Page 79 of A Season in the Snow
‘This is beautiful,’ she said to her parents.
Liz looked so pleased. ‘We thought you’d like it. We’d seen photos of it in the paper. It’s quite calming, isn’t it?’
‘Yeah,’ Alice agreed. Despite everything that had happened, she had to admit that there were some things about London you just couldn’t beat.
They stood, looking up for a long moment until Alice became aware of how the cold air must be feeling to her parents, so she tore her eyes away. She was ready to battle her way through the crowd, expecting to need her guard up for the barrage of hostile, busy, suspicious people.
It was busy, yes, but the atmosphere was jolly. Shoppers were smiling and hauling their great bags of last-minute shopping, Christmas music floated out of every shop along with a puff of warm air, visitors leaned and stood on tiptoes and waited patiently for their turn to get close to the window displays of the big stores to take photos.
These people weren’t scared, nor were they full of hate. This wasn’t the image she’d been cultivating in her mind, born of her own demons. Butthiswas London. Resilient, not resentful. Strong enough to let happiness in. The London she had loved hadn’t gone away; she had.
‘Here we are. Remember when we used to bring you here as a child every Christmas?’ Ed asked, coming to a stop outside Hamleys, the huge toy shop that was the world’s oldest, and a London institution.
As there had always been, a couple of toy demonstrators dressed in the signature red coats were in front of the store, whirling colourful playthings and keeping up an ongoing chatter to welcome in customers, who all dutifully made their way in through the vast open doors.
It was madness, but a happy madness that Alice remembered so well, and because of that it made her feel safe.
The three of them entered the store and, without any real purpose, were swept along until they found themselves in the soft toy department, where a cuddly dog caught Alice’s eye.
‘Look, a Bear! Not abearbear, a My Bear!’ She held up the stuffed Bernese Mountain Dog, its orange-thumbprint eyebrows, white nose and feet and flash of Swiss kiss on the back of his neck so familiar. ‘I have to get this, a Christmas present for that puppy when I get back.’
‘I’ll buy that for you, love,’ said Ed, reaching for the soft toy.
‘That’s all right, Dad, I’ve got this.’
‘No, let me,’ he smiled.
Liz walked past them to look at some classic Hamleys teddy bears and whispered, ‘Let him do this, you’re still his little girl.’
Ed looked pleased with himself as he headed to the till, leaving his wife and daughter to mosey around the Harry Potter displays.
‘Is Dad okay?’ Alice asked.
‘Yes, he’s fine, we both are, I just know he’s been thinking a lot about what happened to Jill, and what would have happened if . . . you know.’
Alice nodded, full of sadness for her dad’s aching heart. ‘Do you see Jill’s parents around much?’
‘Sometimes. We’ve been over a couple of times. They always ask after you.’
‘How do they seem?’ To be honest, Alice didn’t really want to know the answer to any of this, but she still felt compelled to ask. She could well imagine how Jill’s mum and dad, and her brother, seemed – sad, angry, broken, bitter.
‘They’re . . . coping,’ Liz replied. ‘But they walk a little slower now, talk a little less. Sam has been coming back a lot and helping them with things. They ask after Bear as well, and I’ve shown them some of the photos you’ve been sending me, of the two of you in the snow.’
Alice wondered how they felt seeing her off having a jolly holiday with their daughter’s dog.
Her mum put an arm around her, pulling her back to the present. ‘They were happy to see them. They seem happy that you’re looking after him so well, in a place Jill talked a lot about taking him. They aren’t angry, Ali, I promise you. And they wouldn’t have any reason to be.’
‘But—’
‘It’s Christmas, my love. I hope you can give yourself the gift of a break.’
At that moment Ed reappeared clasping a Hamleys bag with the Bernese Mountain Dog toy inside. ‘Merry Christmas to you and Bear,’ he said, as jolly as Santa.
‘Thank you.’ Alice hugged him, feeling like she was ten years old again. ‘Do any of you fancy eating soon? I’ve got a sudden hankering for a pie and mash, though it’s more like an early dinner than a late lunch now. My treat.’
‘Well, our treat,’ Liz corrected. ‘I doubt you have a lot of dosh this Christmas.’ She smiled as she said it, and Alice thought,it actually feels good to be home.
Two hours later they were finishing the last morsels of mince pie and hot chocolate from their table at the Queens Head pub near Piccadilly Circus, tummies full, just like they should be at Christmas time. Liz and Ed had told her all about their past couple of months: the Halloween trick or treaters they’d had for the first time, and that they’d had to give out all of Liz’s supply of KitKats because they hadn’t had any other sweets in; the village fireworks on bonfire night which had been a complete washout but fun nonetheless; and how Ed had only finished his Christmas shopping two days earlier. In return, Alice told them about seeing Vanessa again, trying snowboarding for the first time, and her new friends. She felt herself smiling as she talked about them, especially as she enthused about how helpful Marco had been, and pressed her lips together, remembering.
