The Northern Lights Lodge

by Julie Caplin

  Lucy thought for a moment and then she shot a calculating look, his way.

  ‘I don’t have to explain myself to Eyrun. If she has a problem with it, she can come and see me tomorrow. I asked her about these things and she denied all knowledge. I’m on the warpath now.’

  Alex smiled and felt a sense of relief.

  ‘But,’ said Lucy with a wicked grin, ‘it would be quite funny if we put the door back on.’

  ‘It would?’

  ‘Oh yes.’ Now she looked positively Machiavellian. ‘If she goes inside the cupboard and finds it empty, she can’t say anything, can she? Because then she’d have to admit that the items were all here in the first place.’

  He held out a fist and Lucy bumped hers against him. ‘I think I’ll call you evil genius from now on.’

  ‘Evil genius Ninja Queen, please,’ said Lucy with a regal nod.

  Together they worked as a team to get the cupboard door off and once it was removed and propped against the wall, Lucy bent to nudge Hekla. ‘Wake up.’

  She started and looked blearily up at Lucy and then beyond her at the packed shelves.

  Hekla slowly got to her feet, her hand holding onto the wall to steady herself. ‘Fokk,’ she breathed, her eyes so wide at the sight of the hidden booty that it was almost comical. ‘You found them.’

  ‘We did. Now we need to liberate them. Why don’t you go to bed? Alex will help me load everything up into a couple of the laundry trolleys and we’ll put them in the office overnight.’

  She also muttered something after it, which was unintelligible apart from the word Eyrun, which Alex took to mean Holy shit Eyrun is going to have a cow or something in that vein.

  ‘Go on, go,’ said Lucy.

  ‘Are you sure?’ asked Hekla looking a little confused.

  ‘Yes, then you’re not involved. You weren’t here.’

  ‘But I was,’ replied Hekla looking even more confused.

  ‘You didn’t see what we did. You didn’t touch anything. If Eyrun asks, you know nothing.’ Lucy lapsed into a familiar Spanish accent.

  Alex burst out laughing and she shot him a reproving glance. It really did feel like a scene out of Fawlty Towers.

  ‘Go to bed Hekla. Then you can plead innocence with Eyrun. This way you can blame everything on me.’

  A flash of understanding finally registered and Hekla nodded solemnly. ‘OK. If you are sure.’

  Lucy gave her a little push towards the door.

  ‘But you’re quite happy to throw me to the lions,’ teased Alex as the door closed behind her.

  ‘Even if she suspected you were involved, with those good looks and dimples you could easily charm the socks off her,’ she said patting his cheek, which rather took the wind out of his sails.

  Chapter 18

  ‘It’s Alex, isn’t it?’

  Damn. This was his first breakfast shift for a while as Olafur and Dagur were off today and in the rush to get up and get into the dining room, he’d completely forgotten the risk of bumping into Jane and Peter.

  ‘Hi. Nice to see you,’ he said smoothly, hiding the fact adrenaline had kick started his heart rate into warp speed. ‘Jane and Peter. What a small world, what brings you to Iceland?’

  ‘We came because of you, actually. Nina mentioned you’d been posted to Iceland.’

  Alex shot a cautious look over his shoulder, grateful that no one was in earshot.

  ‘And I’ve always fancied coming here. So, Peter decided to surprise me. I spotted you the other day but you disappeared before we could speak to you. We’ve been looking out for you and I was going to ask in reception when you worked. I’m sure being manager you’re very busy all the time.’

  Alex’s skin goose bumped. Could this get any worse? How did he explain that he wasn’t actually in charge here without blowing his cover?

  ‘Well, nice seeing you. I need to…’ He angled his head towards the coffee pot in his hand and a table on the other side of the dining room.

  Jane gave him a sympathetic smile. ‘I love that you still help out even though you’re the boss.’

  ‘We do what we have to,’ he said, wiping at the cold sweat that had broken out on his forehead.

  As soon as he delivered the coffee, he shot into the kitchen and sagged against a table, rubbing his forehead.

  ‘You OK?’ asked Gunnar, coming in with an armful of dirty crockery.

