Scarlet had clearly had enough. “The lights. We need to sort the rest of the lights.”
Terry was exasperated. Scarlet could change the subject all she liked, but they would be there all night. There was plenty of time to chat. They moved into the last empty room. By the time they had finished it would be a magical place to get married.
In uneasy silence they strung the plain white fairy lights up around the ceiling, fireplace and around the door.
“That’s the last lot of lights, I hope,” said Terry as he flicked the switch to make sure all the bulbs were working. Then they went back to admire the tree. “I seem to remember you saying that a Christmas tree could never have too much sparkle,” he said and chuckled. “You must have purchased at least a hundred of those glass ornaments.”
“Whatever happened to them?” Scarlet asked.
“They are exactly where you left them, in the loft,” Terry answered, his face serious as the memory pierced him like a spear. “Nothing has changed. It’s still all the same.”
He remembered how much fun they’d had decorating their own tree at the house. Scarlet had insisted on putting Santa at the top of the tree; the following year it was a fairy.
***
“I need something from the car,” Scarlet said, needing to regain her equilibrium.
Scarlet had been too surprised by his confession to utter a single word on the matter. She walked out into the kitchen and through the back door. The winter breeze would hopefully cool her hot face. Looking at the snowy white blanket that surrounded the houses, she couldn’t believe that he hadn’t sold the house or got rid of any of the things they had bought together.
Sorrow filled her entire being. The past few weeks had felt like they did before. Scarlet had enjoyed his company, yet each day with him was a struggle as her heart and head fought their own private battle.
It was better not to take the chance and believe him, believe that he was sorry. Why pour salt into deep open wounds that had been allowed to fester for years? Scarlet made the decision she couldn’t be stuck here stranded with him for days. Turning around and going back into the house, she crept silently as a mouse to get her bag. She would walk back into Dartmoor town and see if there was a hotel she could stay in.
Surely there would be a train tomorrow that would get her out of her own personal hell. Terry obviously hadn’t heard her. Outside, several fallen branches littered the driveway. Perhaps Terry would bring them in to replace the ones they had used to make the fire.
No, he wouldn’t do that, she thought. He was selfish, only thinking about himself and what was best for him. Lost in thought and not looking where she was going, Scarlet suddenly slipped and slid on the sheet ice, a deep sinking feeling penetrating her soul. There was a loud crack, and Scarlet looked up, frozen to the spot, before the blackness descended over her.
***
Terry grabbed the boxes, putting one inside the other, intending to stack them in the small porch area.
A loud sickening thud, followed by a scream, startled him. He dropped the empty boxes on the floor. Scarlet? Looking at his watch he realised he hadn’t seen her for nearly half an hour. Where had that scream come from? Had she gone upstairs and tripped in the bathroom? Terry took the stairs two at a time, frantically searching the rooms.
Upon checking the room she had chosen as her bedroom for the night, he discovered that Scarlet had taken her bag with her. No she couldn’t have… She wouldn’t be so daft as that. Running downstairs as fast as he could he looked out the window – no Scarlet. Nothing seemed to be amiss. He then went to the kitchen window, facing the back garden, but he couldn’t see anything there either. Walking slowly back to the living room, Terry stopped halfway between the door and the Christmas tree and felt a heavy certainty that there was something very wrong. Terry was terrified at the thought of anything happening to his one true love.
Wrapping himself up and with wellies he had found, Terry hunted around for a torch, finally finding one in the kitchen larder. He headed outside into the wintery night. The path he had cleared to the door and car had whited over, so it was impossible to tell that he had dug one out in the first place. Terry forced his way through the deep snow, shining his torch in every direction.
Panic filled him. He remembered the hurricane of 1987 when all of the Sevenoaks trees fell. There had been deaths and a lot of destruction. Cars houses, power lines – nothing had been spared. Could that be what had happened here? No, not his beautiful girl. Whatever would he do without her? It was knowing she was at least all right that had kept him going over the last two years.
