A Winter’s Tale by Carrie Elks (6)

Her second night at Mountain’s Reach was as restless as her first. After putting Jonas to bed, Kitty lay open-eyed on the uncomfortable twin bed, her mind a whirl of thoughts that refused to let her drift off to sleep. In spite of the weather outside, her attic room was hot and stuffy, with a strange odour that tickled her nose. She tossed and turned until dawn came creeping through the cracks in the curtains. The outside sill was still lined with glistening snow, like a frosted cake. The emerging sunlight bounced off the icicles formed on the roof, reflecting the brightness in through the window.

This was her first Christmas away from home, away from the family that she held dear. Even though they were scattered across the world, she usually spent the holidays with at least one, if not more, of her sisters. This year, Cesca and Sam would be celebrating in London along with Lucy and their father. She could picture the four of them pulling crackers and telling stories around the crackling fire, surrounded by the same old ornaments they’d always put up, and a tree festooned with decorations they’d made when they were schoolgirls.

An unexpected wave of homesickness washed over her, as she thought of her sisters. Of Lucy, the eldest and the bossiest, of Juliet, the beautiful one. Of Cesca, the creative genius, who was riding a new wave of success. And then there was Kitty – the youngest of the four. And she’d been looking up to her sisters for so long, that without them beside her, she wasn’t always sure where she belonged.

A rap at her door made her sit up, pulling the sheets up to cover her pyjamas. ‘Hello?’ she called out.

The door cracked open to reveal Jonas. After they’d spent a day throwing snowballs and building snowmen, he’d thawed to her. By night-time, he was talking to her as though she was his new best friend, and when she read his bedtime story, he’d curled up against her like a cat.

Children were so easy when it came to relationships. It was a shame adults weren’t quite so simple.

‘Good morning, sunshine,’ Kitty said, giving him a smile. ‘Did you sleep well?’

‘It was OK.’ Jonas shrugged. ‘But we should get up now. It’s nearly eight o’clock, Dad’s gone out to a meeting but he’s left a list of instructions for you. He said on no account should I be allowed near the lake on my own, which is pretty damn unfair, if you ask me.’

‘You really shouldn’t swear,’ Kitty chided him gently. ‘There are so many better words to use.’

‘But Dad swears all the time,’ Jonas whined. ‘And he never tells me off.’

Kitty bit down a smile. ‘If you want to go sledging by the lake, you’ll need to stick with me,’ she said. ‘Otherwise we’ll have to stay near the house.’

Twenty minutes later, after a spell in the shower followed by a rub down with a warm, fluffy towel, Kitty walked down to the kitchen. Jonas had propped himself up on the counter and was chattering away to Annie as she laid out the breakfast dishes. The smell of warm oatmeal filled the room, making Kitty’s mouth water.

Her stomach gurgled loud enough for Jonas to stop talking,

‘Wow,’ he said, wide-eyed. ‘That was intense.’

It didn’t take much to impress a young boy, and bodily functions seemed at the top of Jonas’s list. She’d have to remember that.

Annie clicked her tongue and filled a bowl full of porridge, passing it to Kitty with an outstretched hand. ‘Maple syrup’s over there, and there’s organic slimline honey if you’re trying to lose weight. Mrs Klein insists on it.’

‘Mom pours it all over her breakfast and then doesn’t eat it,’ Jonas added cheerily. ‘It drives Annie crazy.’

From the narrow-lipped look of disapproval on Annie’s face, Kitty could see he was right.

‘Maple syrup’s just fine,’ Kitty smiled, reaching for the sticky bottle. Though she wasn’t overweight by any means, she was what an ex-boyfriend had called ‘sturdy’, a girl with hips made for childbirth and a body able to withstand famine. In his more charitable moments, he’d tell her she’d outlive them all in a state of national emergency. Not exactly high praise. And exactly the reason he was an ex-boyfriend.

After breakfast, she took Jonas up to clean his teeth and get dressed. Choosing a warm sweater and thick trousers, she wrapped him up like a mummy, ready to face the frozen air. It had snowed again in the night, and though the roads had been cleared, the icy blanket stubbornly remained on the lawn and flowerbeds leading down to the forest that twinkled beneath the wintry sun. Jonas ran ahead of her, pulling his sled, shouting back at her with instructions and urging her to keep up.

Kitty pulled at the absurd bright pink snowsuit Mia had let her borrow. If Playboy bunnies frolicked in the snow, this was exactly what they’d wear. She couldn’t help but feel self-conscious in it.

Even if it was better than freezing in her thin jacket.

‘It’s just through here,’ Jonas shouted, disappearing into the densely packed forest. ‘There’s a clearing that leads down to the lake, with hills and everything. You’re gonna love it.’

The faintest of smiles crossed Kitty’s lips. As a child she’d always hated the snow, watching with envy as her braver sisters careered down the hill. They’d balanced precariously on their sledges, trusting blindly that when they reached the bottom they would somehow come to a stop. Meanwhile, Kitty would stand on the side of the slope, shivering, and will the hours away until she could go home and get back to the warmth and the TV.

The West Virginia winter put London’s in the shade, though. The weather here wasn’t just bitter, it was ice-age cold, making the vapour in her breath freeze as soon as she exhaled, and whipping her skin like a woman scorned. Kitty was already counting the minutes until she could persuade Jonas back indoors, perhaps with the aid of hot chocolate and marshmallows.

She was so lost in her thoughts, it took her a moment to realise he had disappeared; his trail of footsteps in the snow petering out as he’d entered the shade of the woodland.

Bugger, bugger, bugger. 

She didn’t bother chiding herself for her muttered swearing, picking up speed to run into the forest in the direction Jonas had taken. Her chest tightened with panic, making her breathing loud and heavy, and her movements laboured. Eyes scanning from right to left, she looked for signs of the young boy, but came up with nothing but trees.

