The Advent Calendar

by Steven Croft

  JB waded back to the shore with them.

  Women greeted Alice and pulled her out of the water. Men met Sam in the same way. They took them each to one side, gave them warm towels to dry their bodies and stripped off the remains of the rags which had been their only clothing. There were combs for their hair and sweetly smelling oils. In place of the old rags, they were given fine, new, white robes, sandals for their feet and a ring for their finger. Each white robe had a bright red sash. Best of all (Alice thought), there was a mirror. She rubbed her eyes as she saw her likeness restored, sparkling and new on the inside as well as the outside.

  When they had changed, they were led away again to a great tent where a feast had been prepared. Sam and Alice were seated at the very highest table, on either side of JB. The table was spread with the most delicious food. The feasting went on through the whole day. As they ate together, first one then another in the crowd would come and welcome Alice or Sam silently: they did not often speak (other than their names). They simply smiled, touched their hands or shoulders in welcome and turned away.

  As the meal ended, JB turned to them both.

  ‘This feast has been in your honour but now we must go. Walk this way.’

  He pointed back along the clearing. They followed him, the journey much easier now. Both Alice and Sam held back as they came to the hill, but the cross stood empty now, alone and defeated on the skyline. Even so, the three companions stood for a moment in silence, heads bowed. They came in due course to the olive grove and to the mirror suspended a little way above the darkened pathway between the trees.

  ‘A new beginning,’ said JB. ‘Use it well, my children. It was marked by the water but won at incredible cost. And go well. From tomorrow, you will have a new guide, the greatest of all.’

  ‘Thank you, JB,’ said Sam. ‘Thank you for everything.’

  Alice hugged him for a final time. Together they stepped through the misty surface of the mirror and into the front room. As they did so, the white robes disappeared to be replaced by their ordinary clothes.

  Sam and Alice stood side by side, facing away from the mirror and afraid to turn around. Without speaking, together, they once more faced their reflections. The old, emaciated creatures were gone. Instead, each saw their reflection as they had been a few minutes ago, face and hair shining, dressed in new white robes.

  Alice smiled and led Sam over to the calendar. The blue door was gone now. In the middle of the doorway stood an ancient stone bowl. In the bowl water sparkled and glistened with life. Lying next to the bowl, side by side, each with a red sash, were two white robes, shining and new.

  19 December

  Alice slept in, of course, the next day – the first of the holidays. She was woken by the phone around ten and stumbled downstairs in her night things, not quite awake.

  ‘Hello.’

  ‘Alice, it’s Josie. I’m trying to contact Sam. He’s not answering his mobile.’

  ‘You OK?’ Josie sounded frightened.

  ‘Not feeling too good. I just need to get hold of Sam.’ There was a retching sound at the end of the line.

  ‘Hold on,’ said Alice, and bounded back upstairs. She checked Sam’s room. Devastation everywhere. No sign of him but the mobile was on the bedside table. Alice picked her way between the dirty socks and worse to retrieve it. A whole line of missed calls showed on the screen. She ran back down to the hall.

  ‘He’s left his mobile at home, Josie. I think he must have slept in. Try his work number.’

  ‘I’ve lost it. I just have his mobile and your number there in my phone. Can you see if you can get hold of him, Alice? I need to get to the doctor’s. Ask him to ring me.’

  Josie sounded worried and in pain now. Alice took Sam’s mobile through into the living room and flicked through the address book. There was no work number listed but there was a mobile number for Tizzy. Alice knew Sam worked with her. She pressed ‘dial’.

  ‘Hi, Sam. What’s up?’ The person at the other end sounded as if she had just woken up.

  ‘Tizzy. It’s Alice, Sam’s niece. He’s left his mobile at home and we need to get hold of him. Can you give me his work number?’

  Alice held her pen ready as Tizzy told her the number. She rang Josie straight back but it was engaged, so she rang Sam herself from the home phone.

  ‘Sam? It’s Alice. Listen, this is important. Josie has been trying to reach you but you left your mobile at home.’

