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She wanted to stay friends. That was fine. It was probably the wisest course of action, and it was just as well that one of them had kept their head. Making love with her might well have turned into the kind of explosive need that had no part in his life since he’d found Mette.
Friends was good. It meant that he could seek her out at the clinic the next day and ask her about the trucks that had been arriving on the estate, wondering aloud if she was interested in accompanying him and Mette on another voyage of discovery.
‘The Christmas carnival is a bit of a fixture here. They set it up every year. There’s usually an ice skating rink.’ They were walking across the grass, with Mette between them, each holding one of his daughter’s hands so that she didn’t fall on the uneven ground.
‘I want to skate!’ Mette piped up, and Aksel swallowed down the impulse to say no. The clinic was proving as much of a learning experience for him as it was for Mette, and he was beginning to understand that, Yes, let’s make that happen was the default position.
‘That sounds fun.’ Flora’s answer wasn’t unexpected. ‘Perhaps you can skate with your papa.’
Okay. He could handle that. Keeping a tight hold on his daughter and guiding her around the edge of the rink. He doubted whether Kari would be all that happy on the ice.
It wasn’t hard to orientate themselves as the carnival site was a blaze of light and activity. Most of the attractions were set up, apart from a few finishing touches, and Aksel recognised a few of the clinic staff using their lunch hour to try out the skating rink. The booth for skate hire wasn’t open yet, and Mette was
mollified with a promise that he would take her skating as soon as it was.
‘We could take a look at the maze.’ Flora gestured towards a tall hedge, decked with fairy lights, which lay on one side of the carnival booths.
‘There’s a maze?’
‘Yes, it was re-planted a few years ago, using the plans of the original one that stood in the grounds. They decided to put it here so it could be part of the Christmas carnival.’
It looked impressive. Aksel bent down, explaining in Norwegian what a maze was, and Mette started to jump up and down.
‘I want to go. I want to go...’
‘Let’s ask, shall we?’ Flora approached a man standing at the entrance, who Aksel recognised by sight as having come from the village. He turned towards Aksel and Mette, waving them towards the entrance.
* * *
It was entirely unsurprising that Aksel forged ahead of them into the maze. The paths were slightly narrower than last year, the hedges having grown since then, and they were tall enough that even he couldn’t see over the top now. They were all walking blind.
‘Where do we go, Papa?’
He stopped, looking around. There was a dead end in front of them, and paths leading to the right and the left.
‘I’m...not sure.’
‘Why don’t you lead the way, then, Mette? We have to try and see if we can find our way to the centre.’
Aksel shot her a questioning look, and then understanding showed in his face. ‘Yes, good idea. Why don’t you tell us which way to go?’
He stepped back behind Mette, who stretched out her hand, finding the branches to one side of her. Kari watched over her, walking by her side, as she carefully walked ahead, following the line of the hedge right up to the dead end, and then turning back and to her right.
‘I think she’s got the right idea.’ Flora fell into step beside Aksel, whispering the words to him.
‘Will this work? Following the wall to your right...?’ he whispered back,
Flora shot him an outraged look. ‘Of course it will. We’ll get there if we just stay with Mette.’
‘Papa...?’ Mette hesitated, suddenly unsure of herself.
‘It’s okay, Mette. Just keep going, we’re right behind you.’ He reached forward, touching his daughter’s shoulder to let her know that he was there, and she nodded, confident again.
Mette led them unerringly to the centre of the maze, where a small six-sided structure built in stone was decked with fairy lights. Kari guided her towards it, and she walked around it until she found the arched doorway.
‘We can go inside, Mette.’ Aksel was right behind her, patiently waiting for Mette to find her own way, and he’d seen the notice pinned to one side of the arch. ‘We can climb to the top of the tower if you want to.’
The tower at the centre of the maze had a curving stone staircase inside, and from the viewing platform at the top it was possible to see the whole maze, the walkways picked out by sparkling fairy lights. Mette might not be able to see them, but she could still climb, and still feel that she was the queen of this particular castle.
