Silverstone: Perfection is Not Enough

Chapter 25

"Wakey wakey! Get up! Move it, people!"

I groan, stretching out my arms, and flicker open an eyelid. Early morning light filters through the crack in the purple curtains, the clock on the opposite wall reading six a.m. Sometimes, I really, truly despise Tabitha. 

After the (immensely difficult) task of getting out of bed is done, I poke my head out round the door to see what's going on. 

Tabitha, already dressed in jodpurs and a jumper, in standing in the middle of the corridor, arms crossed, looking just a little too pleased with herself. 

"Tabitha," Rose, who's standing in her doorway, says in a very carefully quiet tone, "What on earth is going on? It is six o'clock in the morning. And I am tired. Why are we awake?"

Tabitha smirks. "Come on, people. It's Christmas Eve!"

Bertie raises an eyebrow. "And...?"

Tabitha sighs. "Well, on Christmas Day, nobody really does anything except eat and open presents. So, I thought that today, we could take food and go on this really long hack."

At the word 'hack', I immediately perk up. "Ooo, I'm in!"

Bertie nods. "Sounds good."

We all turn our eyes to Rose. 

"Oh, fine then!" She sighs. "As long as we can take some of those gingerbread cookies. They're good."

After a giant rush of clothes, food, and slapping Rose to keep her awake, we finally reach the stables with full backpacks.

Bounty nickers, sniffing my palm, and I grin, slipping him a mint. "Merry Christmas to you too, greedy."

We quickly tack up, and head off, with Tabitha leading the way. The air is still, with a numbing chill to it that soon makes me grateful for my gloves, and the sky above is filled with ivory clouds, hanging heavily in the sky. As we switch paces into a lively trot, the hill we've been climbing suddenly drops down, revealing a huge valley beneath us, a patchwork of jade grasses, emerald trees, and purpley heather. Every here and there, clumps of leafless trees stand proudly, their bare branches twisting upwards. A silvery stream twists through the ground, a shimmering ribbon in the early morning sunlight, which slips over the opposite hill gently. 

"It's so pretty here," I breathe, taking in every detail of the landscape. 

"Do you think it'll snow tonight?" Rose asks randomly. Well, it's Rose, so nothing much is random when she says it. 

Tabitha cocks her head to the side, as if in thought. "Maybe," she thinks aloud. "I mean, it didn't last year, so it would be awesome if it did now." 

We fall back into a contented silence, as Tabitha leads us through the valley. I lose track of the time after a while, as we pass over fields, through forestland, and over hills, but when Tabitha finally announces that we're nearly at our destination, it's just past twelve. 

"Okay," Rose starts. "Can someone tell me how we just hacked for five hours straight and didn't notice?"

"It happens all the time when I hack out here," Tabitha informs. "It's just so pretty and fresh you don't notice how long you're spending walking. Okay, here we are."

As we pull out of the last few trees, the space opens up into a huge clearing. The trees surroundings swish gently in the breeze, while the tweeting birdsong makes the perfect melody, but it's not that which takes my breath away. It's the lake, in the middle of the clearing, with its glassy surface and surreal stillness, like a huge mirror. 

And the lake is frozen. 

"Surprise!" Tabitha announces, as she dismounts. "We can skate on it!"