  ‘Shivering sea lions!’

  ‘It’s serious. I don’t think she’s very well, Sam. She sounded as though she was throwing up.’

  Sam’s mobile ring tone sounded again in her left hand. It was Josie.

  ‘Alice, did you get through to Sam?’

  ‘He’s on the other line.’

  ‘What’s happening, Alice?’ called Sam in her left ear.

  ‘Shut up, Sam, I’m trying to listen to Josie. What’s the matter?’

  Josie was breathless on the phone. Her voice was pitched higher than normal

  ‘There’s something wrong. Stomach cramps and I’ve been throwing up all morning. I’ve rung the doctor and they want me to go straight to the hospital. Tell Sam – ooooohh, that’s a bad one – tell Sam to meet me there in the maternity wing at Chase Farm. I’m going to take a taxi. Tell him to be quick.’

  Alice repeated the message into the other phone. Sam sounded unusually serious.

  ‘Tell her I’m on my way, Alice. I’ll go straight to the hospital. And Alice...’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Tell Josie I love her very much.’

  Alice raised her eyes to heaven and blushed. She repeated the whole of Sam’s message but there was no reply. She pressed redial but the number was engaged. Josie must be calling for the taxi. She picked up the home phone again but Sam had hung up as well.

  ‘Charming,’ said Alice, standing in the hall in her pyjamas. ‘Absolutely charming.’

  **********

  Sam had his scarf and jacket on and was in the lift before you could say ‘Josephine’. In fact, that’s all he did say to Germaine as he charged past. There were only a handful of people at work in any case on the morning after the morning after the party. People were taking sickies or holiday in preparation for Christmas. Even Richard hadn’t surfaced. He sprinted to the tube, jumped onto the train as the doors closed and arrived at Liverpool Street just in time for the 10.36. Through the whole journey he sat on the edge of his seat and thought of nothing except Josie and what was happening, fearing the worst.

  As the train drew into Gordon Hill, he leapt from the carriage as the doors opened and covered the journey to the hospital (mainly uphill) in ten minutes. Red faced, breathless and with a stitch in his left side, he burst through the double doors into the maternity unit.

  ‘Josie Liddell?’ he gasped at the nearest receptionist.

  ‘And who are you, sir?’ asked the woman, as if there was all the time in the world.

  ‘Boyfriend. Fiancé. Father of the – you know...’

  The receptionist looked at her screen. ‘She’s in radiography now. You should just make it. Down the corridor turn left, second door on the right.’ Sam raced off. ‘No running,’ shouted the receptionist as he burst through the double doors and sent trolleys scattering right and left.

  ‘Turn left, second door on right.’

  Sam crossed the corridor and opened the second door only to find himself confronted by a woman he had never seen before in labour, screaming at the top of her voice surrounded by midwives and birthing partners. One of them had a digital video camera and was filming the entire event. She turned the lens round to face Sam.

  ‘Who are you?’ she yelled above the noise.

  ‘Radiography?’ asked Sam, looking desperate.

  The midwife looked as though she was
about to hit him with a bedpan. ‘Back down the corridor. You turned right instead of left.’

  ‘AAAAAAAHHHHHRG...’ screamed the woman in labour looking straight at Sam.

  ‘Push, darling,’ urged the birthing partners.

  Sam turned white. He fled back to the crossroads, took time to read the signs and fell into the radiography suite.

  ‘Sam Brown,’ he gasped. ‘Josie Liddell?’

  ‘Sam, in here,’ came Josie’s voice. ‘You’re just in time.’

  Sam went into the radiography room and took in the scene. Josie was lying on her side, facing towards him. Her face lit up as Sam came into the room and she put out her hand. Sam took it. A woman in a white coat was squeezing something from a tube over Josie’s stomach. A stern-faced middle-aged woman was standing in the corner of the room in her coat and hat.

  ‘Great! You made it!’ said Josie. ‘You remember my mum?’

