by Adele Abbott
“Very nice. Which one of you won it?”
“We always said that if one of us won the raffle, we’d split the prize.”
“But if it’s a weekend for two, shouldn’t one of you be taking your husband with you?”
“How can we do that if we’re going to split the prize? We’ll both be going. And besides, William and Alan love to look after the kids.”
“Have you told them yet?”
“Not yet, but they’ll be thrilled. And we’ll be pampered all weekend long.”
“That’s fantastic.” I sighed.
“Don’t sound too enthusiastic, Jill. Why are you looking so miserable anyway?”
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. You look like a wet weekend.”
“If you must know, I’ve just had a visit from my accountant.”
“I take it that didn’t go well.”
“That would be the understatement of the year.”
Chapter 6
Given their recent good fortune in the Candlefield raffle, and my bad news on the accounting front, I thought the twins might take pity on me, and let me have the coffee and muffin on the house. But they both scoffed at the suggestion, and said I should be grateful for my discount.
Those two were such tightwads.
I’d just finished my muffin when my phone rang. And, given the day I’d had so far, it was the last person I wanted to hear from.
“Hello, Grandma.”
“I need you over at Ever right away.”
“I’m rather busy just now.”
“Eating a muffin in Cuppy C? I don’t call that being busy.” How did she know where I was and what I was doing? “I have something of the utmost importance that I need to discuss with you.”
“Okay.” I sighed. “I’ll be over there in a couple of minutes.”
I magicked myself to the alleyway close to Ever. As I walked up the high street, I noticed a couple of elderly gentlemen going into the shop.
Julie was on duty and she was wearing the awful canary yellow uniform.
“Hi, Jill, we haven’t seen you in here for quite a while.”
“To tell you the truth, I try to steer clear of this place if I can. How’s business at the moment?”
“Going from strength to strength. Your grandmother is always coming up with some new initiative or other.”
“I saw a couple of old guys come in here.” I glanced around the shop, but I couldn’t see them. “I wouldn’t have thought they were your typical customer?”
Before Julie could respond, Grandma appeared, barefoot, in the doorway of her office. “I thought I heard your voice. Didn’t I tell you this was urgent?”
“Sorry, Grandma. I’m coming.”
Julie leaned forward and whispered. “She’s been in a foul mood all day. I think her bunions have been playing up again.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
Grandma had both of her bare feet up on the desk.
“Can’t you put your shoes on, Grandma?”
“No, I can’t. My bunions have been giving me gyp all day. When you’re as old as I am, young lady, you’ll understand the meaning of pain, and then you won’t be so quick to judge. Take a seat.”
If I’d done as she asked, her feet would have been only inches from my face.
“Err—no, thanks. I prefer to stand.”
“Please yourself. I called you here to make sure that you’ll be at the broom flying practice on Saturday.”
“I still don’t think it’s a good idea for me to be in the troupe, Grandma. You said yourself that I’m not very good. Why don’t you give Dimples Lowe her place back?”
“Absolutely not. I’ve chosen my A-team, and you’re in the starting line-up.”
Great. “Okay, I’ll be there on Saturday.” I started for the door.
“Wait a minute, young lady, not so fast. There’s something else I need to tell you. I have some very exciting news.” Somehow, I doubted that. “I’ve just been notified by Candle TV that they intend to cover our first official display live.”
“I thought we’d already given our first display.”
“That doesn’t count. That was just a stupid competition that Ma Chivers dreamed up. I’m talking about the first display that will feature the routines we choreographed ourselves.”
“I’m surprised that Candle TV would be interested in something like that.”
“That’s because you don’t seem to appreciate just how popular broom flying used to be. News of its revival has obviously sparked a lot of interest.”
“Okay, is that everything?”
“No, it isn’t. Seeing as we’re going to be on TV, I’ve decided we need new uniforms.”
“Can’t we just wear the witch’s outfits as usual?”
“They won’t do. We need something much more spectacular.” She took a few sheets of paper from a drawer and placed them on the desk. “Take a look at these sketches I’ve made. These should give you an idea of the sort of thing I have in mind.”
They were all hideous, but I was too diplomatic (okay, scared) to say as much. “The colours are rather bright, Grandma. They’re practically luminous.”
“Exactly. Our display is scheduled to take place at dusk, so we have to make sure that the troupe will stand out on TV.”
“If we wear any of these, we’ll definitely do that.”
***
After the day I’d just had, I needed something to take my mind off accounts and broom flying. Then I remembered what Jack had said about getting a hobby.
Maybe he was right, and what better hobby than decoupage? After all, if Mrs V and Winky could do it, I was sure I could.
For the last fifteen minutes, I’d been watching a beginner’s guide to decoupage on YouTube.
“What’s that you’re watching?” Winky had jumped onto my desk, and he was trying to see what I was looking at.
“Never you mind.” I nudged him gently back onto the floor. I didn’t need him ridiculing me.
The tutor in the video was decorating a small photo frame, and by the time the lesson had finished, I was confident that I could produce something similar.
I should be able to get all the supplies I needed from the local arts and crafts shop. Once I had those, I’d go home, make the frame and present it to Jack. Not only would he be surprised that I’d taken up a hobby, but he’d be able to use the frame for one of his millions of ten-pin bowling photographs.
“I’m going home, Mrs V. I’ve had quite enough for one day.”
“I take it the meeting with the accountant didn’t go well?”
“Why would you think that? It was fine,” I lied. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
I’d walked past Washbridge Art and Craft shop many times, but I’d never actually ventured inside. I was confident they would have everything I needed: a small photo frame, patterned paper, glue and a brush.
The woman behind the counter looked to be in her mid-fifties and had the face of a bulldog. Judging by the way she snapped at me, she had the temperament to match.
