18 THE MOUNTAINWhen they arrived in Dremaelgwn, Wayne wanted to go straight into Y Ddraig Goch for a drink after the boring ten-hour bus journey rather than call his father immediately for a lift. They weren’t overburdened with luggage and, even though it was five o’clock on the Wednesday before Christmas, the bar was not particularly full. It was as if people were waiting for proof that the holidays had come before they started celebrating them in the austere, little mountain village where the weather was bitter anyway and what offices there were had closed the Friday before.
Frank had made some effort to show that it was Christmas, or at least Sue had, by hanging some trimmings and tinsel around the walls and placing a small silver-coloured plastic Christmas tree in the corner of the ba
