Discovered Among the Reindeer - “Twas the night before Christmas embedded”
"Twas the night before Christmas" and Bodie and Doyle join an all agents call out. But more than evil doings are going on.
"Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring…..” except for two very unimpressed CI5 agents, who were quickly gearing up in the middle of this cold and wintry night and wondering about Christmas poetry as they did so.
An RT call as they had snuggled up and as “visions of sugar plums danced in their heads”, had not left either agent in a generous mood and also perplexed about the growing poetry theme. However, they prepared quickly and silently, all communication achieved with a look or a quick touch.
Doyle slid behind the wheel of the gold Capri and took off with a squeal of tyres, as Bodie confirmed details by RT and they were off. The all agent call out to the backwoods was in full swing. Bodie queried the information coming through. “A reindeer farm?” That was momentous enough for Doyle to take his eyes off the very quiet road with a querying look to his partner. “Confirmed” came the disembodied voice “you are to rendezvous at Santa’s Reindeer Farm - the south gate. You will receive further instructions on arrival.” With a look and a shrug, Bodie confirmed for both of them and they continued on in the night.
“The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow” greeted them as they arrived at the rendezvous, noting the many CI5 agents already on site. They quickly gathered at their Chief’s side. Looking around and noting all in attendance, Cowley gave the briefing, finishing with “Now dash away, dash away, dash away all!” Bodie and Doyle looked at each other, the look speaking what they both felt as they moved away and into position. How had they ended up in a Christmas poem? What had they missed and what was yet to come?
A nudge from Bodie answered that first question, as out of the mist they saw what looked like “A miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.” Before they had the chance to do more than gape in shock, the mist cleared and they recognised their intended target, not on a sleigh, but on the back of a truck, but in fact feeding eight reindeer (they were after all, at a reindeer farm).
A click on their RTs gave them the go to move in, and they did so, quickly and silently approaching their target, but not quickly enough. The man looked up, saw the approaching agents, thumped on the roof of the truck and” to his team gave a whistle”. The truck immediately lurched away from the approaching agents, stampeding the reindeer, which in turn scattered the converging agents.
All except Bodie and Doyle. Doyle saw his chance first, racing across to the horse standing in the corner of the paddock and yelling to his partner. Doyle leapt onto the horse, then circled round and hauled his partner behind him, managing to somehow avoid “the pawing and prancing of each little hoof” of the dispersing reindeer.
“Go” Bodie urged, his arms wrapped tight around his partner, as they took off. As they raced across the paddock to cut off the fleeing truck, Bodie couldn’t help but notice that Doyle’s “cheeks were like roses, but his nose like a cherry”. He shook his head in exasperation, what was with the Christmas poem? Although Doyle was focused on gaining lost ground, he too was pondering his partner and how “his eyes - how they twinkled, his dimples, how merry!” They really had to get this job finished successfully, so they could get out of this poem!
They had one advantage - the truck was restricted to roads, whilst they sped cross country. “What will you do when we catch them?” Bodie yelled into this partner’s ear. “We’ll find out,” his partner yelled in reply. As they came to the end of the paddock, they noted they were now ahead of the fleeing truck. “When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky”, and with a shrug to the ongoing poetry, they leaned into the horse as it flew over the fence.
The truck driver, seeing a horse appear in the air before them, yelled before losing control. The truck careened off the road and into a tree, well away from the agents now pulling up safely. Bodie leapt down from the horse, drawing his weapon on the truck and its occupants, including the reindeer feeder, who groaned in pain after being thrown around on the truck’s tray. Within moments, the rest of CI5 arrived, including Cowley, who “came with a bound”. Bodie and Doyle looked at each other, surely others had noticed the Christmas poem across all that had happened, but apparently not.
Cowley turned to them and “with a wink of his eye and a twist of his head”, said “Good work lads, two days off, reports in on the 27th at 8am” and then he “went straight to his work”.
By now getting used to the poetry, the Bisto kids instead grinned at each other, the thought of having Christmas together was pure bliss. They “spoke not a word” but “giving a nod”, Bodie remounted the horse behind his partner and they made their way back to their car. As they drove away from their work, the night gave them its blessing, as it seemed to say as they “drove out of sight - Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!”
https://archiveofourown.org/works/52624990