Page 46 of The Secret Christmas Library
‘Oh, GOD, please let it not be pi,’ said Esme.
‘Well,’ said Jamie, standing up. Mirren realised he was a little tipsy, and at the same moment realised she herself was, too – her head was spinning. She drank some water and watched him cross the room to the window, carefully moving through the dark.
‘I don’t know if we’ll find a damn thing tomorrow, in this snow. In the meantime . . . ’ He turned round. ‘We have jolly company. And we have music. We should dance.’
‘Jamie, go to bed,’ said Esme. ‘You’re such a lightweight.’
‘We don’t have any music,’ offered Mirren. ‘You know? Without electricity.’
As she said that he beamed at her, then knelt down to the old record player. To her amazement, she watched him crank a handle at the side and wind it up. Then he unsheathed an old heavy LP; incredibly large, and put it on at, amazingly, 78rpm. It crackled and bounced and then, slightly too fast, on came an old jazz song.
‘Aha,’ he said, then offered her his hand. ‘Madam.’
‘I can’t dance to this!’
‘Nonsense,’ he said, and took her in a formal waltzing position. ‘You must have learned at school.’
‘No,’ said Mirren. ‘We were too busy in shoplifting class.’
‘Hush. Follow me.’
And, much more forward than he might have been without a couple of whiskies, he led her round the great rug in front of the fire, swaying her to and fro. Theo immediately jumped up and held out a hand to Esme, who snorted at him, then to Bonnie, who took him up on it, and the two couples took a spin around the rug, the flames casting their shadows against the high walls as they turned and giggled over the crackling old music. Theo bent Bonnie backwards in a dramatic arch and she laughed, her soft hair tumbling from its heavy bun. Esme meanwhile was still staring at her dead mobile phone, crossly. Outside the snow fell and fell and fell, but the sitting room was, at last, cosy; a tiny spot of light, Mirren thought, in miles and miles of dark, all the way out across the sea; a tiny speck of jollity and warmth among the unforgiving landscape of the north of the world, the freezing waves still pummelling the rocks below.
26
It was hard to break up the party; but necessary. They had, Jamie observed, a lot to do tomorrow.
‘Although we’re all going to be stuck here till March, so I’m not sure why that’s important,’ drawled Esme, yawning and heading for the door. ‘Bonnie, are you going to make it back to the cottage?’
Bonnie glanced out. ‘Nah, the kitchen door is wedged shut. I’m going to stay in the house till this is done. We’ll do a joint effort tomorrow, dig it out.’
Esme nodded.
‘Everyone take a candle and a spare, and don’t leave it burning, you’ll burn the place down,’ said Bonnie.
‘Hang on,’ said Mirren in a sudden panic. ‘I can’t remember the way.’
‘Girls have no sense of direction,’ said Theo, teasingly. Then, with a more flirtatious note in his voice, ‘I’ll show you.’
‘Okay,’ said Mirren, as Bonnie blew out all of the candles save half a dozen or so and left the room with nothing more than the flickering firelight. It was hard, suddenly, to leave the warmth and head out into the long, cold red passageways, the dark corners, the empty, spooky, gloomy rooms containing nothing. She was glad she had Theo to accompany her; she would not have wanted to walk the passageways alone. Outside, the night skywas so thick with snow that there was not a drop of moonlight anywhere; it was so dark, you wouldn’t be able to see your hand in front of your face.
Bonnie disappeared, Esme likewise, storming off with a full candelabra in front of her, even though she was so sure-footed she could probably find her way round the house blindfolded.
Theo headed out into the corridor. Jamie was still sitting, staring into the fire.
‘Well, goodnight, then,’ he said, and his face suddenly looked tired and rumpled, and sad.
‘Aren’t you going up?’
‘I’ll stay here a while,’ he said, nursing his glass.
Mirren nodded. Back in the doorway, Theo raised his eyebrow at her. ‘You coming?’
‘Just a minute.’
He grinned. ‘Alright, then, I’m going down to the end of the corridor to jump out on you and give you a bluey.’
‘Well, I’m not going to have a bluey with all this warning,’ said Mirren.
