Chapter 9.
The town of Hensonville lay almost deserted by the middle of December, snow covering the streets under a blanket of white. The shops had closed up, the Muppet Theater boarded off, the boarding house abandoned... Almost everybody had moved on, wherever they were headed this busy time of year. Only a few souls remained nearby, finalizing their travel arrangements. The chocolate brown haired owner of the toy shop could be heard in the phone booth at the corner of Henson Street and Lazer Lane.
"Hey Count... Yes, it's me Eduardo. Listen, I'm on my way, I'll be coming with a few friends OK? Good, talk to you soon."
Ed went inside Jim's Coffee House to wait for his ride to where he too would be spending the holidays.
"Hi Jerry, Merry Christmas" he replied after being greeted by one of his Muppeteer inspirations.
"Richard's there too? His guy's become real popular lately."
The two men just edged into the back office, straightening the poster of The Muppet Movie, out of Ed's line of sight.
"It's a good thing he's half-blind... Makes me less nervous moving about like a black cat in a dark room at pitch black midnight" commented the man known as Cloisters. "Come on Tulsa, we gotta meet these new recruits Leeland's lined up."
Kyle and Bryan entered the espresso establishment, picked up their friend and led him to the car where'd they make their way off to Sesame Street. Jolly merriment filled the surrounding cityscape, almost palpable to the heart's touch, though noone was aware of a pair of kindly brown eyes watching over the departing carollers.
"All clear" came the reassuring voice of Leeland the M.U.P.P.E.T.'s leader preparing for a quiet vigil of the town they sought to protect from evil outsider influences.
The Frogs were comfortably chatting away about different productions, their lives in the swamp, Maggy's engagement to Croaker and pretty much anything else. Scooter drove in silence, glad they had time to make one more visit...
"So, we hear you've been busy Scooter" mused Jane.
"Yes mam" replied the respectable assistant to the frog-in-chief.
"He's been dating Annie Sue..." started Kermit.
"Who's Annie Sue?" James asked earnestly.
"Oh, she's one of Piggy's main rivals..."
"Not another pig!" said Maggy.
"Nah... We had to brake it off... She's a sweet kid, but not my type" said Scooter.
"Then there was Nora..."
"Come on boss... We all know there was nothing serious there..." protested the frog's right-hand gopher.
"And now he's moved on to a stable relationship with this girl Sara we hear?" continued James.
"Yes, we're on our way to get her, she's coming with us too" Scooter answered while trying to pay attention to the road ahead.
"That's lovely dear" mused Jane, thrilled that another of her children had found a good girl to keep him company.
Miss Piggy dawdled at each and every store she stopped, admiring dresses, looking at intricate pieces of jewelry, never caring to give it a second thought after putting her wheres back down. Ordinary consumers went window shopping, gleaming over the fanciful items for sale... When Miss Piggy journeyed to the Hensonian MegaMall, she turned it into a full-blown tour de force.
"Oooh, fuzzy green flipper slippers! No, I got those for him last time."
"Wow Miss Piggy, that's the most beeyootieful dress I've ever seen" swooned Maureen, her personal assistant and mink.
"Yes Maureen dear... But we're not shopping for moi-self, we are here for Kermie."
"Huh... Tought we were tryin' to find a gift for our gracious holiday host."
"Yes... That too" said the high-class porker before fretting just a smidge, as she put the dress back on its hanger.
Forced to find a suitable token, Miss Piggy and Maureen phoned for any local limo services that would get them to their final destination.
Almost instantly, the scene switched to a sweeping panorama of a romantic yet gothically inspired castled structure. Snow skirted the individually-notched castilled teeth lining the roofway ramparts. Frost blanketed the forest of wild nightmarish trees below, ice freezing the surface of a circularly oblong swimming pool. A faint trace of Transylvanian violin music tinkled through the air as the invisible camera inched closer towards an ornately-designed stainglass window.
"Count up to 9 baby..." softly sang the castle's main occupant.
"Oh hello, greetings, it is I... The Count von Count. Velcome to my home, it's a little quiet now at Christmas time since my batty bats are all hibernating up in their belfry. Not many souls here at the moment, but that'll change soon. My good friend Edvard is on his vay, and we'll have a grand old time counting up the seconds until Christmas morning together. We'll hexchange presents and then after a veek passes, we get to count the seconds down all over again for New Year's! Ah, I love this time of year, though confidentially, I prefer Halloveen."
Little did the numerian vampire know that this holiday season, he would have much more than just his blessings or presents or Days of Christmas to count on.
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