I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day - Milly Johnson Page 0,30

he realised this would piss Bridge off more than picking up any weapon.

‘You have a Norwegian state of mind,’ said Mary.

‘That’ll be my Viking blood,’ said Luke. ‘You don’t get this colouring from Anglo-Saxons.’ He pointed to his pale-blond unruly mop. ‘Or mad red-headed Celts.’ One-all, he thought; that levelled up the score in his eyes.

‘Mary is half-Norwegian. She really knows what she’s talking about,’ said Bridge, the inference that Luke didn’t clearly implied.

Luke didn’t rise to the bait this time either but sent an air fist-bump across the table to Mary. ‘Go us Scandinavian pale and interesting types.’

‘Pale and uninteresting in my case,’ said Mary with a little laugh.

‘I totally refute that,’ said Robin. ‘We had a lovely chat in the kitchen. I found you very interesting.’

‘What do you suggest we do then to pass the time best, our dear half-Norwegian Mary?’ asked Charlie. ‘Although to be fair, I’m quite happy sitting in this armchair, staring into the flames and listening to Radio Brian. What a wonderful picker of music he is. I feel the most Christmassy I’ve felt in years.’ He sighed contentedly.

‘I don’t know really,’ said Mary. ‘But Luke is right, worrying won’t help. We need to work with our present situation.’

‘I think I’d like to take a look across there,’ said Luke, pointing to the church and the cottages positioned around what, in normal weather, was probably a village green.

‘I already did and there’s nothing to see,’ returned Bridge.

‘A fresh pair of eyes might unearth something you missed,’ Luke grinned benignly at her.

‘Like what? A bloke with a fully fuelled light aircraft in his front room who’ll promise to fly you back to Manchester?’

‘Maybe.’

Bridge shrugged. ‘Suit yourself, but you’re going to get cold and wet for nothing.’

‘I’ll come with you,’ said Jack. ‘Let me just get my coat from upstairs.’

‘Use ours,’ insisted Charlie, pointing to the two brightly coloured snow jackets still hanging by the door. ‘They’re Arctic-friendly. They’ll keep you warm as toast. Jack, you’re bigger so you take Robin’s orange one.’

Luke and Jack put on the two coats. Luke laced up his boots, Jack only had the one pair of shoes with him, which were very Arctic-unfriendly, but he needed to break up the boredom. He opened the door and all the snow that had drifted against it fell in and onto the bottom half of his legs.

‘Fool’s errand,’ said Bridge with a heavy sigh. ‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’

Luke didn’t answer her but Bridge knew he would be determined to find something to prove her wrong. She also knew he’d be unsuccessful. She wasn’t stupid; had there been life out there in any shape or form, she would have discovered it yesterday.

‘Anyone for a fresh coffee while we await the wanderers’ return?’ she asked as the door closed behind them, a gleeful trill in her tone.

* * *

With every step they took, Luke and Jack got wetter and colder. Jack’s socks were saturated before they’d even reached the edge of where he thought the car park ended. By the time they’d crunched their way over the small bridge and arrived at the buildings, Luke had to check to make sure his nose hadn’t dropped off because he could no longer feel its existence. He should have worn Carmen’s mittens, which were presently sitting on the bedroom radiator, and her furry cat hat. He stuffed his hands back into the deep warm pockets of Charlie’s brightly coloured Alpine jacket.

‘Let’s try the church first,’ suggested Jack, his words leaving his mouth on a visible plume of breath. Luke stuck up his thumb. It was too cold to talk when he didn’t need to.

The short squat body of the church was out of proportion to the enormous square tower and the snow sat on top of the roof like Carmen’s hat, thought Luke. The large wooden double doors were locked, of course, and when Luke knocked on the left one with the flat of his hand, it didn’t move at all, as if it had swollen into the frame and become one with the stonework.

Jack, at six foot three, was better equipped to look through the high-placed lancet windows but they were too narrow to allow much view.

‘See anything interesting?’ asked Luke.

‘Nope.’ Jack attempted to scale up a few notches, using the relief on the stone as purchase. It didn’t work well as he lost his footing and fell backwards into the snow. It was two foot deep at least but not as soft as