The Christmas of Adventure

©2015 June E.

Philip, Dinah, Jack and Lucy-Ann are excited at the prospect of spending their first Christmas together, but by Christmas Eve all their plans lie in ruins. Things get even worse when a severe snowstorm brings the country to a standstill and leaves Bill snowbound, hundreds of miles away. Forced to fend for themselves in Bill's remote moorland cottage, rumours abound of a strange and terrifying creature lurking in the woods nearby... and with a ruthless thief on the loose, striking at night and stealing birds from the local Sanctuary, the scene is set for a frightening and perilous adventure. Can they stop the thief before it's too late? Or will Kiki be the robber's next victim?

Chapter 8: 'Until then, we're on our own.'

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Dinah woke first, but she was so snug and comfortable on the sofa that for a few minutes she didn't even open her eyes, let alone move. Instead, she listened to the sounds of the morning. The wind had died down, and outside there was the dense quietness that always seemed to follow a heavy fall of snow. Dinah heard the lazy crackles of the dying embers of the fire, and in the far distance, a peel of church bells. It was morning – but not just any morning – it was Christmas morning!

As soon as this thought struck her, Dinah sat up with a start. It was Christmas morning – and what a strange one it was. They were all alone at Bill's house, with no idea when he would return, and no electricity until the power lines were mended. It felt most peculiar, but at the same time quite exciting.

Observing that her brother and friends were still asleep, Dinah crept down off the sofa and smoothed out the wrinkles and creases in her jumper and skirt. The sitting room curtains were closed, so the room was still quite dark. Tip-toeing to the fireplace, she took the poker and gave the glowing embers a stir. Sparks flew up the chimney, and a tiny flame reappeared in the last fragments of blackened wood. She remembered the many lectures she had had from Philip whilst camping, and knew that you can easily smother a fire if you put great big logs on it before the kindling is properly alight. So she took some sheets of newspaper from the pile next to the fire, scrunched them up as quietly as she could, and then gently placed them onto the tiny flame. She followed this with some sticks of kindling wood. Only when the kindling was properly alight did she pile on some bigger logs. Satisfied with her work, she leant back and watched the flames.

'Now it will be nice and warm for when Jack, Philip and Lucy-Ann wake up,' she thought.

Pleased with her success with the fire, Dinah decided to see if she could make breakfast for everyone. She opened the sitting room door quietly and found herself in the hallway, which was bright with daylight. Blinking, she pushed open the kitchen door and went inside. The cottage kitchen was small, but light and neat; it had a large window overlooking the snow-covered back garden, a black and white tiled floor and cupboards painted in duck egg blue. There was also a small gas cooker, a white porcelain sink and an oak table.

Before long, Dinah had boiled some water and washed the dirty dishes from the previous night's tea. She dried them with a clean blue and white striped tea towel before starting on the breakfast.

'A big pot of tea and a huge dish of porridge each,' thought Dinah. 'That will be a good start to the day.'

Just as the tea was brewing and the porridge bubbling merrily in the pan, three sets of eyes peeped round the edge of the kitchen door.

'Merry Christmas, Dinah!' cried Philip, Jack and Lucy-Ann.

'Oh fantastic, you've got breakfast ready!' said Lucy-Ann, beaming.

'And was it you who got such a good fire going?' asked Philip.

Dinah nodded and grinned broadly – she was pleased that Philip had noticed that she had done a good job with the fire. Organising everyone, she said, 'Jack, you carry the teapot in and then see to Kiki's breakfast; Philip, take in the milk jug and some mugs; Lucy-Ann, if you carry two bowls of porridge, I'll carry the other two. Now let's all tuck into breakfast – I'm famished!'

After enjoying their breakfast, the four children washed their hands and faces, and then gathered together in the sitting room.

'We need to find our bedrooms and unpack,' said Philip, 'then tidy up the blankets and pillows from last night's sitting room camp, wash up the breakfast things, unpack our cases, test the telephone to see if it's working again, find...'

'Goodness Philip,' interrupted Jack. 'Don't forget it's Christmas morning! We should be lazing about and opening presents, just like everybody else!'

'But we're not just like everybody else,' Philip replied solemnly. 'There are no grown-ups here, so we'll have to do everything for ourselves. And what if Bill suddenly turns up and sees how untidy we've made his cottage?'

Everyone looked out of the sitting room window, as if expecting to see Bill coming down the lane in his car. But there was no sign of Bill – just the country lane, some other cottages, and then a vast expanse of woodland, under a dull grey sky.

The children set to work, tidying, unpacking and settling in. They found two guest bedrooms, each with two single beds. Philip and Jack took the one overlooking the back garden; it was sparsely furnished but clean and neat, with bright blue covers on the beds, matching curtains, an ancient oak wardrobe and a chest of drawers.

'This will suit us just fine,' said Jack, putting a small stack of bird books on his bedside table.

'God save the King!' squawked Kiki, fluttering around the room.

'And I think Kiki approves!' laughed Philip.

Leaving the boys to unpack, Dinah and Lucy-Ann went to explore their room.

'Oh it's so pretty!' exclaimed Lucy-Ann. 'I love the patchwork bed covers, and look at this dear little wardrobe!'

'I like the view from the window best,' said Dinah. Then she squealed and jumped back.

'There's a huge spider on the windowsill!' she said, horrified.

'Oh Dinah, it's just a tiny one – and it's quite dead,' said Lucy-Ann, scooping up the minute corpse and tossing it out of the window.

Unnerved, Dinah decided to inspect the view from the boys' bedroom at the back of the house, dragging Lucy-Ann along with her. Looking out of the boys' window, she gave Lucy-Ann a commentary on what she saw.

'You can see the moorland hills from here – goodness, it looks bleak up there! Now I see how Moorland village got its name! I can just make out the road that goes up over the moor. It's completely smooth and white with snow, and it hasn't had a single car on it.'

She stopped speaking suddenly, and stood with her mouth open as a thought hit her.

'Lucy-Ann,' she said slowly. 'The road hasn't got any car tracks on it – none at all. I do believe the snow has made the road over the moor impassable. Until the road is cleared Bill simply cannot get here.'

'But it's Christmas,' said Lucy-Ann, alarmed. 'No one will be working to clear roads until after Boxing Day. Until then, we're on our own'.

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