Finding Elizabeth (16 page)

Bubbles grumbled and made woofing noises from her bed on the floor.

“Huh?” Leandra blinked. “I have no idea. Shut up, go back to sleep.”

“Come on, what happened?”

With a reluctant groan and sleepy-eyed, Leandra raised herself up on one elbow, head resting on her palm. “Have you ever slept in that north-facing room?” Katherine shook her head. “Well, I’ve slept in there countless times, but never on a night like we just had. The wind howled, something was thudding against the wall, and I was freezing, I couldn’t get warm so I moved in. I had to get Bubbles, the two-hundred-pound dog, off the bed first; it’s like shifting a furry car. I’ve had a bad, bad night,” she moaned, flopped back onto her pillow and closed her eyes. “I’ll have coffee and oatmeal, thank you,” she said, and snuggled deeper into the mattress.

Katherine smiled and kissed her forehead.

“
Ghghgmmm
.” Leandra grumbled.

Katherine flung her legs over the side and sat still for a moment. She could hear her own heartbeat, it was so eerily quiet. Quickly, she dressed in warm fleecy sweats, then headed for the living room to look out the window.

“Crap!” Heavy snowdrifts had piled up against the side of the cabin. They’d have to shovel their way out. Fuel first. She stoked the fires and made porridge.

Leandra sauntered into the kitchen looking as if she’d been tumbled in a dryer and needed ironing. Even her hair needed ironing. “Ah, porridge,” she sighed, grabbed the wooden spoon and stirred the pot of oatmeal on the hob, “without lumps. Speaking of lumps, where’s Bubbles?”

“I aim to please. I left Bubbles in the bedroom with you. Shit! We’re snowed in, and Bubbles will need to go pee and poo. Aaagh … crap!”

“If she was only a hundred pounds lighter—make that one-hundred and ninety pounds,” Leandra shuffled to the living room door for a look, “you could almost toss her out the window.”

“Drink up and eat your oatmeal, we have to get digging.” The sound of Bubbles’ click-click nails meant she was up and heading towards the kitchen. “Oh-oh,” Katherine said as her dog came in. “Bubbles, drop it!”

Bubbles opened her mouth and dropped a stiletto. “Good girl.”

“Aw, how sweet. She’s bringing you presents.”

“I saved hard for this Badgley Mischka shoe!”

“Your dog has excellent taste. And she’s sniffing about, looking for the other shoe. Or … she has to go pee-pee. I’ll dress,” Leandra mumbled around a mouthful of porridge. She turned and hurried down the hall.

Katherine took her coffee to the back door. She looked out at snow a metre high. “Bubbles, see this wall of snow?” She played with the dog’s ear. “We have to move it before you can get out. I suggest you cross your legs or something.”

“
Woof!
”

“Yeah, I know. And I’d better ring Pierre and see if the performance is on schedule.” She went to the sideboard and picked up the receiver. Nothing. “Bugger!” That meant she would have to try to get a connection using her mobile. She took off her slippers and stood on a dining chair, holding the phone up, hoping for a signal. She climbed on top of the table. Her mother would have a fit if she saw her doing this again. With care, Katherine slowly swung around to find a connection. Trying to get home for Christmas, she knew her mum was keeping an eye on the weather all over Europe and Canada. She dialled her mother first and told her not to worry, then rang Pierre.

Singing at the top of her lungs, Leandra came back dressed for digging snow. Katherine gestured, asking for quiet. She finished her call and got down off the table. “In case you’re wondering, the performance is still on, and Pierre can’t get here to help dig us out. He could ring around and find someone, but we’re not the only ones stuck.”

“We can do this. Men are useless anyway. Except for Pierre of course, but then he’s really one of the girls,” Leandra said, and began digging.

It wasn’t long before they’d cleared a corridor with a long snow ramp leading up. Katherine climbed out, tugging Bubbles, while Leandra pushed the dog’s rear.

“
Ugh—ugh!
Crap! Bubbles farted.
Ugh
gross, what do you feed this puppy?”

“Sorry, Lea.” Katherine laughed. “She does have a big arse.”

“Oh, really? I’d never have guessed,” Leandra called back.

Outside, Katherine turned her face to the winter sun and closed her eyes, enjoying its meagre warmth. She looked around at the untouched snow crystals sparkling on fir trees and snowdrifts. With her back to the cabin, Katherine could almost imagine she was in a forest clearing and not her backyard.

