CHAPTER 5

To this point: Following a successful Cowtown celebration, Santa and Ellsworth City officials were surprised to find that Mrs. Claus was missing. Surprise turned to worry when Mayor Kennedy discovered a ransom note attached to a Christmas tree. It was signed by the gang calling itself the “Lowdown Rustlers.” The Rustlers had kidnapped Mrs. Claus and taken her to their hideout. However, Mrs. Santa soon discovered that the old saying, “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,” is true, even when you’re dealing with the “Lowdown Rustlers.”

If you saw anything strange or out of the ordinary that night, please call the mayor’s office,” city administrator Varnado announced to the growing crowd of concerned citizens and well wishers outside Ellsworth City Hall. “Remember, Santa, Mrs. Santa and Ellsworth County need  your help.”
The response to his words was a joy to behold. The word had spread, not just through Ellsworth, but across the county and beyond — to Kanopolis, Wilson, Holyrood, Lorraine, Carneiro, Claflin, Dorrance ... It seemed as if everyone had decided to put their holiday on hold to help find Mrs. Santa.
Suddenly, working his way through the crowd, Zip, Santa’s top assistant, magically appeared with several papers in his hand.
“I’ve brought the information you asked for, Santa,” Zip said. “It wasn’t hard to find. I just had to look back a few years in our files and everything was right there, just as you thought.”
Santa began to read through the papers.
“Very interesting,” he said. “Mayor Kennedy, are you sure about the clues you’ve received from the area citizens?”
The mayor looked at Santa. “You mean from the information gathered after the news article in the paper? All of the responding citizens are very reliable. Plus several residents remembered suspicious things going on even before the parade so we have several reports and even four physical descriptions!”
“Excellent,” responded Santa. “Zip! Are you ready?”
“Absolutely. Just let me know the final details and I’ll help put everything together,” Zip said.

