Date Monday 16 January Time 3.30am #4
‘Yep,’ said Matthew, swinging his long legs out of the car. ‘Coming, Alice?’
I really didn’t want to get out of the car and that’s saying something because I didn’t like the car at all. ‘It’s very woody,’ I called.
‘Is that a problem?’ asked Matthew, scaring me by suddenly appearing at my door.
‘I just can’t see anything. At all. Definitely not a moon. And where actually are we? My phone’s stopped working.’
‘Dartmoor,’ said the man. ‘You’re off grid. Won’t get a signal anywhere here.’
‘Dartmoor?’ I said. ‘As in prison?’
The man said something quietly to Matthew that I couldn’t hear. Probably along the lines of ‘it won’t be long before they notice I’ve escaped’.
‘Come on, Alice,’ said Matthew. ‘I’m getting cold out here.’
‘You’re not selling it, Matthew. And if our phones won’t work, how are we meant to know what direction to go in?’
‘I know where I’m going.’
Both of the men were staring at me, frankly a little impatiently. So, after weighing up my options – prison man or Matthew Lloyd – I opened the car door and tried to step down but it was too far, so I sort of slid out, getting mud and other gross stuff all over my nicest tracksuit bottoms.
I looked up and Matthew was already off, trekking through the woods.
I managed at least five minutes in the manner of full-on SAS: Who Dares Wins , slogging, tripping and stumbling behind Matthew, panting – and, if I’m honest, terrified – before I caved.
‘Please,’ I said. ‘Just tell me where we’re going.’
‘It’s through these last few trees,’ called Matthew. ‘Come on!’ He marched ahead and I started rushing again, worried he was going to leave me completely behind.
‘Where?’
‘You’ll like it.’
‘Matthew?’ I called, pushing ahead through the dense trees. ‘I can’t see you.’
‘Follow my voice. You’re nearly there. Trust me.’
I didn’t trust him. And that was before the trees suddenly gave way and I saw him standing, encircled by mist, next to a stone cross with an iron ring on it. And that was before I realised he was surrounded by gleaming eyes. It was like a billboard for a horror film.
I squealed, ‘What the FUCK?’
‘Stone cross,’ said Matthew, smiling. ‘They’re everywhere. It’s seriously old here. Ley lines everywhere.’
‘No.’ I took a few steps backwards, my heart beating a rapid patter that rivalled Phil Collins. ‘What are they ?’
More and more eyes were emerging from the mist. And then I saw the horns.
‘Sheep. How can you not recognise sheep? You grew up in the Cotswolds.’
‘They’ve got horns! I’m not going near them. We’ll have to turn around.’
Matthew sighed. ‘Alice, you’re fine. Come on.’
Then something screeched and flapped, literally right next to my face, and I screamed again, sprinting towards Matthew, and dived into his solid chest, my arms up shielding my head.
‘Help me,’ I gasped. ‘I’m being attacked by an eagle.’
‘It’s a bat.’ His calm voice vibrated through his body and into my ear, sounding even deeper than usual. ‘You don’t need help.’
He put his hands on my arms and moved them down to my sides, but he didn’t push me away; he stood there, letting me press my face into him, taking my weight.
‘When you said you had an affinity with nature,’ Matthew said drily, ‘I had no idea just how much.’
‘I do have an affinity with nature.’ My voice was muffled against his coat. ‘I just have it from a safe distance.’
We stood there not moving for a second, then Matthew wrapped his arms around me and gave me a brief, hard hug, before stepping back, leaving me momentarily with a strange and unexpected empty feeling.
Then he reached for my hand and took it in his.
‘I know,’ he said, striding off and bringing me with him, past the creepy horned creatures, which did, admittedly, scuttle away in a sheep-like fashion.
‘How do you know? I’ve always hidden it well.’ I’ve had to. My sisters absolutely love nature. Especially Arrie.
‘Hmm,’ said Matthew. ‘You used to make me piggyback you through the field down to the boat house in case you stepped in cow pats.’
That’s true.
‘And you cried when Arrie and Roger bought the farm.’
‘If you bloody know I don’t have a hands-on thing for nature, then why have you brought me to these moors? It’s horrible. And you promised it would be privileged. I don’t see how it’s privileged at all. It’s worse than Guide-camp.’
‘Cheer up,’ said Matthew, ‘Once you’re doing some whittling and digging an earth toilet, it’ll all feel much more homey.’
This is why Astrid and Matthew are best friends: they’re both sadists.
Just then, the curtains of cloud opened and a sliver of new moon momentarily peeked through, centre-sky, fleetingly transforming the landscape of rolling hills and gorse into a luminescent sea of silver, stopping me in my tracks, before disappearing again.
‘Oh,’ I said. ‘That was… incredible.’
Matthew tugged me forward. ‘Dark skies. Perfect for moon gazing. It’ll be more incredible from up here.’
And I realised we had come to the base of some kind of wooden staircase. I tipped my head back to follow its progression and saw that it stretched up to a massive wooden platform and a bridge that extended all the way to the trees beyond. ‘What… is that?’
‘That,’ said Matthew, ‘is our treehouse.’
I lounged on the oversized curved sofa, my head resting against a fur throw, luxuriating in the warmth cast out by the blazing wood-burning stove in the middle of the room.
