco.”

“I was in the top five.”

“Martha said you blew out your Achilles tendon. When did you grow an Achilles tendon?”

“The doctor was cute and I had to fake an X-ray. You should get sick once in awhile those lady doctors are getting cuter all the time. If I was single, I might go into medicine.”

“I heard that!” came in a feminine voice from the kitchen. “Now I have two old fools in the house.”

“So why am I here, other than to gloat?” Leonard asked.

“Look at his foot” Martha said coming into the room “he can't drive a sleigh like that.”

“Of course I can” Nicholas protested.

“Stand up then” his wife told him. Nicholas struggled to his feet. He stood on one leg and a crutch. Exhausted, he sat back down. “See! You can barely stand.” Martha said. “And Christmas is only a month away.”

“How long you going to be like that?”

“Doc Michael said another two months.”

“Old quack knows about broken bones. He patched me up good after my run in with Calderon. That cost me two sleigh girls.”

“Can't Seymour deliver this year?” Leonard asked.

“He doesn't know the coordinates. You do.” Nicholas explained.

“Ok, I'll take care of it this year, but it is done my way, with sleigh girls.”

“Why not use my reindeer?”

“Cause they are ugly and they smell bad. That's my offer; take it or leave it.”

Nicholas pondered his options. He certainly was in no shape to deliver the presents this year, and despite their differences, both elves loved Christmas. Calling his cousin back in he said “Ok, let's get this setup.”

The next few weeks were a flurry of activity around Nicholas' place. Leonard spent each day teaching his sleigh girls to fly. He figured that he would have to have at least four teams of six girls. Unfortunately, Leonard didn't have the pony power. He made a few calls. Agatha arrived the following day. She had a team of six of her draft males and three teams of six females per team. The males were impressive even by reindeer standards. They would pull the first leg when the sleigh was the heaviest. After a quick training course, Agatha started distirbuting teams of sleigh girl salong the route. She dropped off Leonard's strongest sleigh girls at Sam's place. They would pull the empty big sleigh back to the North Pole.

Finally all was ready; Leonard made one last check of the portals and each team of human draft animals. The heavy sleigh was loaded. Leonard cracked his whip over the heads of his team. The big males took a strain and the sleigh started its journey. Following behind Leonard was Seymour. His job was to fly diversion with Nicholas' reindeer. Leonard's team gathered speed. Slowly they became airborne. A portal opened and the team, sleigh and Leonard disappeared into the snowy night.

The night was spent changing teams and reloading the sleigh. Squads of elves were stationed along the route. The entire process was done with the precision and speed that NASCAR wished their pit crews could achieve. Leonard would pull into where the elves waited. There was scant seconds to change teams and reload before the portal closed. Several times Leonard barely made it through the portal before it closed on him. The sleigh girls responded to their driver's call to pull giving their all to make the next stop.

Leonard ran his teams hard through the night. He was right on schedule when the final portal opened and the final present was delivered. Wheeling his tired team around, he rose into the starry night sky. The portal opened and the sleigh disappeared. Back on Sam's farm, exhausted sleigh girls rested. Agatha was collecting them to return them to their owners.

Her males were in bad shape. She figured that they would need at least a few days rest. “You did well, my beauties” she told them petting each male's shaggy head “when we get home, there will a mating session for each of you. Would you like a nice warm mare?” The four males whinnied in affirmation.

The portal opened and Leonard appeared. Climbing down from his sleigh, he walked to each member of his team and petted them. Two girls remained fresh for the journey back to the North Pole. Leonard was exhausted. Taking her friend by the hand, Agatha led him over to a bed in the corner of the barn. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow. Agatha petted the elf's dark hair. Morning would be soon enough to sort out pony and sleigh girls. Instructing Sam's barn attendants to tend to the sleigh team, she walked back to the farm house.

Christmas was saved for another year. Of course there were some rumors of a sleigh being pulled by teams of girls, and Santa had dark hair and beard and wore a navy blue outfit.

The next day, Leonard arrived back at the North Pole. Nicholas and Martha were sitting on the porch. His leg propped up on a stool.

“I had some disturbing reports about last night” Nicholas announced.

Smiling, Leonard said “Honest I never laid a hand on that blonde in Seattle.”

“Not that kinda report! You lecherous old coot.”

“Who you calling an old coot, you pompous ass?”

“OH!! Be quiet” Martha said standing up “two old fools arguing over who's the bigger fool.”

Clearing her throat, Martha explained “we got some reports of sighting of your girls. It has been a busy morning circulating the latest pictures Seymour flying the reindeer sleigh. The damn bloggers get faster all the time.”

“Com central has taken care of the rumors” Nicholas said. “It was all told a successful night.”

Rising shakily to his feet, Nicholas extended his hand, “thank you”. Leonard took the proffered hand and shook it. Helping his cousin to sit down again, Leonard said “you're welcome”.

“Take care of yourself” Leonard told Nicholas. “By the way, you got the phone number for Dancing with the Stars?”