The Winter Wolf

T
angled branches tapped at the windows as the car nosed down the track towards the house. Amelia shivered happily. It was a bit like a fairy tale, this huge, old, abandoned house, deep in the countryside. There had been a sign at the end of the track, half grown over with ivy. Amelia had just about been able to see that it said “Allan House”. It felt like a proper adventure, travelling late into the night, all the way up to Scotland. They hadn’t passed another car for ages, winding along those tiny lanes in the dark.

But as they climbed out of the car, stretching and then shuffling wearily towards the door, Amelia pressed close against her big sister, Bella. She was shy with strangers, and she could hardly remember her cousins at all. Anya was the
same age as Bella, Mum had said. Lara was another year older. Tom was ten, a few months older than Amelia. Bella said she remembered Anya and Lara perfectly, and she was looking forward to seeing them again. Amelia had a horrible feeling that the older girls weren’t going to want her hanging around. She was going to be stuck with this boy, Tom. Just because they were cousins, it didn’t mean she was going to get on with him. It was strange, spending Christmas all together, in a house that none of them knew.

Amelia blinked in the sudden golden glow as the front door opened, and then there were loud, excited voices all around, and people laughing and hugging and pulling them inside. Amelia shrank against the wall, watching as her mum kissed a tiny,
dark-haired woman who looked amazingly like Mum did. That must be Mum’s cousin Laura, Amelia realized. She hadn’t expected them to look so similar. And the two girls with their arms round Bella were their second cousins.

“And this must be Amelia!” Laura swung round to hug her now, and twirled her fingers in Amelia’s dark curls.

Amelia tried to smile – people always did that, and she had to pretend she didn’t mind.

“Sorry, Amelia, I couldn’t resist – they’re so pretty,” Laura told her, smiling. Laura was her first cousin once removed. Something like that, anyway. But Amelia could hardly call her that. Mum had said it would be simplest just to call her Aunt Laura.

“Hi,” Amelia whispered.

“Do you remember Tom at all?” Aunt Laura asked, ushering a reluctant-looking boy towards Amelia. “You haven’t seen each other for, oh, about three years, so you probably don’t…”

Amelia saw that the boy had dark, floppy hair, and that he was taller than she was (almost everyone was – she was used to it by now). Then she spotted the huge tawny and silver dog that was standing behind him. She took a step back, pressing her hands flat against the faded wallpaper, wishing it would open up behind her so she could get away. Mum had told her that their cousins had a dog and Amelia had been worrying about it for weeks. She’d even woken up in the night panicking a couple of times. But even then, in the dark, she hadn’t imagined a dog
that
big…

“Oh, so this is your dog,” her mum said, smiling a little worriedly. “Amelia has a bit of a thing about dogs. Is it a he?” she added, looking at the dog uncertainly.

Amelia had no idea how anyone would tell if the dog was a boy or a girl. All she could see were its quivering ears, lots of shaggy brownish-grey fur and its teeth… It looked like some sort of wolf. And it was quite possibly the biggest dog she had ever seen. Even bigger than that horrible dog in the park that had knocked her over a couple of years ago. The owner had tried to tell her that the dog was just excited, but it had barked and barked, right in her face, and Amelia had never felt so scared.

“I’m sure he’s friendly, Amelia,” her mum said gently, reaching out a hand to her, but the dog was in between them, and Amelia couldn’t bring herself to step past it.

She edged further away, and then
stopped, realizing that she was right up against the front door. She couldn’t go any further, and now the dog was padding towards her, sniffing at her with interest.

“Hey!” Bella turned round from talking to the other girls, and stepped in front of the dog. “Yes, you’re lovely, aren’t you? But you have to leave Amelia alone, she’s not a dog person.” She held out her hand for the dog to sniff, and it licked her. Bella laughed, but just the sight of that great red tongue made Amelia shudder.

“Are you really frightened of dogs?” Tom asked, staring at her disgustedly.

“A dog knocked Amelia over in the park,” Mum explained, coming to put her arm round Amelia’s shoulders. “It was a big dog, and she got a shock.”

