‘I’d really no idea the event was so huge,’ Sophie said, in between bites
‘Oh yes. It’s one of the biggest days of the year for Bannerdale, if notthebiggest. Everyone looks forward to it and I always loved it, growing up. My dad was a fire marshal and Mum used to help at the community hall, with the lantern workshops.’ Brody gave a thought to his mother and her tombola and smiled. She’d run it for years, and the parade had given them both so many happy memories.
‘So you took part when you were young?’ she asked.
‘Of course. I was a kid once, you know.’
Her eyes sparkled with mischief. ‘Actually, that’s easy to imagine.’
‘Some would say I’ve never grown up. Although I was always a bit alternative. While most of the kids made bells,stars and angels, I had to be different. One year I made an owl, and another time I constructed a shark.’
‘A shark? Very festive!’
‘I thought it was cool. At the time.’ At Sophie’s amused smile, Brody grinned. ‘Another time I made a Herdwick sheep and a rabbit. My final creation was an octopus, which took ages. The workshop leader was fuming because it needed so much willow engineering to help it stay up. He thought it was a liability because, in those days, the lanterns had real tea lights in them.’
‘Very impressive,’ Sophie said.
‘See, we’ve got more in common than you think. I was doing my own unconventional Christmas celebrations, before you,’ he joked and she laughed.
Brody noticed a smudge of ketchup at the side of Sophie’s lips from the hot dog. He agonised over whether to mention it, then decided that Sophie was the kind of person who would appreciate honesty. Along with that thought came a large side-order of guilt.
‘What’s the matter?’ she asked, clearly sensing him staring at her.
Brody parked the troublesome pang at the corner of his mind. ‘Nothing, except you have ketchup on your mouth.’
‘Do I?’ She screwed up her nose in embarrassment and started to rub her lips with her finger. ‘Has it gone?’ she asked.
Resisting the urge to wipe away the remaining trace himself, he said, ‘Almost, just a bit – um, there.’ He pointed his finger as close as he dared to her cheek.
She rubbed the last smear away. ‘Gone now?’
‘Yes,’ he replied, rather disappointed to surrender his excuse to look at her.
Sophie glanced away, perhaps aware that he’d held her gaze a little too long. ‘It’s started,’ she murmured.
Excitement rippled through the crowds, and people turned almost as one to look down the street to where a glow of waving lights was now visible. A shiver of anticipation ran down Brody’s spine, no different to when he was young.
‘They’re coming,’ he said, unable to keep the excitement from his voice. It was one of his favourite traditions and he’d barely missed any parades, apart from when he’d become a teenager and it wasn’t cool to take part. He’d secretly missed making his lantern and joining the procession with his friends. Even when he’d been away at Edinburgh, studying to be a vet, he’d always come home in time to watch the procession.
Sophie nodded by his side. Her lips were pressed together in uncertainty, and the relaxed fun of the past half-hour had suddenly ebbed away. Was this actually quite an ordeal for her and she was trying to hide how she really felt about being plunged into the thick of the festivities?
Suddenly a hush descended on the crowd as the first of the children walked by, carrying home-made lanterns attached to poles. It brought a lump to Brody’s throat to watch the families bearing the lanterns they’d worked so hard to make through the streets of the village. Seeing them reminded him of the special memories he’d shared with his own dad over the years here. Since losing him, theparade had taken on a new poignancy, and this time of year always made you think more about those who were no longer here.
Sophie turned to him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. ‘I’d no idea it was this touching.’
He must have a piece of grit in his own eye … He must find his mum for a word, if he could. She’d be bound to have her own memories, even if she’d keep them to herself.
‘Oh, look, that’s Vee’s two! They look so cute.’
The two children, a boy of four and a girl of six, carried lanterns in the shape of a star and a bell. Their mother, whom Brody recognised but didn’t know well, was beside them, keeping an eye on them. A few of the tinier children were being carried on parents’ shoulders or were holding hands with an older sibling.
But sweet as the children were, Brody couldn’t help stealing a look at Sophie. Her smile had melted away, her lips were pressed together and her eyes were glistening.
‘Are you OK?’ he asked.
‘Yes. Yes, I just …’ She hesitated. ‘Seeing all the children – I’m being silly.’
‘No, you’re not. It makes me emotional, and always brings up memories of being here with my dad and makes me miss him.’
