Snowed In with the Children's Doctor
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Louisa Heaton
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CHAPTER ONE
‘YES, THANK YOU very much, Joe. Well, for anyone who’s got a window, it is snowing heavily here in the Midlands. A large area of low pressure has been moving up the country, bringing with it unprecedented amounts of snow, and it looks like we’ll have this for at least the next twenty-four hours. Experts are predicting over ten inches of snow to fall over the next few hours, causing drifts, whiteouts and generally hazardous conditions. People are being advised not to travel, unless absolutely essential, and if you do, please take precautions. Visibility is down to just a few metres in some more rural areas, so do take care. Here at Clifton FM, we’ll be bringing you all the latest weather reports on the hour, every hour...’
There was a burst of Christmas pop music, with jingle bells.
Nell reached forward to turn down the car radio. It was just what she’d expected to hear from the traffic report. The weathermen on television, before she’d set out, had advised against travel, too. But nothing—no snow, no blizzard, no unprecedented area of low pressure—was ever going to stop her from visiting Lucas’s grave on the anniversary of his death.
It was just snow, after all. There’d never been this amount of panic over a bit of snow when she’d been a child. Not like today. It was health and safety gone mad.
So it was dark. Evening. Yes, the snow was heavy, and the wiper blades on her car were having trouble clearing the thick white flakes that blew against her windscreen. And, yes, she was creeping along in low gear, because drifts were already forming, sweeping up to meet hedgerows and tree trunks. And, yes, visibility was bad, and this part of the road didn’t have streetlamps, but it was perfectly doable. All she had to do was stay on the road.
Which, she had to admit, was difficult, because she was on a remote country lane, near Elmbridge Manor and this was a notorious spot even on clear days. She’d lost count of how many times she’d read about an accident here when visibility was bad. Deep ditches on either side of the road, lots of bends and curves, like a sinuous snake... Normally the lane was edged with dark, spiny hedgerows, but tonight even those were covered in snow. Everything looked white.
It was difficult to judge, but she figured if she just stayed in the centre then everything would be—
A deer suddenly leapt over her car, hooves clipping the bonnet, and Nell screamed and yanked the wheel in panic, sending the car spinning on the ice beneath the snow and plummeting into the left-hand ditch with a sudden, sickening thud.
She found herself gasping, heart pounding, her entire world tilted by forty-five degrees, the back end of her car sticking up, her mad wipers going as fast as her heart.
‘Oh, my God! Oh, my God...’ Her whole body trembling, she burst into tears.
This was not how today was meant to end! She’d wanted to do what she always did. Lay flowers on Lucas’s grave, then drive home and watch his favourite Christmas movie whilst wrapped up in a blanket, sobbing quietly to herself whilst she ate giant amounts of Lucas’s favourite ice cream. Mint choc chip.
It was something she’d done the first year after losing him, on the anniversary of his death. Without thinking. Doing the things that he’d enjoyed in a bid to feel closer to him. To pretend that he was near. And now it had just become a thing. She’d done it last year, too, and today she’d known for sure what she was going to do because she recognised it as a routine. A self-soothing ritual that marked the day of his passing.
She’d made it to the cemetery. Laid a wreath at his grave, staring at his name etched into the stone as the thick flakes had swarmed around her in the strong winds. How long she’d stood there she didn’t know. Only when the cold had begun to penetrate her bones, and her toes and fingers had gone completely numb, had she walked back to her car and begun the drive home.
And now she and the car were stuck in a muddy, icy ditch in the middle of nowhere, miles away from home and with no idea how she’d get there.
Nell searched blindly for her phone, but it had fallen from its place in the middle of the console and into the passenger footwell. She unclipped her seatbelt and leant forward to reach for it, cursing and swearing quietly until her fingers grasped its leather cover and she pulled it to her, looking for the small card that held the details of her breakdown cover.
She’d never called them before, but she’d seen an advert on the television for them recently, telling their customers that they’d be treated like family and that if you were a woman, stranded alone, then you’d be made a priority customer. She hoped that would be true as she dialled the number, listening to the robotic voice telling her all the options before she finally got through to a human being.
‘Oh, thank God! Yes, I’ve had an accident and my car’s in a ditch. A deer leapt across the road.’
Had it been a deer? She could have sworn it was a reindeer, complete with jingle bells, now that she thought about it, but that couldn’t be right. She’d not been drinking, so why would she think it had jingle bells?
‘I’m by myself...can you get someone out to me?’
