I snuggled deeper into Perdita’s cat basket, and tried to pretend it was as comfortable as my basket at home.
“Move over.” Perdita swatted me with her paw until I made enough room for her beside me. “Just because I offered you shelter for the night doesn’t mean I was planning on giving up my own comfort.”
I shuffled into the corner of the small, padded basket, and Perdita curled up at my side. The fairy lights wound up the bannister of Holly’s staircase twinkled, the only light in the darkness, shining through the open kitchen door. I liked them. They looked friendly.
“Why do you think they only put up the lights at Christmas?” I asked, sleepily. “I mean, they’re so nice. Why not have them up all year?”
Perdita stretched out again, giving a giant yawn. “Because it’s darker at Christmas. Idiot.”
She had a point, I supposed. Except… “It’s dark all winter, though. So what’s special about Christmas?”
Even Perdita didn’t have an immediate answer for that. It took her so long to reply that I thought she might have fallen asleep. Until she said, softly, “Maybe it’s because it’s the darkest part of the year. The quietest and the loneliest and the blackest. Maybe that’s why they put up all the lights.”
I’d never imagined that Perdita might have thoughts like that. But the more I considered it, the more sure I was that she was right.
“That might explain it. The lights, I mean, but the decorations too. The trees and the presents and the songs and everything.” Suddenly, Christmas made sense to me in a way it never had before. I might be locked out of my home, without my family, and only Perdita – my nemesis until this moment – for company. But the warmth of the lights, the smell of the gingerbread, and the cozy fleece of Perdita’s basket let me know that all was well with the world.
After all, Christmas was here.
“Go to sleep, you mutt,” Perdita grumbled, good naturedly.
I dropped my head to my paws, and shut my eyes, breathing in deeply. The scent of spicy sweetness filled my nostrils. I opened my eyes again.
“What about the gingerbread?” I asked, and Perdita sighed.
“I would have thought you, of all people, would understand why they have gingerbread.”
“Of course!” It was delicious and sweet and wonderful. Who wouldn’t want gingerbread? It was just… “But why do they make it shaped like houses?”
Perdita tucked her head under her paw, and I settled down again.
“Maybe you’ll find out tomorrow,” Perdita murmured, already half asleep. “ After all, it will be Christmas Day.”
Christmas Day. And even with my family away, I couldn’t wait.
Thank you so much Sophie Pembroke for sharing with us Claude and Perdita's thoughts on Christmas. I loved reading the book, and my review is coming up shortly.
Giveaway to win 3 x signed hardback copies of Claude's Christmas Adventure (UK only)
Giveaway open to UK only, all options are voluntary, but please do what they ask, as I will be verifying the winner. Giveaway closes 23:59 3/1/2017. Winner will be announced on twitter and emailed, and they will need to reply within 7 days, or forfeit the prize, and I will re-draw for a new winner. Good luck everyone.
Bio and Links
Sophie
Pembroke writes very British romance for Mills & Boon / Harlequin Romance,
Avon and HQ. She
has been dreaming, reading and writing romance ever since she read her first
Mills & Boon as part of her English Literature degree at Lancaster
University, so getting to write romantic fiction for a living really is a dream
come true!
Born in Abu Dhabi, Sophie grew up in Wales and now lives
in a little Hertfordshire market town with her scientist husband, her
incredibly imaginative seven-year-old daughter, and her adventurous, adorable
baby boy.
In Sophie’s world, happy is for ever after, everything
stops for tea, and there’s always time for one more page…
Website: www.SophiePembroke.com
thanks for the chance to win a copy... im just finishing my latest read so it would be perfect x
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