Northern Lights (Paperback)

Pages : 172
ISBN : 9781999676391
Weight : 174g
Dimensions : 203 x 10 x 127 mm

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- Sapphic romance
- Holiday romance
- Christmas
- Long distance

On the twenty-second of December 2017, Hannah Hudson and seven other tourists were gathered around a campfire in front of a small, privately-run, boutique hotel in the woods outside Kirkenes, Norway. The snow was pure, the air was crisply cold and the stars were bright, casting a faint glow over their surroundings. Hannah reached into her pocket for her phone, wanting to take a picture.
The hotel – a traditional red wooden house with white windowsills – looked like a postcard scene, with candles and fairy lights in the windows and a Christmas tree on the generous front porch, next to a set of wooden rocking chairs. The six-bedroom hotel stood on the shore of a large lake that stretched out both long and wide in front of a mountain range. The lake was covered in ice and a smooth layer of thick snow, only broken up by tire tracks from the two four-wheel drives that had brought the hotel guests from the airport. Hannah could vaguely see the lines, dimly lit by the hotel’s industrial spotlights, set up around the premises to keep the wolves away. Five rowing boats were beached upside down on the shore until spring, when the ice would melt and the lake would provide more than enough fish to feed the whole town.
The tourists – three couples and two single women, one of which was Hannah – were speaking in low voices, as if afraid to disturb the peace around them. Legs stretched out in front of them, they were sitting back in their large army-style folding chairs, warming their toes after a long hike and sharing stories over hot chocolate with rum. Their red and white knitted blankets had been draped over their legs or shoulders at first, but now that the fire and the rum had warmed them, they used the blankets as pillows behind their backs to make themselves more comfortable as they rested their tired bodies from their first day out in the snow.
Gunnar, a Danish pensioner, was already snoring, but his wife Sofia was wide awake, talking non-stop. Dinner had been simple: a thick, filling soup and homemade bread, also consumed around the campfire. Although the hotel had a nice dining area, dinner was going to be served outside under the stars most nights, unless there was snowfall – which reduced the chances of seeing the legendary northern lights significantly. But tonight the sky was clear and the stars were brighter than Hannah had ever seen them, and her travel companions were optimistic that this was the evening they would witness the elusive phenomenon.
Their group consisted of Gunnar and Sofia, the couple from Denmark, Sarah and Joshua, newlyweds from Canada, Werner and his wife Charlotte from Germany, another married couple, and a woman on her own, who had introduced herself as Kristine Miller from the US. Everyone spoke English including Espen and his wife Dani, the hotel owners, who were also their tour guides for the duration of their five-night stay. Gunnar and Sofia were two culture-obsessed pensioners who spent most of their time traveling. After three years of visiting most of the USA and South America, they’d decided to try something a bit closer to home and so far, they hadn’t been disappointed.
“I can hardly believe we’re only an hour’s flight from home,” Sofia said, digging her heel into the snow as she attempted to create a star shape in front of her. “It seems a world away from Copenhagen.” Sofia was restless and constantly fidgeting with something - a result of giving up smoking three months ago. She stretched and rolled her shoulders, shifting in her chair, then gently nudged Gunnar, who woke up and smiled at her.
“What’s Copenhagen like?” Kristine, who was sitting next to Hannah, asked Sofia. “I’m going to spend New Year’s Eve there. Flights back to the US were a lot cheaper from Denmark, so I thought I might as well.”
“Oh, it’s a lovely city but then it’s our hometown so I might be biased.” Sofia chuckled. “I’ve never met a tourist who wasn’t charmed by it, though. I think you’ll like it.”
“It’s marvelous,” her husband Gunnar, chipped in. “Beautiful harbor, friendly people... it’s got a small-town feel to it. We’ll write down some must-see places for you to visit before you leave.” He blinked a couple of times, fighting off the sleep.
“Thank you,” Kristine said with a broad smile that had already caught Hannah’s attention several times that day. “That’s very nice of you. I like insiders’ tips, they’re always the best.” She turned to Sarah, who was sitting opposite her. “What about you guys? Are you going elsewhere after this?”
