They draw closer to the farmhouse. The lights that come from it are warm and inviting. A pretty festive wreath hangs from the door. There’s even a light-up reindeer out front. It sits in contrast to the charred lodge behind them, vivid and black against the now white landscape.

As Amber looks at the farmhouse, she feels something wet and cold splat on an exposed part of her neck. She turns to see Lumin biting her lip, a mischievous smile on her face … and she’s rolling another snowball in her hands.

‘Did you really just do that?’ Amber says, shaking her head.

‘Yep,’ Lumin replies, putting her hand on her hip. ‘That’s what you get for being sarcastic with me.’

Amber quickly gathers some snow and shapes it into a ball with her good hand. ‘You really don’t know what you’re up against. I’m actually a very experienced one-handed snowball-throwing machine.’

Lumin shrieks and runs off as Amber chases her, throwing a snowball square at Lumin’s head. Lumin looks at her in surprise. ‘You are good. That was some brute force you used there.’

‘I did warn you.’

Over the next five minutes, they have the best snowball fight ever, Lumin shrieking in joy as Amber chases her. Amber finds herself feeling a sense of freedom and joy that she hasn’t felt in a long time and her heart soars like the white birds soaring above the lake behind them.

As Lumin’s about to throw another snowball, she pauses. Amber turns to follow her gaze, seeing a thin woman striding over to them, a thick sheepskin coat wrapped around her.

‘Thank God,’ the woman says in relief, a smile on her face. ‘I heard shouting and thought someone was hurt.’

‘Just a snowball fight,’ Amber says, feeling like a naughty schoolgirl. ‘I’m sorry if we were a bit loud.’

The woman laughs. ‘Come now, it’s fine. It’s nice to see people having fun. Where have you come from?’

‘We’ve just been at the lodge,’ Amber explains, gesturing towards the remains of the house across from the loch. ‘Have you come from the farmhouse?’

The woman nods.

‘We were going to come and see you,’ Lumin says, face now very serious after the fun of just now. ‘I think my family lived in the lodge.’

The woman blinks rapidly. ‘The McCluskys?’

‘Yes,’ Lumin replies. ‘We have some questions.’

‘It’s a long story,’ Amber says.

‘Well, perhaps you’d better come in and explain it all,’ the woman says. ‘I’m Rosa, by the way. Come, I’ll make you both some hot chocolate.’

They both follow Rosa to her house. It’s lovely and warm inside, the hallway bright and filled with beautiful Christmas decorations.

‘Looks very festive,’ Amber says as she carefully takes her boots and coat off.

‘Thank you,’ Rosa replies with a smile. ‘Come through.’