Page 68 of A Season in the Snow
Chapter 31
Alice pulled her art supplies down off the shelf, where they’d sat, untouched, since she’d arrived in Mürren. Now, the day after she’d had her ‘me-time’ in the café, she spread her belongings on the table, unsure where to begin, until Bear appeared out of the corner of her eye. Looking over, he was stood facing her, tail up in its big, fluffy question mark, and bright, happy eyes. In his mouth was one of her snow boots.
Look what somebody left for me!he seemed to be saying.
Alice chuckled – her bad, she forgot to put them out of the way.
After extracting the boot and stowing it back where it was supposed to be, by the door, but this time a little more hidden behind the coats, she returned to her sketch pad. And three minutes later, there he was again.
She looked up. He had the boot back in his mouth.
He looked so funny, this tufty great puppy, bigger than most full-grown dogs, holding a whopping great boot that nearly touched the floor.
‘You just have to be the centre of attention,’ she said, grabbing her pad and a pen from the pile.
She spent a couple of minutes drawing a quick cartoon of Bear and her boot. She added a line of snow on the ground and some fat snowflakes, and scrawled ‘Kisses from Switzerland’ in the top corner. She always included a little cartoon of some kind with her Christmas cards to her parents, and they’d like this one.
Stepping away from the table she went to Bear, ready to take the boot off him, but this time he wasn’t going to give up his gift so easily. He growled and swung his tail and boinged on the spot, waving the boot from her grasp. She laughed, despite herself. ‘Bear, drop it, that’s my boot, I don’t have warm furry feet like you so I need that back.’
He pushed his front low to ground with his bottom in the air, growled again and sprung up, the boot swinging back and donking him on the head. It didn’t stop him for a second, though.
‘You never take yourself too seriously, do you?’ Alice said to him. ‘I think you’re going to be just the subject I need.’
Alice remembered a TED Talk she’d listened to once where someone had said that actually you can trick your brain by faking it until youbelieveit. Alice had lost her friend, but had also completely lost herself along the way, and it was just possible that she was beginning to find herself again.
The peace that came with starting with a blank page and sweeping shapes and colours, careful lines and just the right level of detail, was something that had always soothed her soul. It helped her make sense of the world.
By lunchtime, she’d created several rough sketches and had a list that trailed two pages of A4 of possible cartoon ideas – funny positions Bear lay in, amusing situations he’d got himself into since she’d had him, his first experiences in the snow, his life in the mountains. She could almost visualise the story of his life coming together through the eyes of her pen. Additionally she’d listed some of her favourite views, venues and experiences since coming to Mürren. She planned to take a mixed portfolio of ten finished drawings to the café within the next couple of days to see what they thought.
‘Look, Bear,’ she said, and he looked up. ‘These are of you. These will keep us busy until I go back to England, won’t they?’
She was walking in the air, Aled Jones style. ‘December is going well so far, Bear,’ she said, and her energy clearly transferred to him because he leapt up and put his giant paws on her shoulders so she could hug him. ‘When did you get so huge? Are we growing together now?’
‘I need some lunch,’ she said aloud. ‘And I fancy something thick and warm and hearty, and I don’t think we should stay in here all afternoon, because we have to keep on growing. You want to come with me to the Eiger Guesthouse?’
Back out she went into the snow, this time with her walking furry blanket in tow, and they set off (carefully) down the slope into the village. It was heaving, the visibility being not great on the slopes, and everybody had given up skiing in favour of the sweet aromas of fondue emanating from restaurant doorways.
Alice and Bear made it to the Guesthouse and before Bear had even stuck his nose in the open doorway to sniff the air, the super-friendly manager Ema came rushing over to embrace him and shower him with dog treats, welcoming them both. She bustled Alice to a great table by the window in the corner, with space for Bear to settle down, should he ever decide to do so. At that moment he was far more interested in craning towards the other tables laden with delicious food.
‘Cardinal Blonde?’ Ema asked, already walking away to fetch a menu for her.
‘Urm, sure!’ replied Alice. Why not?
A waiter returned with her drink and she asked him, ‘What would you recommend?’
‘For you, or for my new favourite dog?’ he replied. ‘I love these dogs. I’m from Germany and we don’t have as many of these as here in the Bernese Oberland, obviously. Now I see them loads and I love lovelovethem.’ To Bear he added, ‘You can help yourself to every person’s plate in this restaurant, yes you can, yes you can.’
A few people on nearby tables smiled politely but shifted their plates away.
‘Anyway,’ he continued. ‘Recommendations. Hmm. You look like you want to warm up. How about this?’
He pointed to a sausage dish similar to the one she’d had last time. ‘Actually, I might go for a pizza,’ she replied, looking at the array of delicious toppings. ‘The Pizza 007 sounds good. What’s the link with James Bond and Mürren? I feel like I see a lot of Bond stuff around.’
‘You don’t know?’ Ema cried, stopping en route past, a hot fondue in her hand. ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Servicewas filmed at the top of the Schilthorn mountain just behind us. At Piz Gloria. It is a claim to fame, even though it was fifty years ago.’
‘Ohhhh,’ Alice replied. ‘I haven’t seen that one.’
‘Watch it as soon as you can,’ instructed Ema, and carried on with her fondue.
