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‘That’s a weird thing to have in your pocket?’ I laughed, taking it from him.
‘It gets weirder,’ he said, producing two more. ‘In case of cold nose emergency, and to go with the antlers for a photo. Illumination is optional.’ He squeezed the noses in his hand and they both lit up.
‘I’ve got headtorches for the run down,’ Liv said, tapping her rucksack, ‘and brandy for when we reach the top.’
This was nature’s free playground and it was happening right here, right now. Nothing but effort required to have an unforgettable time. I dug my boots in a little deeper and quickened my pace, taking a big breath of fresh, night air.
‘I’m so sorry guys, I haven’t contributed anything at all – apart from a bad attitude,’ I said, feeling ashamed of all the moaning.
‘No worries, mate. You haven’t done it before; you’ll see what a treat it is when we get up there,’ Liv replied.
Xavier and Liv dragged their boards behind them as I clonked along with my skis on my shoulder and just at the moment I thought I might keel over and die, we turned a corner and saw flashing lights from all the mobile phones congregating in one place.
‘Nearly there, mate; just this final push to go and you’ll be freewheeling it all the way home,’ Liv huffed next to me, while Xavier carried on walking slow and steady next to her. I couldn’t speak so I gave an affirmative noise instead and kept my head down. One step at a time, crunch, crunch, crunch. It was a beautiful, clear night and the full moon was shining brightly, but it was hard to appreciate while gasping for air.
We got to the top of the pathway and the three of us took a moment to gather ourselves. Liv did some sort of moon salutation, Xavier was breathing deeply, and I lay on my back and could literally see stars. The only thing less tempting than walking all the way up here was the thought of having to get back down again. In the dark. But I was here to smooth things over with Liv and Xavier, and arguably I’d already done the hard bit. The physically hard bit anyway.
‘I made us a little something to see us through,’ Xavier said, pulling an enormous flask out of his backpack.
‘Mulled wine?’ I asked hopefully.
‘Close,’ he replied, ‘Irish coffee, with a lot of Irish in it.’
‘Good thinking, Batman,’ Liv said. ‘Make mine a double.’
Xavier unscrewed the flask and a delicious whisky steam wafted around us as he poured the coffee into three plastic cups. He handed them to us then pulled out a wedge of chocolate cake, cut into three fat pieces. The situation was getting better by the minute. There were several small groups of moonlight skiers crazy enough to make the trek up here, and their gentle chatter and laughter was a strange comfort. We were all in it together. In fact, now that my breathing was back to normal and I had coffee and cake, I was feeling much better about the situation.
‘A Leap Year full moon,’ Liv said looking up at it wide eyed. ‘The Snow Moon, a magical day.’
‘The Snow Moon is very apt,’ Xavier said.
‘I wonder how long it will be before there’s another full moon on 29th February,’ I said. ‘Are you thinking of proposing, Liv?’
‘No chance. I don’t really believe in marriage, to be honest – no offence.’ I wasn’t sure if she was talking to me or Xavier. ‘I’m more of a free spirit.’
‘Totally,’ Xavier nodded.
‘How can you agree when you’re the only married one here?’ I said.
‘He’s got the T-shirt, mate – the only one of us who can speak from experience.’
‘I’m a one-woman man, but I have my doubts about the marital framework. Feels more like a governmental control mechanism than anything else.’
‘Totally,’ Liv agreed, taking a sip of her coffee.
‘So how does it work, then? Does everyone ski down together or do we just head down whenever we like?’
‘It’s very cool,’ Liv said, ‘there are six fire lighters that ski down first, leaving torches to light our way on either side of the piste. Then two hours later, another six go down and collect them all.’
‘So we have two hours from when the flames are lit to get down the piste and it’s a twenty-minute run – ten if you’re a top skier – so there’s plenty of time to enjoy it,’ Xavier added. ‘We can take it nice and easy.’
‘Just a heads up that I’ll be in the ten-minute gang,’ Liv said. ‘I want to hoon it down as fast as I can.’
‘Absolutely,’ I said. ‘I don’t want to hold either of you back. Xavier, feel free to hoon down too; I’ll be fine on my own.’
‘Holly, how many times? What is the first rule of the slopes?’
‘Look after your mates,’ I said.
