Maddy’s Christmas Wedding (Little Duck Pond Cafe #37)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Maddy’s Auntie Evie had thoughtfully booked a series of local trips for us. And this morning’s snowy adventure was a sleigh ride through the forest!

I was so looking forward to this. It was right up my street, so dreamy and romantic, and when I joined the others downstairs after a quick shower, the talk was of reindeer and how amazing it would be to be pulled by them in a sleigh.

‘Just like Father Christmas!’ squeaked Jaz, her face flushed with excitement.

Maddy grinned at her. ‘Okay. Calm down, Jaz. At this rate, you’re going to spontaneously combust with happiness – even before you make it to the sauna and the icy lake plunge tonight.’

‘Ooh, I’m still not sure about that,’ I murmured, helping myself to coffee and shivering at the very thought of it. (I’ve never been the bravest of people.) ‘I mean, I absolutely love the idea of the sauna and I don’t even mind the idea of a quick roll in the snow in between sessions. Good for your blood pressure and all that. But plunging into an icy lake?’ I shook my head in horror. I want to enjoy tonight, not feel I’m being punished with some form of weird ancient torture.

‘You’ll do it once you’re there, Fen,’ said Laurel. ‘It’s just the thought of it that’s quite scary. Do you think they crack through the ice so we can get in there?’

‘I presume so,’ said Jaz. ‘I have to say, I can’t wait.’ She rubbed her hands together gleefully.

Maddy laughed. ‘You’ll be wanting to meet Santa next.’

She gave a sheepish grin. ‘What can I say? I’m finding all of this really exciting.’

Jaz was normally the slightly cynical one, who poked fun at anything she viewed as overly sentimental. But here in Lapland, she seemed to have transformed into a kid at Christmas! She was even enthusing about plunging into an icy Arctic lake, although I really couldn’t imagine why. It wasn’t as if Santa would ever do it. He’d probably be a goner if he did, what with the weight of all those soggy robes. But I guessed Jaz was seeing everything through her daughter’s eyes. This was truly a snowy paradise for children . . . a place where all their dreams and wishes could come true.

I smiled at her. ‘You should just go with it, Jaz. I think we all should. I mean, when do we ever get a chance to revisit our childhoods once we’re all grown up?’

‘Absolutely right,’ laughed Laurel. ‘I’m wearing my thermal hat with the cat’s ears today and I’m going to do snow angels like I was five years old.’

‘Snow angels,’ I murmured nostalgically. ‘Yes. Count me in.’

We ate deliciously flaky almond pastries for breakfast and drank the fresh coffee Maddy had made by grinding beans and brewing it in a cafetière. She made more coffee and we ventured onto the balcony, gasping in the freezing air. (No matter how prepared you thought you were, the icy sub-zero cold always took you by surprise here.) We huddled together with our coffee and gazed out over the snowy scene that seemed to stretch forever and was punctuated only by little clusters of fir trees, all looking like they’d been dusted with icing sugar on top of a Christmas cake.

‘When do we collect our thermals, Maddy?’ asked Katja, endeavouring to pull the collar of her padded coat up over her nose. ‘My face is actually going numb and we’ve only been out here for two minutes.’

‘Any time we like. The shop in the village had closed by the time we arrived last night, otherwise we could have collected them then.’

I relaxed at the thought of extra thermal layers.

Auntie Evie had played a blinder. She’d clearly thought of everything . . .

*****

We arrived a while later at the reindeer farm in Rovaniemi, only to find that there’d been a mix-up with the sleigh rides.

Apparently, we’d been booked on one that was called ‘Searching for Santa’ and actually as soon as we pitched up at the meeting point, it was fairly obvious we’d be doing something like that, judging by the number of noisy, excited children gathered there with their families.

A cheerful elf – called ‘Hoppity’ according to her badge – had come bounding up, like an over-excited puppy. She was dressed in a thick red jacket, red breeches, long green stripy socks and a pointy red hat. ‘Oh, lovely!’ she said, checking Maddy’s tickets. ‘You’re on the Santa tour. If you’d like to follow me, I’ll take you to meet the reindeer and your leader, who’s going to tell you all about the Sami people’s special relationship with these wonderful animals. And then we’ll get you settled, two people per sleigh, ready for your exciting ride through the forest to track down the elusive big man himself!’

Maddy looked a little disgruntled at the prospect of joining so many under-tens, but I didn’t mind at all. Rob and I would be returning one day with the twins, so I was thinking it would be fun to have a preview of what it would be like to take Lottie and Liam to visit the cheery, red-suited hero of the hour, in his grotto deep in the woods.

