‘There you are,’ I said to Emma, ‘your very own clean-up taskforce!’
Freda, Job and the others set off for Blackpool in a minibus just after nine.
‘Don’t forget Ginger and Bing!’ had been Lillian’s parting shot, because I’d promised I’d go down and feed them every day while they were away. I’d written it at the top of the kitchen chalkboard to remind myself.
Randal opened the doors of the mill at ten, as usual, but there wasn’t exactly a rush, because by now the ice freezing over the flooded roads was starting to make travelling treacherous.
And of course, though the lights were on in the cracker-making factory, no one was home.
When I took Santa and his elf cups of tea later, there were no queues of children and Santa seemed to be telling Liz possibly dubious anecdotes about his life as a boy in Little Mumming, but I thought his Lancashire accent was a bit too broad for her to follow everything he said.
Then I went through to what would be my workshop in the adjoining building. The floorboards were now back down and the channels, where the new electricity points had been put in, plastered over. It was more or less ready for the final touches that would turn it into my very own little studio and I couldn’t wait …
I was still dreaming in there when Randal came to find me. ‘It’s almost one, you know! We didn’t have a visitor for the last hour, so I let everyone go early and I’ve already cashed up. I’ve even fed the cats.’
I shivered. ‘Sorry, I hadn’t realised how long I’ve been in here – or quite how cold I am until now.’ I looked at him and added, ‘It’s been a huge success, hasn’t it?’
‘Yes, all of it – including the museum. I was entirely wrong about that and about you, and I’ll happily eat my words.’ Then he gave me his rare and attractive smile. ‘Come on.’
As we passed through the mill it seemed so dark, empty and echoing, though it still smelled of Christmas. The large tree twinkled in the entrance lobby until Randal switched it off as we left, locking the door behind us.
‘It seems mean leaving Ginger and Bing alone,’ I said.
‘They’ll be warm enough and fine here; they’re used to being factory cats.’
‘Actually, I think when Lillian’s here, they often spend their evenings with her. They must miss her when she’s away.’
‘Perhaps Pye will invite them to the house then,’ Randal said drily. ‘He seems to have assumed the role of lord of the manor.’
‘He is lording it a bit,’ I admitted.
‘A bit? He seems to do exactly what he wants around here – like you,’ he added, and a large, fat white feathery snowflake fell from the sky like a heavenly message and landed on my nose.
Christmas Eve dawned bright, cold and snowy – pretty, if you didn’t have to travel anywhere, which we didn’t. We had enough food and drink to sustain a siege and nothing to do but eat, drink and enjoy ourselves. And already our disparate group had jelled into a happy family party, all helping where they could with whatever needed doing and making their own amusements.
After breakfast, Randal came into the library just as I was opening an email from Jeremy. There was no subject, but I thought I could guess: and when I read it I was quite right.
‘This is priceless,’ I said to Randal. ‘Jeremy and Kate have finally pulled the cracker!’
‘Which cracker?’ he asked, puzzled.
‘The one I sent them. I put the bag from the cat rescue centre in it.’
‘You’re a wicked woman,’ he said, though a smile twitched the corner of his mouth.
‘That’s what Jeremy says. And that it’s hugely valuable and I’ll have to replace it, because it’s been permanently damaged on its transit through Pye.’
‘I’ll permanently damage him, if he tries to pursue that avenue,’ Randal promised.
‘Do you want to see if there’s anything from Lacey before I turn it off?’ I asked.
‘I’m sure there won’t be, but I did think I might check her Facebook page.’
‘You’re on Facebook?’
‘Lacey persuaded me, but I’ve hardly used it.’
He took my place and after a few minutes got Lacey’s page up and scrolled down. Then he gasped.
‘My God, Tabby, just look at these pictures – she’s only gone and got married, and you’ll never guess who to!’
‘Guy?’ I said, looking over his shoulder at a succession of photographs of the happy couple – in a wedding chapel in Las Vegas. ‘Elvis helps us tie the knot’ was my favourite.
‘Well, I told him he’d need to do something impressive to convince her he really loved her and he’s certainly done that.’
He turned to look at me. ‘I might have known this was your doing.’
‘It was when we met in the woods – he told me he loved her but she didn’t trust him any more, which was hardly surprising and … I’m so sorry, Randal.’
‘What for?’
‘Sowing the seed of the idea in his head, so that Lacey left you.’
‘I thought when I saw you in the woods with Guy that day that he’d got round you and was going to break your heart …’ he said. Then he stood up and smiled. ‘Those pictures are the best Christmas present ever!’
‘They are?’
