Stockholm (Getaway collection) by Catherine Steadman

Author:Catherine Steadman [Steadman, Catherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
Published: 2022-08-30T16:00:00+00:00

Out in the forest, Timo helps us into the sleigh, covering us with thick blankets and animal skins before getting up onto the driver platform to click the reindeer on into a gentle trot.

We weave through the trees, away from the glow of the tent, and I feel an ache as we leave its simplicity behind. Around us the snow, in constant motion, sparkles.

The cold seeps into my hands first, though they are deep under the blankets. I feel it prickle my feet as we break clear of the shelter of the forest. Timo slows and turns to us. “The lake. We cross,” he says, indicating a massive stretch of flat snow ahead of us. It must be at least three miles wide and more than two miles across. I would have assumed it was just open land, but knowing a frozen lake lies beneath adds a pinch of dread to its beauty. “The lodge is over there. It will be cold on the ice. We go quick. Temperature has dropped.”

Cold-addled, I blink back at him, and with a crack of the reins, he sends the deer barreling forward onto the frozen ice.

We’re flying across the snow, the cold biting into our faces, when suddenly something sends my gaze shooting up. I just miss whatever it was, the ghost of something high above us. Seb follows my gaze, but there is nothing there.

Halfway across the vast expanse of the lake, I catch it again in my periphery. My eyes fly up, and the sky is alive, swirling like water. A glow of deep emerald pushes to the surface. Moving light, like airborne bioluminescent sea creatures—a wisp, a tendril.

I hear Timo call back to us, “Lights, you see?” But I cannot tear my eyes from it to answer as the sleigh flies on. The sky is marbled with moving streaks of jade, lime, and ultraviolet as if the wind were blowing it. The night air’s on fire.

Sebastian squeezes my hand beneath the sleigh blankets, and the spell breaks, the magic dissipating.

I remember where I am, who I am with.

At the edge of the lake, the reindeer scramble up the slope, and we disappear back into the shelter of a forest. Through the branches above, I can still make out the motion and color of the sky. Until I notice another light ahead, the glow of a building coming into focus between the trees.

It is a glass structure, the inside of which is completely visible from the forest. As we near it, slowing, I can make out the lick of flames in a log burner within, soft plush furnishings, and luxurious Scandinavian design. I see our bags on the porch, and the tracks of a snowmobile leading away into the darkness.

This is where we are staying. A glass cabin in the woods, miles from anyone. This is no city break. And I have no idea how long we will be out here, alone, uninterrupted.

At the door, Timo hands Sebastian the key, and with a nod takes his leave from us.

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