I took another sip of the ice-cold champagne, and noticed how the rich, polished grain of the wooden floor, walls and ceiling gleamed in the fire-light.
Treetops stretched beyond the window and above them a smattering of stars were perfect pinpricks in a black sky.
For a second I closed my eyes and basked in the gentle hiss from the stove, the whisper of wind in the branches outside and the sound of my breath.
‘Hey,’ said Matthew, coming back from the kitchen area. ‘Don’t go to sleep. We haven’t done the manifesting yet.’
‘Mmm,’ I said.
‘Wake up, Alice,’ said Matthew. ‘We need to get out there and do what we came to do.’
‘I’m not asleep.’ I opened one eye lazily to prove it.
Matthew loomed above me, his arms folded across his chest, looking even broader than usual against the glow of the fire. His skin was burnished and shimmering, like the wood, the contours of his face and body sculpted by the flickering shadows, and for a second he appeared almost otherworldly.
‘Come and sit down with me.’ I patted the sofa, and squinted up at him. ‘It’s so comfortable here. We can have more champagne. And then do the manifesting in a bit.’
He gave me a slow smile and something in my stomach snapped and went free-falling into a bottomless crater.
‘If I didn’t know you better,’ he said, looking down at me, ‘I’d think you were trying to get out of manifesting with Capricorn. I’d think you just wanted to hang out in a treehouse and enjoy the trappings of wealth. With me.’
‘No, no,’ I said, looking up at him and not moving. ‘You know I love the outdoors. I’m only here for the manifesting.’
Matthew chuckled. ‘You really don’t want to go outside at all, do you?’
‘This is the nicest place I’ve ever been,’ I admitted. It really was. And even more amazing after that horrific approach. ‘Don’t make me leave it.’
‘Get up,’ said Matthew, shaking his head. ‘Time to go out to the deck.’
So, it emerged that whilst I thought the inside of the treehouse was the best place I’d ever been, the outside deck might have beaten it by a hair’s breadth.
It was just as beautifully put-together as inside, with lavish sofas, sumptuous fur throws piled everywhere, and perfectly placed fire pits, which spat and sizzled and warmed, seamlessly designed for intimacy, luxury and comfort, and maximum enjoyment of location.
There was even a free-standing copper bath with heated towels awaiting.
But unlike inside, here you could reach out and touch the neighbouring trees, and see for miles.
Matthew and I were lying, side by side, on the enormous day bed, and despite being outside in January, I wasn’t freezing.
‘See?’ He turned to face me and gave me a quick grin. ‘Worth leaving inside for?’
I looked up at the night sky, which stretched in every direction above us, forever and beyond, and felt dizzy.
I turned my face back to his. ‘I love it. It really is a wonderland. Thank you so much for bringing me here.’
His grin softened. ‘Well, every Wonderland needs an Alice.’
It felt like a small explosion in my heart.
If I could have pressed pause, I would have.
‘Okay.’ Matthew drew his gaze away and glanced at his watch. ‘Let’s do the manifesting. It’s after one, so even if we set off by two I’m afraid I’m not going to have you back to Astrid’s much before half three… ’
‘Oh.’ The buzz from the champagne and the setting flattened a little, like I’d drunk a shrinking potion, giving me a slight ache in my ribs. ‘I didn’t realise we had to go back tonight. Sorry. Okay. Yeah.’
‘We don’t have to.’
‘No, I get it.’ I tried to sound upbeat but suddenly I could feel how cold it was out here, despite the fires; there was a chill that was creeping in. ‘This has been amazing, but you need to get back. Totally.’
‘I don’t need to get back,’ said Matthew. ‘If you don’t. I mean, in some ways, it would probably be more practical to fly back tomorrow morning, get to Chiswick for a late breakfast.’
‘Much more sensible. In so many ways!’
‘Except,’ said Matthew, ‘this whole place is set up for a couple. In terms of sleeping arrangements.’
I shifted so that I was facing him properly. ‘Matthew,’ I said, my breath clouding in the air. ‘If the bed inside is anything like this day bed, it’ll be full-on enormous. We can just share it.’
Matthew looked down at me. ‘Hmm. Would your hairy-knuckled boyfriend be okay with that?’
I could feel my face getting hotter, despite the cold. I hope he didn’t think I was coming on to him by wanting to stay here. ‘Guy is not my boyfriend. And I don’t see it’s a problem. You and I are family friends. Unless it’s a problem for you. Or Ebba.’
Great. Now I was thinking of Matthew and Ebba. Together. I wondered if he’d brought her here before. Maybe they bathed together in that copper tub; two flawless specimens in an idyllic setting.
He said nothing.
I rolled awkwardly onto my back again putting distance between us. ‘Look, I’ll sleep on the sofa. Or out here. Problem solved.’
Matthew laughed quietly. ‘How have you managed to offend yourself, Alice?’ he said. ‘Neither of us is sleeping out here. It’s freezing. If you’re okay to share a bed with me, it’s all good.’
I swallowed. ‘I am. It’s no big deal.’
‘Cool.’ He extricated himself from the covers. ‘Give me a minute to sort the travel arrangements for tomorrow, and then manifesting begins.’