He pulled me into his arms. ‘I’ve been wanting to kiss you properly for weeks,’ he said, and suited the action to the words.
When we eventually emerged and told the others what had happened to Lacey, Silas said, ‘Hurray! I think that deserves a toast – break out the ginger beer.’
‘Really, Silas,’ said Mercy, then added gently to Randal, ‘I’m so sorry, but she wasn’t the right girl for you, dear boy.’
‘I’d come to that conclusion myself,’ he said cheerfully, and went to get the ginger beer.
The rest of the day passed happily: the snow still fell slowly and softly onto the icy roads and little except gritters and the occasional hardy four-wheel-drive vehicle passed on the lane at the bottom of the hill.
The ducks walked about on the moat and quacked mournfully for food, but they did have an open bit of water under the bridge to swim about in when this palled.
After lunch we left Mercy, Silas and Ceddie in the drawing room listening to a Christmas carol concert on the radio and went sledging on the sloping field below the house, till Marco got so tired Charlie had to carry him piggyback up the hill home, where we all thawed out over hot tea, mince pies and the Christmas cake I’d helped Mercy to bake.
It was a strangely old-fashioned but enjoyable Christmas Eve and after dinner we played traditional board games from a vintage compendium we found in the library, till an excited Marco was finally put to bed by Emma.
But all evening my eyes had constantly been drawn to Randal’s, and when this happened, we both smiled, as if we shared a secret.
He hadn’t said anything when he kissed me, so I didn’t know where we were heading, but I was sure in my own heart that I loved him.
I said so to Pye when I was getting ready for bed and sang him a snatch of ‘I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy’.
‘Pfft!’ he said, but I knew he was getting quite fond of Randal … so long as he kept the bacon rinds coming.
Chapter 56: The Big Picture
Randal
I felt … I didn’t know how to describe it – exalted, perhaps? It was as if I’d found the final piece to complete the jigsaw of my life, after wasting time trying to hammer a piece from an entirely different one into it.
Tabby had already woven herself into my life – and into Mercy and Silas’s hearts, too.
‘Mercy,’ I said, drawing her aside when Tabby and Liz had gone into the kitchen, ‘I’ve got something to ask you.’
And when I’d explained, she beamed. ‘Leave it to me – and Silas.’
‘Silas?’ I echoed, but she’d already bustled off on her mission.
Chapter 57: Crowned
I woke early to a world muffled in snow and opened the door to the passa
ge so Pye could go out into the garden if he wanted to, while I got ready.
I’d just dressed and was brushing my hair when I heard the sitting-room door open again and a moment later, Pugsie trotted in, wearing a big blue bow.
Or rather, it wasn’t a bow, but a large cracker, attached to his collar with ribbon.
Pye followed him in looking ruffled and pulling faces. I kneeled down.
‘What’s that, Pugsie, is it for me?’
It had already slipped round by his ear, so I undid the bow and took it off … and then looked up to find Randal standing there, his fair hair ruffled and his dark hazel eyes bright. There were a set of scratches across the back of his hand.
‘Please tell me you weren’t mad enough to try to tie a cracker round Pye’s neck first?’ I begged.
He nodded. ‘But I gave that idea up fairly fast. Pugsie was much more accommodating.’
He bent and hauled me to my feet.
‘Do you need someone to help you pull that cracker?’ he asked.
‘Wait a minute,’ I said, getting a firm grip on the end … and then, with a bang, out popped a small box and inside it – a large single diamond ring, simple and beautiful.
‘Where on earth did you get this?’ I gasped.
‘Silas. The girl he wanted to marry chose someone else before he could ask her and he said he’d like you to have it – for ever.’
He unrolled a lilac tissue-paper crown and gravely set it on my head. ‘I want you to marry me.’
The ring slid onto my finger as if it was made for me – and my arms went around Randal’s neck and pulled his head down towards mine.
‘I love you, Randal Hesketh,’ I said.
‘Good, because you’re already Queen of Christmas and queen of my heart,’ he said, then lovingly kissed me till my crown fell off with a papery rustle.
‘Pfft!’ said Pye, and stalked out.
Q:Who is Santa married to?
A:Mary Christmas!
Recipes
Mercy’s Citrus Crush
This simple version of lemonade is a refreshing drink on a hot day. It makes a large jug, but double or triple the quantities if you need to. I have used the American cup measure, where one cup equals half a pint, but so long as you use the same cup measure for all the ingredients, it will be fine.
Ingredients
3 unwaxed lemons and 1 lime
1 cup of sugar (granulated or caster)
3 cups of cold water
Method
Wash and dry the lemons and lime.
