Nora spent a very long evening reading by the fireplace.

Her eyes kept strolling to the gap she had purposely left between the curtains, as she jumped at every scratch and creak coming from outside, hoping to see her reindeer visitor beyond the glass-- or rather the man that was bound to follow her. Finally, around midnight, she gave up, abandoning her copy of Jane Eyre just after the heroine saved her Mr. Rochester from the fire, and went to bed.

She was up before seven in the morning, and took her time choosing what she believed was the correct set of clothes, make-up, and a hair-do, to impress her possible employer.

She tidied up quickly then-- making her bed, drawing back the curtains and folding down the blanket on the sofa in the sitting room-- the rest would wait until her return. She was out in the frost, scrutinizing the brightening sky, just as the night was giving way to a new day. It had not snowed at night and the sky looked quite cloudless. Good. She definitely did not wish to be snowed-in, not now when she might get a job.

Nora passed the stables some fifteen minutes of careful walk later, hoping to get a glimpse of Martin the veterinarian, but the wrought iron gate was still closed. The drink she owed him would have to wait then, she mused, dialing Clelia's number.

Her godmother accepted her offer of breakfast and Nora met her outside a café not far from the town's school. She still had a good half an hour before she would meet Adele.

"Ooh... but then it must be Daniel! The boy you met in my shop!" Clelia exclaimed once Nora explained to her what she was doing down in the town so early. "I'm sure it's him. His dad was just as unlucky as I with the local girls who accept part time jobs. Daniel had a number of babysitters since they had moved here. I, your grandmother before me, and now Adele, help him out whenever another girl decides that she is too busy to waste her free time around a little boy. That would actually be a good job for you, and you would be perfect for them. His father..."

"Poor boy." Nora muttered, remembering the charming little man she met two days ago. "It can't be easy to have a different babysitter so often."

"Daniel didn't have it easy. And he's such an easygoing child... Anyway, say hello to Adele and tell her to pass by, it's been nearly two weeks since I saw her last." Clelia said, as Nora paid for their coffees.

Then they put their coats back on and walked outside. The school across the road, dark and abandoned before, was now well-lit and teeming with life.

"You'll recognize Adele by her long, fuchsia-pink coat. No one wears anything as extravagant as that in this town," Clelia said, brushing a piece of lint off her purple coat, making Nora giggle.

"I must go!" Her godmother added, jumping at the chime of the church bell announcing the hour. "Shall I not hear from you, I'll see you tomorrow afternoon..." she called, rushing down the road, towards her book shop.

"I did not forget!" Nora assured her, then walked across the road towards the school, her eyes searching for a fuchsia coat.

She found it quickly enough, paired with a shock of long, wavy, white hair. Nora waved at the old woman tentatively as she descended the school's staircase.

After a moment of confusion, the woman covered her mouth with the palm of her hand and rushed towards Nora, taking her by surprise as she pulled her in an embrace.

"You look so much like Barbara," the woman said, now studying Nora at arm's length, before finally letting go of her. "I thought it might be you when we spoke on the phone, Clelia mentioned you were thinking of coming back."

"Nice to meet you, Adele." Nora smiled at the old woman she had never noticed in the past. "Before I forget, Clelia says hello and wants you to pass by."

"Right. I'll have to see her before I leave. Which brings us to the reason why we need your help," she said, smiling, then waved toward the distant park. "Shall we walk?"

Nora nodded and Adele continued talking as they walked up the road, the level of noise and the number of people around them diminishing gradually as they took more distance from the school, until they found themselves alone once they entered the park.

"I've been around Daniel for a few months now. But you see, my daughter insists I come and spend Christmas with her, in the city." She sighed.

"Aren't you happy to see your family?" Nora asked, realizing properly for the first time that she would spend her Christmas alone, or possibly with Clelia, unless her godmother already had other plans.

"It's not that," Adele shook her snow-white head. "It's just that I'd much prefer they all came here. I don't like the city, and I hate leaving Daniel... But my daughter won't hear about it, she's too busy to travel."

Nora nodded her understanding when the old woman looked at her, then let her eyes stroll to the fountain which they now reached. She dipped her hand in, reveling in the pleasant warmth of the water, remembering Martin's words about the thermal lake in the cave under the rotunda... If it really existed, it would be such a magical place...

Wiping her hand into her coat quickly, Nora took her phone from her handbag, pretending to check her messages to hide the inappropriate smile which the thought of the castle's veterinarian had brought to her lips, while Adele continued talking as they walked on.

"See, I won't be back before mid-January. It's a whole month. This is a busy time of the year for Daniel's father, and the boy doesn't know you..."

There it was again, 'the boy's father'. Wasn't there a mother? Not wanting to look impolitely curious, sure that Adele would tell her all that she needed to know eventually, Nora simply said, "He doesn't know me but we have met. And I'd love to meet him again before I accept this job-- it really should be him to decide if he wants me, or someone else to look after him, right?"

"You are right, of course..." Adele said thoughtfully. "Let me speak with his father first but I think there won't be a problem, your grandmother used to look after the boy, too. Would you mind doing the day with me tomorrow, to see what we normally do, and then I organise your meeting with his father at the weekend?"

"I don't mind at all. It sounds good to me. I just have to keep my afternoon free for Clelia, I promised her to help her set up her market stall for tomorrow night."

Adele laughed, "It wouldn't be a Christmas market without Clelia's books. That's fine. I walk with Daniel to preschool at eight, pick him up again at one, and get his lunch-- either in a restaurant, or at my place, or his. Then we either go for a walk or play inside, it depends on the weather. You'll decide about your hours when you meet his father, but until I'm around and we get organised properly, you can leave whenever you need."

"Perfect." Nora smiled at Adele as they reached the end of the park, where the shadows of the trees were replaced by those cast by the castle towering above them. "So I'll see you..."

"... at eight o'clock tomorrow morning, by the drawbridge. Daniel lives in the castle."

"Ooh... nice." Nora said, feeling a little jealous. His father must have gotten both the job and the accommodation in the castle. She wondered if Martin lived in the castle, too; she had never seen him more than a few meters away from it...

"Thanks, Nora. It makes me feel better knowing that the boy will be with you, rather than another teenage girl."

"Only if he wants me, though. I'll see you both tomorrow morning." Nora told the old woman before they separated, Adele heading back into the park, Nora climbing up the hill towards the castle, hoping, expecting to see Martin without admitting it to herself.