‘IT WAS AS IF THE LODGE SAT WITHIN A SNOW GLOBE’

An exclusive extract from Susannah’s novel linking her eyes against the new day, Esme could tell that it had snowed. She knew by the luminous shards of light that pierced her curtains and brightened her bedroom. It was silent inside and outside The Lodge. No birds singing their morning chorus, no cars grumbling along the lane, not a breath of wind to rattle the ancient windowpanes. Esme breathed in the cold air and felt it prickle her throat. She released a cloud of breath that billowed in the air like the smoke from a great dragon. As she burrowed back into the warmth of her sheets her feet hit an obstacle and her tummy clenched with excitement. It was Christmas Day.

Sliding off her bed, she tiptoed over to the window and pulled back the curtains. She scratched the frozen condensation and peered out at the magical world beyond the glass. It was as if The Lodge sat within a giant snow globe, enormous pale grey clouds sprinkling snowflakes across a white land, blanketing its secrets in a quiet stillness. Opening her window a fraction, Esme allowed a snowflake to land on her palm and watched it melt. Butterflies quivered in her tummy. She grabbed some warm socks and stepped into the corridor. The rest of the house was still sleeping. Pressing her eye to the keyhole of her sister’s room, she could see a copy of Cupid Rides Pillion lying open on the floor. Sophia was addicted to Barbara Cartland novels and was in love with the idea of falling in love. Esme knew not to wake her. Boarding school had made Sophia moody and she didn’t want to do the same things as her little sister any more.

Esme had mapped out a soundproof route past her parents’ bedroom years ago. As she tiptoed down the corridor now she avoided the creaking floorboards that would give her away. It was so quiet she could even hear the mantel clock chiming in the drawing room. Creeping past the kitchen into the back hallway she pulled on her wellington boots and lifted her elk-skin coat off its peg. Esme slid back the rusty iron bolt of the back door and placed one booted foot on the fresh snow. She watched as it sank into the deep, powdery mound. She felt a sense of delight at making the first footprint in this untouched world.

BAfter the Snow by Susannah Constantine will be published on 2 November by HQ, price £12.99*