Where was he?

‘Jonas!’ Her shout disturbed what few birds remained in the forest, stubbornly staying north for winter despite the lure of sunnier climes. Wings flapped loudly, and disturbed snow cascaded down from the branches, falling at her feet in large white clumps.

‘Jonas, I can’t see you,’ she called again. A cracking sound came from her left, and Kitty whipped her head round, but there was nothing there. Nothing she could see, anyway. Still the pounding of her heart continued, hammering against her ribcage in a rapid tattoo. How could he disappear so quickly… and what if he made it down to the lake?

Images of his tiny body flashed into her mind. His skin grey, his face expressionless as he floated in the frozen water. Oh dear God, please let him be safe, she prayed, clasping her hands together as she continued to search.

A minute later she came to a large clearing. The land was covered in snow that sparkled like diamonds in the sun. At the crest of the hill Jonas was standing, holding on tight to his sledge with one hand, using the other to wave madly at somebody down by the lake.

Beneath the thick woollen hat Kitty had insisted he wore, Jonas’s cheeks were flushed, and a big grin was painted across his face. ‘Uncle Adam!’ he shouted, his voice loud enough to echo down the canyon. ‘Over here, can you see me?’

Kitty followed Jonas’s line of sight, spotting the form of a man down by the lake, a little over a hundred yards from where she stood. Bent over a pile of logs, he was holding an axe in his hands, stopping mid-swing as he heard Jonas’s shout. When the man stood up he was wearing only a T-shirt, despite the frozen weather. Kitty swore she could see his muscles ripple, even though she knew from that distance it should be impossible. Maybe the man had a body like the Wall of China – visible even from space.

Was it getting warmer out here, or was she having a hot flush?

‘Jonas, come here,’ Kitty shouted. ‘You can’t sledge down there, you’ll end up in the lake.’ The hill was steep, ending at the edge of the expanse of water, and the thought of Jonas ending in the icy lake made her heart clench wildly.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Adam place the axe down and walk towards them. In spite of her warm snowsuit, she could feel herself start to shiver. She’d met this man exactly twice, and both times he’d looked at her as though she’d stamped on his favourite toy.

He cleared the distance between them and the cabin in less than a minute. Jonas was grinning at him, still holding the end of his sledge in his gloved hand. He looked delighted to see him.

Unlike Adam, who had a face like thunder. Kitty could only assume it was aimed directly at her.

‘Uncle Adam, will you sled with me?’

Adam lifted Jonas’s hat off and ruffled his hair. ‘Maybe later. I want to have a quick chat with your nanny first. Can you give us a minute?’

Kitty’s mouth felt dry. The thought of a quick chat was making her feel sick.

‘Talking’s boring.’

Adam smiled at Jonas, the humour not quite reaching his eyes. ‘It sure is. So just stand there and don’t move, OK? We’ll be back soon.’ He turned to Kitty, the smile disappearing from his lips. ‘A word, please?’

He stalked past her, his feet kicking up snow as he walked. Kitty felt his arm brush against hers. She took a deep lungful of air, trying to ignore the way her heart was hammering against her chest. By the time she turned towards him, he was ten yards away. She walked over to join him.

‘Hi,’ she said, reaching her hand out. ‘Maybe we can start this again? I’m Kitty, Jonas’s nanny.’

‘I know who you are,’ Adam said, pointedly ignoring her hand. ‘What the hell were you thinking, letting Jonas run toward the lake on his own? Did you hear what happened the other day? The kid nearly drowned, I had to fish him out before he sunk right under. What kind of nanny lets a child run into danger like that?’

His verbal onslaught felt like a slap to her already sensitive skin. She recoiled, taking a step back from him, needing the distance it gave. ‘I took my eyes off him for a second,’ she protested. ‘As soon as I realised he was in the forest I ran after him. And look, he’s fine, all right? He knows not to go sledding without me.’ She pointed at Jonas, who was staring at them both with narrowed eyes. He wasn’t silly, he must have known they were arguing.

‘No, it’s not all right,’ Adam told her. ‘It’s far from fucking all right. A minute is all it takes for somebody to get hurt. He’s just a kid, he needs looking after. And if you’re too busy doing your lipstick, or talking with your friends on your phone to do it, maybe you should just leave.’

A surge of anger washed through her. ‘I don’t know who pissed in your cornflakes this morning, but you’re being completely over the top. Yes, he ran off when he shouldn’t have, and yes, I’ll be having a word with him, but you’re way out of line to be talking to me like this.’

He shook his head vehemently. ‘I’m not the one out of line.’

‘Yes you are. I’ve no idea what I’ve done to make you so angry, beside kill a deer by accident, but every time I’ve seen you, you’ve bitten my head off.’ She stopped to take in a deep breath. He was still staring at her, those deep brown eyes narrowed to slits.

‘Yeah, well just do your job and we’ll all be OK. That kid gets neglected enough, he doesn’t need to add you to the list of people who ignore him.’

She straightened her spine. ‘I don’t ignore him, and I never would. And I resent any suggestion otherwise. Now perhaps we can end this discussion and I’ll go and give him the attention he deserves.’ She folded her arms in front of her.

He looked at her for a moment longer, his gaze flickering from her face to her crossed arms, and then down to her cinched waist. She really hated this damn outfit. Finally he gave her a slight nod. ‘OK.’

Letting out her mouthful of air, she turned on the heel of her snow boots and walked back to Jonas, ignoring Mr Angry-Yet-Beautiful as he stayed motionless behind her. Twisting her lips into a smile just for Jonas, she blinked back the furious tears that threatened to spill over if she let them.

‘Come on, let’s go sledding.’