He flashed his torch on for one last look before he moved to look at the front of the house, shining the torch towards the entrance to the driveway. Lying there in a splash of red, half covered by a large tree branch, lay Scarlet. Terry ran as fast he could towards her.
“Scarlet! Scarlet!”
No, no, not this, anything but this. Scarlet! Please be all right, please. I will do anything.
She lay deathly still, a large branch from the oak tree had broken off and was half covering her frame. Terry struggled to lift the heavy branch off her. Scarlet was lying face up but her coat was fastened and her gloves were still on. A dark trickle ran down the side of her face.
He lifted her up in his arms and carried her back towards the house. He hoped to goodness that she was still alive. What would he do if she wasn’t…? No, he couldn’t think like that. She had to pull through.
She felt so cold. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t gone searching for her sooner. Why had he allowed his anger to take over every rational thought?
Terry noticed the large lump that was growing on Scarlet’s head. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He was frightened; he wanted to turn back time. It should have been him under there, out there in the cold. She was his true love. She didn’t deserve this. All she had done was try to help her sister, and his best friend. As Terry continued to mentally torture himself, he heard her moan. Tears ran down his cheeks.
“Scarlet, hon? Can you hear me? We have to get you inside and warm.” He shook her gently. “Please, you need to wake up! Please! Talk to me, shout at me, say something…anything. Tell me what a jerk I was. Anything, please!” Terry’s voice cracked and he worried that she could not hear him. Lifting her upwards, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.
“Please, baby, please open your eyes. I need to make things right.” Anger took hold of him. “I won’t let it end like this! I’m going to fight for you with my last breath if I have to.”
Stepping through the kitchen door, he carried her gently upstairs, placing her on the bed and covering her up with the tartan blanket he had brought. “I’m here, beautiful,” he said through his sobs.
She moaned and slowly her eyes fluttered open for a moment and closed as suddenly. Terry ran to the bathroom to get a towel. Holding it to her head with one hand, he struggled to take his mobile from his pocket with the other. After dialling 999, he reached the operator, and gave him the address – but was told that ambulances weren’t able to get through the country lanes in the blizzard. His only other thought was to phone Bryan and get him to come and help.
He covered Scarlet up with a duvet to try and get some warmth back into her.
“Bryan, it’s Terry. Scarlet’s been in an accident. Can you help?” His words rushed out at a hundred miles an hour as he explained what had happened.
“Calm down, my sister was a district nurse. We will be right with you, if you can just hang on. Make sure you keep pressure on her wound.”
He sat on the bed holding the towel to her head for what seemed like hours. Colour was slowly returning to Scarlet’s face, but he was too terrified to feel relieved.
Hearing heavy footsteps on the stairs, he breathed a sigh of relief as the door opened and Bryan and an elderly lady carrying a bag came bursting into the room. “Terry, this is my sister Ethel. Poor girl – what on earth was she doing?”
“I don’t know,” he replied, hanging his head.
A hand tapped him. “Would you excuse me?” He turned his head to the side, and reluctantly nodded, getting up to stand near the door. He didn’t want to leave her side, but it was important for the nurse to be able to do her job.
Ethel wiped away the blood with sterilised wipes and the used skin glue to seal the head wound, covering it in a loose gauze bandage. He watched in fascination how quickly the lady worked. All he needed to make him feel better was for her to open her eyes, even shout at him if she must.
“You need to keep a close eye on her for the next several hours. Your friend should be all right.” Ethel stood. “Come on, Bryan, let’s get back. Terry, you know where we are if you need anything else.”
Terry held out his hand and shook both hers and Bryan’s. “Thank you so much for coming.” With that they left him alone with Scarlet.
Scarlet moaned, looking at him with confusion in her eyes. She tried to talk but clearly couldn’t form the words. Weakly, she raised her hand to touch his cheek.