“We are,” Sarah said, beaming. “As we’re in Europe already, we’re going to visit Paris and Rome before we head back to Canada. But this is the highlight of our trip, for sure. It’s always been our dream to see the northern lights, hasn’t it, Josh?”
Josh, her husband, nodded. “Yes. Sarah’s been talking about it for years, how she’d love to come here. So, we decided to wait for a couple of months instead of going on our honeymoon straight after the wedding. We wanted to be here during the northern lights season to broaden our chances of seeing it but also to get the full experience with the snow. It’s quite something isn’t it?” He looked at his watch. “I just can’t get used to the lack of light, though. My body constantly thinks it’s time to go to sleep and I feel really tired.”
“I know. I’m getting used to it now but I felt the same yesterday,” Kristine said. “The perpetual dark is strange. I feel like I’ll be spending my days waiting for the sun to come up.”
“It feels unnatural,” Werner agreed. “Yet, there’s nothing unnatural about it.” They all continued chatting for a while about their previous travels and about their expectations for the rest of the week.
“How is everyone doing?” Espen asked as he joined the group, looking up at the star-studded sky with his big hands buried deep in the pockets of his padded navy snowsuit. Underneath he was wearing a gray hand-knitted sweater with a traditional Norwegian pattern. With his broad shoulders, his thick blonde hair and a healthy blush on his cheeks, Espen was a picture-perfect Scandinavian.
“I love it here,” Kristine answered. “It’s even more beautiful than I expected.”
“Absolutely loving it,” Sofia said.
“Great.” Espen fished a small tin box out of his pocket, took out a bag of snus, and popped it under his upper lip. It made his mouth gape in a funny way. “It’s just tobacco,” he explained when he saw his guests’ confused stares. “Anyone want to try some?” He held out the box before them.
“Thank you, why not?” Joshua said taking what looked like a small tea bag out of the box, eager to give it a try as the rest looked on warily. He gingerly put the pouch in between his upper lip and his teeth and looked around the circle with a slightly gaping mouth.
“You look ridiculous, Josh.” Sarah grimaced at his comical expression. “Why?” she asked Espen. “What’s so nice about it? Surely it must taste disgusting.” She turned back to Joshua. “I’m not kissing you tonight, as long as you know that.”
Espen laughed and shrugged. “There’s no reason for popping snus, just like there’s no reason for smoking. It gives an instant nicotine hit though, I like that. My grandfather did it and my father did it too. I guess it was hard to buy cigarettes in the middle of winter back then.” He pointed at the tire tracks on the frozen lake. “It still is, so I hope there are no smokers amongst you without a stash to last you five days. If you get desperate have some of this, it takes the cravings away. I tried it for the first time when I was fifteen, and it made me feel energized on my long walks to school in the mornings, so I kept on using it.” He shrugged. “And now, I can’t stop, despite Dani’s daily pleas. She thinks it’s disgusting.”
“I think I might agree with that,” Josh said with the bag in his mouth. “It makes me talk funny too.” There were some giggles at his mumbling.
“Doesn’t look like we’re going to see the lights tonight,” Espen said, turning his attention back to the sky. He had made sure everyone’s expectations were realistic. “Northern lights, or aurora borealis as we call them, are not something we can guarantee you’ll see during your stay, and I don’t want you to be disappointed if they don’t appear,” he had said after they’d arrived that morning. “There’s so much more our fantastic country has to offer. Being here in the wild is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most people. My wife Dani and I will do everything we can to make your stay memorable and I have no doubt you will have an amazing time here in Kirkenes, whether you get to see the northern lights or not.”
The group had mumbled their understanding, still standoffish as they hadn’t gotten to know each other properly yet. But apparently a four-hour long hike, during today’s only hours of dim twilight, was all it had taken to make people bond. To everyone’s excitement, they’d seen a wolf, fresh bear prints, and the most stunning and otherworldly views, and that alone would give them enough to talk about for the weeks to come.
