Companions of Christmas 12: Mother Goodie!
Many, many years ago, Santa was about to make his final stop on Christmas Eve: Campobello Island, in the Canadian Maritimes, where terrible nor'easter was raging. The sea was mountainous in the fierce wind and freezing rain. As he passed over the bay, Santa caught sight of a fishing boat being battered by the enormous waves, taking on water and sure to be lost. Being the protector of sailors as well as children, St. Nick came to their aid and was able to tug, with enormous effort by both himself and by the reindeer, to safety. But that was all the strength that Santa had. He collapsed on the docks, wet, frozen, and spent.
He was found by Mother Goodie, a local fisherwoman, who dragged him inside and revived him. Santa tried to get up, knowing that he still had to deliver the fill the stockings of the island’s children, but was too exhausted to move. Mother Goody insisted that he rest and warm up, and that he needn’t worry himself:
She would fill the stockings.
Mother Goody lacked Santa’s chimney magic, but, being the island's most accomplished angler, she simply sent the line of her trusty fishing pole on an arc into the chimneys, hook the stockings, and reel them back to fill with candy & nuts. Then she’d return them the same way.
Santa was grateful to Mother Goodie for his rescue, but even more grateful that the children of the island had their treats on Christmas morning. He asked her if there was anything he could do to repay her kindness and hard work, and she asked only that she might be permitted to fill the stockings of the children of Campobello forever after, a task she still undertakes to this very day (though now she does so on the New Year, that the children of Campobello might not be deprived of a visit from St. Nick, too).
