by A.D. Winch
Chapter 14 – Recovery Time
On their way down to the lake, Granddad Benjamin had been left behind by Eric and Ursula. On the way back, their positions were reversed. Every fifty metres or so he had to stop and wait. Eric and Ursula were walking like mourners in a funeral procession. Their heads drooped, their bodies hunched and their feet dragged in the snow.
“You two took much longer than you said you would, to finish the course. Are you both okay?” Granddad Benjamin asked as they trudged towards the chalet.
“Tired,” they replied together.
Granddad Benjamin would not have minded such a leisurely pace if it had not been for the weather. The snow storm had become much worse and had turned into a full-blown blizzard. The snow was falling so thickly that it was difficult to see which way to go. At times, the snow was as hard as hail and stung as it was blown into them. At other times, it was like walking through cold, cotton wool. Low clouds hung like a dark veil over the village, and street lights had turned on automatically. Luckily Granddad Benjamin had a very good sense of direction and by following this he led them back towards the chalet. However, due to the bad weather and the children’s extremely slow pace, it was taking forever.
Eventually, they reached the clearing in front of the chalet. By this time, Granddad Benjamin was leading them. Eric and Ursula had almost ground to a complete stop under the pine trees and only by pulling them would they move.
Mémé was waiting by the front door when they arrived. Even though, she was very concerned; she hid it behind a calm exterior.
“Who won?” she asked, a little too enthusiastically.
“No one,” mumbled Eric.
He was barely able to stand.
“It was a draw,” whispered Ursula and leant against the open doorway.
“Ce n’est pas important. I think the best thing to do now is get you out of those wet clothes and then you can have a rest.”
Sleepily the two children nodded in agreement. Mémé helped them out of their sodden, ski suits and then they crawled up the wooden stairs dressed only in their thermals. She watched them go through worried eyes.
“I’ll call you for lunch shortly,” she said warmly.
The moment the two children were out of sight, she turned to her husband and gave him such a telling off that it was a wonder she didn’t start an avalanche.
Delicious smells filled the chalet before lunch. The aromas of fragrant French onion soup, honey roasted pork and sweet carrots, wafted up to the children’s rooms. Granddad Benjamin was desperate to eat and could hardly wait for Eric and Ursula to bound downstairs and join them at the dinner table. They didn’t.
Mémé called up the stairs, “Ursula, Eric, mes cheris, à table.”
Nobody came.
“I will fetch them,” Andrea offered and left the kitchen area.
Eric’s room was right at the top of the stairs. It was a good size but not huge. The bed was high above the floor, and a rope ladder had to be climbed to reach it. Eric was nowhere near it. Instead, he was lying on the floor of his room. His torso was draped over a train set, his legs on a guitar shaped rug and his head on the wooden floor. His arms and legs were bent into the most uncomfortable sleeping position Andrea had seen since Eric was a baby.
Gently she shook him but he did not respond. She tried again but harder. Nothing. Then again and again and again. The most she got out of him was a short grunt. Andrea felt that it was highly unlikely Eric would wake, so she carefully lifted him up. She held him above her head and walked towards the bed. She dropped him on to the high mattress, put the duvet over him and left the room.
Next door was Ursula’s room. It had been furnished simply, with a thick white rug, wooden wardrobe, chest of drawers and a single bed. Beside the bed was Ursula’s open suitcase and Ursula, who was fast asleep. Unlike Eric, she had managed to reach the bed but hadn’t quite managed to get into it. Her lower body rested on the floor, her upper body on the bed and one arm hung limply over the suitcase. As Andrea approached, she could hear Ursula softly snoring. Placing her hands on Ursula’s feet, she tickled. Nothing happened. She tried the same thing under Ursula’s arms but again there was no reaction. Andrea put her hands around Ursula’s waist and lifted her into bed.
The elder Benjamins ate lunch alone and in the evening dinner as well. When they went to bed four hours later, they peeped into both rooms. The two children were still sound asleep and hadn’t moved from where Andrea had put them.
By the next morning, the blizzard had blown over. All tracks outside the chalet, both human and vehicle, had been covered by fresh snow. Snow drifts taller than people rested like sheets against the chalet. The drifts even reached the windows on the first floor. Andrea opened the windows before making breakfast and brushed away the snow.
The sweet aroma of pains au chocolat and croissants soon woke Granddad Benjamin from his sleep. He joined Andrea in the kitchen dressed in an old tracksuit that he occasionally slept in. Shortly after Mémé entered, her hair was full of pink curlers, and she wore a matching pink dressing gown. She had not slept well. All night she had been tossing and turning, worried about Ursula and Eric. On two occasions, she had got out of bed, entered their rooms and stayed until she could hear them breathing. Due to her lack of sleep, she was not in the best of moods and almost forgot to wish everyone bonjour.
“I’m very worried about the children,” she said, sipping a steaming coffee which Andrea had given her. “If they are not awake in the next hour we will have to call for the doctor.”
“I can look after them, Mrs Benjamin,” assured Andrea.
“But they have been asleep for over eighteen hours!”
“It is most likely that they needed a long rest to recharge their batteries. I am sure they will be down soon. You will have nothing to worry about.”
Right on cue Eric ran into the room.
“I’m starving,” he declared and looked at each of the adults expectantly.
“So am I, what’s for breakfast?” asked Ursula, skidding through the door and stopping beside Eric.
Nobody moved. Granddad Benjamin simply stared, Andrea looked intrigued, and Mémé shakily pointed at their heads.
Eric and Ursula turned to face each other and only then saw what had caused the shocked silence. Around their ears, their hair had turned completely white.
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