Let It Snow

by Sue Moorcroft

  Charlotte flushed in outrage. ‘I ent done nothing!’

  ‘I didn’t say you had “done nothing”,’ Carola said. ‘Come along, please.’

  Isaac was left with Lily in the foyer. He looked back towards the bar, intending to offer Lily a drink. Then his brows shot up. ‘Don’t look now,’ he whispered, ‘but Franciszka and Neil are sitting on bar stools at the bar behind a big pillar, very still as if hoping not to be spotted.’

  Lily’s eyes grew round. ‘Wow. Those two …?’ Then she groaned. ‘Damn. Franciszka was supposed to be washing my hair for me tonight. It’s going to be really hard, one-handed.’

  He slid a hand to her waist, suddenly feeling the evening was looking up. ‘Come to my room. I can wash hair. I was a shampoo boy for my Saturday job when I was in sixth form.’

  ‘You were not!’ she exclaimed, nevertheless allowing herself to be steered up the stairs towards room 204.

  ‘I was,’ he said truthfully. ‘When Dad had to give up farm work and we moved into Peterborough I saw this card in a salon window looking for a shampoo girl. I went in and told them they were being sexist and they gave me the job. Washing hair, making coffee and sweeping up in a nice warm salon seemed a doddle after being brought up working holidays and weekends outside in all hours on the farm.’ He winked. ‘And it gave me lovely soft hands.’

  She’d halted to regard him through narrowed eyes. He began to wonder if she was about to blow him off, but then she smiled slowly, thoughtfully. ‘I’ll fetch my shampoo and conditioner.’

  Chapter Thirteen

  On Tuesday morning, Lily woke in the French hotel trying to get her bearings, spotting Franciszka’s head on the pillow of the other bed unmoving despite the beeping alarm. Lily had slept like a log herself. It might have been the codeine but it could also have been the long, sensuous scalp massage Isaac had given her last night in the guise of washing her hair.

  She stretched and shivered at the memory. It had been a bit of a squeeze in his compact wet room with Doggo trying vigorously to join in whatever puzzling game the humans were playing but Isaac had seated Lily on the dressing table stool, her head over the basin and her injured hand nestled safely in her lap while he made jokes about being used to a salon backwash. He hadn’t let that hold him back though. She closed her eyes, recalling the slow, slippery motion of his fingers on her scalp. Who knew that a head could be such an erogenous zone?

  The mood had been somewhat sabotaged by Doggo trying to get his nose up to Lily’s to lick her anxiously as she’d groaned in pleasure at the lazy circling through the roots of her hair. Isaac shutting Doggo out of the bathroom had resulted in a few rounds of ‘Hnuh, nhuh, WOAH!’ and then a transition into hair-raising howls. ‘Woooooooooooo, woooooooooooo, woooooooooooo.’ When an exasperated Isaac had thrown the door open again before the unearthly racket got them ejected from the hotel Doggo, panting and wagging happily, had forced himself back into the tiny space.

  ‘Note to self,’ Isaac had muttered, rinsing Lily’s hair before squeezing on conditioner. ‘When you set up a seduction scene, don’t bring your dog.’

  Lily had begun to laugh but then his talented hands had returned to that exquisite head massage and she’d given herself up to the sensations that filtered down to other parts of her body, especially when he’d kissed the damp nape of her neck. Then he’d proved he’d picked up a few tips in a hairdresser’s by knowing about drying her hair with his fingers first then directing the air stream down the hair shaft to dry it with a brush so that it shone.

  With a regretful sigh, Lily sat up in bed, flexing her hand. The swelling had eased a bit and so she had more movement. Leaving Franciszka still snoozing, Lily slid out of bed to take first turn in the bathroom, showering with her head at an awkward angle to keep her hair dry as it was frankly impossible to put it up with only one hand.

  Then she woke Franciszka – who grunted and rubbed her eyes as if it were two a.m. rather than just after seven – struggled into her sling and went for breakfast. Isaac, up already, helped Lily fill and carry her tray and then left to give Doggo a run.

  ‘Thanks. How’s Emily?’ Lily asked, sitting in the seat he’d vacated at the table Carola already occupied.

