Page 15 of Christmas at the Scottish Lodge
‘Why?’ She looked confused.
‘You’re too much of a novice – the risks are too high that you’ll ski into something,’ he told her.
‘I won’t,’ she said doubtfully, glancing at a dense thicket of trees and pulling a face.
‘Just take the skis off and we’ll leave them here.’ He glanced around until he spotted a spruce with a large gap under its lower branches. ‘If we prop the equipment there and leave the helmets, I’ll pick them up later. At least they’ll be partially protected from the weather.’
Jed knelt, wincing as his knee complained, before helping Mairi to unclip her skis from the boots and doing the same with his own. ‘It’s not going to be easy to walk in ski boots,’ he warned her. ‘Remember they aren’t like shoes.’
‘That’s okay,’ she sighed. ‘I’m more capable than you or my brother give me credit for.’
‘I know.’ Jed wasn’t going to unpick that statement. He’d never tried to get between Mairi and Quinn – there were issues there caused by their parents’ sudden death and her first marriage, but they had to sort them out in their own time, and he had no right to get in the middle. ‘Keep your feet flat unless you’re going up or down hill,’ he said instead.
‘I can do this,’ Mairi insisted. ‘I used to work at the resort in ski season every year.’
He jerked his chin. How could he forget? It had been torture having her at the lodge with her brother – his best friend – and not being able to tell either of them how he felt.
She made quote marks in the air with her gloved hands. ‘Use your heels or your toes depending on whether you’re going uphill or down. I remember. Quinn told me enough times.’
‘Are you sure you don’t want me to take you back?’ Jed checked.
‘Aye.’ Mairi nodded glancing up at the falling snow. ‘I don’t think we can afford to spare the time, do you?’
She was right, but Jed had an uneasy feeling about letting her come with him.
‘Besides, I’m going to worry until we find Bear.’ Mairi wrinkled her nose. ‘What will Effie say if we go back without him?’
Jed shrugged. His aunt would be distraught. She loved her pets – they were like family. He glanced over his shoulder towards the slopes. The snowfall had grown thicker while they’d been talking. There were fewer people skiing and the wind had picked up. ‘We need to hurry then,’ he said. ‘This weather’s not going to get better. I don’t think either of us wants to get caught outside if it gets much worse.’
He tried not to think about Quinn’s reaction if he knew Jed had taken Mairi out in a blizzard. Her brother would definitely lay all the blame at his door. He couldn’t disagree, but he couldn’t go back to the lodge without his dog either and Mairi was right, they needed to do this before the weather got worse.
She frowned. ‘We should message Effie so she knows where we are. I don’t want her worrying if I’m late back from the lesson. I’m supposed to be helping her this afternoon. There’s a new guest coming and she wants to be properly prepared.’ She tugged off her gloves, got her mobile from a pocket and tapped a quick message. ‘Also, she’ll worry if you’re late for your next lesson.’
Jed grimaced and checked his watch. He had another starting in half an hour, but chances were the classes for the rest of the day would be cancelled. ‘You’ll be lucky to get a signal,’ he said, nodding at the phone.
‘It’s worth a try,’ she murmured, still texting. When she’d finished, she looked up. ‘Is your knee going to be okay for the walk?’ She pointed into the distance. Even with the snow, the path was an uneven mess of spikey shrubs and small trees. ‘Because you could head back while I find Bear for you?’
‘My knee is fine. I’ve never felt better,’ he said stiffy. No one had checked if he’d be okay to do anything in the snow before the accident. The idea that anyone – especially Mairi – would think he wasn’t capable now affected him far more deeply than he wanted to admit.
‘Okay.’ She nodded. ‘Then let’s go and find your dog.’
They didn’t talk for the first ten minutes, but both of them took turns calling for Bear. Jed couldn’t hear much above the wind, which was now a howling squall – and despite the protection ofthe trees, spiky snowflakes the size of Christmas baubles rained down on them.
‘Do you think he’s still out here?’ Mairi shouted over the noise. ‘Because if he’s got any sense, he’ll have gone back to Holly Berry Lodge.’
‘I hope he did.’ Jed winced, wishing they could too. ‘Feck!’ he exclaimed suddenly, drawing his mobile from his pocket. ‘I forgot about this, I got it last month.’ He tapped his fingers across his mobile which reacted slowly. It often got sluggish in the cold weather, and he held his breath waiting for the app to launch. ‘I put a tracker on his collar for when he wanders off on his own. Not that it happens often, he’s usually too lazy to walk,’ he admitted, sighing with relief when he saw a dot indicating Bear was somewhere in the trees. ‘I’ve got a signal too. Looks like he’s over there.’ He checked the ground, but any prints that had been left had already been blanketed by snow.
He pointed right, then watched as Mairi overtook him and began to half run, half trot in the direction he’d pointed. ‘Bear!’ she cried.
‘Slow down,’ he shouted. ‘There’s stuff buried in the snow.’
Either she wasn’t listening or she’d forgotten because after ten steps she caught her foot and tumbled, falling heavily onto her front. Jed could barely feel his heartbeat as he sprinted to where she was lying. ‘Mairi?’ He dropped to his haunches, ignoring the fresh wave of pain in his knee because now there was an even bigger one in his chest. His breath came in quick pants and he had to slow it so he didn’t panic. ‘Are you okay?’
He thought he might have heard Bear bark and wondered if the dog knew she’d fallen. ‘Mairi,’ he said again, gently patting her back.
She groaned and he slumped in relief when he saw her chest rise and fall. Could he move her? She was still lying on her front,her forehead and chin squashed in ice. He was about to shake her arm when she moaned again.
Then she wriggled and put her hands on the ground. ‘Ouch.’
