watching them, along with a supposedly trustworthy girl named Elise.
Kendra sighed. After all the subterfuge during the past couple of years, she wondered if she would ever fully trust anyone again. Perhaps that was another reason she kept Patton's message to herself.
Something rustled faintly behind her. She turned to see that a folded sheet of paper had been slipped under her door. She crossed to the doorway, picked up the white piece of paper, unfolded it, and scanned the typed list. The more she read, the narrower her eyes squinted. She stalked out of her room, down the hall, and stopped in Seth's open doorway.
"Do you honestly expect to get a hang glider for Christmas?" Kendra asked her younger brother.
Seth glanced up from the desk where he had been doodling lizards on his math homework. "I certainly won't if I don't ask."
Kendra held up the list. "Who else got this?"
"Mom and Dad, of course. Plus I e-mailed copies to all of our relatives, even some distant ones I tracked down online. And I mailed a copy to Santa, just to cover all of my bases."
Crossing the room to stand beside her brother, Kendra wiggled the page in front of him. "You've never made crazy requests like these before. A set of custom golf clubs? A hot tub? A bullet bike?"
Seth snatched the list from Kendra. "You're only naming the big-ticket items. If you can't afford to get me a massage chair, you could get me a kite, a video game, or a movie. You'll find ideas on my wish list for any budget."
Kendra folded her arms. "You're up to no good."
Seth stared at her with the wide-eyed, mildly offended expression he typically used when hiding something. "Limiting what I get for Christmas is one thing. Limiting what I
ask for is another. Who are you, the Grinch?"
"You normally use a strategic approach to Christmas, asking for a few presents you really want--and it usually works. You've never campaigned for anything that costs more than a bike or a video game system. You keep your wish list realistic. Why the change?"
"You're overanalyzing, Professor," Seth sighed, handing back the list. "I just figured it couldn't hurt to aim high this year."
"Why send the list to relatives so distant they don't even know you?"
"One of them might be a lonely billionaire, who knows? I have a hunch that this could be my lucky year."
Kendra regarded her brother. Even since the summer, he looked less like a kid. He kept getting taller, all gangly arms and legs, and his face looked slimmer, his chin more defined. They had not spent much quality time together over the fall. He had his own friends, and she was busy getting accustomed to high school. Now the holiday break loomed less than a week away.
"Don't do anything stupid," Kendra warned.
"Thanks for the brilliant advice," he said. "Do you mind if I quote you in my diary?"
"Are you keeping a journal?"
"I'll have to start if you keep dispensing such precious pearls of wisdom."
"I have the perfect first entry," Kendra suggested, glaring. "Dear diary, today I bought myself fancy Christmas presents with gold I stole from Fablehaven. I tried to pretend the gifts came from distant, billionaire relatives, but nobody was fooled, and the Knights of the Dawn have hunted me down and locked me in a grimy dungeon."
Seth's mouth opened and closed soundlessly as he commenced and then abandoned several possible responses. After clearing his throat, he finally managed, "You can't prove that."
"How did you sneak out gold?" Kendra exclaimed. "I thought Grandpa confiscated the treasure you and the satyrs took from the nipsies."
"We're not having this conversation," Seth insisted. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You must have had multiple stashes, and Grandpa didn't find them all. But how are you converting gold and jewels into cash? A pawn shop?"
"This is nonsense," Seth maintained. "Sounds to me like you're the one with the criminal mind."
"You have your guard up now, but I saw through it a minute ago. That gold wasn't Newel's or Doren's to give you! After all that happened last summer, how did you walk out the front door with stolen treasure in your pockets? How shameless are you?"
Seth sighed in defeat. "Grandpa and Grandma weren't using it."
"Right, Seth, because they're the caretakers of Fablehaven. They're trying to protect the creatures and items hidden there. You might as well steal from a museum!"
"Kind of like you taking the rain stick from Lost Mesa? Or Warren keeping the