“I’d better go and check on George and his wife Francie,” Katherine said. Just as she was heading towards the gate, a lump of snow arced through the air. “Seems they’re okay. It’s probably their grandson Bo, shovelling his way through to their front door.”

“Really? I might go and help.” Leandra winked.

“Stay right there. Do not make moves on Bo.”

Leandra leaned on her shovel, catching her breath. “Aw, spoilsport,” she teased.

“Come on, we’ll stretch our legs and finish breakfast later.”

“I’ll go up and check on the cars,” Leandra said. More lumps of snow went flying. “Bo must have energy and muscle,” she whispered to Katherine as she headed for the back gate.

The six-foot-high fence had snow piled up on the other side. Getting through the gate was impossible. Katherine shaded her eyes and called out, “Wait, Lea, I’ll give you a leg-up.”

“I don’t need a leg-up, jeez.” Leandra leapt and caught hold of the top, pulled herself up and climbed over army style. Katherine shook her head and smiled.

When Bubbles had done her business and had a frolic, Katherine scooped up her dog’s poop, bagged it for binning and went back inside.

After stoking the fires, Katherine fed Bubbles her breakfast, reheated the oats and made another coffee. She was just taking her first mouthful when Leandra yodelled as she slid down the snowy ramp. She shucked off her outer layers and boots and walked into the kitchen, laughing. A glance at her watch told Katherine they had a couple of hours to kill before they needed to get ready. “What’s happening with the cars?”

“What cars?” Leandra raised a sarcastic eyebrow. “We’ll have to shovel them out and even then we don’t know if the roads are clear. Mountain View Road doesn’t look to be.”

“Shit!” Katherine paused in thought. “I wonder how Bo got here?”

“I talked to him on my way back,” Leandra grinned. “Guess what we’re doing?”

“I have no idea and the suspense is killing me,” Katherine said, elbow resting on the table, chin in the palm of her hand.

“Bo arrived this morning. He didn’t have a problem getting here on his Skidoo and he pulled a trailer with his snow-blower on it. He said if we didn’t mind a bit of a squeeze, he’d take us into town. Our worries are over, but we have to be ready in an hour. Oh, and I knew you’d worry so I asked, and Bo said he’d clear the back gate and back door so George can look in on Bubbles.”

Katherine pushed her chair back and, arms out, headed for Leandra. She gave her a tight squeeze. “Thank you. That’s brilliant!”

“Yeah, I know,” Leandra said, eyebrows raised. “What would you do without me?”

Showered and dressed, Katherine waited in the living room for Leandra, who’d said she had a surprise.

“Here,” Leandra said, “one for you and one for me.” She had two enormous, puffed-out plastic bags the size of exercise balls.

“Wow! What is it?”

“Open it,” Leandra urged.

Scotch tape sealed the top. Katherine picked at it to find an end.

“Oh, for crying out loud,” Leandra exclaimed, grabbed the bag and ripped it open.

Like a spring-loaded soft toy, the whole lot burst free and grew to three times its size.

Bubbles leapt about and barked.

“Shush, it’s okay. See?” Katherine held it near her dog’s nose. “Nothing to worry about. Aunty Lea brought it and she’s going to tell me what it is.” Discovering it wasn’t something to eat, Bubbles ambled to her bed, circled several times and, with a grunt, made herself comfortable.

“It’s going to look amazing.” Leandra found the collar and held it up. “It’s a fake fur floor-length cape-coat.”

“I’m in awe. What a beautiful thing. It looks so real the way it’s banded horizontally. Where did you get them?”

“The promoters. Part of the prize package at Chamonix.”

“It’s sensational, I’m going to love wearing it.” Katherine laid hers carefully on the back of the couch.

Warming their hands around mugs of marshmallows melting in hot chocolate, they waited for Bo to call. While sitting by the old combustion stove, they chatted about men.

“By the way, you still owe me all the glorious details about your date last night,” Leandra said, and licked froth from her top lip.

Katherine sipped her hot chocolate and, over the rim of her mug, gave her friend a look.

“Well?” Leandra demanded, waving a teaspoon loaded with marshmallow. “Don’t just sit there with an I’ve got a secret, na-na-na na-na face. Give!”

Leandra’s straight talking could always make Katherine laugh. “Jack is …” she began, not knowing where to start. “He’s interesting, and a great dancer. You know what it’s like to slow dance and lose yourself as you float across the floor in a man’s arms?”

“Yeah, indescribable. You move as one, it’s
so
… sexy.”

