Page 25 of Secrets and Seashells at Rainbow Bay
‘I knew I should have believed those TripAdvisor reviews,’ I hear Marjory grumble as they head towards the stone steps that lead to the top of the ruined tower. ‘But you said it would be all right. There’s not even a tea shop, and that gift shop is an absolute joke . . . ’
I walk desolately back to Arthur, Charlie and Chester.
‘What did you go and do that for?’ Arthur asks, glancing after the departing couple ‘Never ask them what they think. Best to leave them well alone, I find.’
‘But why? If we don’t know what our visitors think, how can we know what to improve on?’
‘We don’t have the money for improving,’ Arthur states. ‘Haven’t you looked at the books yet?’
‘Tiffany showed mesomefigures this morning, but there must be something we can do. I do have a little fund I can dip into if needed . . . ’
‘What little fund?’ Arthur asks suspiciously.
‘Along with the castle,’ I explain, ‘I was left some money in a private bank account. Not a never-ending amount of money,’ I hastily add. ‘But apparently the last Earl was quite frugal with his cash, which is probably why the castle itself is in a bit of a state.’
‘Dorothy said he was a tight-fisted so-and-so,’ Charlie pipes up from where he’s playing fetch with Chester. ‘What does that mean exactly?’
‘It means he was careful when it came to spending money,’ I tell him quickly, blushing. ‘But it also means that as a result I do have some funds I can use to improve things here,’ I tell Arthur, ‘and the first thing we’re going to do with that money is hire extra staff to allow us to run things more efficiently on a day-to-day basis.’
‘You’ve already gone and hired that antiques dealer fella,’ Arthur says gruffly. ‘Isn’t that enough?’
‘Tom is a furniture restorer, not an antiques dealer; plus I haven’t hired him, he’s on trial. A fair trial, too.’ I look knowingly at Arthur. ‘Stop making things harder for him than they need be – I saw the axe this morning, Arthur; that was hardly fair, now, was it?’
‘It’s how we used to chop wood,’ Arthur says, smiling smugly. ‘If it was good enough for my father then it’s good enough for him.’
I shake my head. ‘I think Tom could be a great help to us if we give him a chance. He’s certainly enthusiastic, and I think that’s just what this castle needs to push it into the twenty-first century: a bit of enthusiasm, passion and above all hope.’
Eleven
‘So that’s what I propose to do,’ I announce as I stand awkwardly at the head of the scrubbed wooden kitchen table, addressing the others. ‘I do hope you all agree with me. Now, has anyone got anything they wish to say, or even suggest? If this is going to work then I think we all need to pull together as a team to make Chesterford Castle the success it deserves to be.’
There’s silence around the table, as everyone glances at anything rather than at me.
We’ve been at Chesterford for a few days now, and in that time I’ve learned even more about the castle and how it presently runs. Actually,survivesmight be a better word to describe the state the castle is currently in – it really is hanging by an ancient thread like the ones that bind its huge tapestries together. So during the evenings when Charlie has gone to bed, I’ve sat up in my tower thinking, writing notes and eventually coming up with my own rescue plan, which this morning I’m tentatively sharing with the staff.
‘Shall I put the kettle on?’ Dorothy suggests, breaking the silence. She looks longingly at her Aga cooker.
Murmurs of ‘yes please’ and ‘I’d love a cuppa’ flow around the room.
‘Righty-ho, then.’ She gets up and scurries past the scrubbed wooden cupboards to claim a huge black kettle into which she proceeds to pour fresh water.
‘Someone must have something to say?’ I look round the table at the others. I’d expected many things to happen once I’d shared my plans, but silence wasn’t one of them.
‘I think it’s a great idea,’ Tom says from where he casually sits cross-legged on one of the wooden chairs.
‘You would, you just want to get on her good side,’ Arthur grumbles.
‘What’s the problem, Arthur?’ I ask. ‘You must know we need more staff.’
‘We’ve done all right just us for the last year or two, haven’t we?’ he asks, looking around at the others. ‘Why do we need to bring strangers in now?’
‘They won’t be strangers, Arthur. I intend to recruit from the village if we can. You already have some people that help you out occasionally, don’t you?’
‘The boss is right, Arthur,’ Joey says. ‘I’ve been saying for ages we need someone to help us out in the grounds. Just having Tom here has cut my workload by half in the last few days.’
‘Anything to shirk a bit of hard work,’ Arthur says grudgingly.
‘If I had some extra help with the cleaning we could have the whole castle looking neat and shiny as a new pin in days,’ Dorothy says, turning from the counter where she’s been arranging some cups and saucers ready for the tea. ‘I try my best,’ she says to me, ‘but there’re a lot of rooms here.’