We’d already collected our snow suits and thermal jackets, boots, hats and gloves, and we were all now lumbering around looking like a gang of Michelin men. To be fair, we blended in nicely because that’s what most people were wearing around here.

‘Do we have to meet Father Christmas?’ asked Maddy, sounding rather bored. ‘It was the sleigh ride we were wanting, really.’

Hoppity looked a little taken aback. ‘Er, no. No, if you prefer, you can just take a wander over to the log cabin café which sells cakes and pastries and delicious hot drinks to warm you up after your sleigh ride?’

Maddy nodded. ‘That sounds much better.’

‘I’d like to meet Santa,’ said a small voice and we all turned to grin at Jaz. She gave a sheepish shrug. ‘I mean, when in Rome . . .’

‘Totally agree!’ I linked her arm. ‘I want to meet him as well.’

Laurel nudged Maddy affectionately. ‘Bet you a pound to a penny you change your mind when you get there.’

‘Doubt it. Anyway, which sleigh do you want and how are we going to pair up when there’s five of us?’

‘Good point.’ Katja frowned.

‘I don’t mind travelling on my own,’ I volunteered. ‘In fact, I’d quite like to.’

It was true. I’d always been a bit of a loner if left to my own devices. I loved reading (not that I had much time for it these days) and I enjoyed taking solitary walks. I found them more relaxing because you didn’t have to think about keeping up a flow of conversation with another person, which could be awkward, depending obviously on who it was. Some people needed to be with other people or they felt lonely, but I’d always relished the times I was on my own. You could just drift along thinking your own thoughts and dreaming your own dreams. Now, with life at home so full-on, time to relax and be on my own was obviously at a premium – but Rob was really good at sensing when he needed to take over with Lottie and Liam and send me off for a long soak in the bath . . .

A feeling of real excitement surged inside me as the lovely tour guide (dressed as an elf, of course, this one called ‘Moon’) settled me in my own personal sleigh, tucking a warm blanket around my legs. The reindeer who’d be transporting me through the snowy vista was waiting patiently to set off and every now and then, as he moved his head, the bells attached to his harness jingled merrily.

We’d be travelling with other small convoys, mostly children and their parents, each led by an elf, journeying into the pine forest together to track down Santa.

Sitting there, all snug under my blanket, a wave of happiness flooded through me.

This was going to be such an exhilarating experience.

I fished out my phone and took a few selfies for Rob, smiling into the lens with the beautiful backdrop of a crisp blue sky and snowy fir trees. I’d already taken lots of the reindeer to show Lottie and Liam when I got home.

Maddy and Laurel were in the sleigh in front of me, with Jaz and Katja in front of them. And then, with a call from the elf called Hoppity, who was riding in a sleigh at the front leading our expedition into the forest, we were off!

The gorgeous animals were in no hurry at all, moving through the snow in such an easy, relaxed rhythm that I felt myself filled with a lovely sense of peace. I could see Maddy and Laurel chatting in the sleigh in front, but for me, the only sounds were the crunch of the snow, the clop of reindeer hoofs and the gentle jingle of the harness bells.

I felt like I was in a dream. And after a while, I realised that my eyes were wet with tears – and that they weren’t simply the result of the icy air on my frozen cheeks. I was happy. I could ride along like this forever through this incredible snowy landscape, gazing at the amazing sky – now painted with streaks of pink and violet – and imagining how it would feel to bring Rob and the twins here some day . . .

We were journeying deep into the forest now, along twig-strewn snowy tracks, the scent of pine filling my nose and making me quite dizzy with the exhilaration of it all. And then up ahead, I glimpsed the flicker of candlelight and caught my breath in awe.

A log cabin with windows that glowed temptingly in the gloom had appeared in front of us, as if by magic. Our trek to look for Santa seemed to have been a success.

We’d found him!

Even now, Santa himself was appearing at the door of the cabin and waving – in his glorious red robes and long flowing white beard – to the accompaniment of elated cheers from the children (and most of the adults) in our little gathering. Swept up in the magic of Christmas, I found myself doing a Jaz and cheering even louder than any of the kids!

And then Moon the elf was hopping out of her sleigh and helping us to shrug off the rugs and disembark, stepping down into the crisp snow. I was very glad Auntie Evie had thought to hire these boots for us. They were a bit clumpy to walk in but they made me feel safe and were doing a great job of keeping my feet toasty warm.

We all gathered together and after having a peep inside the cosy cabin, which had been decked out inside with branches from the forest and a thousand fairy lights, we all agreed it was probably best to leave the children in the party to actually meet Santa.