“Uh huh, and you just want it to go on and on, through to the bedroom. Trouble is, you’re nowhere near a bedroom. Had I been near one, I—”

“
Ooh
, stop it.” Leandra hugged herself. “You told me once when a guy knows you’re a dancer, they’re too intimidated to even try.”

“Not this man. His focus was on
me
—the person, not the career. He was dreamy, intoxicating. We arrived in a sleigh and went home in one.”

“Wow! That’s so romantic. Why doesn’t that ever happen to me?”

“Maybe fellas think you’ve seen enough snow. And they feel they can’t compete with all the excitement in your life.” Katherine inclined her head. “It’s just a theory, Lea.”

“Yeah, but it’s a good one.” Leandra nodded, her face all cute and perky. “I know it shouldn’t matter these days, but men are intimidated at the way I race down a slope at speeds that scare the hell out of them. And it’s something they don’t want to admit. At least, I haven’t met one that would.” She spooned melting marshmallow into her mouth, her voice muffled as she tried to speak through the froth. “There’s nothing happening in my life, so I’ll live vicariously through yours. Come on, what happened? Did you … did he …?”

“You were here. We kissed, I said goodnight and he left with a smile on his face.”

“And he was smiling because?” Leandra waited. “Come on, that’s not fair, you’re not giving me the juicy bits.”

“All the juicy bits happened on the dance floor.” Katherine eyed her friend. “And don’t read anything into that. He’s a good dancer, end of story.”

“But he smiled,” Leandra gasped. “You know what that means, don’t you?”

“No, but I’m sure you’ll enlighten me.”

“He’s not finished with you yet. You wait and see, he’ll pop up somewhere.”

“He’s got more important things to do, and so do we.”

Snowdrifts covered the drive and pathway to the front door. Jack spent the morning walking back and forth scooping snow. He warned Dave about the blizzard, but Dave insisted that travelling in these conditions wasn’t a problem. He told Jack snowploughs all over the country would be clearing the roads, fast. The highways for sure, Jack thought, but not the suburbs.

By noon there was still no sign of Dave. Jack tried ringing his mobile.

“Yeah!” Dave snarled.

“I expected you hours ago. What’s going on?”

“Crikey,” Dave grumbled, “the highway is full of trucks and people going places they can’t get to, because, hello, it snowed last night. You’d think they’d have the decency to stay home. I can’t, I’ve got a job to do.”

“Where are you?”

Dave’s dark blue Jeep pulled up. Jack opened the front door and stared at the car plastered with snow. There was no movement, no energetic Dave bouncing out of his car. Jack waited a few breaths, and then called out, “Dave?” But there was no response.

Boots on, Jack shuffle-walked to Dave’s car. He stooped over and peered through the window, noticing movement inside. The driver’s door slowly opened and Dave crawled out, wearing a fur-lined parka and massive boots. He grabbed a duffel bag and a plastic suit cover from the back seat. Face like the arse-end of a goat, Dave said nothing and shuffle-boot-skated up the icy path to the front door.

“Rough trip?” Jack asked, grabbing the duffel bag.

“You could say that,” Dave said, teeth clenched.

“Why does it look like a giant dumped a pile of snow on your car?”

“Not a giant,” Dave shook his head. “A snowplough.”

“What are the odds,” Jack quipped.

Dave gave him a look. “Yep, unscathed all the way from Calgary. I turn the corner into Granite Drive and—flop! instantly blinded. I don’t scare easily, but just for a minute there, I thought the friggin’ thing was going to chew up my car with me in it.”

“Whiskey?”

“Triple, no ice.”

“
Mate
,” Jack crooned, and put an arm over Dave’s shoulder.

Dave muttered under his breath, toed his boots off, shrugged out of his coat and hung it in a drying closet next to the entry hall.

“What’s with the Arctic gear?” Jack asked.

Dave gave him an are-you-kidding-me look. “It’s freezing out there. Forget the nose hairs snapping off. Unprotected, a man’s most important bits are snap-frozen in seconds.”

“Sit.” Jack pointed to the leather couch in front of the open fire. He poured them both a whiskey. “Here,” he said and handed one to Dave.

“How’s the search going?” Dave asked and took a sip.

“I’ve checked Births, Death, and Marriages. I’ve inquired at the hospital; they don’t give that information out to a person who’s not a family member. Those files are over thirty years old, and probably in storage somewhere. I’ve checked the library’s old newspapers, nothing. I went to the police station; maybe there was a record of a parking ticket, traffic violation, nothing. Even went through their missing persons file. Nothing. I’ve hit a wall. What about you?”