Christmas was coming and the snow was six feet deep. The children were excited, like children everywhere, but the adults were concerned. They'd been snowed in before, of course, but not normally at this time of year. In a normal year, Christmas would be clear and cold and the first heavy snows would fall in January. This year the river had frozen in the last week of November; the mill wheel hadn't moved for weeks. It's not like they were short of food or anything, as there was always plenty to last through the winter, but Rusty had tripped over a crate of empty rum bottles and bent his artificial leg. Until it was repaired he was laid up and the airship was grounded. There was no other way for the children to get any surprise presents. The Chief Mouse Trainer called an emergency meeting of his staff and they bounced ideas around, trying to think how they could make a proper Christmas for the children