“How can you tell when the lights will appear and when they won’t?” Kristine asked.
Espen frowned as he studied the stars, two deep furrows appearing between his eyebrows. “I’ve been living here my whole life,” he mumbled, hard to understand with the pouch of tobacco settled underneath his lip. “I recognize the signs but it’s hard to explain to someone who’s never seen them before. It’s like there’s an electric charge in the air. There are these tiny little sparks, almost invisible to the naked eye, before the light appears.” He looked at his watch. “It’s almost eleven now, I really don’t think it’s going to happen. The lights usually appear between 9pm and 1am, but feel free to stay out all night if you want, you never know. We don’t lock the doors around here.” He smiled as he turned and walked back to the hotel. “Just don’t leave it open, we don’t want a family of bears raiding the kitchen.” He stopped, glanced up one more time and sighed. “Well, maybe tomorrow.”
Hannah looked out over the snow-covered lake. She felt a good kind of tired but her body was also confused at the lack of daylight. The sun never came up in December and living in vague twilight for only four hours a day was something she’d never experienced before. Her muscles were aching and it was nice to sit slumped in her chair, warmed by the fire. The feeling in her feet was starting to come back and for the first time in a long while, she felt carefree. Stressful thoughts of her busy restaurant in London had faded to the background. She trusted her staff, and anyway, so what if something went wrong? It wasn’t like she could beam herself back there. She was in the middle of nowhere, without a direct connection to London, and the flights to Oslo only went twice a week. The Wi-Fi signal was weak and she’d already stopped trying to send messages hours ago.
Kristine had not given up yet, holding her phone in the air every once in a while, checking to see if it had sparked into life. Hannah and Kristine had only spoken to each other briefly on their walk today because Kristine had, possibly against her will, been ambushed by the Canadian couple who had jumped on her as soon as they’d heard her American accent. Why they were so delighted to meet an American on their holiday in Norway was beyond Hannah, but she’d left them alone after that, and walked on with the two German high-school teachers and the Danish pensioners, who had been surprisingly good company.
“No luck?” she asked, turning to Kristine when she lifted her phone up again.
“Nothing.” Kristine gave her a smile. “It’s not important. I’m just addicted to my phone, I guess. I never realized it until now.”
“I gave up late this afternoon,” Hannah said. “I haven’t checked it since, apart from using my camera. It feels kind of liberating. You should try it.”
Kristine demonstratively put her phone in the brown leather satchel between her feet and closed the straps.
“There,” she said. “You’re right. So… what do we do now? Talk? Socialize? I’m not sure I remember how to do that.” She laughed.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure we can come up with a subject that will absorb you enough to stop you reaching for your bag every five minutes.” Hannah studied Kristine’s face. She was pretty, with big blue eyes, a healthy tan and long blonde hair with a natural wave that cascaded down her shoulders. Perhaps that was the reason, Hannah thought, however shallow, that she had wanted to talk to her so badly today. “Are you enjoying yourself?” she asked. “I couldn’t help but notice we’re the only two people in the group that have come out here on our own.”
“Yeah. I’m having a great time,” Kristine said with a slight Southern twang. “How about you? Were you nervous, coming here by yourself?” Her lips pulled into a huge smile when she sat forward, leaning her elbows on her knees as she turned to Hannah. “Because I’m not going to lie, I was shitting myself.”
“No, not nervous per se,” Hannah said, amused by Kristine’s dramatics. “But I expected to be all by myself and I was fine with that.” She looked around the group who, apart from Gunnar, who was fast asleep again, were getting tipsier and louder by the second. “I never expected it to be this sociable.”
“Yeah. They seem like a nice bunch, don’t they?” Kristine looked Hannah up and down, then let her eyes linger on her lips. “So, why did you come here?” she asked. “Was it the northern lights that drew you?”