‘I’ve seen him and taken a photo and that’s enough for me,’ said Jaz. ‘I just want to have a bit of an explore and see what’s going on in that little cabin over there.’

‘Hot chocolate, hopefully, and some festive gingerbread.’ Katja laughed and shook her head. ‘I can’t believe I’m hungry again, considering I ate two almond pastries for breakfast just a few hours ago.’

‘It must be this pure fresh air giving us an appetite,’ said Laurel, and there were murmurings of agreement.

‘Well, that’s a good enough excuse for me,’ said Maddy, and she started trudging off through the snow towards the café with everyone following behind her. ‘Hopefully, there’ll be mulled wine as well,’ she called back.

There was indeed mulled wine. Deliciously hot mulled wine, which we drank from handmade cups, taking off our gloves and wrapping our hands around them. As we sat there, chatting and nibbling on cinnamon and ginger biscuits with the deliciously crumbly texture of shortbread, I could feel my face slowly defrosting, the heat creeping into my cheeks and making them glow even more than the icy outdoor air.

Later, as we all piled into our sleighs for the journey home, it was clear that some of the smaller children were drooping a little after all the excitement of a sleigh ride and meeting Santa. I shared a sleigh with Maddy this time and I took the opportunity to ask her if everything was all right. She’d seemed oddly preoccupied some of the time – quite the opposite to the way I’d expected her to be, bearing in mind it was her hen party.

‘I’m fine,’ was her answer, before pointing out the streaks of mauve in the sky, which was already beginning to darken. ‘Aren’t the colours amazing?’

I nodded. ‘I’d thought having only four hours of daylight here would stop us enjoying it quite so much, but I’m starting to think I was wrong. It’s like the changing colours in the sky is just another magical event for us to savour, like this sleigh ride.’

‘Except totally free of charge.’ Maddy nodded. ‘I just hope we catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights before we leave. That would be amazing.’

‘I know. Hey, I was reading up about kaamos. Did you know about it? It’s the time period when the sun never rises above the horizon. They call it the Long Polar Night. It lasts only two days here because we’re right on the southern edge of the Arctic Circle, but apparently there are places further north where the sun doesn’t rise for more than fifty days. Imagine that! Almost two whole months without seeing the sun.’

‘That’s mind-blowing. What on earth do people do?’

‘Winter things, I suppose. Snowy walks in the dark sound rather romantic.’

‘I guess the fact that the snow makes everything white means it’ll never be completely dark.’

‘That’s true. And actually, I quite like the idea of the Long Polar Night. I mean, it gives you a great excuse to just go to work and then come home, switch on all your lamps and fairy lights, hunker down by the fire, and just . . . well, do nothing! In the summer, you’d be like, Ooh, I need to make the most of the sunny weather and get out there and do activities. And you’d feel guilty if you weren’t doing that.’

Maddy laughed. ‘So the Long Polar Night absolves you of any feelings of guilt, which means you feel fine just lying around doing nothing much at all.’ She nodded. ‘Sounds perfect.’

‘I know.’ I paused ‘Are you looking forward to the event later?’ It seemed weird that I was having to ask her this, but I genuinely didn’t know.

‘Yes, of course.’ She smiled. ‘I love the idea of a sauna followed by an icy plunge in the lake. And the menu for dinner looks nice.’

‘It does. It really appeals to me, the idea of eating locally caught fish by a fire in that little cottage afterwards.’

‘But you don’t love the idea of the icy plunge?’

I laughed. ‘Well, we’ll see. I might do it. I’m just not committing to it ahead of time.’

‘A lake is a great place to see the Northern Lights because you get an unrestricted view of the sky. Maybe we’ll be lucky tonight.’

‘Let’s hope so.’

We rode along in silence for a while, then I tried again.

‘Are you sure there’s nothing wrong, Maddy? It’s just you seem really quiet. Not your normal self.’

Glancing at her profile, I saw the way she closed her eyes briefly as if in despair. But next second, she turned. ‘Honestly, Fen, I’m absolutely fine. And even if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t want to spoil this trip with my misery, would I?’

I gazed at her, speechless, trying to decode her confusing comment. ‘But if you’re miserable about something, we’d want to know,’ I burst out. ‘You know we would! We’d want to help.’

She was staring straight ahead and I thought she wasn’t going to reply.

At last, she gave a little sigh. ‘There’s nothing. I’m fine. I think there’s local smoked salmon on the menu tonight, isn’t there? I can’t wait to try it.’