Chapter 31
Doors locked, I sat in the car awaiting Theo’s return.
I glared at the petrol gauge, cursing myself for not noticing its needle creeping down into the red.
Wherever Mum and Jackson were headed, thanks to me and my shenanigans, their lead was getting so big that they’d probably pass us on their way back.
I glanced around the rest of the car interior and sighed, partly out of annoyance and partly through boredom. Checking my watch, I questioned what was taking Theo so long. It was late afternoon on Christmas Eve and we’d yet to sort out a bed for the night.
I wondered how Christmas Eve was going for my fellow crochet club members. Bursting with excitement, Joyce would be enjoying the start of her cruise. Dressed in their finery, she and Richard would be sipping wine in one of the ship’s bars and getting to know their fellow passengers.
Poor Hattie would be on her way to the Mayhews and from what I’d heard Gideon’s family weren’t exactly party people. His mother sounded like an absolute nightmare and reaching for my phone, I wondered if I should call Hattie in the hopes we could cheer each other up.
I brought up her number but knowing it would be unfair to interrupt someone’s Christmas just for a moan, I signed into Mum’s TikTok instead. My eyes widened at the sight of another update, and surprised to see both Mum and Jackson on screen I pressed play.
‘Bonjour à tous,’ Mum said, taking the lead. ‘Comment allez-vous?’ Still in her beret, she wore bright red lipstick instead of her usual barely pink. ‘Today is the 23rd December.’
Much to my irritation, the video began to buffer and I raised my phone above my head hoping to get Mum talking again.
I angled it this way and that but nothing worked.
Technology was great until it wasn’t and with Mum’s motionless face continuing to silently stare back at me, I growled ready to throw her out of the window.
I knew to get better reception I’d have to get out of the car and reluctantly disembarking, I shivered in the cold.
With day fast heading towards evening, the air temperature had dropped and getting my coat from the boot, I put it on.
I walked up and down the road, waving my phone around hoping to kickstart Mum’s TikTok.
But up high or down low, it didn’t matter where I positioned the damn thing, nothing seemed to work.
‘There are no problems, just solutions,’ I said repeating Theo’s words.
Glancing around, it was evident Theo’s car had come to a standstill in a dip, and I scanned my surroundings looking for higher ground.
‘I wonder,’ I said, as my gaze settled on the roadside trees.
Knowing the hunters had to have gone home by then, I stuffed my mobile in my pocket and approached the ditch that separated the wooded area from the road.
I assessed the distance between banks and taking a few steps back, dared myself to run and jump.
I counted down. Three, two, one and charging forward leapt as high and far as I was able.
With my heart in my mouth, I stumbled to my knees as I hit the other side.
Gathering myself, I got to my feet, dusted myself down and took in the greenery. Approaching what I considered the healthiest looking tree, I glanced up into its branches which seemed to go on forever and hesitated. ‘Should you really be doing this?’ I asked.
I’d climbed enough trees in my youth to know what I was doing and comparing it to riding a bike, dismissed my concerns.
‘Once you know, you know,’ I said and taking a deep breath, pulled down on the tree’s lower boughs to test whether they’d take my weight.
Reassured they would, I placed one hand on its trunk to steady myself and putting a foot on the thickest off-shoot I could see, used my other hand to reach upwards.
The bark on the branch felt rough under my palm and it loosened under the pressure.
It peeled away completely and my hand slipped, forcing me to adjust my position and try again.
Progress was slow. My feet kept dislodging thanks to layers of damp moss and yet more peeling bark.
I looked down and taking in the puzzle of branches I’d already climbed, knew as much as I wanted to, there was no turning back.
Steeling myself to continue, my heart raced thanks to a mix of fear and exertion.
The higher my ascent, the more my confidence grew and I finally reached a branch wide and strong enough to sit on.
Puffing and panting, my legs shook as I lowered myself into a seated position and straddling the branch, I let out a sigh of relief.
Taking in the foliage around me, I heard tweeting and wing flapping as birds darted from one perch to another.
Giggling at my achievement, I felt like a young girl again.
I pulled out my phone to check its reception and seeing there was some, I jiggled in celebration only to suddenly lose my balance.
With my heart in my mouth, I lunged forward, but as I flung my arms around the tree trunk, my phone flew out of my hand, and bear hugging the bark I was too scared to try and catch it.
I whimpered as I watched its descent, praying it was still in one piece when it finally landed on a pile of fallen leaves.
Still holding on to the tree, I slowly breathed in and out, trying to calm my racing pulse.
Knowing I needed to get down, I focused on the branches around me, but I tried and failed to work out which route I’d taken to get up.
My surroundings were a mass of brown and green confusion and keeping hold of the trunk, as I twisted this way and that, I suddenly heard a creak.
I immediately froze and wondering what the hell I’d been thinking, my arm grip tightened. ‘Clever, Erin,’ I said. ‘Very clever.’