Twenty-One
Thursday 1st October
We’d been walking for over an hour, and I was desperate for some water and a flapjack. Firefly Forest had a rich array of wildlife and the further we were from the retreat, the more impressive it got. Puffins flew silently overhead, skidding into the water, next to birds of every shape and colour. Guillemots and gulls flittered with pink-footed geese and oystercatchers, and Mark was in his element, ticking them all off in his bird-watching book. Herds of elk and reindeer ran together in the distance, moving as one for protection, and the occasional eagle swooped past.
It was a joy to be out in the fresh air, but I was still smarting from Mark’s bizarre arrival, despite him apologising over dinner.
‘You said I should check it out? When you messaged me?’ he said, seeming surprised that I was annoyed.
‘Are you serious? You thought I meant you should physically come over to check it out and sleep on my sofa? Rather than “checking out” their website, for example?’
‘Fine, I’m sorry – it was a misunderstanding,’ he said with a bashful smile. ‘I’m only here for a few days. I didn’t think you’d mind so much.’
‘Of course I mind!’ I huffed. ‘Not that there’s much I can do about it now.’
‘In my defence, the cabins looked much bigger on the website,’ Mark argued. ‘You’ve been booking our holidays for years, I wasn’t really sure how to…’
‘Mark – look!’ I whispered, putting a finger to my lips and treading carefully. Three reindeer calves were grazing with their mum next to a pine tree. Little brown, fluffy things, nibbling away at the grass. I silently pulled out my phone and zoomed in. This was going to be my Christmas card. I took a tiny step closer and somehow slipped on a branch, thudding to the ground and sending them scampering back into the woods. Four white bums bouncing off through the air.
‘Very slick,’ Mark said, watching them through his binoculars. ‘This area is huge, you know. I reckon it’s still another mile or so to the shore.’
‘Yeah, Tore said it was ten by ten or something like that.’
‘Did he? Interesting. They’re barely using any of it then,’ he mused.
‘Hmm, I don’t know. I’ve seen loads since I’ve been here. The activities stretch across it.’ I shaded my eyes to see. ‘We went alpine touring up that mountain a couple of weeks ago. Then husky sledding over on the west side, near the water. They employ people from the mainland to come over on different days, depending on what we’re doing.’
‘Nice. A local business model. Keeps everything tight.’
I sat on a chunk of wood that could almost pass for a bench and dug out my water bottle. ‘Can we stop for a few minutes?’
‘Sure,’ Mark said, slipping off his rucksack. He slapped himself hard on the neck then checked his hand. ‘Gotcha, you little bastard.’
‘Get some of this on you,’ I said, handing him my insect repellent.
‘Amazing, thanks, I didn’t bring any,’ he said gratefully, spraying himself all over.
‘At least I’m good for something.’
‘You are,’ he said. ‘And what am I good for?’
‘Are we in a pantomime?’
He pulled a hip flask out of his bag with a grin. ‘Drink?’
‘Mark! You’re not allowed booze in here!’ I said, looking around furtively to check no one was watching.
‘Er… yes I am. I’m a grown man on holiday – I’m not here to practise abstinence. Of any kind.’
The sharp whisky fumes punched me in the nose as he unscrewed the cap, and I could taste it in the air as he glugged it down. Not a very gentle option for eleven in the morning.
‘No thanks, I’m on a detox,’ I said, as he offered it to me.
‘A detox, eh? Anything else I can tempt you with instead?’ Mark unzipped his jacket like a trench-coat salesman and the pockets were packed with chocolate bars and alcohol miniatures. ‘I read it was vegan and booze-free on the website and wasn’t sure how long I’d last.’
He was a human vending machine, and my eyes were on stalks as I scanned the options, but I had to stay strong. The Nilsens took the rules so seriously and I didn’t want to let them down. I bit into my flapjack and closed my eyes to distract myself.
‘Dealing Double Deckers at your age – tut, tut,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘No booze for me thanks, but I’ll take a tonic on the rocks.’
