Page 21 of A Christmas Celebration
I risked another glance at Brodie and wondered why, but finding him back in full thundercloud mode, didn’t dare ask. He was the master of the speedy mood swing.
‘I have to get on,’ he snapped, striding off like Darcy on a bad day. ‘I’ll see you later, Jack. Good luck with your volunteering, Paige.’
‘Bye,’ I called after him. ‘Thanks.’
Jack’s expression was almost despairing as he watched Brodie walk away and I was intrigued to know more about the pair of them.
‘Are you in town to see me by any chance, Paige?’ Kathleen called from across the street, snatching away my opportunity to ask.
‘I am,’ I called back.
‘I’ll meet you in the library then,’ she said, pointing in the building’s direction. ‘It’s not officially open this early, but just knock on the door and I’ll let you in.’
‘I’d better get on,’ I said to Jack. ‘Thanks for keeping an eye out for me.’
‘No worries.’ He smiled, but I could tell he was still thinking about Brodie. ‘I’ll see you again soon.’
There wasn’t a great deal for me to do on my first stint as delivery driver the next day, but I had soon discovered just how vital a service it was. Some of the long, straight drove roads around and through the Fens only had three or fourhouses dotted along them with literally miles of empty road in between. There was no bus route so if you lived alone and had no car or other means of transport to take you anywhere, not a lot of company either.
‘Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,’ said the first elderly woman I visited, as she held her front door ajar when it had been my intention to just hand her bag of tablets over and exchange a few words on the doorstep. ‘And perfectly timed. The kettle has just this second come to the boil. I know Anna prefers tea, but I have coffee if you’d rather?’
‘Tea would be wonderful,’ I said, crossing the threshold.
‘And I’ve biscuits too.’ She smiled. ‘And cake.’
As well as Joan’s kind offer, I accepted everyone else’s too and my bladder was fit to burst by the time I made it back to the hall. And my throat was a bit scratchy as well. I hadn’t talked so much in a long time. It had taken far longer than I had expected to offload everything, but I did get the satisfactory feeling that it was a job well done.
‘So,’ asked Archie, once I had dashed to the loo, ‘how did you get on?’
I looked at the clipboard I had dropped on the table and which had a neat row of ticks running down it and which I had meticulously checked after every stop. I’d also called Kathleen, just to confirm a couple of things. I didn’t think I’d got on her nerves. I hoped I hadn’t. I had just wanted to be sure that I was getting it all right.
‘Good,’ I said, showing him the completed checklist and allowing myself to enjoy the feeling of achievement whichcame with it. ‘Mission accomplished. Fruit, veg, meds and tins of soup all delivered and safely stowed away.’
‘You must be feeling pretty happy with yourself,’ Molly said meaningfully.
‘Let’s just say,’ I answered as I gave Bran, who I hadn’t been able to take with me, a fuss, ‘I’ll sleep easier knowing Harry Hodges can have the baked potato he’s been fancying all day for his supper.’
Archie laughed, hopefully unaware that Molly’s words were wrapped up with the pink crystal I was carrying around in my pocket.
‘And so it begins,’ she smiled, beginning to clear the table.
‘And tomorrow morning,’ I said to Archie, keen to forge ahead as Angus wandered in, ‘we can get stuck into everything here and this evening, Angus, I thought we could go through the plans for the Winter Wonderland. I know it’s still a few weeks away yet, but there’s no harm in being prepared, is there?’
‘Five weeks today and we’ll be up and running,’ said Angus, sounding excited. ‘And there’s no need to worry about any of it, Paige, but if it will set your mind at rest, we’ll check the details. As you haven’t experienced it before, it probably would be a good idea to fill you in a bit more on what goes on.’
He sounded sincere, but I’d heard enough tall tales about the mischief and mayhem my godfather had got up to in the name of Christmas in the past, so wanted to be as sure as I possibly could that all was on track and he had no tricks up his sleeve.
I knew that one year he’d had to be rescued by the fire brigade after trying to adorn the hall with lights and got stuck tens of feet in the air in a defunct cherry picker with a concussion as a result and I certainly didn’t want a repeat of any such disaster while I was helping out.
‘And you mustn’t use furniture polish on any of this,’ Archie told me, referring yet again to the lengthy list of instructions Hayley had left for him and which I was holding.
I let out a long breath in lieu of a yawn. Angus, Mick and I had stayed up late going through the Winter Wonderland plans and I was feeling tired as a result, but doing my best to keep up with Archie’s lesson in how to keep the hall in tiptop condition.
‘Or this,’ he added. ‘Has she written that down? I’m sure she said no polish on this chair.’
‘She has,’ I said, referring back to the list, which was even lengthier than the one from Kathleen. ‘Here, look. No polish.’
Satisfied that he was right, Archie moved on.
