Although the thaw had set in,
there was still a significant amount of snow laying on the ground the next day,
but George got word from his friend in St Pierre that the port was open again,
so Danny and Molly had a quick tidy round in preparation of their visitor’s
belated arrival and it was to prove to be their most peaceful morning for the
remainder of the year.
The day after that was the
last day on the island for Gwen’s sister Ruth Weaver who was returning to Mornington
and on Beacon farm Nicola Harrison was
enjoying a relatively quiet day following a hectic couple of days rescuing
sheep stuck in the snow with fellow Shepherdess, Hayley Stock.
Relaxation for Nikki normally
consisted of her enjoying her hobby which involved her art, and up until
recently that was precisely what it was, and she used to share it on different
forums, just to get feedback, which is where one of her pieces was spotted by bestselling crime fiction
writer, Danny Nightingale, who had been searching for a suitable image as cover
art for his latest book.
She was thrilled, as she was a
major fan, and it was nice to get paid for her work, and although she had been
contracted to provide art for the next two books, she had no desire to become a
professional artist.
Firstly, because she liked
being a shepherd, she liked farming, but mainly because if her hobby became her
job, she would need to find another hobby.
She had developed other
interests however, as part of her art Nikki often flew a drone above the
landscape to film inaccessible places, and wildlife, she used it originally to
assist her mum to locate stray sheep, but the aid to her art was an unexpected
bonus.
But then in the middle of
November that bonus paid dividends when Danny Nightingale approached her to
film Cliff Haven from every conceivable angle, without Molly realizing, as part
of a special Christmas present.
For her birthday he had
commissioned a special present for her by Sam Archer, a craftsman who lived and
worked in Sharpington, a hand-crafted snow globe, containing a detailed model
of her former Colorado home, Lakeside, which she loved, so for the Christmas
gift he contacted Sam again.
As it was Nikki who gathered
all the footage together Danny suggested she emailed Sam directly, which she
did at the end of November, and following that first contact, Nikki and Sam
corresponded extensively, but they hadn’t met.
They got on really well, and
had a lot in common, even though he was almost three years older.
The correspondence became
more frequent over Christmas while Downshire and the Island were blanketed by
snow, even when she was up on the hills rescuing sheep, which was why late on
Boxing Day, on the spur of the moment she invited him to the farm for New Years.
But the moment she pressed
send, panic set in, had she been too hasty, would he feel the same, or would he
prefer to keep her at arm’s length, and every minute that went by without reply
the more paranoid she became.
In the meantime, she spoke to
her mum to make sure she was cool with it, and she was over the moon that Nikki
was interested in someone, and two hours later she got a reply.
“Love to come to the island,
but…” it began.
“Oh, here we go” she thought,
and took a deep breath before reading on.
“… would it be alright if I
drag Harry over there with me? he’s a bit of a coach potato.”
She let out the breath she
was holding and smiled.
“Of course, no problem”
“Mum!!” she called.
“Yes love”
“We’ve got another guest for
New Years.”
After coming off the hill at
the end of the day Nikki sat in the quiet of her room, as she warmed her hands
on a large mug of hot chocolate, and thought about what happened the previous
day, and applauded herself for her out of character boldness in inviting Sam
for the New Year weekend, and she felt very smug indeed as she slipped beneath
the duvet.
