Page 32 of A Season in the Snow
‘Ooh, now that sounds like a tonic,’ said Liz.
‘Shall we take you back to Switzerland and leave you there?’ Alice joked, running her fingers through the thick fuzz of his chest. Bear lifted and paw and plonked it heavily across her arm. ‘I mean . . . you would probably quite like a visit to your home country. You could visit all your relations.’
‘Switzerland wouldn’t be too hard to drive to,’ Liz nudged.
‘I know,’ Alice answered. ‘It was going to be the last stop on Jill and my trip.’
‘And it won’t be too cold yet – your dad and I went there around this time of year when we were first married.’
‘I have a friend who lives in Switzerland – Vanessa. We were going to visit her while we were out there, and she was fine having a dog to stay in her house.’ Alice was thinking out loud, still playing with Bear’s fur.
‘Why don’t you call her?’
‘I think I’ll email. I don’t want to put her on the spot.’ Alice reached for her laptop. ‘I’ll just check what the rules are about driving through the Chunnel with pets . . . I know you can do it, but it was Jill who looked into all that before. Hey, look.’ She had already distracted herself googling Bernese Mountain Dogs in Switzerland and her screen had filled with images of happy pups twinning with her own, standing tummy-deep in the snow, or proudly atop hills. ‘Imagine if it snowed while we were out there. Bear, you wouldlovethe snow, it’ll be like a big cold blanket for you.’
As Alice chattered away to the dog, lost in the happy distraction of research, her mother made an excuse to leave the room. Something about grabbing a jumper from the bedroom. As she left, Alice shot her big smile – it was nice having her mum around.
A few minutes later, Bear walked out after her, stopping in the corridor and looking between the bedroom and back at Alice on the sofa. ‘I know, Bear, the herd has separated,’ said Alice, getting up to go and find her mum. She wanted to tell her the good news: that not only could dogs travel in your car through the Eurotunnel, but that it only took thirty-five minutes, and that there was an exercise area in the departure terminal with free poop bags!
She followed Bear into the corridor and stopped when she heard her mum on the phone in the bedroom, speaking in hushed tones.
‘She’s making plans, Ed,’ she was whispering, pride and pleasure in her tone. ‘ . . . Yes, plans for things to do . . . A holiday first, and also moving house at some point, but something for her to dig her teeth into, beyond the upcoming week.’ Alice listened to her mother breathe more lightly, a sunbeam in her voice. ‘It’s fantastic, like seeing a bit of her old self back again.’
There was no turning back now.
