The letter arrived in the first post. She recognised the handwriting as Blaine's. Her heart beat a little faster and her mouth
became dry. She tried to swallow and
found that her throat would not co-operate. Her eyes widened in shock as it
dawned on it that she had not realised how much Danny had come to mean to
her. She wasn't sure how she would feel
if …
She took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly through her nose
as her yoga teacher had taught her.
After a couple of these centring breaths, she opened the letter.
Ten minutes later, she put it down and stared unseeing out
of the window. Several emotions swirled
around her: relief that Blaine had
found nothing to implicate Danny; and a mixture of horror and fascination at his
suggestion as to who may have sent the box.
Dealing with him would be tricky – and that would be after
they'd succeeded in locating him. Blaine
had ideas about that too … She decided to do some checking about that on her
own. Meanwhile, she decided, she needed
a walk.
Twenty minutes later, she was striding across the meadow,
with the frozen grass stems snapping beneath the vibram™* soles of her walking
boots. Her breath formed steamy clouds
that streamed out behind her like flags before they dissipated. The early morning sun struck reflections from
the ice crystals on the trees and fence posts.
Her stride faltered as she reached the lake, and she blinked, seeking to
refocus in the bright sunlight.
She moved slowly towards the shore of the lake, still not
convinced that her brain had correctly interpreted the sight before her. After a few more minutes of walking along a
stretch of the shore, trying to get a different view, she was convinced. There really was a pillar of ice emerging
from the frozen lake. Sitting atop this
marvel, she could see, was a small white cat.
As she watched, a squirrel ran across the ice and began
climbing the pillar. The cat peered
calmly over the edge of its perch and when the squirrel came in range, batted
it swiftly across the head. The squirrel
gave a squeal of protest and dropped back to the icy surface of the lake, where
it stood and, in eloquent squirrelese, berated the cat, volubly.
The cat, as cats are wont to do, sat down, stuck one of his
(she was convinced it was male) back legs in the air and proceeded to clean
between the pads.
Well! she thought, the things you see when you haven't got
your gun!
©10 July 2007
English Rose Productions
Loosely inspired by The Wonders of Ice
*Other sole patterns and constructions are available
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