“No, not really.” Hannah sat back and tucked her blanket behind her head. “I just haven’t had a holiday in years and I really needed to get away from everything for a bit. I have a restaurant in London and as you can probably imagine, it’s next to impossible to get away for more than a couple of days at a time. So I thought Norway would be perfect for a short break. Besides the relatively short flight, I was hoping I could really switch off here. When I’m traveling, I tend to spend most of my time exploring the local food; what I like about it, what I don’t like about it, how I can take inspiration from the food culture for my own menu, and so on. My mind never stops.”
She shot a quick glance at the hotel, making sure Espen was out of sight. “I heard Norway has one of the least exciting cuisines in the world, at least out here in the sticks. And I knew it would be quiet. Thought I might get some proper rest. Escaping the Christmas madness in London is a bonus. And guess what?” She grinned. “I was right. This is great. It’s quiet, there are no commercial establishments that have anything to do with food or drink, or anything else for that matter, and now I have no phone signal so I can’t stress over my restaurant.”
“Good for you,” Kristine said, nudging her. “You must be the only person here not obsessing over a sighting of the northern lights, then.”
“So that’s why you’re here?” Hannah asked. “All the way from the US? Which state are you from?”
“I’m from the South,” Kristine said. “Louisiana. I live in a small town called Covington.” Sarah, who was sitting next to Kristine, passed her the rum and Kristine topped up her hot chocolate and passed it on to Hannah. “Nice system they’ve got going here with the rum. I think I like these Norwegians.” She giggled. “But to get back to why I’m here, all I can say is that I get terribly curious about distant, exotic locations. So when I read about this nearly magical natural spectacle, I just had to come and see it.” She shrugged. “Or not. It doesn’t really matter, I’m beyond excited already. Can you believe we saw a wolf today?” She gestured towards the landscape around them. “And this part of the world is amazing. Have you ever seen so much snow in your life?”
“No, I don’t think I have.” Hannah laughed, looking out over the forest and the lake. It was a beautiful sight. Bright white, thick layers of fluffy snow stretched out in front of her. Apart from the spotlights, the land was lit by the starry sky and the moon, its light casting an eerie glow over the surface of the snow, giving it a bluish undertone. “I’d be terrified if I was here on my own,” she said, shivering.
“Me too.” Kristine shuffled her chair a little closer to Hannah, clearly keen to keep the conversation going. “I hope I’ll be able to sleep tonight. I didn’t notice how quiet it was yesterday as I was too exhausted from my journey. Even though I’m from a small town myself, this is a whole different level of quiet out here. It’s as if the snow is absorbing all the sound somehow.”
“You’re right.” Hannah listened intently. She heard talking and the cracking of the logs on the fire but, apart from that, the silence was so deep, it was almost palpable. “It’s kind of creepy, don’t you think? Maybe we should share a room,” she joked.
Kristine laughed. “I’ll come and find you if I freak out tonight.” She had a great laugh, Hannah thought. And a great face. High cheekbones, those electric blue eyes, great teeth and of course that thick, long, sun-bleached blonde hair. Hannah’s eyes shifted down. Banging body too. Although it was hard to make out any shape under the thick checked flannel shirt Kristine was wearing, Hannah had already taken her in over breakfast that morning, unconsciously focusing on the only other single woman in their group. But there was also something else that she’d picked up on during her brief conversation with Kristine. She had a faint suspicion Kristine might be gay. Although she didn’t display any of the stereotypical signs, she’d given Hannah a curious glance-over when they’d first introduced themselves, as if she was trying to figure her out. Hannah knew it might just be wishful thinking but she couldn’t resist digging further.
“Are you single?” Hannah heard herself ask. Then she frantically shook her head and laughed. “I didn’t mean in relation to sharing a room. God, I totally sound like I’m preying on you now, but I promise I’m not. I’m just curious.”
Kristine gave her an intense look, causing Hannah’s heart to skip a beat. “Yes.” She chuckled. “I’m single. Covington isn’t exactly the best place to meet women.” She paused; making sure her point had come across. “What about you?”