  ‘Yeah, fine.’ Alex smiled weakly and straightened as his mind raced. What were the chances of Jane and Peter mentioning to Lucy that they’d met him? Had Nina told them why he was here? He was pretty sure they knew he was the manager of the hotel in Paris. He remembered Nina mentioning that he’d allowed Sebastian to stay in one of his suites. Would they mention that?

  How would he explain it to Lucy? What would she say when she found out that he’d been lying to her all this time? If it were him, he’d be furious. But he couldn’t tell her. Not yet. The sale was still going through and although the staff all knew the lodge was being sold, no one knew who the buyer was. Quentin didn’t want anyone to know he was involved until the deal had been done. It wasn’t Alex’s secret to share.

  ‘Alex, table five are waiting for service,’ said one of the other waiters.

  ‘Thanks.’ Forcing himself to push it to the back of his mind, he went back to the restaurant.

  ‘Morning,’ he said to Clive, the director, who was unfortunately at his table.

  ‘Oh, it’s you. Waiter?’

  ‘Barman. Waiter. Wherever they need me.’ He kept his smile pleasant, even though Clive’s false bonhomie and pseudo trendiness pissed him off and he didn’t like the way he’d insisted Lucy took part in the filming even though she was so clearly uncomfortable with it.

  ‘Can you get us coffee?’ Clive wasn’t even bothering to look at him, he and Bob had their heads together setting up a laptop on the table.

  When Alex returned with two coffee pots, they were looking at the coverage they’d shot on the laptop. He was about to leave when he saw the footage from the other evening. The sight of Lucy’s obviously tense face stopped him in his tracks. The small line furrowing one cheek bothered him.

  As he stared at the screen, the scene changed, the shot pulling out and away before the camera panned up Lucy’s body, zooming in on the swell of her breasts constrained by the tight top. It lingered there … Alex counted the seconds – one, two, three, four, five, six – before moving up to her pale, strained face.

  The utter cockwomble. Alex clenched his fists, a hot rush flooding him. He shot a look of dislike at the dumpy, squat cameraman, who had a smirk Alex longed to wipe off his face.

  Clive, sensing him, turned around and perceptibly shifted in his seat at the expression on Alex’s face. Good.

  ‘Alex! Didn’t see you there.’

  Bob’s smirk widened. A pulse pounded in Alex’s temple. He slowly leaned towards the cameraman, making the other man aware of his height as he towered over him.

  ‘I’m assuming you were about to cut that scene,’ he hissed, almost touching noses with the little prick.

  Bob swallowed, trying to lean away and his shark-like eyes slid towards Clive.

  ‘Hey man, stay cool,’ said Clive, putting a jolly hand on his arm as if they were all mates together. Alex shook it off, his lip curling.

  ‘As I said cutting that scene would be beneficial to your health and the wellbeing of your equipment.’

  ‘Piss off,’ said Bob, suddenly finding his balls and thrusting his chin up at Alex. ‘We’ve got releases. We can film what we damn well like. And a jumped-up waiter isn’t going to stop us.’

  Alex raised a single eyebrow and stared unblinking at him. The restaurant had hushed and everyone was looking their way even though there’d been no raised voices. It was as if the incipient menace had snaked across the room in silent waves, upsetting the balance.

  Bob swallowed.

  ‘Do you want to put that to the test?’ asked Alex in a low voice infused with
threat and barely contained rage.

  Clive tried to smile but his voice had a very slight tremor to it. ‘Like he said, we have releases and we have the management’s permission to film.’

  ‘The management being the person you are sexually harassing in that video?’ Alex’s voice radiated disgust.

  The production assistant opposite winced and shot a look of dislike towards Bob.

  ‘I would think very carefully about how much you want to remain in this hotel and remember there is another level of management both above that and above you.’ He clenched his jaw. ‘Delete it now.’ Staring the two of them down wasn’t difficult. Alex had been dealing with arsewipes, awkward customers and arrogant dipshits for the last decade, these two were small fry in comparison.

  Clive rolled his eyes. ‘OK, keep your knickers on. I’m sure we can–’

  ‘You married? Got a girlfriend,’ snapped Alex.

  Clive sank into his seat slightly and nodded with tiny movements. The production assistant, tossed her pony tail over her shoulder and folded her arms, watching with predatory interest. Alex almost smiled, he wouldn’t like to be in Clive’s shoes.