  Carola rolled her eyes. Lily had noticed before how the mothers of teenaged girls seemed to do that a lot. ‘Sore and sulky. According to Charlotte, Emily wanted the mistletoe so Warwick would have to kiss her. Emily denies any such thing, hotly and with tears, so it’s probably true. I’ve told Charlotte under absolutely no circumstances should she tell Warwick, but Charlotte isn’t known for keeping secrets.’ She grimaced.

  ‘And how do you feel this morning?’ Lily poured milk on her muesli. It was odd doing everyday tasks with the ‘wrong’ hand. She almost felt as if the milk would go up instead of down.

  ‘I’ve told myself I need to wise up.’ She managed a smile. ‘Owen Dudley’s a dud. He’s in the past and I’m just sorry I’ve wasted nine months of my life on him.’

  Others began arriving and with a lot of encouragement from Carola and Lily ate fast in order not to hold up departure. Overnight, poor Emily’s graze beneath her eye had formed a tender-looking pink scab that wept at the edges. Though everyone was sympathetic Emily was forlorn and kept cupping her hand over it as if to hide her embarrassment.

  When they convened at the minibus at eight, Emily put in a plea for Doggo to be allowed to be her seat partner. ‘It’ll be more interesting than being in a crate. I’ll cuddle him.’ She stroked the big Dalmatian’s head and he whipped his tail as if to support her application.

  ‘Sorry. He’s safest in the crate,’ Isaac said kindly, looking relaxed in a sweater and jeans, his hair damp as if he’d just got out of the shower after his run. ‘He likes it in there and feels safe, like a wolf in a cave. And he gets a treat every time he gets in.’

  ‘Also,’ Charlotte drawled patronisingly, ‘that would leave us without enough seats. Who would you put in the crate?’

  Emily shot her sister a look that quite plainly said, ‘You.’

  They rolled on into the second leg of the journey. Lily had tried to get by without codeine as she wanted to be awake to pass Isaac the right money for the pay booths on the toll roads, but the jolting of the minibus made her hand ache and prickle so she accepted it was a doomed effort and knocked back a couple of pills before checking her email and messages on her phone then updating Max and Kirstin on their progress. Just left Chalons on the A4 heading towards Strasbourg. All’s well. See you this afternoon!

  Beyond the window, winter-bare trees alternated with ploughed red clay soil or lush grassy fields beneath an iron-grey sky. The windswept landscape became gradually more rolling and woodsy as they drove along dual carriageways that seemed to go on forever.

  The lads began jokily singing ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ but when that got them catcalls from Charlotte changed to ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’. Eddie’s guitar began the accompaniment so he must have picked his way to the luggage bay to grab it.

  As song followed song, Isaac shook his head in admiration. ‘I’ve never heard you singing any of these before. You guys must have an amazing repertoire.’

  Lily grinned. ‘These songs aren’t in our repertoire. They’ll be getting the lyrics and chords from websites on their phones.’ The singing acted like a lullaby and next time she woke up they were making a fuel-and-loo stop. She stayed with Isaac to put the diesel on her credit card while Eddie, Alfie and Warwick took Doggo to a nearby patch of grass.

  Isaac and Lily watched as many euros’ worth of diesel poured into the fuel tank, and laughed at the boys dashing backwards and forwards on a fifty-metre stretch of grass, a joyful Doggo bucketing along beside them wearing a huge doggy grin, admirably suited to the pastime of running for the hell of it.

  Soon they were underway again, Neil and Franciszka having done a tea and coffee run. As they neared Strasbourg the buildings became more colourful and Germanic. They passed east of the city but close enough to s
ee the spire of the amazing cathedral lording it above all the other buildings.

  The next hour saw them enter a long area of flat farmland, notable only for the fact that ridges edged the flatland on either side – ridges with snow on top, picking up the morning light. ‘Wowwwww,’ sighed Emily. ‘Snow’s so beautiful and shimmery, like icing on cakes.’

  ‘And my weather app says it’s snowing in Schützenberg!’ Charlotte burst out. ‘Can’t wait to see real, proper, thick snow.’

  They paused at Haut-Koenigsberg for lunch. They’d made such steady progress south and east through France that Lily relaxed. Emily had asked the lady behind the counter for one of the freshly baked Muffin Mars and pouted when she discovered a Muffin Nutella in her bag instead, but Warwick, who’d done well in his French GCSE, returned to the counter and gallantly got the error rectified.

  When Emily gave him a glowing look of thanks Charlotte meanly chimed in, ‘Hey, Warwick, what’s your girlfriend like? Not a childish blonde airhead with no boobs?’