Hannah smiled. “Super single.” She felt a jolt of excitement at Kristine’s comment. Thank Christ my gaydar is still working. Although she hadn’t come here to make friends or to meet women, having a single lesbian in their group was most definitely an exciting distraction, especially one as attractive as Kristine.
“You say that as if it’s a blessing,” Kristine remarked.
“Yeah well, my ex, she kind of fucked me over, so right now I’m just enjoying life as a single woman in London.” Hannah shrugged. “We were together for ten years, Beth and I, and we even worked together. But I’m over the worst heartache. Let’s just say I’m having as much fun as I possibly can and I have no intention of committing myself to anyone anytime soon.”
“I have no doubt you get around.” Kristine studied Hannah with renewed interest. “You’re cute. But cool-cute, you know? London-cool-cute. Have you ever tried Tinder or that She-app?” She picked up her bag to grab her phone, then remembered she wouldn’t have a signal and dropped it back. “Never mind. I forgot it doesn’t work here.”
“No, I’m not on Tinder,” Hannah said with a giggle. “There are more than enough single lesbians in London and lots of club nights where I can hook up. Not to mention the straight women who all seem desperate to experiment lately. It’s become a bit of a trend after all those actresses, models and singers came out last year. I haven’t really needed those apps yet, but maybe in the future, who knows?” She leaned closer to Kristine and lowered her voice to make sure their conversation stayed private. “How do you meet women, down South in the US? Surely that can’t be easy.”
“I don’t.” Kristine sighed. “My friends try to set me up sometimes but it’s never worked out. They were all great women, don’t get me wrong, but I wasn’t attracted to them. I mean, I don’t want to date someone just because they happen to be gay and live reasonably close. That makes no sense. I want it all, you know. The attraction, the sparks…” She rolled her eyes. “Listen to me; I’m pouring my heart out already. I think the holiday excitement might be getting to me. More rum?” she asked, passing Hannah the bottle.
“Sure. I never say no.” Hannah happily refilled her mug with rum and hot chocolate from the large thermos in between them. She then held up her mug and clinked it with Kristine’s before taking a sip. “So, you don’t mind spending Christmas away from home?”
“Well, it’s not ideal.” Kristine paused. “My parents were a bit hurt that I won’t be with them for Christmas, but this was the only time I could get off work and I really wanted to go on this trip. But I have to say, even by myself, I’m feeling the Christmas spirit here. The music playing inside, the snow, the decorations and the smell of cinnamon everywhere… I don’t think Christmas could be more perfect if I’d designed it myself. I spent two nights in Oslo before I flew here, so my jetlag could settle, and then arrived here. After Christmas I’m going to Copenhagen for five nights, so I’ll be there on New Year’s Eve. Thought I might as well make the most of it while I’m in Scandinavia.” She took a sip of her drink. “What about you?”
“You mean how do I feel about spending Christmas on my own?” Hannah shrugged. “I’m just happy to be out of London during the busiest time of the year. To be honest, I’m not in contact with my family, so I usually spend the week working my ass off to give my staff Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or Boxing Day off. I’ve never really cared about the December festivities, always thought they were overrated. But I have to agree that there’s something very charming about being here.” She tried to suppress a yawn but failed.
Kristine started yawning too. “I think the day is catching up with me too,” she said. “I hope I’ll be able to get out of this chair, my legs are killing me after that hike.”
“Want some help getting up? I’m going to bed anyway.” Hannah stood up and held out her hand.
“Thank you.” Kristine shot her a sweet smile. “But I think I’ll stay out here for a little while longer. It’s such a perfect night. Besides, I’m still hoping to catch a glimpse of those lights.” That wasn’t entirely true. Kristine was exhausted, but she didn’t want Hannah to think she was following her around, desperately hoping for some action, so she sank deeper into her chair and waved at Hannah. “Sleep well, Hannah. Come and find me if you get scared.”
“Sweet dreams, Kristine. I will.” Hannah laughed and winked at Kristine before she turned to the rest of the group. “Goodnight everyone. Today was fun.”