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Like yesterday, Nick looped around the back of the crowd to find Joel and quietly gestured to the path they’d taken before. Joel nodded and followed him, waiting until they were safely away from other people before speaking.
“Where are we going today?”
“Up the hill,” Nick said with a grimace. “Sorry in advance.”
“That’s okay.” Joel thought about the gym days he’d missed since it had grown cold and dark outside. “I could do with stretching my legs.”
Joel tucked the empty mugs into Nick’s backpack and they walked in silence for a while, with just the sound of their footsteps crunching in the fresh snow for company. Every few minutes Nick would pause and look around, and Joel figured out pretty quickly that he was scanning for signs of movement, rather than actively looking for reindeer.
The woodland at the top of the hill sloped far more gently, with younger trees and bigger gaps between them. The lack of canopy cover meant the ground here was a slushy mix of mud and snow, slowing their progress. After an hour or so, Joel stopped to stretch.
And stopped short, reaching out to grab Nick’s hand instinctively.
Nick squeezed it once, like a reflex.
Just ahead of them, behind a cluster of trees, one of the reindeer was clearly visible. He looked relatively content and unharmed and Joel took a deep breath and sighed in relief. The stupid animals hadn’t been stolen after all—they’d just wandered off.
“Wait here,” Nick said under his breath.
Joel nodded.
Nick walked slowly towards the closest animal, reaching into his backpack and drawing out a handful of leafy green vegetables that certainly looked tastier than the grass the reindeer was currently eating.
The reindeer seemed to agree, as he took a few steps towards Nick and happily took the greens. While the animal was distracted Nick gave him a quick scratch behind the ears.
“Joel,” he called softly.
“Oh, I’m okay over here.”
Nick grinned. “He won’t hurt you.”
Joel thought about pointing out the quite franklyenormoushorns gracing the animal’s head, but he didn’t want to look like a wuss. So against all his instincts, he took a few cautious steps in Nick’s direction.
“There’s another one over there, look,” Nick said, pointing to a spot a few metres away, where another reindeer was much better camouflaged by the trees.
“Do you think the others are close?”
“Most likely, yeah. They like to stick together.”
“Should I call Fergus? He can come up here with the truck.”
“Come here first.”
Joel gave Nick a bitch face. “I’m alright, thanks.”
Nick chuckled. “Come here, Joel.”
Joel’s knees went a little weak at the command, but he did as he was told—how was he supposed to refuse?
Nick was tempting the other reindeer over with another handful of greens and the first one was nudging at Nick’s hip with his nose.
“You’ve had enough, greedy,” Nick said, reaching out to scratch the reindeer’s ears again. “You want to feed this one, Joel?”
“You’re pushing it,” Joel said.
“This one’s a girl. She’s friendly.”
“How can you tell?” Joel stepped up close behind Nick, angling his body mostly behind Nick’s just in case he was wrong about the female reindeer.