She’d already tapped in her membership number, but the young man called Evan, on the other end, apologised. He told her that because of the extreme weather they didn’t have anyone free to help her right now, but someone should be with her within a few hours.
‘A few hours? What am I supposed to do whilst I wait? Freeze to death?’
‘I’m so sorry, Miss Bryant, but we simply don’t have enough technicians free. As I’m sure you can appreciate, with this freak weather we’re having, the demands on our services are unprecedented.’
Unprecedented. There was that damn word again. She’d got sick of hearing it during the Covid pandemic and now it seemed people used it all the time.
‘Do you have anything in the vehicle to keep you warm?’
She had a blanket. But with the engine off and all that snow outside how warm would she be?
‘Maybe...’
‘Are there any properties nearby that you could go to? Knock at the door and see if they could help?’
She shook her head. ‘No. This area’s remote.’
She knew she was on a lane at the rear of the Elmbridge Manor estate, but there were a few acres between her and the house and she couldn’t imagine tramping through all that snow just to speak to some snobby butler, or something. And there were obviously wild deer around here! Also, if she remembered correctly, a lake in the grounds somewhere.
What if she were to fall in? Because the snow would have covered that, too, over the ice that must have frozen it over in the preceding weeks.
‘Well, then we advise you stay with your vehicle, Miss Bryant, until help arrives.’
Nell ended the call, feeling so angry she wanted to throw the phone back into the passenger footwell. But she didn’t want to break it. She might need it again.
The breakdown service had been useless! But, to be fair, it was probably to be expected. She had been warned against coming out in this blizzard and yet she had stubbornly refused to let a bit of bad weather stop her. It was hugely important to her that she visited Lucas on important days. His birthday. Easter—which he’d loved. Halloween. Christmas. The anniversary of the day that he’d passed.
She couldn’t look after him any more, but she could look after his gravesite. Keep it neat. Tidy. Weed-free. With fresh flowers whenever she could. He wasn’t here any more, but she felt close to him there. Felt that she could talk to him still. It gave her comfort. She was still of a mind that her journey had been essential. A mother needing to be with her son. What could be more important than that?
But now...? She sat in the dark car as it filled with shadow, the snow blocking out the available moonlight. How long she sat there she didn’t know. Thirty minutes? Forty?
She glanced at her phone.
Just over an hour!
The chill had penetrated the car and outside looked just as bad as ever. Should she get out and walk? Try and stick to the road? If she walked in the direction she’d been headed, she’d come to a house in about two miles...
She vaguely became aware that the inside of her car had brightened slightly, as if another car was approaching from behind. Nell turned to peer through the rear windshield, but the snow was thick upon the glass, allowing only glimmers of light through the flakes and frozen crystals. Could she hear an engine?
The light stilled and she heard the noise of a car door slamming and then the heavy thud of footsteps. It looked as if whoever it was had a torch. Light flashed this way, then that. She heard a curse. Maybe someone stumbling.
Should she lock her doors? It could be anyone. Her fear manifested itself first. This was such a remote road and she hadn’t seen any other cars for ages. It would be the perfect spot to take advantage of a woman on her own. But her fear was balanced equally with the desire to get home as quickly as possible. And if she was inclined to believe that someone was coming to attack her, surely she ought also to believe that this could be her knight in shining armour.
Or dame in shining armour...
Her heart hammered in her chest as the person outside got closer and a darker shadow passed over her car door. Whoever it was looked tall. Powerful.
A sudden rap on the window made her jump.
Of all the stupid things in all the world to be doing in weather like this, Dr Seth James, Lord Elmbridge, had not expected to be out rounding up escaped reindeer. On nights like these, when the windchill factor had dropped the temperature considerably, and every gust felt as if the world was trying to take a bite out of his face, he’d have much preferred to be indoors, before a roaring fire in the drawing room of his private quarters, enjoying a nice glass of his finest whisky.
But, no. The heavy snowfall had spelled the death of the fencing at the reindeer enclosure. Its posts had given up the ghost and begun to lean heavily, and before he’d known it, he’d had a call from Ned Hoskins, who lived at Hilltop Farm, to say that he’d got reindeer wandering about his cowsheds and did he want to fetch them before they made it to the village?
The reindeer had been Granny’s idea. She’d thought it would be a fine final touch to the Christmas Experience they offered at Elmbridge Manor. They had Santa, and a grotto, and even some well-paid elves to help corral the children who would wait in line with their parents to meet St Nicholas and his endless sack of free gifts, and she’d suggested that this year they have reindeer too. Decked out with jingle bells. The whole shebang.
