Page 78 of The Christmas Invitation
‘I suspect he’s quite right, if you’re eight now, because you’re nearly as tall as I am.’
‘But you’re not very tall for a grown-up, are you?’
‘No, that’s true: I think living above the Arctic Circle must have stunted my growth.’
‘But all your elves are very big – don’t they live there, too?’
Teddy looked at the nearest helper, who was a tall, pale girl who reminded me of forced rhubarb and had pointed ears attached to her green hat. Then he leaned over and whispered, ‘I knowthatlady’s just pretending to be an elf, because she usually works in the Christmas Shop, but the other one at the door is arealone.’
‘I have to get stand-ins sometimes to help me,’ Santa whispered back gravely. ‘Most of the real elves are still busy making the last toys to go in the sleigh.’
‘But you only bring the presents that go in the Christmas stockings, don’t you?’
I was starting to feel that whatever they were paying Santa, it wasn’t enough. I wondered if he got this kind of inquisition from a lot of the children. No wonder the queue had moved so slowly!
‘You’re right, I bring enough presents to fill the stockings, and perhaps one or two more for children whose families are too poor to buy any,’ he said.
Teddy sighed. ‘I think the pony was too big an ask. They cost a lot of money.’
The tall, pale elvish helper was showing signs of restiveness, so we had clearly had our time – and a bit.
‘Say goodbye to Santa, Teddy,’ Lex said. ‘There are lots of other children waiting to see him, too.’
Teddy, who had been leaning confidingly against Santa’s red velvet-clad shoulder while they talked, straightened reluctantly.
‘I betthey’resurprised too when they see he’s so small. Goodbye, Father Christmas, see you next year.’
Santa reached down into a hessian sack and handed Teddy a brightly wrapped parcel. ‘Here’s a little gift to be going on with.’
Even the subtle Christmas Shop lights seemed dazzling when we exited through another curtain, and I blinked.
‘Come on, time for lunch,’ said Lex.
Henry and Clara were waiting for us at a table upstairs in the café, bags of shopping next to their chairs.
Teddy told them all about Father Christmas and his amazing size- and colour-changing powers. Then he unwrapped his present, which was a large silvery egg, containing a purple and gold plastic dragon, whose wings were hinged and could be lifted up and down.
‘Hedoesknow what I want, so he must read all the lists,’ Teddy said, impressed. ‘Do you think it means I’ll get the castle, too?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Lex. ‘You’ll have to wait and see.’
Teddy had a special children’s packed lunch, which came in a reindeer-patterned card box. The rest of us settled for cheese and tomato toasties in thick wholemeal bread. They must have super toasters, and after I’d eaten I felt as if I’d had my roughage quotient for a week.
Afterwards, Henry and Clara took Teddy to select another glass bauble for the tree and a box of crackers, while Lex and I had a second cup of coffee in peace, before taking a look at the craft gallery and workshops.
The waitress who brought the coffee over greeted Lex familiarly and gave me daggers.
‘Another ex-girlfriend?’ I suggested sweetly, getting my own back for the digs about Mark. ‘Like the waitress at the pub?’
He shrugged and said simply, ‘I get lonely sometimes.’
‘Yes, I’ve heard about Teddy’s nanny too – Flora, wasn’t it?’
He looked startled and then embarrassed. ‘Oh, that was just a misunderstanding. Flora was about seventeen when she came to Starstone Edge to live with Deirdre and I was … off doing things by then. She was the same age as my kid sister, so later, when she was Teddy’s nanny, I just carried on thinking of her that way.’
He brooded for a moment. ‘She was always pestering me to do things, like run her into Great Mumming or take her out for some driving practice before her test … and I did once or twice. That was it: anything else was a figment of her imagination.’
Well, he should know all aboutthat, I thought.
