Holveg, who everyone called Holly, was a timid little girl who was sometimes frightened by the dark. Her skill at growing flowers in the harsh climate was remarkable and nothing gave Holly more pleasure than to repay Nicholas’ generosity by sharing flowers with him. One day as she was arranging the flowers for him she queried,
“Are you afraid of goblins?” Nicholas put down the toy he was working on and turned a surprised face toward the little girl. “Goblins!” he exclaimed. “Now here am I, well past sixty years old and I’ve never heard of goblins. What are they Holly?” he asked in an interested tone. Holly looked confused, then a doubtful tone crept into her voice, “Why I don’t exactly know,” she confessed, “but I’ve heard of them and when I’m lying in my bed at night I’m sure that’s what I see creeping about my room.”
“They must be shadows,” said Nicholas, “I’ve never come across goblins, or for that matter ghosts either,” he added.
Holly looked very impressed and said, “If I think I see a goblin in my room, I’ll just say to him, Nicholas says you just aren’t, you old goblin!”
They both laughed and Nicholas hugged the little girl and told her it was time for her to run home for her supper. The winter months passed by and when spring arrived and it was time again for planting the flowers, Holly fell very sick. All through the summer weeks she lay on her bed, weakened by a fever, recognizing no one, not even her beloved Nicholas. He brought flowers to her, hoping that they might bring back the wandering little mind, but she only pushed them away and went on with her delirious ravings of big black giants and horrible goblins. For with her illness, her almost forgotten fears had returned and with a heavy heart Nicholas realised that their friendly little talks had been completely wiped from her mind. She gradually recovered but the fever left her the same pale, timid little girl she had been when she had first brought a bouquet to Nicholas.
Holly was sadder than she had ever been during her entire life. Everything seemed black to her and her nights were filled with terror in spite of all that Nicholas had told her. But more than anything else, he worried because she had no flowers to take to him. Holly pressed her thin little face against the window pane and looked with tear filled eyes out into her bleak front garden.
As some boys passed her gate they paused to wave kindly to her. Holly waved back and wiped her eyes. She pushed open the window a little and called out, “What’s that green bush you have in your sled Karl?”
The boys came over to the window and Karl held up an armful of branches with lovely little warm red berries scattered among shiny pointed green leaves.
“Why it’s so beautiful!” exclaimed Holly, clasping her hands. Her dull eyes began to sparkle a little as she asked, “What is it? Where did you get it Karl?”
“We found it in the woods, way back in the part they call the dark forest. It grows like this even in the middle of winter but I don’t know what it’s called.”
“Oh, it’s so pretty,” said Holly again, “but, but, did you say the dark forest?”
“Yes,” answered Karl, “and it’s dark alright. The sun hardly ever gets through those trees and if you get lost in there I guess you’d stay lost for ever.”
“Yes added another boy. “I wouldn’t go in there alone I can tell you,” and off they went waving some of their prize and leaving Holly picturing the bright red berries and shiny green leaves in her mind. How Nicholas would love some of that cheery little bush. But the dark forest! She shuddered.
“There must be all kinds of terrible things in there,” she thought. “Wild animals and strange noises and maybe, behind the trees - goblins!”
Holly shook a little and then suddenly she had a mental picture of herself when she was in Nicholas’ cottage saying, “I’ll just look at him and say, Goblin, Nicholas says you just aren’t.”
Holly buried her little face in her hands. “Oh, if only I dared to do it,” she almost sobbed. “Nicholas says to do anything when you are really afraid is braver than if you felt no fear at all. But that’s a horrible place. Even the boys are afraid to go there alone. But I haven’t any flowers for him and he’s always so kind to us and spring is so far away!”
So she sat there for a long time, her mind turning from one decision to another. “Maybe there would be some sun in the forest and if I hurried and found the berries quickly, perhaps I could be back again before dark. I’m going to do it!”
She ran for her cloak before she had a chance to change her mind and before her mother returned from the village.
Nicholas looked up from his work and saw a little figure flying along the road, right past his cottage and into the forest.
“That looked like Holly,” he thought startled. “No, it can’t be. She’s not well yet. Besides,” he shook his head sadly, “The poor little thing would be too terrified to go into the forest as it was dark enough for goblins,” he said with a chuckle.
An hour later however, he was interrupted from his work by Holly’s frantic mother. “Oh, I thought she was here,” she cried.
“When I came home and found her gone, I was sure I would find her with you. She’s still so weak and look, it’s beginning to snow!”
Nicholas was soon pulling on his bright red coat and fur trimmed cap. “I’ll find her, don’t you worry.” He looked out at the grey afternoon sky filled with black clouds. Already the air was filled with millions of snowflakes, scurrying and tumbling in every direction.
“I know where to look,” said Nicholas. “I’ll take the small sled with Vixen and we’ll have Holly back here before the snow covers my path.”
Holly meanwhile had found the red berries and her joy on seeing the cheerful little bush almost chased away the thoughts of what awful things might be lurking behind the huge tree trunks or hiding on the bough, waiting to spring down at her. She gathered a large armful of the berries and started back again, her heart beginning to pound as the light inside the forest grew dimmer and dimmer.
As she started to run, the snow whirled in white mists around her. The wind whistled through the branches and moaned high up in the tree tops. It caught Holly’s cloak and wrapped it around her head, making her think that some ghostly hand was plucking at her and trying to keep her in this terrible place.
She ran faster and faster, her arms clutching the bundle of berries, her head bent against the wind, and her feet tripping over rocks and stumps hidden in the snow. She breathed heavily and in spite of the biting wind she felt her head grow hotter and hotter. Her heart was pounding so hard she thought it would burst through her ribs.
“I can’t see anything,” she sobbed, “It’s getting darker and darker. I can’t lift my feet and the trees are falling on me. “OH!” she shrieked aloud as her terrified eyes saw a huge form looming at her through the clouds of snow. She closed her eyes and fell in a faint, face down in front of Nicholas and Vixen.
When she next opened her eyes she was in the wood carver’s cottage with her mother holding her in her arms and Nicholas’ kind face looking anxiously down on her.
“Where are my flowers?” was her first question. “I went into the dark forest alone to get them for you. Where are they?”
Nicholas put the red berries and branches in her arms. “Here they are my dear. Did you bring them for me?”
“Yes Nicholas, and I was afraid, but I’ll never be again, I know that now.”
Nicholas wiped a tear from his eye. “You shouldn’t have gone so soon after being sick, but I do love the little berries. What are they called?”
“I don’t know, but I liked them because they remind me of you, so round, red and shiny,” said the little girl with a mischievous laugh.
“That’s funny,” answered Nicholas, “they remind me of you somewhat, so brave growing out there in the darkness and cold. Those little berries have the deep red of courage in them, so I think I’ll christen them and from now on we’ll call them ‘Holly’.”
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