As the Cardinal Flies

Once again, just under the wire for the day (this will probably set a pattern for weekdays). Comments suggesting topics for upcoming drabbles cheerfully accepted (I'll likely get to the Serenity suggestion, but that wants a bit of immersion first).

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Fastest Foot Forward
Fandom: the Animatronic North Pole
(as portrayed by numerous Rankin/Bass holiday specials)
Rating: G
Classification: Gen
Suggested by: graycardinal
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"Oooof!" Yukon Corneilus nearly fell over backward into a snowdrift as Mrs. Claus unexpectedly rushed out through the castle's back door, hurriedly pushing it closed behind her.

"Quick!" Santa's wife said urgently. "We've got to get moving!"

The adventurer picked himself up and checked the harnesses on his sled dogs. "Where? What's the rush? Christmas isn't for another seven weeks!"

"No time!" Mrs. Claus insisted. "We have to get away now!"

"Yukon Cornelius flees from nothing!" the explorer retorted. "I'm the roughest, toughest sourdough in the North!"

Before he had finished the sentence, however, Sam the Snowman and the North Polar postman (who bore a suspicious resemblance to Fred Astaire) came around the corner of the castle at a dead run (or, in Sam's case, as fast as he could spin his spherical body through the snow underneath himself). "We've got to get out of earshot!" trhe postman called.

Mystified, Cornelius shrugged and swiftly piled all four riders into the dogsled as best he could "All right! Mush, boys, mush!" He cracked his whip, and the little group set off briskly out into the Arctic wilderness . . . .

. . . . but not before a bright, cheery tune spilled out of every window in the castle behind them. "Put one foot in front of the other . . . ." came the twinned voices of Santa Claus and Winter, the former warlock who periodically visited the castle to talk magic and reminisce with Santa.

Mrs. Claus sighed -- in time to the music. "I was afraid of that. Winter's been tinkering with the magic crystal snowballs again -- and he finally figured out how to get the things to broadcast. But you know how he and Kris are about that song, and now I won't be able to get it out of my head for at least a week!"

Both Sam and the postman were humming softly as well, shrugging helplessly as Yukon Cornelius, whose ears were covered by his thick woollen cap, eyed them sternly.

"Yukon Cornelius," he declared, "flees from nothing and no one -- except earworms! I'll see you all in a week! Mush, boys, mush!" He guided the sled into a tight turn that sent his three passengers tumbling into the snow, then set the dogs speeding off into the distance, waving cheerily back at them.

It took a few moments for Mrs. Claus and the others to put themselves in order. Then she eyed her companions with a resigned grin, and they turned toward the palace, singing together:

"Put one foot in front of the other . . . ."