Prequel

Michael MacTavish…

Christmas Eve Past…

“Ya’ canna have Father Christmas without Krampus.”

My brothers and sisters in the circle shiver with excitement around me.

“Why?”

Naturally, it’s my youngest sister Maisie, for whom no sentence can begin with anything other than, “why?”

“Because Father Christmas is soft,”

I scoff. “He’s showin’ up with all treats and presents for the good boys and girls, but that shite- ah, I mean, that stuff is easy. Krampus now, he’s a cranky old bast- a cranky old monster who shows up rattlin’ his chains and punishing the naughty bairns.”

“Like us.”

My brother Duncan smirks.

“He’s half goat, half demon with a thick coat of fur,”

I continue, ignoring him. “With long, sharp horns, glowing red eyes, and the legends say he carries off the worst bairns in his big red bag.”

“Like Father Christmas, but in reverse?”

Maisie is frowning and there might be a quivering of her lip.

“Aye!”

Catriona has no problem scaring our siblings to the point not one of them will sleep tonight. “Or, he might beat you with his bundle of birch sticks or whip you with chains.” She leans closer to our alarmed brothers and sister. “They say when you hear the wind howling down the chimney? It’s really Krampus roaring in the night as he comes for ya’.”

“Helpful, sis,”

I mutter, giving her a shove. “But none of ya have a thing to fret about. You’re all good kids.”

There’s silence for a moment as they look at each other before bursting out in raucous laughter.

“Us?”

Duncan wheezes, “Are you a nutter? Every one of us is a badjin!”

“Well, you are.”

I glare at him meaningfully, “But Jack and Maisie? Angels, they are. Father Christmas is gonna send down a blizzard of goodies for them.”

“Enjoy it while ya can.”

Catriona is such a cynical cow. “You’ll be just as bad as the rest of us in no time.”

“Why?”

Jack asks.

She gives him a huge grin showin’ off way too many teeth to be pleasant.

“Because we’re the MacTavish Clan. And we are very, very naughty.”

Badjin - Scottish slang for a very bad person