‘Hindsight’s a wonderful thing,’ said Izzy, trying to sound cheerful when she really wanted to be curled up in her own bed rather than out in this weather.
Ross glanced at her quickly. ‘We should sing.’
‘Sing?’
‘Yes. It’ll lift our spirits. Choose something on my iPhone.’ He gave her his pin and she tapped it in, opening his Spotify account.
‘What do you fancy?’ she asked, intrigued to see his musical taste. It seemed quite a personal thing to do, like being handed the keys to a locked cupboard.
‘Something we can sing along to. Driving through this feels a bit oppressive. Almost otherworldly.’
‘Yes, I keep expecting to see Kelpies rising up out of the loch to lure us to our deaths.’
Ross glanced at the cold, black water outlined by the white of the snow and Izzy saw him shiver at the sight of the stark monochromatic landscape. They could have been the only two people in the world.
‘Ha! Got something.’ She pressed play. ‘A bit of Craig and Charlie will chase off the dark spirits.’
As the familiar beat came on, Ross turned up the volume. ‘A classic.’
‘You can’t beat The Proclaimers for a bit of a singalong.’
‘You know they were born in Auchtermuchty,’ said Ross, shooting her a broad grin. ‘It’s one of my favourite place names. For some reason it always makes me smile.’ He repeated the word, deepening the Scottish vowels. ‘Maybe it’s because we always stopped for an ice cream in Auchtermuchty on the way to see my gran who lived in St Andrews.’
As the familiar refrain about walking five hundred miles came on, they both joined in at the top of their voices and just raising her voice made Izzy feel a lot better, almost defiant against the elements. She had a sudden thought of her unexpected encounter earlier. Philip would never have done anything this silly.
They sang their way through several songs before she switched to Franz Ferdinand and they belted out the chorus to ‘Take Me Out’ as the car crept along at no more than thirty miles an hour.
As they came over the top of a slight incline only a mile from the castle, they both spotted the snow drift blocking half the road. Instinctively, Ross rammed on the brakes. The car juddered with the sudden impact and then began to slide sideways towards the edge of the road. Ross wrestled with the wheel, trying to turn into the skid but gravity had other ideas and when the car reached the edge it began to slide backwards towards the loch.
‘Brace yourself, Izzy,’ yelled Ross, as the car bounced across the rough terrain. He held onto the steering wheel with both hands, trying to wrench back control, pumping the brakes for all he was worth. There was a sudden lurch and the car stopped dead at a slight angle with Izzy and Ross facing downwards.
‘You okay?’ he said, reaching out to grab her hand. He glanced back over his shoulder. ‘We’ve hit a drift, thank God. I thought we were going to end up in the loch.’
‘Me too,’ said Izzy, her voice rasping slightly. Her knees had turned to jelly and her heart was trying to beat its way out of her chest like a frightened bird stuck in a chimney.
They both sat there for a moment almost as if they were catching up with themselves, their breathing loud in the quiet car. Outside, the loch seemed unnervingly close.
‘Now what?’ she asked, as the car rocked slightly, the engine still running.
Ross looked around. ‘I think we’d be best abandoning ship and leaving the car here. Even if I can get out of this drift, I’m not sure we’ll get back onto the road and I don’t want us rolling into the loch.’
Izzy took a few deep breaths. ‘You’re right and it’s not that far to walk.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Except neither of us are dressed for Arctic exploration.’
‘We could stay here but what’s the worst that can happen? I don’t think we’ll develop hypothermia in one mile, will we?’
‘We should be okay if we stick to the road. Or I could do the gentlemanly thing and go and get help.’
Izzy laughed. ‘Don’t be so ridiculous. I’m not some frail little flower. Besides, who’s going to come and help at this time of night? Duncan? What’s he going to do? Get Dolly and Reba out with a sledge?’
‘An interesting picture,’ said Ross with a quick laugh.
‘It’s not that far. Come on.’ Izzy wriggled in her seat and grabbed her hat and scarf from the back seat.
‘You sure? We could sit it out with the engine and heater on. I’ve also got blankets in the back.’
‘What difference will daylight make? It might still be snowing and we could be snowed inside the car.’ Although she could see a possible benefit there. After all, sharing body heat was one of the best ways of staying warm and the thought of snuggling up against Ross’s broad chest had a certain appeal.
