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CHAPTER ONE
ELSIE’S WARM BREATH billowed out in front of her, the water vapour rising up into the air like a puff of smoke and dissipating as quickly as it formed in the ice cold winter air.
‘I can’t believe you’re making me do this,’ said Alice, shaking her head as she wobbled unsteadily on her feet.
‘I can’t believe you - of all people - are scared,’ laughed Elsie.
‘I am not scared,’ but after a moment she reached out her gloved hand and took hold of Elsie’s, glaring at her friend as she did so. ‘Fine. Maybe I’m a little bit scared.’
The ice of the lake was more than thick enough to stand on and a thin layer of clouds had blocked out the sun making the conditions perfect for some morning skating, and as Elsie looked out across the wintery scene she smiled at the sights and the sounds of the many children flying back and forth and round and round in delight.
‘There’s very little chance you’ll fall through.’
‘I could fall through?’ said Alice, involuntarily gripping her friend’s hand even tighter.
‘I’m kidding,’ laughed Elsie. ‘It’s eight inches thick, you could drive a car over this and it wouldn’t even creak.’
Alice took a deep breath as Elsie’s husband Cole drew up alongside them both, taking Alice’s free hand in his own and gripping hold of it tight.
‘Are you ready?’ he said.
‘No.’
‘Let’s go.’
Together Elsie and Cole stepped forward off the side of the frozen embankment and pulled their reluctant friend between them down onto the ice, holding her upright as she tried to keep herself from falling over on the slippery surface.
For a moment her face lit up as she steadied herself, pushing one boot forward and then the other as the couple held her, then she looked down in horror as one of her legs began to slide forward on its own as the other stayed still. She burst into laughter as she collapsed onto the floor in a heap, the icy surface cold against her bottom, even through the thick leggings and tartan miniskirt she’d very carefully chosen that morning.
Elsie let go and swept around the pair of them in a wide arc, skating up behind her best friend and offering her a helping hand.
‘Show off,’ she laughed as she accepted, pulling herself upright and standing unsteadily. She concentrated, looking down at her feet inside the tall, thick boots.
‘Don’t look at your feet,’ pointed Cole. ‘Bend your legs and lean forward a little.’
Alice did so, still holding their hands tight and then after a moment she smiled and nodded.
‘Now watch Elsie,’ he nodded.
Alice let go of her friend’s hand as she slipped away, her knees bent, her torso tilted forward and her arms swinging gently in time with the sweeping motion of her legs.
‘You push forward and out to move, then twist your feet in to slow down. Not too sharply or you’ll fall over,’ she swished away, demonstrating.
‘Oh my goodness,’ laughed Alice, her gloved hand hovering over her frozen lips as her friend’s dark ponytail swished and swirled around in front of her. She watched with a mixture of awe and envy as she came to a graceful stop in front of them.
‘I’ll be beside you,’ said Elsie. ‘You can hold on to me if you want.’
Despite all the wild experiences that Alice had undertaken in her life, she had never learned to ice skate.
Many years ago, her parents had taken her and her younger sister Emilia to an indoor facility for a friend’s seventh birthday party, and whilst Emilia had taken off after a few minutes with the beauty and grace of a swan, Alice had flummoxed about like a turtle and given up after ten painful minutes with more bruises on her backside than she could count on one hand. Since then she’d steered away from the prospect, turning down two dates and a rather unusually themed Hen Do.
Until now.
The cold snap that had drifted across the whole of the United Kingdom had ground much of the country to a standstill in a matter of hours. Snow had covered everything except the beaches. Unprecedented temperatures of the mid-minus twenties had then hit the north of Scotland, and although by comparison Oxford was warm, a number of ponds and small lakes around the city had remained frozen for three nights in a row, thickening as the deep freeze continued.
Alice had been invited by Elsie for dinner on Saturday night and - as had now become tradition - the three of them had made love through to the early hours, falling asleep in each other’s arms and waking up in the late morning for a second round. By the time Cole had made his wobbly way downstairs to cook some breakfast for them all, the snowfall was already eight inches deep, and by early afternoon it was pretty clear that Alice would be staying put.
When Monday came around - after a bonus wild night of threeway passion - a further six inches meant that the roads were impassable and both Elsie and Alice received orders to work from home.
Unfortunately by Tuesday they were beginning to go stir crazy from being locked in together for almost eighty hours.
As such, Cole - ever the optimist - suggested the idea of a three mile early morning trek, complete with ice skates, warm clothes and hot food to the nearby Morwell Lake. In spite of everything - including her mounting thallasophobia - Alice had agreed enthusiastically and off they had embarked, wrapped up, topped up and giddy with excitement.
Alice took hold of Elsie’s thickly gloved hand and held on tight as she pushed away, Cole moving slowly beside them both, acting as an extra safety net.
A young boy, clad in black with a scarf wrapped tight around his mouth and nose skidded past, making her wobble. ‘You’re doing great,’ he shouted as he shot away again in the direction of his friends, raising both thumbs into the air with abundant enthusiasm.
‘See?’ Elsie smiled as she squeezed Alice’s fingers, watching her friends feet as she began to get the hang of the motion. ‘Don’t look down, just keep going.’
A moment later, she let go and Alice continued onward, keeping up her rhythm as she began to speed up, her face lighting up in delight. Cole stayed alongside her as Elsie sped away in a gentle arc, cutting around a young family with a very handsome dad that caught her eye - and made her heart beat a little bit faster - and then swooping back towards her two.
Alice was doing well, keeping up her momentum and staying low as Elsie drew back alongside her. ‘Keep up your rhythm,’ she said, looking
down at her friends feet. ‘You’re doing it.’
Alice grinned and then immediately slipped and fell down, grasping for Elsie’s hand and holding tight as she spun round and down onto her bottom again.
‘My sister would be carving ice sculptures by now,’ she laughed as she wobbled back up, almost pulling Elsie down with her.
As Alice regained her balance, the handsome dad passed by and flashed a smile at them both, holding on to his eldest daughter’s hand.
‘Are they your friends?’ the little girl said as the two women smiled back.
’I don’t know them sweetie, but anyone can be your friend if you wave at them,’ he said warmly as they skated by, the little girl waving shyly.
