Chapter 1
The snowy French countryside spread outside the window like an enormous quilt. It was a patchwork of farms, small villages, cottages that would have been lively in summer but were now abandoned in winter, and vineyards with bare branches.
Of course, it was hard to get a glimpse of anything in particular, just because of the fact that our heroes were on a moving train.
As the train sped through southeastern France on the way to the village of Emaire, Lucas Saint Lawrence couldn’t help but be extremely excited for what was going to happen. After all, he’d been looking forward to it for weeks.
Lucas’s father, a wealthy businessman by the name of Jason Saint Lawrence, was the owner of a small business that helped to install solar panels on homes of people who couldn’t afford them. Jason had always taught his son that the money a job made wasn’t everything; it was important that Lucas felt like he was helping people at the same time that he was doing his job.
Like many businessmen, Jason Saint Lawrence traveled a lot for work. He’d never taken Lucas on his trips, however; he would typically not think that whatever he’d be doing on the trips would be fun for his son.
This was one exception. Lucas sat across from his father in the train compartment, watching as they approached the edge of a certain large mountain range that makes its way through western and central Europe. He was sipping from a water bottle as he did so, because his father had told him that it was very important to stay hydrated when you were in the mountains.
“The train will be arriving at the Emaire station in ten minutes” said a voice over the train’s intercom. “Please prepare to disembark”.
The younger Saint Lawrence was practically bouncing up and down in his seat. He knew that this was rather immature for an 18-year-old, but he couldn’t help himself. He’d heard about the awesome “business” trips his father would embark on, and now he was getting to go on one of them. How incredible!
Over the next few minutes, the Alps became more and more prominent. It was a very snowy winter in France, so there had already been a small amount of snow on the ground, but there was now a lot more snow up in the mountains. The depth of the white stuff on the ground had become greater and greater as the train climbed in elevation.
“The train will be arriving at the Emaire station in five minutes. Please prepare to disembark”.
Lucas decided to get ready. He put his iPhone back into his backpack, and he also put on his yellow scarf. The purpose of the scarf wasn’t for warmth, as cold as it was likely to be in the village.
The young man considered it to be something of a good-luck charm. It was a bright yellow in color, with various squiggly white lines working their way down it. There was also an olive-colored pattern that was made to look like a ship’s rope. Considering that Lucas loved the ocean, it wasn’t hard to see why he considered this a talisman of sorts.
He didn’t believe that it had any sort of supernatural power; he didn’t believe in any of that stuff. He merely recognized that, if he was wearing a scarf that he liked, he’d be happier, and that was all that mattered to him.
When the train arrived at the station, Lucas was struck by how cold it was as soon as he got off the train. It had been relatively mild in Paris, where he and his father had spent the last few days, but it was not so much so here in the mountains. Indeed, in the Alpine village of Emaire, it was expected to start snowing once darkness had settled upon the region.
Right now, it was roughly 3:45 in the afternoon, and the sun was already sinking lower in the sky. This wasn’t surprising, since it was Christmas Eve after all.
“Well...how are we getting to the hotel?” asked Lucas. “I don’t see any cabs. And I don’t see how we are going to lug everything all the way to the hotel. Isn’t it a couple of miles away?”
Jason smiled. “You’ll see how in a moment”.
Just then, Lucas spotted two horses on the road next to the station. They weren’t harnessed to a carriage or anything like that; they were simply there, looking ready to gallop.
Lucas turned to his father. ”You...are...kidding...me”.