***
In the limestone hideout of the “Lowdown Rustlers,” the gang sat around the larger table in the middle of the room. The delicious smell of dinner filled the air even though very little of it remained. The gang had quickly consumed everything down to Mrs. Santa’s homemade pie and kolaches. Their faces were beginning to glow with a sleepy look of contentment as their stomachs became comfortably full.
“Did you like it?” asked Mrs. Santa as she stood at the end of the table stirring another mixture in a bowl. “My husband complains that it’s impossible to stay on a diet when I constantly make everything he likes.”
When Mrs. Santa offered to cook for the gang earlier, they had looked at each other in surprise and with suspicion. But hunger and frustration won out over caution.
Bub had ordered Chuckles to untie Mrs. Santa and Stretch removed her hood.
Free at last, Mrs. Santa didn’t struggle or try to run. She just aimed a warm smile at each member of the gang. She straightened her dress and promptly busied herself with dinner preparations just as if she were serving long awaited guests. As she moved around the kitchen, she began to chatter happily to each gang member about her home, Santa and the elves. As the kitchen filled with the delicious aroma of food she told them funny stories of large dinner gatherings.
The four scruffy members of the “Lowdown Rustlers” gang watched in amazement as the lovely little woman moved to and fro. They listened to her chatter. Oddly, each felt a warm spot beginning to grow deep inside his chest. Their hearts had been cold and lonely for so long.
Shorty, Chuckles and Stretch felt old memories of their childhoods and their mothers flooding back. These were happy memories of warm hugs, sweet kisses and happy smiles. It was both sweet and sad. Especially when they realized just how far they had wandered from their families and homes. One by one, each hung his head a bit and wiped a tear as he thought of what his mother would think if she knew he kidnapped Mrs. Santa.
Even for Bub, who was an orphan, the warmth of Mrs. Santa’s smiles and chatter somehow began to fill a hollow place in his heart — a place that had ached to be filled since he was a small boy. Bub had come to realize that the small, cheerful woman his gang kidnapped was the picture of what he had always imagined the perfect mother to be — warm, loving and most of all forgiving.
Mrs. Santa carried a plate of kolaches from the oven. She poured five cups of coffee and served each of the gang members. Although the kolachces and coffee tasted wonderful, somehow knots had formed in the throats of the “Lowdown Rustlers” and it was difficult to swallow.  
Mrs. Santa sat at the table and thought about the quiet group before her. She saw the sad face of Shorty, who had tricked her into coming outside to “soothe a frightened child;” Stretch, who had bound her; and Chuckles, who had helped him. And then there was the leader, the mean one, who suddenly had a softer look about him.
“Why, naughty adults really aren’t so different from children,” she thought. “They also need a good example with lots of forgiveness and love.”
Bub, as though he read her thoughts, looked up from his warm cup of coffee with tears in his eyes. He glanced at the faces of his comrades and cleared his throat.
“Madam, my apologies … I’m afraid we … no, I have made a terrible mistake …” But Bub had no chance to say anymore.
There was a sudden noise on the steps outside the basement hideout and fists began to pound loudly on the door that opened to the outside.
“Open up!” called Sheriff Marston. “We know you’re in there. The place is surrounded and there’s no escape. Release Mrs. Santa now and it’ll go easy on all of you.”
As he talked, a train rumbled through town on the tracks near the front of the hideout.  
Still, the pounding sounded like thunder to the “Lowdown Rustlers”. The gang sat motionless at the table looking at Mrs. Santa with fear in their eyes. Mrs. Santa reached out and touched each one.
“Don’t worry. Leave this to me,” she said.
Mrs. Santa walked calmly to the door of the kidnappers’ landmark hideaway and opened it. There before her stood Sheriff Marston and dozens of concerned citizens from other towns, including law officers.
“Hello, I’m so glad you could make it. Come in and meet my new friends,” said a smiling Mrs. Santa.
Then, in the darkness, she saw Santa and Zip standing behind the police officers. She ran to Santa.
“I knew you would find me,” she said.
Santa hugged her tightly and began to laugh. “So you knew I’d find you? Well I needed lots of help.”
Later, at the invitation of Wilson Mayor Mike Peschka and other members of the Wilson City Council, Mr. and Mrs. Claus and their new friends from Ellsworth gathered in the office of Wilson Communications to relax for a moment after their long ordeal.    
“I’m so happy everything’s turned out so well,” Mrs. Santa said. “This has been a very exciting trip.”
Despite the happy ending, the curiosity of the mayor and his council members remained.
“Santa, I know the clues and guesses the Ellsworth citizens sent in helped you discover her location. But how did you know that the ‘Lowdown Rustlers’ wouldn’t harm her?” councilwoman Kootz asked.
“They weren’t always grown-ups, you know,” Santa said. “I have a wonderful memory and I caught a glimpse of them during the parade and even briefly in the auditorium. Zip even found their files for me.
“We keep excellent records. I thought I knew who was behind this and the descriptions your kind citizens provided proved that I was correct. The location was found from their observations and clues. Truly, the real heroes here are the people who so kindly helped us.”
“What will happen to the boys?” asked Mrs. Santa with concern. “Will they be all right? I wasn’t harmed and they were so sorry.”
“Don’t worry, replied county attorney Paul J. Kasper, who had arrived at the hideout shortly after Mrs. Santa’s rescue.
“We’ve promised to go easy on them since they’ve been so cooperative. Several members of the community have offered to help them, too. There’s even jobs for them once they’ve proven that they can stay out of trouble. They won’t be doing any time at the Ellsworth Correctional Facility.”
“Well, Momma. I hate to say it but I’m afraid it’s past time for us to leave this charming county,” Santa said.
Santa and Mrs. Santa said their good-byes, promising that they would return to Ellsworth County some day for another Cowtown Christmas parade. Santa then put his arm around his dear wife and kissed her cheek. As he did so, a soft glow began to surround the couple. The glow brightened until all at once Santa and his wife disappeared with a soft “pop.”