“What happened?” she managed to croak, her voice barely a whisper.
“A branch broke and must have hit you on the head. Can you sit up?” Terry asked. He was scared she had hurt herself even more. “Where were you going?”
“Home.”
Closing his eyes, he tried to process the information. Home? Why did she think she could go home and on foot in the middle of a snowstorm? “Of all the silly…” He didn’t bother to finish. Now wasn’t the time for chastisement.
She managed to half lift her head off the pillow but sank back down immediately. Terry helped to lift her into a sitting position.
“I’m so cold,” she said.
Terry wondered anxiously if she was going into shock. He took off her wet outer coat, and pulled her gently towards him so he could take off her wet jumper, revealing the thin blouse underneath. Re-covering her with the blanket, he went to search for a first aid kit.
***
Scarlet’s head pounded. She had never felt this cold before. Her first instinct was to get up and help Terry look for whatever he had said he was looking for, but Scarlet had never felt her head this heavy before, even when she had been out partying all night at university.
She reached up and touched the bandage on her head. She wiped her hand on her blouse and put her arm back under the blankets that Terry had placed tenderly over her.
All Scarlet could remember was that she was going home, or at least walking to the village. That’s when she heard the thunder-like crack above her head. She moved to one side to get out of the way of falling snow but then there was nothing, as the whole world seemed to go black around her. The next thing she knew she was being carried in Terry’s arms back to the house.
Her whole body ached but on wiggling her toes and fingers she came to the conclusion that she hadn’t broken anything. She had been extremely lucky. A lot of people died from hypothermia, but she was now safely under a roof and in a comfy bed and she was slowly getting warm.
***
Terry stood in the doorway. “Hey, I got you a change of clothes out of your bag.”
“Thanks,” she said sincerely. “Can you help me get dressed?” Her voice was a little shaky though that didn’t surprise him given what she had just been through.
“Sure.”
Terry took a few tentative steps towards her. He didn’t want to give her the wrong impression, but he was glad she still trusted him enough to help her. The first aid kit had been in the family bathroom cupboard. Luckily it had paracetamol in it, so he hadn’t needed to hunt around for any.
“Bryan’s sister, the nurse, came to dress your head wound, and she said you should be okay.” Concern etched his voice. “Do you know just how lucky you are?” Scarlet flinched, obviously perturbed by the thought. “I don’t know how long you were out in the snow. You’d been gone half an hour when I started to look for you. I tried searching in the house but I couldn’t find you. I mean, you know how useless I always was at playing hide-and-seek. Anyway…” he stroked her forehead “…I had to find you. I was so worried about you and by the looks of it I had real reason to be.”
“I decided I needed to go home. I mean, you told me you had left everything the same and I just…I just…” A single tear fell onto her cheek.
“Honestly, you could have been really hurt.”
Under normal circumstances he would have enjoyed working with her today. It had been like it used to be – before he managed to royally mess it up. Terry wondered what Scarlet had thought about it. Did she enjoy being with him? If he was truthful with himself, he never wanted to let her go again.
He had never taken the ornaments out, nor had he put up a Christmas tree in his house. There was no point. He was always with his parents, and left them to do it all. Besides, how many trees or other decorations had he helped put up over the years for Cressida and Dream Makers?
“Listen, stay in bed.” He tried to sound stern but he was still worried. “I’ll get you a drink.”
She turned bright red as he asked, “Will you be okay on your own? Are you feeling dizzy? Do you need me?” The last part just sort of slipped out and he wanted her to say yes.
For a split second she seemed like she was going to say she needed him to help her, but then she appeared to change her mind.
“I’m fine, honest,” she said. “Thank you for saving me.”
Terry shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t know what to say. She should have known he would walk over hot coals for her. But somehow, he wasn’t sure she did know that.
“I’ll go and make you a nice cup of cocoa.” His voice was husky. Bending down he picked up her things. “I’ll be back soon.”