Lacey woke up with the morning light filtering into their sheltered hollow. She softly smiled at the memory of last night, feeling the glow of a deep contentment that filled her chest.

  Last night was the first time she had ever honestly spoke of what had happened to her that Christmas so long ago. About Cassie. She wondered where Cassie had ended up in life. She’d never had a full conversation with her again afterwards, even when she had wanted to know so badly why.

  Peter stirred under her, waking up himself.

  ‘Good morning,’ he murmured to her. ‘Looks like we’re going to have another clear day.’

  ‘Plus or minus any abominable snowmen out there,’ she responded with a shiver. She felt scared to go back outside. They came so close to disaster yesterday. If that happened today, she wouldn’t be able to move swiftly enough with her throbbing ankle.

  ‘Hmm,’ he silently acknowledged. ‘But I haven’t felt any steps around here again since he left yesterday. We have to be getting close to the end of these mountains too. As soon as we’re out in the flat stretches of the Wasteland, we should be all right.

  Neither of them mentioned the slow pace at which they’d be moving with Lacey’s injury.

  ‘Just promise me one thing,’ Lacey said.

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘If we come across it again, you must leave me. There’s no use in both of us dying if one could survive. Please promise.’

  He gently pressed her against him. ‘You know I can’t do that. I’m a guard. But I can promise that I’ll do my best to make sure we both survive.’

  She sighed, but accepted that it was the best she was going to get from him. ‘All right, but no heroics, please.’

  ‘I’ll decide what does and doesn’t happen when it’s necessary,’ he said. His voice was gentle but firm, brooking no further argument.

  ‘Fine,’ she grumbled and he laughed.

  ‘Shall we get going?’

  ??

  The sun shone crisply over the undisturbed landscape, shaded in whites and blues. She had one arm over Peter’s shoulders, him supporting her around her waist, and with the other she pressed down on her walking stick.

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  Luckily, they didn’t have far to go before, cresting another hill, the unbroken flat vista of the Wasteland beginnings lay open before them.

  Peter gave a sigh of relief. ‘We’re not as deep in as I originally thought. Look, there’s the edge of the forest, leading to the village a bit further over there.’

  It was pretty close, relatively speaking. Crossing the last stretch of Wasteland would still take at least a few hours though, especially at the pace Lacey was able to walk.

  They each took a sip from the snow that Peter had melted in their water bottles, and then set off again, angling towards the forest as that was the quickest route leading out of the Wasteland and the abominable snowman’s domain.

  ‘Mathilda must be very worried,’ Lacey said uneasily. Guilt about what she had put her friend through were starting to press on her now that the prospect of actually making it back to the village was becoming more real.

  ‘Out of her mind,’ Peter said mildly. ‘This time you might really get tied to a bed in the Healing Hall.’

  Lacey grinned slightly at his throwback to when Mathilda had found out that she’d tried to climb up to the Healing Hall’s roof to spy on Albyrne.

  ‘Oh, she’s welcome to it. I won’t resist. I feel like I could stay in bed for a week after all this.’

  ‘I might just join you,’ Peter said.

  A vibration ran under their feet. Lacey froze, feeling adrenaline burst into her system. She tightened her grip on her walking stick, ready to hobble.

  Peter slid out from under her grasp, turning around to scan the cliffs behind them. They’d made some progress, but if the monster came right at them it wouldn’t be enough. She also turned, searching the foothills below the cliffs for any movement.

  There was no sign of it, and soon the tremors faded into the distance again. Lacey could breathe again. Peter’s shoulders relaxed too, and they turned back to continue.

  ‘Tell me one thing though,’ Lacey spoke. ‘Why does Santa Claus keep this horrible monster on? Surely he could get rid of it if he wanted to.’

  Peter shrugged. ‘Santa doesn’t tell us everything, but usually there is a reason. Personally, I suspect he’s just sentimental.’

  ‘Sentimental?’ she asked incredulously. ‘That thing almost killed us yesterday.’

  ‘And it wouldn’t have been its fault. We’re the ones who intruded on its territory. But anyway, I feel like the snowman might be a little memento of the early days, when Santa fought all kinds of beasts to keep our sphere safe. Sometimes I wonder whether he misses the action.’

  Lacey rolled her eyes. ‘Sounds just like a man.’

  Peter laughed at that.

  Turning more serious again, she thought about her experience with the beast.

  ‘What I don’t understand,’ she continued, ‘is why Jinxy would’ve wanted to meet it up close. I mean, having lived it myself now, it’s so ridiculous. She’d get torn to shreds and she must know that, even if it still fascinates her.’

  He nodded. ‘And that’s why we kept telling you that she wouldn’t do it. Really, she wouldn’t. She might be a bit of a ditz, but she is also nature-savvy. She and Melo share that passion. She would never be foolish enough to imagine that she could safely get close to the snowman.’

  ‘Urgh,’ Lacey sighed. And then she stopped dead in her tracks. She knew what had happened to Jinxy.

  ??????