Page 99 of The Christmas Invitation
For someone the size of an elf, he made averyimpressive entrance, even to me, who had seen him garbed in those robes many times before, though not, of course, with the mistletoe crown. He’d probably incorporate that in his own rites next year.
‘I am Old Winter, here to stay. None of your magic will drivemeaway,’ he chanted, circling the fire and occasionally pausing to shake his staff in one of the spectators’ faces, so that they fell back in mock fear.
Then the audience drew aside, making way for the other performers to come forward, one by one, until they were all gathered together, facing the now isolated figure of Old Winter.
What with the cloaks, masks, leather tabards and bizarre horned headgear, it was like the heavy metal version ofWest Side Story.
Then the Green Man, easily recognizable by the oak leaves that spouted from the mouth of his mask (and I had forgotten he was Mark until that moment), stepped forward and loudly proclaimed that Old Winter’s day was done and he should be gone forthwith.
Something must have been thrown on the fire at this point, because it suddenly and effectively flared up in a rainbow of colours, before dying down again, and by the time our eyes had readjusted, Old Winter had vanished.
It was very effective and there was a spatter of applause, but this was not quite the end. The Green Man and the others took up stations around the fire and recited in turn a line or two more, though what I could catch made little sense. I expect it’s like Chinese Whispers and changes a little every time it gets passed down a generation.
The fire was starting to die down now, but there was enough light to make out the antlered or horned headdresses, a kind of Straw Man figure and the scary hawk-like bird mask that must conceal Tottie.
It would makesuchan amazing surreal picture! I moved backwards into the darkness behind the others to take it all in, especially the way those masks seemed to contort and come alive in the flickering light of the fire …
Then I suddenly remembered Henry’s warning to keep inside the border of white-painted rocks and turned to see if I was close.
I was, and beyond them the dark, opaque density of the sky seemed to merge into nothingness.
‘Thestar!’ someone shouted behind me and I looked up in time to see a bright diamond pinprick briefly appear between heavy clouds over the Stone.
The wind had been changing directions and picking up for the last few minutes, tugging and gusting around me. Then it suddenly buffeted my back, sending me off-balance … then again, but this time a hard blow that made me stagger forward between the white boulders. One foot came down into heart-stopping emptiness … and thenI was desperately twisting sideways, grabbing at a nearby bush, to save myself. The sharp thorns of gorse pierced my hands, but I hung on for dear life.
‘Help!’ I shouted. ‘Help!’ But the wind snatched my voice away.
Then, miraculously, a dark shape bent over me and I was seized in a strong grip and dragged back to safety.
‘Oh God, Meg, I thought you were going to fall before I got to you,’ said Lex’s voice. He sounded shaken, and I clung to him.
‘What on earth were you doing?’ he demanded, gripping my arms to hold me upright when my knees threatened to buckle. ‘Didn’t you realize those white boulders were there for a purpose?’
‘I … yes,’ I stammered, beginning to tremble.
‘A gust of wind hit me, and then I was pushed over the edge,’ I gabbled, hardly knowing what I was saying. ‘I just managed to grab that bush in time and—’
‘Do you mean thewindalmost blew you over?’ he said sharply.
‘No, someone did. I felt hands … a shove in the small of my back.’
Even as I said it, it sounded unlikely and though I couldn’t see Lex’s face, I could hear the scepticism in his voice.
‘When I spotted you, there was no one near, and most people had started to leave. It was lucky I’d noticed you walking away from the fire and looked to see where you’d got to.’
There was certainly no one near us now and the last stragglers were heading for the way down – the long one, not the steep and deadly route I had inadvertently nearly taken. There was only Lex here … andhe’drescued me.
I trembled again from head to foot and he said, a little more gently, ‘You’re safe now, however it happened.’
I pulled myself together a bit and said uncertainly, ‘I must have imagined it and it was only another strong gust of wind after all. I mean, who would want to push me over the edge anyway?’
‘No one that I can think of. I suspect all that ritual and old magic has made your imagination go into overdrive.’
I realized I was gripping the front of his coat and unloosed my hands. ‘I expect you’re right,’ I agreed. Hemustbe, even if I could still feel those hands in the small of my back, shoving hard …
‘Come on,’ he said, taking my arm and urging me towards the path. ‘Almost everyone’s gone.’
He was right. Someone had extinguished the torches around the Stone and raked the fire into dull embers. The temperature seemed to have dropped rapidly too as the wind got up, and now a spattering of hard, crystalline snow stung my cheeks and made my eyes water.