  ‘And you’d be happy if some piece of shit focused on her chest for national TV?’

  And yes, the girls’ eyes narrowed as she leaned forward very slightly.

  Clive had the grace to look shamefaced for all of ten seconds. ‘Bob, would you … delete the offensive footage for Mr Sensitive here.’

  Bob radiating resentment started pulling up files on the laptop and jabbed at the keys with furious displeasure.

  ‘And shall we make sure there’s no repeat of that sort of thing?’ Alex’s voice might have sounded full of reason but it was clear exactly what he meant.

  Clive’s mouth sneered. ‘And you watch yourself waiter-boy. You might find you just got too big for your boots.’ His girlfriend rolled her eyes at the pathetic display.

  Alex gave him a humourless smile. ‘I wouldn’t bet the bank on it.’ As soon as he got out of here, he’d be straight on the phone to Quentin and the head honcho of the production company as well as checking whether Lucy had signed the release form. He didn’t trust Clive or Bob as far as he could kick them.

  ‘Bloody flaming marvellous!’ He heard Lucy’s shout as he walked into the office. Maybe now wasn’t a good time.

  ‘Morning,’ he said, coming in to find her clutching her head and Brynja standing wringing her hands.

  ‘I don’t bloody believe it.’ Lucy turned to him. ‘There’s a sheep in the hot tub.’

  ‘What now?’

  ‘Yes, now. I haven’t got the first clue as to the procedure for this one but I do know someone is going to have to go in and get it.’ She pulled an eugh face. ‘And of course, Magnus isn’t around today. Olafur has gone into Hvolsvöllur to get the spare tyres sorted. It couldn’t come at a worse time. And if the bloody film crew get wind of it…’ she shuddered. ‘I can imagine what wonderful TV that would make. Honestly I think we’re jinxed.’ She was already grabbing a coat and pulling on a pair of wellies from under her desk.

  Alex thought it was a bit more than that and he suspected so did she. Lucy Smart’s name suited her to a ‘T’. She was no fool.

  ‘Or maybe the huldufólk really do exist.’ She shot a quick look at Brynja. ‘Sorry.’

  ‘That’s what happens,’ said Brynja. ‘You think that it is a fairy tale but then…’ She shrugged, her eyes wide moving from Lucy to him, like a friendly owl. ‘You don’t want to believe.’

  ‘One thing I do know is that I need to get it out of there pronto and then find out if the maintenance guys can get over here to do what’s necessary.’

  ‘Not got volunteers lining up then?’ he observed.

  ‘I haven’t asked anyone yet. Why? Are you volunteering?’

  ‘It’s not top of my list of fun things to do today but if all else fails, I’ll pitch in. Do you want a hand?’

  ‘Seriously?’ she looked at him, her face softening. ‘I was hoping to help it scramble out. I really do not want to get in the pool with it and I have no idea how heavy a sheep is.’

  The sheep was bobbing up and down in the pool bleating piteously.

  ‘At least it’s not cold,’ said Lucy.

  ‘And appears to be able to swim,’ added Alex.

  ‘Or float.’

  ‘How the hell did it get in here though?’ She narrowed her eyes and scanned the fencing around the property. ‘Seems far too much of a coincidence.’

  ‘So you do think it’s deliberate?’ asked Alex. ‘I wondered.’

  ‘Give me some credit. Sheep are valuable around here, it’s well fenced in to prevent this sort of thing. There’s no way it could have wandered up here and fallen in. Someone helped poor Dolly.’

  ‘They’re making quite a statement.’

  ‘Yes, but who and why?’ She shot him a shrewd look holding his gaze.

  He had nothing to feel guilty about … yes he did. He absolutely did, but not this.

  ‘I’m a waiter. I’ve got no reason to go around coercing sheep into hot tubs.’

  A slight smile played around her lips and he realised that perhaps he’d been a tad defensive when he hadn’t really needed to be.

  ‘I’ve been wondering,’ she said, her attention going back to the sheep bobbing in the water, ‘if it’s an ex-employee or someone with a grudge. The only way I’m going to find out is by doing some questioning. Hekla seems to know everything but if I start asking her questions, she might think I don’t trust her again. I upset her enough before I don’t want to do it again.’

