102. Snowfall

At dusk on the fourth of January, Darcy was still on the phone. He had called more than half of the people in the fairy phone book, non stop, without sleeping. And he had reached the letter “N.”

“Thank heavens phone calls are free in the fairy world,” yawned Minafer. He and Gem were taking turns staying up to support Darcy.

Again and again Darcy had a conversation similar to this one:

“Hello! This is Darcy, the Dark Man speaking. If you are overhearing, kindly don’t. Don’t anyone record this call. Please don’t hang up, person I am calling. Hello? Yes, I said I am the Dark Man and no, this is no joke. I need to know if you or anyone you know has a little ornament shaped like a leprechaun in your or his or her power. Just say yes or no. No? Well, please forget about this call and carry on with whatever you were doing.” 

The person Darcy was looking for was sitting outside next to the backdoor of his house pretending to be a gargoyle so as not to attract his neighbours’ attention. He had quite a gift for being quiet as a stone. And his house was full of knickknacks.

  

There were knickknacks in showcases.

                   

                   

On tables.

                     

And more tables.

                    

On the walls.

                             

Hanging from the ceiling.

In the kitchen.

  

On food.

                    

Christmas knickknacks.

                    

Owl knickknacks.

                    

And a long etc.

                      

                           

Knickknack Nimbus Di Limbo continued to meditate in his garden while pretending to be a gargoyle knickknack, now under falling snow.

“Let’s face it. I’m not good at what I do. I have a handicap. I can only steal in places where there are no knickknacks. If I were to dig a tunnel to enter a bank, once I was in I would notice the trinkets on the desk of an employee and forget everything else and flee from the spot with the one I liked best in my pocket and rush to take it home with me before anyone might stop me. So, it turns out I hit the jackpot this summer when I filched the leprechaun. And what on earth can someone like me do with a prize like that? What a mess I’ve put my foot into with this kind of jackpot! Well, I’m small and insignificant and very good at not being noticed, so perhaps there’s a chance I can make it to the Magi’s workshop without attracting attention. I don’t know those gentlemen personally. It’s the Italian Christmas fairy,  La Befana, who drops by our house with gifts on the night of the fifth of January. But I don’t wish the Magi any harm. And I want to return the check. Because I haven’t really stolen it. Only the leprechaun. Perhaps they will understand.” 

              

Before Nimbus could decide just how he would return the check, his mother, Mrs. Di Limbo, showed up at a window.

You would never have thought she was his mother. He was about a foot and a half high at his very tallest and dark grey, stone colored all over, with large flopping elf ears. She looked about seven years old and could be taken for Goldilocks in flannel pijamas.

“Baby, come inside. It has to be awfully cold out there. I want some tea.”

“Your tea is ready for you on a tray on the coffee table in front of the sofa in the TV room, Mama. I also made you egg and mustard sandwiches with some chives. And you have two Christmas cookies, one shaped like a bell and the other like a star. Get up and walk a bit and go downstairs. Don’t go back to sleep after you’ve had tea. Try to lie on the couch and watch TV a while. You’re not getting prettier from sleeping all day anymore. You’re getting to look too young. We’re going to have trouble with the neighbors and might have to move again before that happens.”

                                                                       

Nimbus sighed. Sometimes he thought his mother slept so much because she didn’t want to look like him. But he couldn’t look any better because he couldn’t sleep at all. He was always on guard, looking after her.

Mrs. Di Limbo always said it was nothing of the kind. It just so happened that all she liked to do was sleep. And she couldn’t see why she should deny herself that. She thought it didn’t do anybody any harm.

Nimbus would remind her there were other things she liked.She showed some interest whenever he brought home a new knickknack. Which was why there were so many in the house.

As many as there were, Mrs. Di Limbo remembered each and every one of them and knew exactly where each and every one went, though she didn’t dust them herself. That was up to Nimbus. She liked to think of this as a hobby they shared.

“Look, Mamma,” said Nimbus. “I have to go out for a while. But I promise to be back as soon as I can.” He blew her a kiss and began to move very, very, very slowly and surreptitiously away.

The phone rang before Mrs. Di Limbo could pull herself away from the window. She dropped back on her bed, which was right by the window, and fluffed the pillows with one hand while she answered the phone with the other.

                     

“I have a lovely leprechaun ornament hanging from my bedside Christmas tree. Hmm. I think it was this summer I got it. My son gave it to me. He always gives me cute knickknacks because he knows I love them. Yes, he lives here. But he’s not at home right now. He just left. Where did he go? I’m not sure, but to get me a Twelfth Night Gift is most likely. When I last saw him he was moving eastwards. He moves very, very slowly. If I got up and looked out the window I might still see him in the not so very distance. Oh, no! Do I really have to get up and fetch him?”

And Mrs. Di Limbo did get up because Darcy had asked her to and there is no saying no to him. And she glanced out the window and saw her son was still within shouting distance and he heard her when she called because he always did.

And meanwhile, the Magi were getting ready to go out that night even without their blank check back because they had a credit card and they had put themselves in the hands of God.