Page 33 of A Winter in Wonderland
Chapter 16
‘Hello!’ I greeted my guests, clutching my snowshoes under one arm while I waved like a children’s TV presenter with the other.
I was pleased to be guiding a couple, rather than a family, for my first trip out. I was having an attack of guilts at some poor kids getting lumped with me when all they wanted was the most wonderful time of all their years.
The couple were early-twenties, and she had one of those fuzzy headbands and her pale-lilac hair in a ponytail coming out of the top. Even bedecked in our bulky onesies she looked Insta-worthy, and her partner seemed to agree as he took a million selfies of the two of them before we’d even set off.
And then, when she, Anna, was having her snowshoes fitted, he pulled me aside.
‘I’m going to propose on this holiday,’ he told me in awhisper. His name was Alexander, and he had a lovely rich Scottish accent which combined beautifully with her bubbly, pretty, Welsh voice.
‘You are?’ I asked, a genuine smile spreading across my face. ‘Where? When?’
‘I don’t know, I can’t wait, I want to do it right now!’
‘Well, maybe wait until somewhere a little more romantic than the boot-fitting room. But we’ll be visiting some pretty spectacular places today so let me know if the mood strikes and I can go off and hide behind a tree or something.’
‘Actually, if I do it today, I wondered if I could ask you to be the photographer?’
‘Oh, of course!’
‘Of course, what?’ asked Anna, stepping over to us, snowshoes on, beaming away.
I faltered for a second. ‘Of course, we’ll see lots of snow,’ I said.
Anna laughed and caught Alexander’s eye, who let out a big fake laugh but gave me a secret thumbs-up.
Leaving the activities’ lodge, I led the two of them away and into the forest, smiling to myself as they giggled and slipped and marvelled at the thickness of the snow under their large metal shoes.
Once we were in a little secluded patch where the trees rose tall around us and the only sound was the patter of snow dropping from higher branches, I turned to tell them about their upcoming walk.
Taking a big, deep breath, and using my best big-girlvoice, I said, ‘All right, how are you both feeling so far? Shoes feel OK?’
Anna lifted one leg in the air, sending a sprinkling of snow fluttering to the ground from the wide, tennis-racket-like base of the shoe, which strapped onto the underside of her boot. ‘Feels good,’ she said. ‘It’s harder than I thought it would be though.’
‘It is, and just wait until you feel your leg muscles tomorrow. But I think you said in the morning you were going on a reindeer sleigh ride, right? Now that’s relaxing.’
‘I can’t wait for that,’ said Alexander. ‘But I think this will be really fun.’
I nodded. ‘It will. So today, I’ll be taking you through the forest trail and then we’ll be going up one of the fells and you’ll see amazing views of the countryside plus a frozen lake.’
I looked up at the sky through the trees. On the day I’d done this snowshoe walk with the training group, it was overcast, but now I could see clear blue sky above. Even though daylight hours are a bit short at this time of year, on clear days the light can be spectacular. ‘Ready?’ I asked them.
Alexander seemed to hesitate on the spot for a moment, so I asked, ‘Do you want me to take a photo of the two of you?’
‘Oh, yes please!’ said Anna, and she handed over her phone.
I stood back, snapping pictures of them in the clearing, surrounded by dark green pine needles peeping throughthe white snow. After a handful of photos, I got the sense Alexander hadn’t quite plucked up the courage for the proposal after all so I handed the phone back and off we went on our merry way.
I peppered the walk with facts about Lapland, second-guessing every single fact I told as soon as it came out of my mouth, but I thought it was going pretty well. I mean, I was just walking. I was just regaling facts. I could do this. If tramping through the snow with happy holidaymakers each day was what would get me through the festive season, well it may not be a beach bar in Bali but it was better than organising a Christmas party and having to spend all day deciding between turkey menus and festive playlists.
Besides, like I mentioned, I was just walking, so nothing could go wrong with this, surely?
The three of us started to incline and though Anna and Alexander were ploughing along like mountain goats beside me, I needed a break, so chose the moment we exited from the trees to stop for a snack. And actually, I couldn’t have timed it better.
Stretched before us was the most beautiful vista I’d ever laid eyes on. It looked like a winter screensaver, the kind of ones you get with a new laptop to show off the colours. The sky’s blue melted into lemon yellow, lilac and lavender. The untouched white ground glowed a reflection of the colours, with the palest purple tint. The trees up here were coated in thick, blobby snow, the weight causing the tops of them to furl over and givethe appearance of tall, white Santa hats, rising from the ground. And this view seemed to go on for ever, like we were on top of the world.
‘Wow,’ I breathed into the cold air.
