Elle is Shouting
Hoho's heart sank as his view of the world beneath him was concealed by a bitter fog. He knew he'd been advised never to look down anyway but Hoho had just contemplated getting a glimpse while nothing seemed to be happening.
"Pay attention, Hoho!" Elle ordered while she tightened her grip on Rudolph's harness. "What's the barometer saying?" Hoho readjusted to the huge task he had been assigned and checked the barometer, one of several attachments built onto the sleigh's 'passenger' side.
"Coming into fog, thick fog!"
"Good thing we have you for this portion Rudolph, you know what to do!"
"Roger that!" Rudolph's nose started to glow, giving them a crimson light to guide their path. Elle noticed that the foggy clouds were passing them quicker than they normally world.
"Hoho, where are we?"
"Coming into Wales, specifically Monmouthshire." Hoho replied as he checked the Sat-nav. "We're still on course, Santa."
"That's good, anything new from the barometer?" Hoho took another look.
"We should be clear of the fog in about ten minutes if we keep headed directly west." Hoho's words sounded rather faint as an eerie whistle started to swim through the air.
"What was that Hoho?"
"I said we'll be out of the fog in then minutes, so long as we go west." Despite raising his voice, Hoho's voices was being drowned out by the increasingly loud whistle of the wind.
"Sorry, Hoho?" Elle raised her voice.
"Clear in ten minutes," Hoho shouted. "If we go west!"
"Go east?" Elle asked loudly in confusion as the whistle of the wind turned into a howl.
"No! - West!" Hoho inhaled before starting his next sentence. "We may be facing strong winds! We should land to apply the sleigh r-" at that moment, Hoho's hat was blown off his head! Hoho climbed the back of his seat and onto the sack which had already been fastened down with strong cables. "No-o! My hat!" cried Hoho, though his cries would hardly be heard.
As Hoho watched his hat fade away into the fog, the wind changed direction. The sleigh was now starting to tilt on Elle's side, Rudolph was in danger! The wind was creating a divide between Rudolph and the sleigh. This would mean that either Rudolph could get strangled by the harness or that the sleigh could separate entirely, leaving Elle and Hoho in a perilous situation!
"Rudolph!" Elle shouted. "We need to land!" But Rudolph couldn't hear Elle through the strength of the wind. "Rudo-plh!" Elle shouted again, but the divide between them grew further, the harness was tightening further. Shouting alone wasn't going to get Rudolph's attention, Elle knew what she had to do but it was incredibly risky.
"Hoho!" Elle shouted. Immediately Hoho sat to attention, having realized what was happening. "Prepare the Sleigh-pilot, but don't activate it yet!"
"Roger that, Santa!" Hoho got to work adjusting the sleigh's manual controls, ready to give control of the sleigh to Elle. Meanwhile the fog was finally clearing and Elle made sure her grip on the harness was firm and secure. Without another thought she yanked on the harness as she shouted again.
"RUDOLPH!"
The surprise of almost being choked altered Rudolph's attention, and he heard that he thought sounded like Elle's voice. Rudolph looked back and was about to snap when he realized something was wrong. Elle was making hand gestures towards him, but not the kind you expect to see; they were like a sign language, a visual code that Rudolph understood.
"Right away, Santa!" Rudolph shouted back and immediately started to drop. The sleigh was coming in to land. It was must easier being able to see where they were now, with only the high winds causing them trouble.
With a struggle, the sleigh landed safely in the countryside. Elle almost passed out from exhaustion and Hoho wiped his brow. Rudolph took a moment to catch his breath before breaking the silence.
"Is everyone alright?"
"I think so," Hoho replied. "That was something else, though!"
"Haven't seen anything like it in decades!" Rudolph remarked. "What do we do now, Santa?" Elle sat up again and looked up to the sky. She could see leaves being blown about in the wind, also the odd trampoline, public bin and branches broken free from trees.
"We can't go back up, not in these conditions. We'll apply the roof and some more protective gear. If the wind had died down at all we'll go on but if it's just the same we'll have to stay low."
Luck was back on their side, as the wind seemed to have passed by the time they were ready to go back up into the sky. The deliveries were made and even though Elle was behind schedule, there was an opportunity to make up the time across the Atlantic as they moved on to the United States.
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