And when we were children, staying at the arch-duke's,
My cousin's, he took me out on a sled,
And I was frightened. He said, Marie,
Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.
===
"In Tokyo, we have snow on mountains," Minako explained as she watched Katarina adjust her scarf for the thousandth time that morning so far, "but not on hills. Not like this."
"This" was a little hilltop just outside of town, near the cabin that Katarina's family owned. Away from London and the grimy, black city sludge, the powder-white snow was still thick and mostly untouched. The skies were grey and dark, snow-heavy cloud cover stretching as far as the tree-spotted horizon.
Tossing the long, wooden sled onto the snow, Alan grinned at Minako and then Katarina. "Bet all three o' us can fit on here."
Minako grinned back, blushing a little. It was thei second outing that included Katarina. It delighted and scared her at the same time. She shoved her hands in her pockets. "Do I have to steer?"
"Course not, doll! That'd be Kat's job." He gave Katarina a little shove. She rolled her eyes. "I'll be takin' the middle, keep us balanced. And you - " He pulled her close and gave her a squeeze. "You get to hold onto me."
She reddened around the edges. "I'll hold on tight," she promised.
"You'd better, doll. Otherwise, off you'll go."
A few flakes tumbled down from tree branches and the overcast skies as the three of them piled onto the sled: Katarina first, then Alan, then Minako. She looped her arms around his waist and then threw her legs over his from behind, entwined around his back. He smiled back at her, his dark eyes kind, and then reached down and pushed the sled along the flat top of the hill. Three hard shoves and they were off, flying down the steep incline.
Minako closed her eyes tightly and felt it all, from the rush of the wind in her face and hair to the warmth of Alan's weight in her arms and between her legs. Each bump and jostle of the sled along the ground was another shot of adrenaline through her veins, her breath catching as the cold air flooded her nostrils and chapped her lips.
The sled hit a particularly large bump and suddenly, her teeth chattering, she was jarred right out of the sled, falling off the back and rolling to a stop halfway down the slope. She laughed aloud as she sat up, brushing snow out of her face and watching as the sled zipped on, through trees and the rest of the way down, until Katarina and Alan both were the size of snowflakes in the distance, black specks against a horizon of grey and white.
