Tracy Tam: Santa Command by Krystalyn Drown Page A

to listen to that song since without crying.
    Tracy pulled her finger from the picture and wiped the tear from her cheek. That's why she had hopped in Santa's sleigh. That's why she needed him. How could she have forgotten such an important thing? And how had she even dreamed of going home without her evidence?
    She couldn't let Pim down. She had to win that prize money, and the Santa coat she was wearing wasn't going to be enough.
    Tracy wiped one final tear from her cheek and straightened her shoulders. She was going to get the information she needed, and no one was going to stop her.
    “Hello, there.”
    The voice came from behind her. Tracy whirled around to see a tiny, gray-haired man standing there. He was chubby, wearing a navy blue vest, jacket and dress pants, and barely taller than Tracy herself.
    “Where did you come from?” Tracy asked. There hadn't been any other doors in the hallway, except for the one she came through.
    The man pointed to a door about two feet away.
    Tracy blinked several times. “I didn't see that door before.”
    “Sometimes,” he said gently, “things exist whether you see them or not. You were looking pretty intently at that picture. Do you want to tell me about it?”
    “No.” What she wanted was to get moving, but she had to get around this guy first. “Who are you?”
    “Hmm.” He scratched his stubbly chin while he thought about the answer. “I could tell you, but you wouldn't believe me, so I don't think I'll bother for now.”
    “Try me. I doubt this night could get any weirder.”
    The man smiled. A twinkle sat in the corner of his eye. “Oh, I assure you, it can. One person's weird is another person's calling.”
    “Huh?” Tracy didn't have time for riddles. She glanced down the hall to see if she could find an end to it or another doorway.
    “In a hurry, are you?”
    “I suppose you're going to ask me to come with you? I'm tired of hearing that, so if you'll just let me go, I'll—”
    “Go ahead.” He stretched his arm to point down the hallway. His door was gone, and once again, she saw nothing but pictures lining the walls.
    A banging sound echoed from behind them, followed by a muffled voice shouting, “Hey! Hey, where did you go?” Tracy was pretty sure it was Jared, back in the library.
    The man noticed it too and turned in that direction. “Well, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go check on your friend. He seems worried.” And he walked away.
    Tracy couldn't believe he was just going to leave her there. “Hey!”
    The man kept walking toward Jared, but waggled his fingers over his shoulder. “Carry on. My house is yours.”
    Tracy looked down the hallway to see if any more doors popped open. At that point she would have believed it, but nothing happened. If anything, the hall seemed to stretch longer, as if it really did go on forever.
    She started walking away from the man. She ran her fingers around the pictures, looking for hidden seams in the walls. She knocked on random patches to see if she heard a hollow sound, like a room was on the other side. The less she found, the faster she walked. Nothing, nothing, and more nothing. Just thousands of pictures, with no end in sight. She ran, trying to find any way out, but when her breath gave out, she stopped and turned around. The man was no further away from her than he was before. She could still hear Jared hollering from the other side of the library door, and the man was still walking toward him. Tracy's shoulders slumped. Her options had run out. “Wait for me!” she called.
    The man stopped, looked over his shoulder, and smiled.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
     
    Tracy
     
    “Help! Lemme out of here! Help!” Jared's muffled cries were emphasized by his fists pounding on the door. “Who locked the—”
    The man turned the shiny brass knob, and when he opened the door, Jared fell through and spilled to the ground in front of Tracy's feet.
    “– door?” Jared finished quietly. He stood up and