  Warwick looked confused. ‘She’s dark and, um, good thanks. Same age as me.’ Emily looked mortified, evidently all too aware of Charlotte’s unkind subtext even if it had whooshed over Warwick’s head.

  Lily, prickled, made sure she walked back to the minibus with Charlotte, trying to keep warm with her coat pulled sketchily around her because it hadn’t seemed worth wriggling in and out of her sling to thread her arm through her sleeve. ‘Did you know it was my sister who did this to me?’

  Charlotte’s eyes widened. ‘But it was an accident, wasn’t it?’

  ‘Well …’ Lily mused. ‘Technically. But she got in a roaring temper and slammed the counter hatch on my hand. Everyone saw it. It’s not like you can hide that kind of thing.’ And then, when Charlotte looked uncertain, added meaningfully, ‘People do notice when one sister is unkind to another.’

  Charlotte suddenly seemed to find the ground fascinating. Lily gave her a quick one-armed hug and climbed into the minibus, content that her final comment had been taken on board.

  It was half an hour later when, as if Lily’s conversation with Charlotte had invoked her, Zinnia called Lily’s phone. Lily decided to take the call. She’d had time to calm down and was less shocked and rocky than on Sunday.

  ‘Oh!’ Zinnia sounded half-surprised Lily had picked up. ‘I rang to see how you are.’

  ‘Improving,’ Lily said fairly, as Isaac drove the minibus closer and closer to the Basel border-crossing into Switzerland, rumbling along, the road an undulating ribbon before them. ‘Not so swollen now.’

  ‘Thank goodness! Did you go on your trip?’ Zinnia went on.

  ‘Of course. Oh.’ Lily paused for thought. ‘You hadn’t hoped my injury would stop me travelling?’ She didn’t want to add ‘to meet my other brother’. Carola would hear and Lily was confident that Zinnia would follow Lily’s thoughts anyway.

  ‘No!’ Zinnia denied strenuously. ‘I’m really, really sorry. Honestly. If you hadn’t been able to go I was going to ask to come over and see you, that’s all. I’ve been thinking about my behaviour and I’m ashamed. I was just so knocked sideways when Mum and Roma said they were splitting up, finding them both crying, Mum packing … I jumped to the wrong conclusion. I hate the way things are between us, Lily, and I want to be friends again. I’m trying to understand about your brothers and I promise to stop being an arse.’

  Lily felt herself thawing. ‘We’re both shocked about our mums. My stomach goes into spasms whenever I think about it.’

  ‘Yeah. It’s really horrible. I can’t imagine how things are going to be in the future.’ But then instead of sounding upset Zinnia made a self-conscious sound that was close to a giggle. ‘Actually, when I freaked I think I was hormonal.’

  Lily was taken aback. Was Zinnia excusing her dangerous actions as being a result of PMT? Her left hand pulsed as if in protest. ‘I see,’ she said stiffly. ‘I’m afraid we’re nearly at the crossing to Switzerland so I need to go now. Thanks for wanting to mend fences but it’s probably better if we have the rest of this conversation face to face when I get back.’

  ‘Oh. Right. If you think so.’ Zinnia sounded uncertain.

  Lily said bye and ended the call just as Isaac nodded at the windscreen and said, ‘Look!’ The teens began to cheer and Lily realised that the sky had lightened from dark grey to nearly white and what was hitting the windscreen now was snow – flakes that spread into crystals before the wipers thrust them away. Flakes were floating down, making trees and bushes look as if they’d been dredged with icing sugar.

  ‘Snow!’ the kids shouted, as if Lily couldn’t see it for herself. ‘Awesome! Snow already!’

  Even Carola grinned. ‘Only the Brits can get so excited about snow.’

  Isaac changed down the gears. ‘Luckily, most of Europe is better than us at keeping the roads clear so it shouldn’t hold us up, especially with the snow tyres.’

  His words proved true. Trundling through a whitening landscape the minibus coped without missing a beat and the singing began again, this time their favourite: ‘Let it Snow’. Lily joined in. It was good to open up her throat with a jolly winter song and wash away any lingering bad feelings from talking to Zinnia. The white flakes danced and tumbled around them, magically creating fluffy blankets on fields and roofs.

