by A. D. Winch
“Slow down you two,” shouted Granddad Benjamin, his words muffled by the snow.
They did not stop until they were out of the clearing and hidden amongst the thick, pine trees. Eric made sure Granddad Benjamin could not see them and then pulled Ursula under the snow-laden branches.
“This is the deal,” he began, his eyes scowling at Ursula, “when I win, you will agree to disappear back to Paris and your horribly poor, little life forever.”
Ursula stared back and, standing firm, replied, “When I win you will agree not to talk to my grandparents unless I give you permission, and you will never be nasty to me ever again.”
She held out her hand, and Eric took it strongly. Their fingers wrapped around each other, and they squeezed as hard as they could. Only when Granddad Benjamin appeared under the trees did they let go. They waited for him to reach them, and then Eric immediately started to talk to him. Despite her best efforts, Ursula could not interrupt the conversation. Every time she tried to join in Eric would speak over her, Granddad Benjamin would reply, and she was forced back into silence. Ursula fumed. Snowflakes that landed on her face melted instantly, and she was forced to walk behind the two of them. Their discussion only stopped when they reached the start line and the start of exercise circuit.
Granddad Benjamin stood in front of them, beside a wooden board showing a Parcours Vita map with a red line that marked the route.
“Welcome to the first Eric and Ursula Champex Championship,” he announced. “When I say ‘go’ the two of you will run around the lake, visit each of the twelve exercise stations in order and do the exercises that we saw yesterday. The first back here is the winner and will get to eat Mémé’s delicious, homemade, Christmas biscuits.”
Eric looked at Ursula and silently mouthed, “When I win, you are history.”
Flicking her head back, Ursula pretended to laugh.
“Now, do you solemnly swear not to cheat?” asked Granddad Benjamin.
“I do,” they replied.
Stepping away from the path, Granddad Benjamin scraped a start/finish line in the snow.
“In that case, on your marks.”
Eric and Ursula squatted down at the line.
“Get set.”
They rose slightly.
“Go!”
The two of them shot away from the line, and Granddad Benjamin clicked the start button on the stopwatch Andrea had given him. By the time, he looked up from it they were already far away. It had been a number of years since he had seen racing children, and he was surprised at the speed of Eric and Ursula. With every step they took, snow flew into the air, and they soon vanished into a thick, white mist.
They were neck and neck as they reached the first station. After hopping over the ten logs, which the exercise demanded, they ran on to the next station still neck and neck. It was a pattern that was to be repeated over the next nine stations. From doing twenty star jumps to one hundred press-ups to fifty sit-ups, they would not be separated.
Eric was fuming. In all of his sports competitions, no child had ever been able to match him physically, and he was not going to lose now, especially to a girl. Ursula was furious. If she could outrun a policeman why couldn’t she do the same with this spoilt, unpleasant, rich kid? They sprinted off the lake path, into the dark forest and towards the eleventh station.
It was made up of four thin, long logs, placed in a square shape half a metre above the ground. It was a simple exercise that tested balance and the two children jumped onto it at the same time. However, instead of going the same way around the square they chose to go in different directions. They negotiated the smooth, slippery logs with confidence and sped around the first half. As they approached the half-way point, they were both aware that they were heading for a collision but neither wanted to stand down.
Let’s play chicken, thought Ursula.
You WILL get out of my way, thought Eric.
Rather than slow down they dug their heels in and sprinted as fast they could towards the other. Just before they collided head-on Eric leapt into the air and Ursula leant backwards into a skid. She was almost horizontal as she slid underneath him. Eric somersaulted above her and was about to land back on the log when a gust of wind blew. It was barely noticed by the two children but, unknown to Ursula, it blew her hood into the air. Silently, it hit Eric’s foot and enveloped it. Eric could do nothing; he was pushed off course, and his trapped foot missed the log. He fell towards the ground, and Ursula was dragged with him. They fell heavily on top of each other and a great plume of dusty snow exploded around them.
“You stupid, stupid girl!” Eric yelled in Ursula’s face as she lay on top of him.
“Don’t call me stupid, you idiot, it was your fault,” Ursula shouted back, trying to get off and away.
“It is a good job your parents aren’t here to see such a...”
Eric never finished his sentence. A handful of snow was thrust into his mouth, and he started to choke.
“Shut up about my parents!” Ursula screamed and ran off.
While spitting the snow out of his mouth, Eric jumped to his feet and sprinted after her.
The last station looked like ten sets of parallel bars. They were positioned under pine trees, in a small clearing, and stood two metres above the ground. The aim of the exercise was to travel from one end of the bars to the other, without touching the ground, by swinging from one to the next.
Ursula was already hanging from the fourth bar and swinging towards the fifth when Eric reached the station. He jumped up onto a rock and sprang towards the bars like a tiger. His leap took him past the first bar, then the second, then the third and towards the fourth. But he wasn’t aiming for the bars.
He hit Ursula from behind with all his weight. The momentum pushed Ursula’s whole body up towards the bars, and she clattered into them with a loud crack. The wooden structure shuddered and when her knees crashed into the sixth bar it dropped to the ground with a dull thud. Ursula gripped her bar tight. Eric grabbed her around the waist and locked his fingers together so he would not fall. They swung, joined together as the snow swirled around them.
