by Olivia Swift
Everyone picked up feathers and tucked them safely away. They went their separate ways and wished Jemima good night.
At Alison’s, Magda, Sam and Bart all stepped in telling the story to Alison. Gina was staying there along with their Irish friends. Alison heard out the story and then she beckoned with her finger. She opened the bedroom door and out stalked the little black cat Jezebelle.
The floor inside was covered in feathers from a now empty pillow. Jezebelle tried to look dignified but it was not easy with a white feather on the black nose. She swiped at it with a paw.
“She has been obsessed with feathers all day,” Alison said. “Now I know why.”
“We start the Christmas readings tomorrow. It feels good to be ready for Christmas knowing that Beth and Eliza are safe,” Magda said.
Sam drove them home and walked into another cat situation.
13
Crystal stared at Magda pointedly, left the items on the floor and then stalked huffily over to the sofa.
“Oh, Crystal. We’ve dealt with Beth and her mom. We do not need any other pointers, thank you.” Abigail was already on the sofa, but the two black and white kittens stayed on the spiral staircase and gazed anxiously at Magda. Hands on hips, Magda looked around the room. There were some feathers which had obviously come from the bedroom and she asked Sam to go and see what that was like. Then she started to pick up the papers and other things that were scattered around the room.
Most of it was bits of Christmas decoration. The cats had obviously had lots of fun in the box of decorations left ready to put on the tree. She collected the bits together and noticed that there were some newspaper and magazine sheets as well.
“They have gone to town on this today,” she muttered. Sam came in with hands full of stuffing from the pillow as well as feathers. He added it to her trash collection.
“Bad cats!” Magda said as sternly as she could muster. The cats all pretended to be asleep. She showed Sam the papers. “Lots of steam trains and Christmas pictures.”
“They could just have been naughty cats,” Sam suggested.
“Pfft. Since when has Crystal just been a naughty cat?”
He smiled and picked up the trash.
“Tomorrow night we need to get that tree up.”
“One of those pictures was an outdoor model railway,” Magda pointed out and he laughed.
“We can toss the idea around after we have been to Ireland maybe and when the weather is better.”
“Starting the poems tomorrow. Which one is your favorite?” she asked him.
“I don’t really know that many. I know the words of White Christmas or Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas but not really poetry.”
“I do love ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas’ and I like ’Twas the Night Before Christmas’. I looked some up and found railway poems as well.”
“They would work even if they weren’t Christmassy. People seem to genuinely love the idea of the trains and the flickering fire,” Sam admitted.
“Alison is having a Christmas get-together while Branna and Jonno are here.”
“There’s the dance next week as well. Merle and Branston are really good at that. I hear, but am not supposed to say, that he’s coming into the barn with a Christmas pony and trap. It will be all decorated and have lots of jingling bells. He’s going to give out gifts to everyone.”
“Sounds like one of their ideas. Branna and Jonno will be thrilled. They are already talking about having events at the caravan site. I think the wooden building they are having erected will definitely follow Merle’s way of having the office, the house and the gift shop all in one place to make it easier to organize.”
“The pictures of the new trailers are wonderful. Like luxury vacation homes. They are already talking about the idea of adding decks and picnic areas,” Sam said.
“I bet there will be some things just waiting for you and Declan to sort out when we go over there,” Magda smiled. “I am looking forward to staying there and relaxing while you and Declan work.”
“Anyway, what is the plan for tomorrow?”
“I have a list to post on the gate and the café door giving times when there will be Christmas poems and stories. I will persuade Bart to be the first one to try it. He seems to enjoy broadcasting.”
“The elves might all come back as well,” Sam laughed.
The cats had all gone back to sleep, so Magda left them on the sofa as she and Sam tiptoed away to the bedroom. Five minutes later, she felt the weight of the Birmans settling down on her legs. Then the kittens snuck onto the side as well.
“Merry Christmas, naughty pussycats,” she whispered. She was answered with a chorus of purrs.
In the morning she was early at the café and put up the notices. As she fired up the coffee machine a lady came in and said how glad she was that the café was open.
“I am really early for my appointment and need a warm-up coffee,” she said. “Job interview. I am terrified.” Magda asked what the job was and laughed when she said it was for the camping shop next door.
“Mikey is not frightening. He will only want to know if you can climb, hike, camp and answer customers’ queries about the activities.” She smiled as Rula and Mikey came into the café.
“I can do those things,” the woman said. “I was a guide in the National Park but had an injury.”
“Which National Park?” Mikey asked as he overheard the sentence.
“Yellowstone. I loved it but a broken shoulder finished me off.”
“What a shame,” Rula said. “Why have you moved here?”
“My folks are in this area and I came back to be beside them.”
“Okay,” Mikey said, picking up his coffee cup. “Got interviews to do. Janey needs help.”
“Er, Mikey,” Magda said with a smile. “I think you might as well take your first interviewee with you.”
“What?” Mikey asked and Magda waved her hand at the woman at the counter. “She was having a coffee before she came to see you.”
