Page 43 of A Winter in Wonderland
Chapter 21
The following morning, bright and early, as per Esteri’s command, we found ourselves in a chunky hire car with heated seats. Or, not-so-bright, but still early. It was just gone eight and the sun here wouldn’t poke above the horizon for another couple of hours, and even then it would be so low that shadows would be long and the snow would be bathed in amber sunrise light until it went back down again a short while later.
We’d begun the three-hour drive north towards Inari, the district of Finnish Lapland known as the heart of Sámi culture, with the aim to first visit the village of Inari itself to meet with Esteri’s mum’s cousin, who worked in the museum there, within the Northern Lapland Nature Centre. After that, said cousin would take us back to her home for the night, and we’d drive back to Luosto tomorrow morning.
I took a sip of my coffee, watching the morning twilightpines rush past the car window. ‘So you’ve never met this cousin of your mum’s before?’ I asked Esteri.
‘Nope,’ she said from the driver’s seat. ‘I don’t think my mum knew her very well, they lived so far apart when they were kids, but they would exchange Christmas cards, so that’s how I knew her address after my parents passed away.’
‘What’s her name?’
‘Kalle.’
‘Are you nervous?’ I asked, sneaking a look at her.
‘Yes, a little bit,’ she admitted. I liked how honest and authentic Esteri always seemed. She wasn’t afraid to admit vulnerability. ‘They are the only family I have left, you know, so I hope they are nice. And I hope they like me.’
‘They will.’ I nodded, my gaze falling back out of the window.
‘What makes you so sure?’
‘I like you. You’re a nice person.’
‘So I have your stamp of approval and therefore everyone else will feel the same?’ Esteri cast me a sideways smirk.
‘Exactly. Seriously though, you’re very easy to talk to and you’re kind, if a little intimidating, so I think this will go well.’
‘Intimidating?’ Esteri laughed.
I chuckled. ‘Just a little.’
It was nice to be out here on the open road. It felt like we’d left Christmas behind us for a couple of days, if that made sense. We were taking a break from tourists and responsibilities and festive cheer and elves.
We travelled a little further in easy silence, watchingas Lapland slowly, slowly had the brightness turned up, a notch at a time. Sometimes we passed lakes, sometimes the road took us right over them, but they were almost always frozen over; vast, flat vistas that looked like they begged to be skated upon.
‘It’s pretty cool, huh?’ Esteri commented as we drove the low road over one of the frozen lakes.
‘Lapland isactuallyincredible,’ I replied.
‘You sound surprised?’
‘I guess I didn’t quite know what to expect. I feel like I didn’t know much about Lapland beyond trips to meet Santa Claus, before I came here.’
‘Ah, but Santa Claus is onlyoneof the best bits.’
I turned in my seat to face my friend. ‘You said this was your fourth year here. What keeps bringing you back, do you think; is it the Christmas stuff or Lapland itself?’
‘That’s a good question,’ Esteri answered and looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘For a long time I thought it was the Christmas stuff, because I just love the lights and atmosphere and the faces of the tourists and the fun everyone has, and, oh, the Christmas Eve party – I love it.’
‘Christmas Eve party?’
‘You didn’t know about that? Love Adventuring Lapland puts on a Christmas Eve party every year in the activities’ lodge for both guests and staff. There’s food and dancing and Santa comes. Not all companies offer a party on Christmas Eve, so it’s quite popular.’
‘I can imagine.’ My first thought was,oh no … a Christmas party. And then it occurred to me – maybe it wouldn’t beso bad this year. Being right on the night before Christmas held a certain significance, like a celebration that I would have made it all the way to the big day without the ‘curse’ befalling me. That is,ifI made it that far.
‘Anyway,’ Esteri interrupted my thoughts. ‘So I love all of that, but actually, the more I come here the more I just think I love the place itself, you know? The scenery, the peace and quiet, the people, the light.’
‘The light?’ I looked out at the cornflower-blue sky.
