While she waited for the coffee to drip into the pot, Martine walked over to the huge window that overlooked the White House lawn. It looked like daylight outside. She blinked when she saw the blanket of snow that covered everything. She didn’t think she’d ever seen anything quite as beautiful as what she was looking at right at that moment. And it had stopped snowing. She wondered if she’d be able to make the trip to Camp David after the children’s Christmas party this afternoon. Right after Thanksgiving, she’d made the decision to go to Camp David to spend the holidays. She wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad decision; she just knew she had made the decision and was stuck with it.

Where was the sleigh? Martine ran from window to window to look out at the winter wonderland but could see no sign of the sleigh that had been there when she’d retired for the night. Was it covered with snow? Surely not. A deep frown built itself between her eyebrows. The fine hairs on the back of her neck seemed to be moving. Without stopping to think, she ran to the door, opened it, and asked the Secret Service agent standing outside what had happened to the sleigh.

“I’m not sure, Madam President, but I did hear some talk early in the evening that a crew was coming for the sleigh to take it back to the horse barn so the wheels could be removed. The sleigh has to be put on a lift so the under-carriage can be taken off. Wheels won’t work with all this snow, which—as you know—was unexpected. I can call down to the office to find out for sure. Do you want me to do that, Madam President?”

“No, that makes sense. I just don’t want anything to go wrong for the children’s party today. Some of the kids are already here from neighboring states, so we can’t disappoint them.”

“No, you can’t disappoint children at this time of year, Madam President.”

“Thank you, Agent Morales.”