“Goodness!” the woman exclaimed. “I wouldn’t have said anything.”
“Come on,” Mikey told her. “Tell me more about Yellowstone.” The two of them left as other customers started to file in. Katie started work on making new truffles and Magda looked at her list. The first poem was due at eleven-thirty.
“I’ll have to do this myself if Bart is busy somewhere else,” she said to Rula.
“Which one?” Katie asked.
“The Grinch. I’m not frightened of that one,” Magda said. The fire was flickering and the trains were happily trundling around overhead. “Although I did find some railway ones.” Then she smiled as Bart came and took his usual seat. Gina was actually with him.
“I am on my way home but stopped for a coffee first,” Gina said.
“Our first reading is at eleven thirty - can you stay to hear that?” Magda asked and the girl nodded. Magda asked if Bart would go first. He had brought the microphone setup to install for her anyway and put it in place. He sat on one of the soft seats and tapped the mike.
“Excuse me, folks. I need to do a test run.” The customers glanced across and smiled, and Bart gave a small poem of his own. There was a ripple of applause and someone shouted to ask if there was any more. He grinned.
“‘Twas the night before Christmas —” he started and it did what Magda had wanted it to do all along. It had everyone spellbound. The atmosphere was magical. The young elf girls came and stood at the back until he finished. Then there was real applause and the chatter rose to a crescendo.
There were requests for more and Bart told Magda to have a go. She found the railway one that she had printed off. It was more nerve wracking than she had thought but cleared her throat and started.
“This is by Robert Louis Stevenson:
Faster than fairies, faster than witches,
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
And charging along like troops in a battle
> All through the meadows the horses and cattle:
All of the sights of the hill and the plain
Fly as thick as driving rain;
And ever again, in the wink of an eye,
Painted stations whistle by.
Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,
All by himself and gathering brambles;
Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;
And here is the green for stringing the daisies!
Here is a cart runaway in the road
Lumping along with man and load;
And here is a mill, and there is a river:
Each a glimpse and gone forever!”
Magda was terrified that it was not a Christmas poem and it might not have the same effect. There was a silence that seemed like an eternity and then everyone breathed out and clapped their hands.
“Well done!” Jeff Bloomburg said as he walked over from the door. “You are definitely turning into a railroad enthusiast.”
“Thank you for being the first audience,” Magda said before she switched off the microphone system. One of her regulars came across and suggested she make some truffles to do with the railroad.
“Don’t know what flavor but everyone seems to love the model trains overhead.”
Katie overheard and suggested that they find some railroad themed gifts for the shop as well. Bart and Gina waved goodbye and the lunchtime rush started to pick up. Jeff ordered some food and sat at the bar counter. Sam and Declan arrived for their usual sandwiches and sat alongside him.
“I saw that nephew of Jemima’s yesterday,” Jeff said. “He’s security on certain trains for two different companies. Didn’t speak to him. I don’t think anyone else does either. He is such a misery.”
“Mind you, if I had to wear a ridiculous elf outfit when I was actually a security guard, I would be miserable as well,” Declan said. “Everywhere it’s elf crazy this year.”
“Even the cats keep showing me elves and Santas,” Magda added. Then she gave a beaming smile as Alison brought in Branna and Jonno. “Oh, lovely to see you.” Branna went to look at the selection of truffles.
“I have to takes home the ones inspired by Ireland,” she said.
“Guinness, Bailey’s and the witch’s hats,” Katie pointed out and then Branna went to inspect the new shop extension.
“I see what you mean about themes. Merle said the same. We have to give the caravan site a theme, an identity, and do it over the top.”
“Do we make it extra Irish or do we go for something else like witchcraft that is in the history of the area?” Jonno said.
“Irish.” All of the Americans chimed together and then laughed at themselves.
“We love anything Irish,” Rula told them.
“You never know what catches on,” Magda said. “I just saw a model railway and it worked. Everyone seems to like it.”
“Anyway, I just want to make sure that everyone is free tomorrow night for a get-together and housewarming dinner at my house,” Alison announced and they all nodded enthusiastically. “You as well, young man,” she added to Jeff and said he was welcome to bring someone with him as well.
“Thanks very much,” he said and grinned. “I can bring a friend who is a man if that is okay?”
“Of course it’s okay,” Alison answered.
“He’s not my partner or anything. Just another model train nut but he does want to meet Magda.”
“Really?” Magda queried. “Why?”
“Something to do with trains and stuff,” he answered.
“Intriguing,” Magda said and Sam groaned out loud.
“When she gets hooked on something, it always means work for me.”
They agreed that the next evening was something to look forward to and Alison added that Webster, Gina’s dad, was coming along as well. Jemima and Zak had also been invited.
“An excuse to dress up,” Rula said.
“But not Christmas,” Magda added. “Save that for Merle’s dance.”
“Back to work,” Sam stood up. Declan told Jeff that the Labrador was still at his heels and the man smiled.
“I always knew that she would stay there.”
“Do you have another dog?” Katie inquired and he shook his head.