  ‘Would you like me to sound her out?’ he asked. ‘It would be easy to make small talk about the events and ask her opinion.’

  ‘That would be great,’ said Lucy so quickly he realised that she’d manoeuvred him right into it.

  He laughed. ‘Nicely delegated.’

  ‘Sorry, was it that obvious?’ Her conspiratorial smile lightened her face, her sharp, bright eyes filled with intelligence. His eyes lingered on her face. Smart cookie. And yet there was a vulnerability about her, that she kept well hidden. It made him doubly pleased he’d sorted Clive and Bob out this morning. She didn’t deserve that crap.

  He winked at her. ‘Only because it’s exactly what I’d have done in your place.’

  ‘You’re wasted as a waiter.’ As soon as she said it, she clapped her hand over her mouth. ‘Sorry that was rude. I didn’t mean that … there’s anything wrong with being a waiter, it’s just that…’ She pulled an agonised face and part of him was dying to put her out of her misery, but what to say? Lying already was bad enough, embellishing it would make him feel far worse. Although another part of him was rather enjoying seeing her disconcerted and the pink tinge to her cheeks.

  ‘Anyway,’ she said, her eyes drawn back to sound of the bleats, all business again. ‘We need to get Dolly out. I think we need to try and entice her to the side, although I’m not sure if she’s swimming or floating?’

  ‘You know it’s a ewe?’ He was impressed.

  ‘No idea!’ She shook her head. ‘But she needs our help and it seems kinder to refer to her as a she rather than an it,’ said Lucy sticking her chin up in the air as if daring him to disagree with her.

  Something dislodged inside him at the sight of that defiant chin and her soft-hearted defence of the sheep, making him think that perhaps Lucy was the one in need of help and kindness for a change. She seemed to feel she had to do everything on her own.

  Lucy bent down on one knee at the side of the pool. ‘I don’t know whether she’ll come to us. What do sheep eat apart from grass? And how do we get her out?’

  With visions of her holding out handfuls of grass, he shrugged. ‘What about the hot tub equipment? You know the big sieves that pool maintenance guys use in swimming pools, maybe we could use something like that to push her to the side and we can haul her out.’

  ‘That’s a great idea. Let’s check out the shed, see what there is.’ She motione
d to the outhouses on the slight incline behind them on the boundary of the grounds. ‘Do you think one of us should stay with her?’

  Alex eyed the sheep, which apart from the bleating, didn’t seem to be too distressed. It wasn’t thrashing about and didn’t appear appearing to be panicking. Not that he was any expert. ‘Well she doesn’t seem to be in danger of drowning, I think we’ll be alright to leave her for a few minutes.’

  ‘I’m more worried about a guest or the film crew coming by.’ Her teeth gnawed at her lip and looked back at the big windows reflecting the morning’s blue sky and the hills opposite. It was impossible to tell if anyone was looking out their way.

  He nudged her with his elbow. ‘The guests are all busy heading out for the day and the film crew are reviewing the footage they’ve got. Come on. If we’re quick, we should be able to get her out before anyone spots us. And I don’t think they can see her from the hotel.’

  Lucy half walked and half ran up to the outhouse and wrenching open the door she went inside first to switch on some lights to help them find their way in the gloomy exterior which held lots of grounds maintenance tools and equipment.

  ‘Perfect,’ said Lucy crossing to the far wall and grabbing a long-handled, triangular shaped net and holding it up in triumph like a warrior princess with a spear. He smiled at the image she made, the net held aloft, her mouth firming in a determined line. ‘We can scoop her to the side with this.’

  ‘Ever caught a sheep before?’ he teased.

  ‘No, there’s a first time for everything.’ Her sudden unexpected light-hearted grin, dazzled him and for some reason his breath caught in his throat.

  ‘Honestly this job can be so bizarre, but that’s why I love…’ she paused and tilted her head as if some amazing revelation had struck her. ‘That’s why I love it. I do love my job. I’d just forgotten.’ She was already turning towards the door.

  Sucking in a quick breath he turned to give himself some equilibrium, something about her bright smile made him feel off balance. He had the urge to hug her and tell her she was doing OK but she was all bustle and business this morning and it felt like it might be a distraction for both of them. Disconcerted by the conflicting emotions, he glanced away. What the! He let out a long low whistle.