Cherringham--Snowblind Read Free Page B

“Everyone’s up at Winsham Hill, Mum, can I take the toboggan?”
    “If you can find it,” said Sarah. “Last time I looked, it was at the back of the shed.”
    “Are we finished, Jack?” said Daniel.
    “Sure, Daniel,” said Jack. “Nice work by the way — I think your neighbours will appreciate it.”
    Sarah watched Daniel disappear round the side of the house in search of his toboggan, then turned back to Jack.
    “First-name terms now, Jack?”
    “He’s a good kid. Seems crazy him calling me Mr. Brennan.”
    “I don’t see the car — did you walk up?”
    “Sure. Best way to see the village, day like this.”
    “Must be pretty up there — I’ve been sorting the house all morning.”
    “Shut the office, huh?”
    “Not worth opening,” she said. “And I can do anything important on my laptop here.”
    “Hey,” said Jack. “You can’t work on a snow day!”
    “I wish,” she said. “But stuff’ll pile up if I don’t.”
    “So let it pile up. Hey — we could take Daniel tobogganing—”
    “That’d be nice, but no way.”
    “Well, you’re the boss. Your choice.”
    Sarah thought about that — and realised that it hadn’t occurred to her not to work.
    “But you know Sarah, another year or two and that toboggan will be at the back of the shed for good. These days don’t come again. Gotta grab ‘em while you can.”
    She looked at Jack. He was smiling at her — but underneath she could see he really meant it. She knew his daughter was grown up and gone …
    He’s been there, she thought. He’s right.
    “Why not?” she said. “I might even take a turn myself. Used to be pretty good on that thing back in the day.”
    “Attagirl!” said Jack. “So what are we waiting for?”
    “I’ll get my boots.”
    She watched Jack grinning — and could see that this morning the retired cop had gone and standing in front of her was a New York kid with a day’s adventures ahead.

5. Community Spirit
    Jack walked down Cherringham High Street with Sarah at his side, feeling on top of the world.
    They’d spent a crazy couple of hours up at Winsham Hill with Daniel and his pals and he’d loved every minute. The slope was the village’s traditional tobogganing run and it seemed like half the population was up there having fun.
    I’m going to pay for this tomorrow, he thought.
    His legs ached and his knees would not forgive him being put through that kind of punishment, clambering up snowy slopes.
    But this stroll through a picture-postcard version of an English village in winter made it all seem worthwhile. The place was deserted, and in the midday sunshine he thought it looked like a scene from a Dickens story.
    Magical place. Magical day, he thought.
    “I thought you’d never be able to stop!” said Sarah, still laughing.
    “Hey — I was in total control,” said Jack. “Just I’m a little heavier than your average tobogganer — you call ’em that? — so the brakes don’t quite work for me…”
    “The King of Winsham Hill, Jack — you wait till I write today up in the village magazine.”
    “Ouch,” said Jack. “Promise you won’t use the photos, huh?”
    “Buy me a drink and that’s a maybe—”
    “Oh I see — one minute she’s too busy to step out the house and now she’s up for a pub crawl?”
    “Lunch at the Ploughman’s is what I had in mind,” said Sarah. “My treat — for helping clear the snow.”
    Jack considered this. The pub was just a couple of hundred yards down the hill and he realised the morning’s fun had left a big hole in his stomach.
    “Hey, why not,” he said as they drew level with the pub. “See if anyone else is out and about today — apart from the kids.”
    “Then tea and toast by the fire with Daniel and Chloe?”
    “That’s a deal, Sarah.”
    They kicked the snow off their boots on the old iron boot-scraper by the door to the public bar of the Ploughman’s and went in.
    A welcome waft of warm air and cooking smells hit Jack