  Sam shook hands. ‘Great to see you again,’ he panted, still badly out of breath. The woman nodded, opened her mouth as if to say something and then shut it again. Her eyes flashed rather dangerously. Sam vaguely remembered Josie saying she was a Presbyterian or something and hardly ever smiled.

  He took Josie’s hand again and collapsed onto a stool.

  ‘What’s happening?’

  ‘I woke up this morning throwing up.’ Josie wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. ‘I had these really awful stomach cramps. I just felt so frightened, Sam.’

  ‘I’ll wait outside,’ said Mrs Liddell, disapprovingly.

  The radiographer took control. ‘The midwife doesn’t think there is anything the matter but thought it best to have a scan, even though your wife is at an early stage.’

  ‘Oh! I’m not ...’ Josie began.

  ‘Not yet anyway,’ said Sam, squeezing her hand.

  ‘Let’s see what’s happening,’ said the woman, who introduced herself as Mim, short for Miriam. She smiled and pressed the sensor to Josie’s stomach.

  Neither Sam nor Josie had a clue what to look for but watched the screen for something that looked like a baby. Mim said nothing for a while, moving the picture around, scanning the whole area very carefully.

  ‘Is everything OK?’ asked Sam, anxiously.

  ‘I think so,’ said Mim. ‘Both of the babies seem absolutely fine.’

  Josie and Sam looked at each other and then at the screen, lost for words.

  ‘Both of the babies?’ they said together.

  Mim nodded. ‘You’re having twins. Congratulations!’

  ***********

  It was after lunch by the time Sam left the hospital with Josie. They dropped her mum off on the way home.

  Josie explained to Sam that she hadn’t actually told her mum she was pregnant yet. She’d been waiting for the right moment. Also, they had only just decided they were going to stay together. The visit to the maternity hospital had come as a bit of a shock. That would explain, Sam thought, what happened when Josie announced that she was expecting twins. Mrs Liddell clutched her handbag tighter and opened and closed her mouth without actually saying anything. She looked rather like a goldfish (except for the hat and winter coat).

  Alice spent the first half of the day worrying until Sam phoned through on Josie’s mobile to say everything was all right. She spent the afternoon half-heartedly looking for her Christmas presents (normally a favourite pastime in the holidays) but with no success.

  Megs arrived home at three and had just made a pot of tea when Josie and Sam arrived. She hugged them both and brought them into the kitchen. Josie sat quietly. She looked, Alice thought, remarkable pale but very happy.

  Sam had brought cream cakes: two huge éclairs, a French horn and a vanilla slice. Alice chose an éclair.

  ‘Celebration,’ Sam explained. ‘Big announcement. Josie is expecting twins. Ta-da!’

  ‘Twins!’ said Megs. ‘Fantastic. No wonder you’ve been so rough.’ Everyone stood up and hugged. ‘Boys or girls?’

  Josie blew her nose but she was still smiling. ‘It’s too early,’ she said. ‘We can go back in four or five weeks and have another scan. They gave us the pictures.’

  Alice peered at the fuzzy black and white pictures from the scan. Josie and Sam pointed out the two tiny shapes that were living, growing human beings. ‘Wow!’ was all she could say. ‘Amazing.’

  Megs asked Josie to stay to tea but she thought she ought to get home. ‘Mum’s still in shock,’ she said. ‘I want to be there to tell Dad myself when he gets home.’

  Megs announced that she was going out to dinner with Andrew. ‘Do you two mind if Sam stays here tonight with Alice? He’s booked a table and everything.’

  Josie and Sam didn’t mind a bit. Alice thought Sam looked quite relieved.

  ‘Sam can come round and meet Mum and Dad properly later in the week – when they’ve – erm – got used to things,’ she giggled.

  Sam took Josie home around six. Andrew called for Megs at seven. It was half past seven before Alice realised that she hadn’t even thought about the calendar once that day.

  ‘I’ll see if there’s a text,’ said Sam. He picked up the phone from the table in the hall where Alice had left it and came back into the front room. ‘Here it is. Arrived about twenty minutes ago.’