  When they approached border control Isaac followed wheel tracks that were black and wet in the thickening white powder into the tall-vehicle lane under a big curved canopy. Blue signs and cones directed them past manned booths but nobody stopped them and, along with all the other vehicles crossing, they accelerated away.

  ‘Is that it?’ called Alfie from the back. ‘Are we in Switzerland?’

  ‘That’s it,’ Lily confirmed on a surge of excitement. ‘Schützenberg here we come!’ Everybody cheered, even Carola, who had been so down, and Isaac, who was busy picking up the main road again, following signs for Zürich.

  Though she’d taken more painkillers with lunch, Lily no longer felt drowsy. This was what she’d been planning, working and rehearsing towards for months. She was going to see this wonderful country for the first time, see her designs translated into physical stands, sing, have fun.

  Meet Garrick.

  Her heart leapt into her mouth with the familiar mixture of apprehension and curiosity. She’d not only meet her other half-brother soon but his family, her sister-in-law and niece and nephew too. She’d waited so long for this that it was almost hard to believe it was finally happening. She’d seen pictures of Garrick, who looked a lot like a slightly younger version of Tubb. She knew that in contrast to Tubb putting down strong roots in Middledip, Garrick had spent much of his working life in marketing and PR in the States where Tubb had visited him for holidays.

  And, of course, Garrick had no idea who Lily really was …

  The landscape began to ripple into higher and snowier hills, the road passing through them in a series of tube-like tunnels with bright lights down the centre. In the urban areas Carola gazed at the landscape with an expression of surprise. ‘There’s such a lot of graffiti!’

  ‘Aw, don’t pick fault,’ pleaded Lily, reaching around to pat Carola’s arm with her good hand. ‘We’re going to have a wonderful time.’

  Carola turned to regard her with a fixed smile. ‘Of course we are. Fabulous.’

  The noise from the teenagers grew and grew as they gazed yearningly at the snow, a good three inches thick where it lay undisturbed now. Lily glanced at Isaac’s profile. ‘Maybe we ought to stop at a service station and let them have a play in the snow? They’ve been cooped up for a long time.’

  Isaac nodded. ‘Fine by me. I’m just the chauffeur, ma’am.’

  In twenty minutes they were pulling into a car park at the Würenlos service station, which spanned the road, traffic swishing along the wet tarmac beneath. As soon as they drew up Eddie and Alfie made a dive for the door and slid it open.

  ‘Brr.’ Carola shivered, pulling up her hood and squinting as snow
tried to blow into her face.

  ‘Snowball fiiiiiiight!’ Warwick yelled, belting off towards the margin of undisturbed snow at the edge of the car park. Alfie, Eddie, Charlotte and Emily raced after him, cheeks glowing as they shouted to each other, voices loud in the arctic air.

  ‘Frozen-stiff hands coming up,’ Isaac observed, zipping up his parka, pulling up the hood and gloves out of his pockets.

  Soon snowballs were whizzing through the air between the teenagers and even Neil and Franciszka joined in though they, like Isaac, wore gloves. Isaac freed Doggo from his crate and took him over to what was presumably a patch of grass when not covered with snow. The instant Doggo had finished what he’d gone there to do he launched himself joyfully into the fray and Isaac let his lead extend so he could dance about in the middle barking madly, trying to catch snowballs in his snapping teeth.

  Lily, with only one functioning hand, didn’t see herself as particularly suited to snowballing. After a few minutes of watching the others laughing and squealing over freezing snow slithering down necks, she called out that she was going into the services and suggested they meet back at the minibus in half an hour. That ought to give everyone time to get over the snow excitement. Carola went with her.

  Once indoors, coats unzipped, they looked about themselves at the large expanses of glass, almost blinded by the profusion of dangling white Christmas lights. ‘Wow. These are posh services,’ Lily observed, following the signs to the loos but glancing into shops selling organic food and expensive clothing along the way. It wasn’t until they’d visited the Ladies at a cost of two Swiss francs, to Carola’s indignation, that they paused to properly browse shop windows.

  Lily stared at a window display of flimsy lingerie. And was that really a …? ‘Carola,’ she hissed. ‘This is a sex shop.’

  Carola turned to stare too. ‘Oh my gosh. Vibrators!’ she said loudly.

  And that was when a laughing voice behind them said, ‘See anything you like, ladies?’ Isaac passed them and headed for the Gents, grinning broadly.