Elsie : a Christmas story

In a snug Norwegian town, the bustling house known as “Noah’s Ark” shelters a cast of characters as varied as the rooms they inhabit. Madam Speckbom, a sharp‑witted healer who blends folk remedies with a touch of quackery, runs a modest practice that draws the desperate and the skeptical alike. Above her, the genteel Miss Falbe and her brother keep a watchful eye, while the attic houses a ragtag “gang” of creatures that add a lively hum to daily life.

Among Madam’s charges is a small, cloaked girl named Elsie, nicknamed “Loppen” after a rough‑spun coat that once made her look like a flea. After a lingering eye ailment leaves her nearly blind, Miss Falbe intervenes, slipping Elsie into Madam’s care. The healer’s unorthodox methods begin to turn the tide, sparking both hope and hushed whispers in the community as the holiday season approaches.