  ‘Perfect timing as ever,’ said Alice going over to the calendar. ‘There’s a new door here, Sam. A wooden house-door with a stone lintel. Numbers?’

  ‘Nine, colon, six,’ said Sam slowly. Alice pressed in the buttons. Both of them looked over towards the mirror, expecting to see the misty surface once again.

  Alice touched it with her fingers. The surface was hard and cold. All she saw now was her normal reflection.

  Sam looked carefully at the calendar. ‘The door’s started to open just a little. But nothing else is happening.’

  Out in the street there was the distant roar of motorbikes heading towards them. ‘What on earth?’ said Sam.

  Alice went to the window. ‘Come and look,’ she said. Three massive motorcycles were heading down the dark street, headlamps like searchlights. The one in front was a bright yellow three-wheeler. The two behind were silver and gold. The riders were dressed from head to foot in black leathers. As Sam and Alice watched, the bikes stopped right outside their house. The riders revved their engines, daring the neighbours to challenge them. There was no one else to be seen in the whole street but one or two curtains were twitching. The lead rider dismounted, took something out of the panniers and walked towards the front door. Alice saw he was carrying a bundle under each arm.

  ‘It’s the calendar,’ she said, pushing past Sam and opening the door. ‘Are you our new guides?’

  The man took off his helmet and shook his head. He had long dark hair and an oriental face. ‘Mel,’ he called over the revving engines. ‘Pleased to meet you. We’ve come to take you to your guide.’ He handed both of them a helmet and leather jacket.

  Alice checked she had her keys and locked the front door. ‘You ride with Caspar,’ he said, pointing to the gold bike. The rider waved a gloved hand. He had a Russian look to him, Alice thought: dark eyes and beard. ‘Sam – you ride with Bal.’ Bal was black and smiled back when Alice waved.

  In no time, they were mounted on the back of the bikes, on proper pillion seats, each holding onto the waist of the rider in front. Mel’s engine roared into life and the yellow three-wheeler set off. Alice saw curtains twitching again all down the street.

  The riders headed back the way they had come down the street away from the town centre but turned left suddenly down a lane Alice had never noticed before which seemed to lead straight out into the countryside. The trees and hedgerows whizzed past. Alice felt perfectly safe as she leaned into the bends with Caspar. She caught flashes of yellow and silver in front as they sped into the night. The bik
es seemed to be accelerating faster and faster now. All around was a blur except for the back of the rider in front of her. It seemed, just for a moment, as if their wheels left the ground and they passed through some kind of invisible barrier. Then they were slowing down again, cutting their engines, gliding to a stop just outside a large single-storey stone house with a flat roof. Alice thought she recognised the door of the house from the calendar.

  Bal, Mel and Caspar dismounted and took off their helmets and leather jackets and stretched. They pointed not towards the house but up into the sky. It was early evening. The brightest star Alice had ever seen was shining right above the place they had come to visit. Caspar indicated they should walk up to the door and knock. ‘No need to be afraid,’ he said.

  Sam led Alice to the threshold and tapped lightly on the wooden door with the back of his hand. It was opened almost straight away by a girl just a little older than Alice herself. Both of them took her for a servant. She kept her shawl over her head and her gaze to the floor as she beckoned them with a smile inside the warm stone building. There was a fire burning in the grate and the smell of a delicious soup filled the room. Tiny oil lamps lit the space in the centre of the room leaving long shadows. The starlight came in through each of the three high windows.

  The girl seated them at a wooden table in one corner and then brought them the broth with newly baked bread, butter and cold fresh water. She indicated with smiles that they should help themselves. Sam supposed that her master would join them after the meal. The soup itself was delicious. Layer upon layer of flavour as if it had been cooking for a very long time.

  After they had eaten, the girl cleared away the dishes to a corner of the room and gestured for Sam and Alice to come and sit on two comfortable wooden chairs, one on each side of the fire. There was now a sharp sense of expectancy in the air.