And he’d agreed. Stupidly. Not realising how much extra work the reindeer would be. But then again, why would he? He was a paediatrician, not a reindeer farmer, and when he’d hired the reindeer for the festive season he’d thought he’d also hired an experienced reindeer wrangler. Only Sven had finished early for the day, when the snow had begun to fall thick and heavy, citing that he wanted to be back home with his heavily pregnant girlfriend, just in case she went into labour.
Fair enough. Seth remembered the anxiety he’d felt himself as Dana’s due date had got closer and closer, and they’d not even had to worry about snow. Dana had been pregnant through summer, complaining only about the heat.
And so, instead of warming himself before that roaring fireplace, he’d instead donned his thickest coat, scarf, gloves and boots and headed out into the cold to hitch the trailer to the back of his car.
He had not been happy about it. Every newsreader, every weatherman, had warned people about going out in these conditions, but what else was he to do? Let the reindeer terrorise the local village? If they’d already made it to Hilltop, then they were only a mile or so away from people’s homes, and he didn’t want to imagine the calls the local police would get when the villagers started to notice giant deer in their back gardens.
And he didn’t want the animals being darted by animal control and taken away—not when he’d paid for them and they were in his care.
It had been a difficult hour or two at Hilltop. Up there, exposed to the most biting winds of this blizzard, he and Ned, with the help of his sheepdogs, Buzz and Rex, had managed to round up eight of the nine reindeer into the back of his trailer, which he’d filled with warming hay and straw. One was still missing, and hadn’t been found anywhere.
Ned had invited him in for a warming hot cocoa, but Seth had declined. He’d wanted to get back. Put the reindeer in the stables opposite the horses, so that tomorrow he could work on the fencing and get that sorted. He’d just have to hope the ninth reindeer showed up somewhere.
It had been a long day. He hadn’t been able to feel his fingers. His toes. His nose had to be as red as Rudolph’s...
And then, to top off the perfect evening, he’d been driving back to Elmbridge and had got to that sharp turning at the rear of the estate, the part of the road that had taken Dana’s life, when he’d seen the fading taillights of a car in the left-hand ditch.
A sick feeling had made his stomach feel like lead. He’d stopped and sat there for a moment. Staring at the car that was already half covered by snow and in a drift, frozen in place. It had been as if he couldn’t move. As if he’d been thrown back in time, pinned in place by fear and dread.
But then his medical instincts had kicked in.
Someone might need help.
They were most likely okay...had just driven off the road, that was all.
Switching on his own hazard lights, he’d grabbed a torch from the glove box and got out into the blizzard, wincing at the icy touch of every snowflake blasting into his face. He’d felt the snow gathering on his face. On his beard. His eyebrows. His shoulders. Felt the cold sinking in through the thick woollen coat that was now splashed with mud.
He’d tramped through the snow, wondering who on earth had been stupid enough to come out in this weather when the whole world and his wife had been telling everyone to stay indoors except for emergencies.
When his boot had slipped on some hidden ice and he’d fallen to one knee, he’d cursed and sworn like a sailor, before getting to his feet once again and tramping angrily over to the car.
Now he rapped the torch against the driver’s window.
At first he thought that the driver must have walked off to look for help, but then the car door cracked open an inch.
‘Hello...?’
The thickness of the blizzard stopped him from seeing who was inside, but the voice sounded like a woman’s.
‘Are you all right? Can I help?’
Okay, so maybe he didn’t sound as friendly as he’d wanted to. But he was exhausted, cold, muddy, and now his knee hurt from the slip on the ice. He just wanted to be at home with Granny and Olly. He didn’t get to see much of his son, what with work, and now that he’d started his first year at school he’d been hoping to spend some quality time with him. Not be out at all hours rounding up reindeer and helping a woman out of a ditch.
The door closed slightly. ‘Who are you?’
He still couldn’t see her face in the darkness and through the blizzard, but he really wanted this to be over sooner rather than later.
He shone the torch on his own face. ‘I’m a doctor. I work at the local hospital.’
‘I don’t recognise you.’
Seth frowned. What the hell was that supposed to mean? ‘It was my first day today and it’s a big hospital. Who are you?’
Two could play at this game.
‘I’m a phlebotomist.’
A vampire. One of those people you could call on to come and take blood and place IVs because doctors were too busy to do everything.