“Let go!” shouted Ursula.
“No,” replied Eric into the back of her padded ski jacket.
Ursula clenched her fingers around the bar, gripped even tighter and shook her body in an attempt to get Eric off. All that fell were snowflakes from her shoulders.
“I mean it, Eric,” she warned.
Her words fell on deaf ears. Eric was not going to let go. All he wanted was to get Ursula back for what she had done to him. He unlocked his fingers, pushed his left hand into her stomach and stretched up to her shoulder with his right. He took hold, his left hand quickly followed and he hung from Ursula’s shoulders like a baby monkey on its mother’s back.
“Get away from me,” yelled Ursula.
She refused to let go of the bars, to be beaten by Eric, but her shoulders were beginning to scream from the additional weight.
Pulling himself up, so his head was behind hers, Eric whispered in her ear, “You’re now feeling how I have felt since I met you.”
“And you are about to feel how I have felt since I met you,” replied Ursula threateningly.
Her response was unexpected. She let go of the bar with her right hand, and her whole body lurched to the left. This came as such a surprise to Eric that he lost one of his grips on her. Frantically he tried to reclaim it but as he struggled, Ursula punched him hard on the top of the head. Gloves softened the blow, but it still hurt. He pushed away from her, spun round and caught the bar behind.
The snow was falling much harder now, and visibility had become very poor. Cross-country skiers on a path less than a stone’s throw away could not see the fighting children and the snow deadened all sound.
Ursula felt considerably lighter and was filled with a burst of energy. In one fluid movement, she pushed her legs out, and up, towards the hole where the sixth bar had been. The backs of her knee
s wrapped around the seventh, and she let go of the bar she was holding. Her shoulders relaxed, and she swung upside down. In the next moment, she was through the hole and stood on the bars.
Meanwhile, Eric had quickly worked his way back to the first bar, pirouetted around it, launched himself into the air and landed perfectly on the bars opposite Ursula.
“Where are your mummy and daddy?” sneered Eric.
“That’s funny. I was thinking the same thing about you!” replied Ursula. “At least mine have an excuse. Yours just don’t want you!”
Before Ursula had finished her sentence, Eric had jumped at her feet first. His karate kick hit her in the chest as she said, “you,” and propelled her backwards onto the bars. Eric bounced off and leapt onto a branch of a pine tree above her. Heaps of snow fell from the tree and covered the fallen Ursula. Only her mouth could be seen as she strained to regain her breath. Warm air melted the snow around her lips and blew it away from her nose. Slowly she sat up, still wheezing and looking shaken.
Eric felt a sense of satisfaction as he looked down on her from the tree. He had obviously won, and now the PPP would leave forever and he could continue his life as normal. He turned away from her and looked for the best way down. The branch where he stood was almost three and a half metres above the ground, and he preferred not to jump the whole way down. A little way below him was another branch which would be easy to...
Suddenly he could see nothing. Ursula had launched herself at him like a cobra in for the kill. A yellow blur covered his eyes, and two arms wrapped themselves around his head, squashing his skull like a vice. Unable to see, and thrown off balance, Eric slipped off the branch and fell. Ursula fell with him.
The bars of the wooden exercise station shook as the children bounced off them. They fell like rag dolls over the side and continued downwards towards the ground. Fortunately a deep snow drift gave them a softer landing but they were already both badly winded from the collision with the bars.
They lay beside each other, half buried in snow and breathing deeply. They were exhausted and, either from the cold or the fight or both, they felt numb all over. Neither spoke nor moved. Apart from their flickering eyes they looked dead. The heavy snow started to settle on their faces, but they remained still and silent. Five, ten, fifteen minutes passed and nothing changed. Finally, Eric broke the silence.
“How did you do that?” he asked quietly.
“Do what?” murmured Ursula.
“Hold on to the bar while I was on your back.”
“I don’t know,” she paused, thinking about their fight. “How did you jump on that branch after kicking me?”
“I don’t know either.”
Silence returned as they each relived the fight and what had happened. Overhead, a lone Robin perched on the branch they had fallen from and twisted his head rapidly searching for something. It looked lost and lonely amongst the large trees, with no other birds around. As the two children watched they heard the tweeting of another bird. It flew over their heads and perched itself on the branch. It was another Robin. The first Robin calmed down, rubbed his chest playfully against the other and together they flew off.
Gingerly Ursula stood up and offered Eric her hand. He took it, and she pulled him up. Without rushing, they walked back down to the lake and towards Granddad Benjamin.
“How do you feel?” asked Ursula.
“Tired, a little bruised. And you?”
“The same.”
“But we fell from...,” he paused, “and...”
He became lost in his thoughts, and his sentence remained unfinished.
“I know,” Ursula spoke slowly, considering every word as she said it, “Eric, do you think we’re different?”
Eric stopped and looked Ursula straight in the eye. His quiet answer was almost lost amongst the heavily falling snow.