Zest one lemon and one lime and put the zest in a saucepan.
Add all the sugar and one cup of the water.
Bring to a gentle simmer and continue to cook gently for about five minutes. (Don’t let it boil.) The water will go a pale yellowy colour. Take it off the heat.
Squeeze all the lemons and the lime and put the juice through a strainer into a large jug along with the contents of the saucepan.
Stir in the remaining two cups of cold water.
When it is cold, cover and keep in the fridge. Good served over ice in tall glasses. You can also make a larger quantity straight into a punch bowl.
An Igloo Christmas Cake
This is a fun Christmas cake, which you can make with the traditional mixture, as a sponge cake or, as here, a fruitcake.
I used one half of a big Christmas pudding mould as a cake tin, but half a ball-shaped cake mould or even an ovenproof glass bowl would do. This quantity of mix will fill a cake tin about seven or eight inches across but my mould is slightly smaller, so I had a little left. I made the excess into small cakes in a muffin tin.
Ingredients
6oz/175g softened butter
6oz/175g caster sugar
4 beaten eggs
8oz/225g self-raising flour
14oz/400g mixed dried fruit with peel
1 tablespoon golden syrup
Zest of an orange or lemon (optional)
To cover
Apricot jam
Roll-out marzipan
Roll-out fondant icing
A large circular cake board or plate
Method
Preheat the oven to 325F°/170C°/gas mark 3. Grease and then line with greaseproof paper whatever mould you are using.
In a large mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar together for a couple of minutes and then add in all the other ingredients and stir well until blended.
Put it into the tin and, although this fruitcake won’t rise a huge amount, remember to leave about an inch for this. Smooth the top.
Put the cake in the oven and after an hour, loosely cover the top with foil to stop the edges catching. If you are using a small mould, start to test whether it is cooked after an hour and a half – the skewer will come out clean if it is ready. A larger cake will take about two hours.
When cooked, let it cool a little and then turn it onto a wire rack and remove the paper. Don’t worry about any imperfections – the icing will cover those!
When totally cold you can store it in an airtight container until you are ready to ice it.
To ice
Warm a little apricot jam in the microwave on a low heat for a minute or two and then brush it liberally all over the cake.
On a flat surface, roll out the marzipan into a large circle (it will have to cover the whole dome of the cake) using icing sugar to stop it sticking to the board and rolling pin.
Drape over the cake and mould it round the edges, then trim off the excess. From the bits left, make a little tunnel entrance to the igloo and push it onto the front.
Put the cake onto the board or large plate.
Now, roll out the fondant icing in the same way and then cover the whole cake, the entrance tunnel and the cake board, so the igloo looks as if it is surrounded by snow, as it should be! Smooth it into shape – if you dust your fingertips with icing sugar you can polish out any lumps and bumps in the icing.
For the finishing touches, draw in the ‘blocks of ice’ that form the igloo. I also added two Eskimo figures and a Santa on the roof to mine.
Coconut Pyramids
These are a long-time favourite of mine and very easy to make. I have a special plastic cone mould, but you can just shape them by hand. The recipe makes about twenty bite-sized ones, or ten big ones.
Ingredients
2 large egg whites
4oz/110g caster sugar
7oz/200g desiccated coconut
Glacé cherries for the top, if liked. (Use a quarter or half for each, depending on the size of the pyramids you’re making.)
Method
Preheat the oven to 170C°/325F°/gas mark 3.
Line a baking tray with baking paper.
In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy (but not stiff) and then add the sugar. Beat gently till it dissolves and then stir in the coconut.
Then either press the mixture very firmly into your mould and turn each one out onto the baking tray, or, using damp hands, form the mixture into pyramids.
If you are using cherries, place a piece onto the top of each one.
Bake until they are slightly golden and firm, which takes about 25 minutes. Remove and let them cool on a wire rack.
When cold, store in an airtight container.
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About the Author
Trisha Ashley was born in St Helens, Lancashire, and gave up her fascinating but time-consuming hobbies of house-moving and divorce a few years ago in order to settle in North Wales. She is a Sunday Times bestselling author.
For more information about Trisha please visit www.trishaashley.com, her Facebook fan page (Trisha Ashley Books) or her Twitter account @trishaashley.
By the same author
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crets
A Winter’s Tale
Wedding Tiers
Chocolate Wishes
Twelve Days of Christmas
The Magic of Christmas
Chocolate Shoes and Wedding Blues
Good Husband Material
Wish Upon a Star
Finding Mr Rochester
Every Woman for Herself
Creature Comforts
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A Christmas Cracker Page 35