In some places drifts had accumulated against walls and fences in soft, elegant arches. The four of them skirted the loch and cut across the flat plain towards the woodland. Duncan had directed them to a particular area where there were plenty of Douglas fir trees for them to choose from.
Izzy glanced at the trees, all of which looked pretty similar to her, but she knew that if the tree wasn’t right Xanthe would have no compunction about sending them out to get another.
‘What about this one, Izzy?’ asked Jim, pointing to one of them. ‘That’s about seven foot.’ He stood next to it and reached his hand up above his head to demonstrate the height difference between him and the tree.
‘Looks good to me.’
‘Come on, Ross. I’ll show you how this is done.’
Izzy and Jeanette carried on scouting for trees while Jim gave Ross a lesson in chopping down a tree.
‘Cavemen together,’ whispered Jeanette with a giggle as Jim handed the axe to Ross after showing where to make the first cut. Jim held the tree while Ross cut through the trunk, swinging the axe with surprising, well-targeted grace.
‘You’ve done this before,’ said Jim.
‘No, but I’ve chopped a lot of logs in my time. When he wants some peace and quiet, my dad always goes and chops logs.’ Ross’s mouth twisted in a rueful smile. ‘We would sneak off to the shed when I was younger and he taught me. He has an old armchair and a paraffin heater out in the shed, and always kept a tin of biscuits under the chair. I’m not sure my mum knew about them.’ He lapsed into silence, lost in thought.
Izzy wondered if he was close to his dad as there was a slight air of regret to Ross’s words as he talked about him.
With a creak and a crack, and one final chop, the tree toppled and Jim caught it as it fell. He and Ross loaded it onto the sledge and Jeanette used a couple of bungee ties to secure it.
‘Now you know what you’re doing, why don’t we split up?’ suggested Jim. ‘It’s cold out here and I’ve got some painting to finish.’ He glanced at Jeanette who was pouting a little. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll build your snowman after lunch.’
She brightened. ‘With all this snow, we could build a whole snow family.’
It was agreed that Jim would scout for the bigger tree and that Ross and Izzy would look for the smaller one.
‘You’ll need to go up the hill, to the next plantation. These trees were all planted at the same time, so they’re much the same size,’ said Jim, so Izzy and Ross headed off in the opposite direction.
As Jeanette and Jim’s voices faded, there was utter silence apart from the soft crunch of snow underfoot and the rustle of their heavy coats.
‘Difficult to believe that yesterday we were in the bright lights of Edinburgh,’ said Ross. ‘I enjoyed going to the city but I much prefer this. Calm and quiet.’
‘It’s energising in a way,’ said Izzy taking in a deep breath of the clean, crisp air. ‘The snow makes everything feel new again. I feel like a kid when I take that first step out into fresh snow. Leaving that first footprint. Like I’m making my mark on the world. Even if it’s only temporary, I’m the only person that has stepped there. In the city the snow will be grey by now and churned up.’ She wrinkled her nose.
‘I know exactly what you mean. Come on, we’ve got a tree to hunt down and catch.’ Ross hefted the axe.
‘You’re enjoying this. I can see an axe murderer coming in a future book.’
He grinned. ‘Now there’s a thought. A bloody murder in the snow, in a churchyard in Edinburgh. A medieval axe … or maybe a Claymore.’
‘Are you often thinking about murder?’ asked Izzy semi-seriously.
‘A lot of the time. My Google search history makes for interesting reading. And if someone’s pissed me off, they often become my next murder victim.’
Izzy laughed. ‘I’ll try and be on my best behaviour.’
They walked up the slope to the next set of plantings.
‘Here we go. What do you reckon?’ asked Ross. ‘I wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of Xanthe.’
‘The castle’s going to look so wonderful.’ She imagined the tree in the room and suddenly felt a shiver of excitement. She turned to Ross, grinning. ‘I can’t wait for Christmas.’
‘I can tell.’
‘Come on then, do your thing. Let’s fell this beast.’
Izzy watched him while he chopped the tree down, wondering about the wisdom of throwing a snowball at him while he was wielding an axe. Deciding it probably wasn’t that sensible she waited until he’d put it down and loaded the tree onto the sledge. Taking quick aim she fired a shot and was delighted to see it hit the target, right on his bottom. When he whirled round, she was innocently regarding another tree, her snow-dusted gloved hands hidden behind her back. His eyes narrowed but he didn’t say anything and bent to his task again. It was too much of a temptation a second time, and so again Izzy scooped up another ball of snow and fired it off. For a second time, she hit the target. Ross straightened but didn’t say anything. Feeling mischievous and egged on by his cool indifference, she took another shot … but that was her mistake. This time, Ross levelled a look at her that promised a world of retribution and suddenly she felt a frisson of fear.
