The morning in the Animal Land passed just like any other — Ala sang happily under the shower at six o’clock, the detectives did their group exercise led by Kuba, then they bathed in the lake, and finally enjoyed a healthy breakfast. Patrycja savored her goat cheese toast with herbs, Alfred munched on ants from the garden, Zofia chewed fresh acacia leaves, Kuba gobbled oatmeal with fruits, and Ala pecked at sunflower seeds.
Now, it was time for something important — the advice duty for the residents of Animal Land.
**The Advice Table**
The detectives gathered around the big wooden table on the terrace, which served as their reception office. Patrycja opened her investigation journal, Zofia spread out her binoculars nearby, Alfred prepared vials of herbs, Kuba put on his favorite brown safari hat, and Ala perched on the chair’s railing, watching eagerly for the first visitor.
„Who needs our help first?” Patrycja asked, glancing toward the gate.
From the garden came Mr. Badger Benedict, carrying a woven basket in his paws.
„Good morning, detectives!” he said anxiously. „I have a problem…”
„Good morning, Mr. Benedict!” Patrycja replied kindly. „Please sit and tell us what happened.”
Mr. Badger sat heavily on a chair and sighed.
„All the carrot roots in my garden have disappeared, but the carrots themselves are still there! Someone dug up the carrots, ate the roots, and stuck the green tops back into the ground! It looks like the carrots are growing, but when I pull them, there are empty holes!”
Patrycja squinted and looked through her magnifying glass at the carrots Mr. Badger brought in his basket.
„Interesting… Alfred, do you smell anything unusual?”
Alfred stepped closer, stretched out his long nose, and sniffed carefully.
„I smell sweet carrot scent, but also the smell of berries and… something metallic!”
„Metallic?” Zofia asked, surprised.
Patrycja wrote something in her journal and raised a finger.
„I have a theory! Mr. Benedict, do you have a family of hares living near your garden?”
„Well… yes,” admitted Mr. Badger. „Mrs. Hare and her little bunnies.”
„Have the little bunnies gotten any metal toys recently?”
Mr. Badger clapped his paws excitedly.
„Why yes! I saw Mrs. Hare buying small metal shovels for them at the market!”
Patrycja smiled knowingly.
„That’s it! The little bunnies were playing at digging, found your garden, and ate the carrot roots. Then, to hide their mischief, they stuck the green tops back in the soil! The berry scent is from the juice they drank while playing.”
Kuba chuckled.
„Clever little bunnies!”
„Thank you,” Mr. Badger smiled. „I’ll go talk to Mrs. Hare now — I’m sure we’ll work things out!”
Alfred raised a paw.
„I can prepare a special carrot patch just for the little bunnies, so they’ll have their own place to play!”
„What a great idea!” Mr. Badger exclaimed and happily walked toward the gate.
—
**Turtle Żelek Speaks Very Slowly**
No sooner had Mr. Badger disappeared behind the gate than Turtle Żelek slowly stepped onto the terrace.
„Good… day…” Żelek began.
Several seconds passed.
„…dear…” he continued.
More seconds went by.
„…detectives…”
Patrycja, Kuba, Zofia, Alfred, and Ala exchanged patient looks.
„…I have… a problem…” Żelek finished.
Kuba whispered to Patrycja, „This might take a while…”
Patrycja nodded and smiled warmly at Żelek.
„Good day, Mr. Żelek! Please sit comfortably. We have time for you.”
Żelek very slowly sat down on a chair. A minute passed.
„I have… a certain…” he began.
„…problem…” he finished after another pause.
Ala nervously fluttered her wings, but Zofia gently stroked her to calm her down.
Patrycja listened patiently.
—
Suddenly, the detectives heard loud, cheerful jingling bells and quick hoof taps!
DING DING DING! TOP-TOP-TOP-TOP!
Everyone turned their heads toward the gate.
—
**The Mischievous Visitor**
Through the gate ran a beautiful reindeer with a shiny red nose and jingling bells on his collar! His fur gleamed, his antlers stood proudly, and his slightly red nose was clearly visible even in daylight.
Turtle Żelek looked at the reindeer and very slowly said, „…Rudolf?”
Zofia also thought of the famous Rudolf, Santa’s reindeer.
„Rudolf! What a surprise!” she exclaimed.
But the reindeer stopped before the detectives, shook himself, and cheerfully said,
„Oh, no, no! My name is Mischief! It’s a common mistake!”
„Mischief?” Patrycja asked, surprised.
The reindeer nodded, and the bells jingled again.
„Yes! People often think every red-nosed reindeer is Rudolf, but we are different!”
Kuba leaned forward, curious.
„What makes you different?”
Mischief smiled slyly.
„Rudolf’s nose glows magically in the dark and lights the way for Santa on Christmas Eve — that’s his special power! His nose is like a lantern — when night falls and snow is falling, Rudolf leads the sleigh through the darkest corners of the world. My nose is red because of reindeer blood flow — it helps us regulate body temperature and find food under the snow. My nose doesn’t glow like a lantern, but it’s very warm and helps me sniff out things! The colder it gets, the redder my nose.”
„And I’m known for something else,” Mischief continued with a mischievous grin. „I’m a master of magical tricks! And… everyone likes to confide in me. Even Santa!”
Kuba sat back, crossing his paws.
„Magical tricks? Show us something!”
Mischief winked, waved his hoof in the air, and suddenly pulled out of thin air three small frozen star-shaped cookies!
„Ta-da! Fresh cookies straight from Santa’s workshop!”
Ala clapped her wings.
„Wonderful! But… why have you come to visit us, Mischief?”
Mischief grew serious, looked around, and lowered his voice.
„I came on a very important, secret mission. But first…” — he looked at Turtle Żelek — „could I speak with the detectives alone?”