“But Freddie’s not fierce,” Tom objected. “He even lets the little girl next door ride on his back.” Freddie swooshed his massive tail as he heard his name, and Amelia pressed herself against her mum. She knew it was stupid to be scared – she could see that Freddie was friendly – but telling herself that didn’t help. Her heart was thumping so hard she was sure everyone else could hear it, too.

“Take Freddie and put him in the kitchen, Tom,” Aunt Laura said firmly, and Tom marched off, muttering crossly, with Freddie lumbering along behind.

“Are you all right?” Bella nudged Amelia.

“Yes,” Amelia whispered. But she wasn’t. They were staying here for a whole week. It was Christmas in three days.
They were going to gather round the tree to sing carols and make a gingerbread house, and do all of Amelia’s favourite Christmas things. It was meant to be the most special time of the year, and now it was ruined. She was going to spend the whole of Christmas hiding from a dog.

Amelia sat on the wide windowsill in her bedroom, wrapped in a woollen blanket she’d found at the bottom of the wardrobe. It was brown and hairy and it had holes in, but it was very warm against the freezing wind that was whistling round the house and doing its best to get inside. Amelia was wearing her fingerless gloves as she wrote in her diary. It had been a Christmas present from her gran last year,
and she managed to write in it most days, even if it was only things like,
Hate Mrs Turner
, and
Wish homework had never been invented
. But now they were at Allan House, there seemed to be a lot to write about – or at least, there was more time to write. If she went downstairs and tried to watch TV, Tom always seemed to turn up with Freddie. It was as if he was following her. And Bella kept nicking the tablet they were supposed to share.

It still
isn’t
snowing
, Amelia wrote, peering sadly out of the window. The view was very beautiful, in a grey sort of way. The hills rose up behind the house in great, fat sweeps, covered in green turf that looked like velvet, though it wasn’t at all velvety when you got close up, because Amelia had checked.

When Mum had told them excitedly about the house, and how it belonged to her and Aunt Laura now, and they were going to stay in it for Christmas, she had practically promised it would snow.
Sledging
, she had said enthusiastically.
Snowmen. Snowball fights!

Actually, Amelia thought, resting her cheek against the cold glass for a moment, that was the one good thing about no snow. She was pretty sure that Tom would be
lethal with a snowball. And he’d probably cheat and just stuff snow down the back of her neck as well. She shivered, and slid down from the windowsill, wrapping the blanket tighter like a cloak. She would go and explore, she decided. Allan House was huge, and even though this was the second whole day they’d been here, Amelia was pretty sure she hadn’t seen all of it. The house seemed to have a lot more corners than any house she’d been in before. Every time she thought she’d got to the end of it, there would be another little passageway.

She opened her bedroom door and peered round it cautiously. But no paws were padding along the wooden floorboards anywhere close. Letting out a relieved breath, Amelia sneaked into the
passageway and looked thoughtfully from side to side. She would head away from the stairs, she decided. Further along, the passage stretched into shadows beyond a huge old wooden cupboard, and it looked exciting. She set off to explore, with the hairy blanket trailing the floor behind her, sweeping up dust.

Until a few months ago, the house had belonged to one of Mum and Laura’s aunts, but Amelia had never met her. She couldn’t imagine the old lady – she had been very old, Mum said – living here all on her own. Surely she had been lonely in such a big house far away from any neighbours? But perhaps that was why it was so full of things. Ornaments and candlesticks and rugs and all those pictures.

Amelia stopped to look at the painting
just opposite Bella’s room. It was dark in the passageway, as there were wooden shutters closed over the window, but even in the dimness, the colours glowed. A fire blazed in the middle of the canvas, casting an eerie light on the man sitting behind it. He was wrapped in a dark, hairy blanket, just like Amelia’s. Behind him, another man was sleeping in a sort of hut, made of old branches piled together. Perhaps they were hunters, Amelia thought. It looked like they were deep in a wood. She leaned closer, drawn in by the glowing flames. The sparks were flying up from the fire and glittering in the darkness, and the firelight spread a charmed circle round the two men. But beyond it the trees were thick and dark, and she was sure that there were creatures waiting just on the edge of the light.