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***
Chapter 14 – Recovery Time
On their way down to the lake, Granddad Benjamin had been left behind by Eric and Ursula. On the way back, their positions were reversed. Every fifty metres or so he had to stop and wait. Eric and Ursula were walking like mourners in a funeral procession. Their heads drooped, their bodies hunched and their feet dragged in the snow.
“You two took much longer than you said you would, to finish the course. Are you both okay?” Granddad Benjamin asked as they trudged towards the chalet.
“Tired,” they replied together.
Granddad Benjamin would not have minded such a leisurely pace if it had not been for the weather. The snow storm had become much worse and had turned into a full-blown blizzard. The snow was falling so thickly that it was difficult to see which way to go. At times, the snow was as hard as hail and stung as it was blown into them. At other times, it was like walking through cold, cotton wool. Low clouds hung like a dark veil over the village, and street lights had turned on automatically. Luckily Granddad Benjamin had a very good sense of direction and by following this he led them back towards the chalet. However, due to the bad weather and the children’s extremely slow pace, it was taking forever.
Eventually, they reached the clearing in front of the chalet. By this time, Granddad Benjamin was leading them. Eric and Ursula had almost ground to a complete stop under the pine trees and only by pulling them would they move.
Mémé was waiting by the front door when they arrived. Even though, she was very concerned; she hid it behind a calm exterior.
“Who won?” she asked, a little too enthusiastically.
“No one,” mumbled Eric.
He was barely able to stand.
“It was a draw,” whispered Ursula and leant against the open doorway.
“Ce n’est pas important. I think the best thing to do now is get you out of those wet clothes and then you can have a rest.”
Sleepily the two children nodded in agreement. Mémé helped them out of their sodden, ski suits and then they crawled up the wooden stairs dressed only in their thermals. She watched them go through worried eyes.
“I’ll call you for lunch shortly,” she said warmly.
The moment the two children were out of sight, she turned to her husband and gave him such a telling off that it was a wonder she didn’t start an avalanche.
Delicious smells filled the chalet before lunch. The aromas of fragrant French onion soup, honey roasted pork and sweet carrots, wafted up to the children’s rooms. Granddad Benjamin was desperate to eat and could hardly wait for Eric and Ursula to bound downstairs and join them at the dinner table. They didn’t.
Mémé called up the stairs, “Ursula, Eric, mes cheris, à table.”
Nobody came.
“I will fetch them,” Andrea offered and left the kitchen area.
Eric’s room was right at the top of the stairs. It was a good size but not huge. The bed was high above the floor, and a rope ladder had to be climbed to reach it. Eric was nowhere near it. Instead, he was lying on the floor of his room. His torso was draped over a train set, his legs on a guitar shaped rug and his head on the wooden floor. His arms and legs were bent into the most uncomfortable sleeping position Andrea had seen since Eric was a baby.
Gently she shook him but he did not respond. She tried again but harder. Nothing. Then again and again and again. The most she got out of him was a short grunt. Andrea felt that it was highly unlikely Eric would wake, so she carefully lifted him up. She held him above her head and walked towards the bed. She dropped him on to the high mattress, put the duvet over him and left the room.
Next door was Ursula’s room. It had been furnished simply, with a thick white rug, wooden wardrobe, chest of drawers and a single bed. Beside the bed was Ursula’s open suitcase and Ursula, who was fast asleep. Unlike Eric, she had managed to reach the bed but hadn’t quite managed to get into it. Her lower body rested on the floor, her upper body on the bed and one arm hung limply over the suitcase. As Andrea approached, she could hear Ursula softly snoring. Placing her hands on Ursula’
s feet, she tickled. Nothing happened. She tried the same thing under Ursula’s arms but again there was no reaction. Andrea put her hands around Ursula’s waist and lifted her into bed.
The elder Benjamins ate lunch alone and in the evening dinner as well. When they went to bed four hours later, they peeped into both rooms. The two children were still sound asleep and hadn’t moved from where Andrea had put them.
By the next morning, the blizzard had blown over. All tracks outside the chalet, both human and vehicle, had been covered by fresh snow. Snow drifts taller than people rested like sheets against the chalet. The drifts even reached the windows on the first floor. Andrea opened the windows before making breakfast and brushed away the snow.
The sweet aroma of pains au chocolat and croissants soon woke Granddad Benjamin from his sleep. He joined Andrea in the kitchen dressed in an old tracksuit that he occasionally slept in. Shortly after Mémé entered, her hair was full of pink curlers, and she wore a matching pink dressing gown. She had not slept well. All night she had been tossing and turning, worried about Ursula and Eric. On two occasions, she had got out of bed, entered their rooms and stayed until she could hear them breathing. Due to her lack of sleep, she was not in the best of moods and almost forgot to wish everyone bonjour.
“I’m very worried about the children,” she said, sipping a steaming coffee which Andrea had given her. “If they are not awake in the next hour we will have to call for the doctor.”
“I can look after them, Mrs Benjamin,” assured Andrea.
“But they have been asleep for over eighteen hours!”
“It is most likely that they needed a long rest to recharge their batteries. I am sure they will be down soon. You will have nothing to worry about.”