Patrycja nodded.
„Mr. Żelek, could you please come back later? We promise to listen to your problem fully!”
Żelek nodded very slowly.
„Alright… I’ll… come… later…” he said and slowly walked off the terrace.
The detectives waited patiently until Żelek was far enough away — it took a few minutes.
—
**The Secret Mission — Santa’s Problem**
Mischief sat at the table and took a deep breath. Patrycja opened a fresh page in her journal, ready to record details.
„Friends,” Mischief began seriously, „Christmas is coming. In a few weeks, Santa will start his annual journey around the world to visit every child and leave gifts.”
„That’s wonderful!” Ala exclaimed.
„Yes, but…” Mischief frowned, „this year there’s a serious problem.”
All the detectives leaned closer.
„Santa’s sleigh is equipped with a modern GPS navigation system,” Mischief explained. „It shows the exact locations of houses, the fastest routes, and helps Santa reach every child in one night. But lately, because of increased solar activity and growing atmospheric pollution, the GPS on the sleigh has started to malfunction.”
Alfred frowned.
„Malfunction? What does that mean?”
„The GPS shows wrong locations,” Mischief said. „Sometimes it says a house is three kilometers away from where it really is. Sometimes it loses connection and stops working for half an hour. Sometimes it just switches off! The elves have tried fixing it, but the problem is in the atmosphere, not the device.”
Zofia stretched her neck.
„That sounds serious… If the GPS doesn’t work, how will Santa find all the houses?”
Mischief nodded.
„Exactly! That’s why Santa needs a backup plan. And he has one — an old-fashioned compass and paper maps! These tools never fail. They don’t need satellite signals or electricity. A compass always points north, and maps are accurate.”
Kuba sat up proudly.
„Great! Let him use the compass!”
Mischief sighed heavily.
„And here’s the problem… For weeks, the elves have searched every corner of Santa’s workshop, storerooms, attics, basements — everywhere. But the compass is missing. Nobody knows where it went!”
„Missing?!” Patrycja gasped, quickly jotting notes.
„Yes,” Mischief confirmed. „The compass was last used a long time ago, in 1999.”
Alfred scratched his head.
„1999? That was more than twenty-five years ago!”
„Exactly,” Mischief said. „Remember the Y2K problem? That’s what they called the year 2000 problem.”
Patrycja nodded.
„I’ve heard about that. People were worried computers would stop working when the year changed from 1999 to 2000 because systems weren’t programmed to handle the date change.”
„Right!” Mischief exclaimed. „Everyone feared computers would fail, planes would fall from the sky, banks would lose all data, and even Santa’s sleigh GPS would stop working!”
Kuba’s eyes widened.
„And what happened?”
„Santa prepared,” Mischief continued. „He took out the old compass and maps that had been used by his family for centuries. On Christmas Eve 1999, he flew with the compass, ready for anything.”
„And did it work?” Zofia asked.
Mischief smiled softly.
„Yes! The compass worked wonderfully. Santa visited all the children. Later, it turned out the Y2K problem was exaggerated. Computers didn’t fail, and the sleigh GPS worked fine. Santa, happy, put the compass away somewhere in his workshop… and since then, no one has seen it.”
„From 1999 to now is twenty-six years,” Patrycja counted. „The compass could be anywhere!”
Mischief nodded sadly.
„The elves are searching every inch. Santa checks every shelf personally. But the compass is gone. And time is running out — Christmas is getting closer, and without the compass, Santa might get lost…”
Alfred pulled out his vial of calming herbs.
„This must be very stressful for Santa…”
„It is,” Mischief admitted. „But Santa doesn’t want anyone to worry. Children mustn’t find out there’s a problem. That’s why the search is secret. Santa entrusted it only to two most trusted elves and confided in me.”
Ala jumped on the railing.
„Why you?”
Mischief smiled warmly.
„Because, like I said, everyone likes to confide in me. I can listen and keep secrets. Santa trusts me. So when the elves couldn’t find the compass, Santa asked me for help.”
Kuba straightened proudly.
„And you came to us!”
„Yes!” Mischief said. „A few weeks ago, I met Mrs. Gazelle from your Land at an international magic tricks training. We talked about many things, and she enthusiastically told me about the detective team by the lake. She said you solved the missing bracelets mystery, the ancient map secret, helped find lost winter tree seeds, and even cracked the lighthouse code!”
Patrycja wrote in her journal.
„Mrs. Gazelle is a good friend,” she said modestly.
„She told me you’re the best detectives she knows,” Mischief went on, „and that if anyone can help Santa, it’s you!”
Patrycja raised a paw.
„Mischief, do you have any clues on where we should start? Did the elves find any trace?”
Mischief thought for a moment.
„Yes! One of the oldest elves, Eustace, remembered something important. When he was young, he heard a legend about two great owls living on the hilltop at the edge of the human land.”
„Owls?” Zofia asked.
„Yes,” Mischief confirmed. „They are very wise and know about all lost things in the world. People call them the Guardians of Lost Things.”
Patrycja frowned.
„But we don’t know where they live, right?”
Mischief nodded sadly.
„Unfortunately not. The elves are looking for clues, but so far, no luck. I will keep asking in Lapland. If I find out anything, I’ll let you know immediately!”
Kuba sat up proudly.
„We’ll start searching too! We’ll check books, maps, and ask friends!”
Mischief bowed and ran toward the gate, bells jingling happily.
The detectives went to their tasks. Patrycja ran to the library, Zofia spread out maps, Alfred packed supplies, and Ala prepared parchment for letters.
In the evening, they sat on the terrace and looked up at the stars.
„We won’t let anyone down,” Kuba said quietly.
Far away in Lapland, Santa sighed.
„Let’s hope everything works out…”