By the time Robbie had found the linens and duvet for the futon and got it set up for sleeping, the fire in the stove had almost gone out. The embers were reduced to a dull red and he could tell the temperature was dropping outside from the chill that was gathering inside the little cottage. After making up his bed he went upstairs. Laura had already used the bathroom and after he had brushed his teeth he saw that the light was off in the bedroom. He had wondered whether to say goodnight again but clearly she had turned in for the night. Now, getting under the duvet and trying to get comfortable on the futon he felt troubled. Laura had been startled by the loud knocking and the whole oddness of the incident hadn't done him any favours either. After he had gone to investigate the knock on the door the atmosphere in the cottage seemed to have changed. It had gone cold quite rapidly but Robbie reasoned that this was probably due to warm air escaping when he opened the front door. In addition, the heat from the stove had already started to dwindle while he and Laura had been chatting on the sofa. He sighed to himself, pulling the duvet around him against the advancing chill that seemed to creep up from the floor. He hoped Laura was ok. He felt bad enough that he'd brought them into the situation in the first place without disturbing any sleep she might get. His thoughts turned to their conversation about being happy, and what might have happened if the incident with the door hadn't transpired. Despite how he felt at the time he wondered now if he was being foolish; even if he'd been bold enough to do something, what if he'd misread her and got it wrong? The thought of that scenario was almost unbearable. With a sigh he turned onto his back and then back onto his side in an effort to get comfortable, in body at least, and closed his eyes to sleep.
Upstairs in the little cottage bedroom, Laura had fallen fast asleep almost straight away. The bed was extremely comfy and the bed linens were luxurious and soft. Dan and Sarah had clearly pulled out all the stops in their sideline to farming. The room was warm against the weather outside but when Laura awoke in the early hours of the morning, she felt an odd shiver.
She needed to pee and got out of bed and tiptoed quietly to the bathroom, hoping she wasn't disturbing Robbie. Her heart raced a little as she recalled their exchange earlier in the evening. She wondered if Robbie would have done anything else if there hasn't been the knocking on the door. She would not have dared to be as forward as she had been in placing her hand on his chest if he hadn't mentioned that he might be receptive to perhaps venturing into the realm of meeting someone in a romantic sense. She wondered now if she had jumped the gun. The last thing she wanted to do was crowd him. Why should he think of her as anything other than a friend afterall? She suddenly felt full of doubts and she felt a chill in the darkness after turning out the bathroom light. On returning to the bedroom she wondered if it was still snowing and she made her way to the window and pulling the curtain aside, looked out.
It wasn't snowing and the landscape looked pristine and still as if in a painting of sapphire blue and icy white. The sky was clear, save for a few racing clouds, ragged from a brisk wind, and Laura wondered if the blizzard had passed. The moon had broken free of the storm and shone her light down onto the snowy fields below, painting the night with silver and blue. The trees towards the end of the fields looked dark and cold, outlined in silver light from the moon. Laura found herself looking once more to where she had seen the woman earlier in the evening. There was nothing but blackness between the trees, but for a split second, Laura thought she saw a figure again, the same one as before - a woman in a shawl and long skirt. She squinted, but the figure had vanished and Laura convinced herself she had imagined it. There was no-one there.
Feeling herself shiver, she went back to bed.