‘What are you doing out in this storm? Don’t you know it’s dangerous?’ he asked, just as the wind howled in response, whipping around him in a gust designed to lift him off his feet.
But Seth was tall and broad and, he thought, strong. It would take more than a blizzard to move him.
‘You think I’m stupid? Of course I know.’
‘Then why are you out?’
There was a brief pause, then the door was pushed open and a woman in a long puffer coat, beanie and thick scarf attempted to climb out of the car.
But her car was at an odd angle and it was not an elegant disembarkation.
Seth stifled a wry smile as he watched her awkwardly clamber out, cursing and muttering to herself as she tried to do so with dignity. He’d seen more graceful newborn giraffes. He proffered a hand, but she glaringly refused to take it.
‘Do you not have roadside assistance?’ he asked.
She turned to glare at him. ‘They can’t make it—they have no one free.’
‘How long have you been here?’
‘Long enough to think I’d be found years into the future trapped in the permafrost.’
‘And you didn’t go for help?’
She stared at him as if he was an idiot. ‘From where, exactly? Are you familiar with this area?’
‘A little.’
‘Then you’d know there isn’t anywhere to ask for help from around here—unless you fancy tramping a mile or so across unknown ground to beg for help from some crusty landowner.’
Crusty landowner? Hmm...
‘So you thought you’d take a drive in the worst weather this area has experienced in a decade. Pray tell me what was so important you had to come out in this?’
‘You’re out. Why are you out?’
She peered past him to his four-by-four and trailer. But he could hardly tell her he was out rounding up lost reindeer. It sounded crazy even to him.
‘Rescue mission. You?’
She didn’t meet his gaze. She looked uncomfortable. ‘Well, as much as I’m enjoying this inquisition at the roadside, I’m wondering if you can you help me or not?’
He could. ‘I’ve got ropes.’
She nodded. ‘Wonderful.’
‘We can attach them to the rear of your vehicle and pull you out.’
‘If it’s not too much trouble.’
It was. He’d wanted to be warm and back home with his son by now. He gave a mock bow. ‘You’re welcome.’
She didn’t seem thankful. Not really. She seemed pissed off—which was fine, because so was he. He still had no idea what she was doing out on a night like this. Clearly it wasn’t a good reason or she would have told him. Instead, she’d evaded the question, which made him think that she’d thought that her errand—most likely something trivial or stupid—was too important to put off. She’d probably popped out to get a pint of milk.
Muttering under his breath, he fetched the ropes and began to attach them to both vehicles. He was aware of her standing back and watching him, hands crossed over her chest, rubbing at each arm as she jiggled to keep warm in one spot. It was hard to tie the knots with no feeling in his fingers, but somehow he managed it, and then he told her to stand back whilst he got back into his own vehicle and began to reverse, hoping to pull her car from the ditch.
It was a struggle. The snow had grown thick and deep around her car, and because of the width of the lane and the fact that he had the trailer behind his own vehicle, he couldn’t get the angle he needed to pull the car out. It just kept sliding back through the ditch.
It was pointless.
After much toing and froing, he let out a heavy sigh and got out of his vehicle. ‘It’s no use. I can’t get it free.’
She looked at him, frowning above her thick knitted scarf, already rimmed with snow. ‘What am I going to do?’
‘Anyone you can call to pick you up?’
‘No.’
Damn. He couldn’t leave her out here, stranded. ‘I can drive you back to my home. You can stay warm, let people know you’re all right. Sort something out...’ He shrugged.
She peered at him. ‘You could be anyone. An axe murderer.’
He showed her his empty hands. ‘No axe.’
‘A normal murderer, then.’
Really? He didn’t have to put up with this crap. He was cold! He wanted a warm bath. Not to be dealing with this prickly phlebotomist.
‘Fine. I’ll see you around.’ He began to tramp back towards his car.
‘Wait! Are you just going to leave me here?’
He turned. ‘I offered you a lift. Shelter. If I recall, you’re the one who’d rather stay here. And, as warm as your manner is, it’s not enough to make me want to stay with you.’ He got into his vehicle, slammed the door.
She came over to his window and knocked on it.
He pressed the button to lower it. ‘Yes?’
She looked torn. ‘Well...where do you live? Close by?’
He nodded. ‘Pretty close.’
‘Where?’
‘Elmbridge Manor.’
A frown and then a raising of her eyebrows. ‘The Manor?’
He nodded again. Smiled. ‘Crusty landowner—at your service.’