“Couldn’t replace her. No other lab would be the same. She was a really smart dog. You could teach her anything if you offered food.” He laughed. “She was often smarter than me.”
Mikey came in and brought Bethanne in as well.
“Meet our new staff member fresh from Yellowstone Park,” he said and they all exchanged names. “I will let her have a drink and then Janey wants to go over a few things.” Bethanne took a hot chocolate and sat back to relax.
“Told you he was alright,” Magda said. “Welcome to the Chocolate Café.”
“It is good to have a job again,” Bethanne said and looked very relieved. “I can feed my dog and buy a pair of shoes.”
“Does anyone want to have a try at reading a poem?” Magda asked. They looked around. The lunchtime rush was starting to quiet down.
“Do one with your lovely Irish accent,” Katie suggested to Branna and Jonno. Jonno pushed his wife forward. “Not me!” he said. Branna shook her head and accepted a sheet of paper from Magda. She read it through, and Magda made sure the microphone was right. It was a wireless headset so there was no need to be near a stand because the mike was everywhere you turned.
Magda raised her voice.
“Hi folks. Our visitor from Ireland is going to read you a Christmas poem.” She looked at Branna who took a breath and told them that this was written a long time ago by Marriott Edgar and was called ‘Sam’s Christmas Pudding’. There was a bit of a laugh and Declan gave Sam a push.
14
The poem was about a war and Sam had done something wrong. He was forbidden to eat his Christmas pudding. The narrative caught everyone’s attention and Branna’s soft accent made it easy to listen to. In the end Sam put the pudding, by mistake, into the cannon and saved the day. There was laughter and applause and the normal chatter returned.
“I enjoyed that,” Branna said. “I never heard that one before. Now, can I go shopping please?” She, Jonno and Alison left to go to the mall. Sam, Declan and Jeff went back to work and the girls took a rest and a bite to eat themselves.
The next day was much the same and the readings were applauded and commented on. In fact, one or two customers suggested poems and stories that Magda had never come across before. They closed up excitedly because of the party at Alison’s.
Magda wore slim pants that hugged her hips and a very glittery top. Killer heels and the bright plum-colored hair caught on the top of her head, made a view that gained a whistle from her husband.
“I hope this isn’t for Jeff and his friend,” he said and she shook her head.
“I know that Rula and Katie are going all out. Had to keep up with them. I guess Merle will be the same and no doubt, my cousin will have found something glittery and Christmassy to wear as well.” She smiled as the man who had whistled at what she was wearing slipped into a designer shirt and jeans.
“You are one handsome man, Sam Barnes, and I am very lucky.”
He took her face between his hands and kissed her lips.
“Love ya, Magda. You look fantastic.”
“Let’s go. I am so keen to see what Alison has done to my old house. It’s great to have her living there.”
They left the cats with a bowl of their favorite dried food and drove away. Arriving at Alison’s, the door was wide open with light flooding out. There was a tree with lights at the door and lights around the windows.
“I am thinking that Jonno has been coerced into putting this stuff up,” Magda said. Alison met them at the door with hugs and smiles and they thrust a poinsettia, chocolates and wine into her hands. Branna came to help and the others arrived one after the other to fill up the living room and spill into the kitchen.
“The house loo
ks wonderful,” Rula said. “Your gold tree in here is gorgeous.”
The place was warm and decorated up to the nines. There was Christmas music and a most delicious smell. Jonno handed out drinks as Gina and Branna both helped in the kitchen and Alison fussed over everybody. She had managed to get two big tables together to make space for all of them. Webster was pouring drinks like a professional bartender.
Jemima and Zak were quietly blending in. Bart took a drink and sat beside them.
Jeff’s friend Miles was no taller than Magda in her heels. He had a shock of curly hair that refused to be tamed and a smile that seemed to stretch from ear to ear.
Magda shook his hand and asked immediately why he wanted to talk to her. The man laughed and handed her a photo on his tablet. She gasped and then grinned.
“I love it!”
“It’s doing nothing at all if you have any interest in using it,” he told her.
“We would have to buy it from you,” Magda said. He shook his head.
“Rent it to you. Don’t really want to sell it but it’s a shame to leave it doing nothing.”
“How much?” she queried.
“Twenty dollars a month,” he answered.
“That is ridiculous! It’s valuable,” Magda argued.
“If you are prepared to insure it, I am happy to see it used.”
“Wow!” Magda said and gazed at the screen. “It’s a deal.”
“Deal?” Sam asked as he came and slipped an arm around her waist. She handed him the tablet.
“How does twenty dollars a month to rent it sound - plus insurance?”
“Track as well,” Miles added.
“I don’t have to do anything?” Sam queried and Miles shook his head.
“I’ll fix it up for you.”
“It most certainly is a deal!” Sam grinned and held out a hand.
“What on earth are you all grinning about?” Katie came over. She looked stunning in a red dress and high heels. Miles treated her to his smile and seemed to be enjoying the view. Declan moved across to join them and dropped a hand on Katie’s shoulder that did not go unnoticed by either Rula or Magda.