“How can I help you, madam?”
“I’m interested in purchasing some decoupage supplies.”
“Would that be for a beginner, intermediate level or advanced?”
“Beginner, I suppose.”
“What exactly do you need?”
“I’ve just been watching a video on YouTube. It was for—”
“YouTube?” She shook her head. “Goodness me. That’s entirely unsuitable. Who knows what qualifications if any, those people have?”
There are decoupage qualifications?
“We carry a wide range of approved how-to books. You’d be much better off following the instructions in one of those.”
I glanced over at the shelves of books; the cheapest one was twenty-five pounds. Stuff that for a game of soldiers.
“I don’t think I’ll bother with a book, thanks.”
“Suit yourself, but don’t say I didn’t warn
you.”
“All I need is a small photo frame and some patterned paper to decorate it with. I assume you have a selection I can look at? Oh, and glue and a brush.”
“Very well, madam. Follow me.” She led the way to the aisle where all the decoupage products were kept.
After I’d picked out the decorative paper, she priced it all up.
“So, that’s the photo frame, the paper, the decoupage glue and brush. That comes to a grand total of forty-two pounds and thirty-six pence.”
I almost fell over. I’d been expecting to pay no more than ten pounds.
“Would madam like a carrier bag?”
“Actually, I’m going to have to leave this lot for now.”
“But what about the items you’ve already picked out?”
“Sorry. I’ve just remembered that there’s somewhere I need to be. I’ll probably pop back again tomorrow when I have more time.”
There was no way I was going to spend that kind of money, and besides, I’d just remembered the small hardware shop, which was four doors down from Kathy’s Bridal Shop. They were bound to have everything I needed.
Washbridge Knick-Knacks was an old-fashioned shop which sold everything from nails to rotovators (whatever they are). I’d no sooner walked through the door, than a slight man, dressed in a brown smock, came scurrying over to me.
“Hello, young lady. What are you looking for?”
“I need a small photo frame, some fancy wrapping paper and glue.”
“You’ll find the photo frames in aisle B. It’s aisle G for the wrapping paper, and aisle J for the glue.”
“Great, thanks.”
“If you need any help, just give me a shout. My name is Andy. Andy Mann.”
Of course it is. “Thanks, Andy.”
I grabbed a basket, and in no time at all, had the photo frame and decorative paper. I’d picked one which had pictures of bowling balls and skittles on it. That just left the glue. There were so many different kinds, and I had no idea which one would be most suitable. In the end, I figured the best thing to do was to get the strongest one, so I picked up a tube of superglue. Even better, I could apply it straight from the tube, so I wouldn’t need to buy a brush.
The whole lot came to just over seven pounds. What a bargain!
***
When I arrived home, I laid out my supplies on the kitchen table. Carefully following the instructions from the YouTube demo, I placed the photo frame onto the decorative paper, and then cut the paper to size. Next, I had to fold the paper over the frame and glue it in place. After applying the glue to the frame, I turned down the paper and pressed it to the wood. Then I turned the frame over and did the same on the other side.
That was it. The whole thing had taken me less than five minutes. This decoupage stuff was easy. I couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about.
After admiring my handiwork for a few minutes, I nipped upstairs to the loo. As I was leaving the bathroom, I could hear Jack moving around downstairs; he was shouting something, but I couldn’t make out what, so I hurried back downstairs.
“Jill, what’s this?” He was staring at the photo frame.
“This, Jack, is my new hobby. The one you said I would never take up. But, as you can see, you were wrong because I am now a decoupage master. What do you think of the photo frame I made for you? Do you like it?”
“It’s very nice, but there’s one slight problem.”
“The size, you mean? Surely you must have a photograph that will fit it.”
“It’s not that. Why don’t you try to pick up the frame?”
I had no clue what he was getting at, but I did as he said. At least, I tried to, but it wouldn’t budge.
“That isn’t supposed to happen.”
“What kind of glue did you use, Jill?” I glanced across at the kitchen worktop. “Don’t tell me you used superglue.”
“Err—actually, yeah.”
“You do realise that this photo frame is never coming off this table, don’t you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Jack loved to exaggerate. How difficult could it be? It was only a bit of glue after all.
“Leave it with me, Jack. I’ll sort it out.”
“Okay, good luck with that. I’m going to nip to the corner shop because I’m out of Garibaldi biscuits.”
“Why do you insist on eating those horrible things when you could eat custard creams?”
“Are you offering?”
“Not my custard creams, obviously, but you could buy some of your own.”
“I’ll stick to Garibaldi if it’s all the same to you.”
Freak.
An hour later, we were seated at the kitchen table, eating dinner.
“Didn’t I tell you that I’d get that photo frame off the table?”
“You certainly did.” He raised his eyebrows. “But now we have a square ridge in the table where the frame used to be.”
“I think it’s what people call a design feature.”
“I think it’s what most sane people would call a mess.”
“But you like your photo frame, don’t you?”
“Yeah, it’s lovely, but by the time we’ve forked out for a new kitchen table, it’ll probably be the world’s most expensive photo frame.” Some people are just never grateful. “By the way, Jill, I talked to Dad earlier today and asked him about Mum.”
“How did that go?”
“Not well, to be honest. As soon as I mentioned the subject of the afterlife, he started to get upset and said that I was talking nonsense.”
“Oh dear. Do you still think it’s worth Yvonne coming over here on Saturday?”
“Yeah, I think so. I don’t see what we have to lose. Maybe once Dad’s here, I’ll be able to persuade him to be a little more open-minded.”
“Okay. I’ll update Yvonne but I’d better warn her there may still be some resistance from him.”
“Great. By the way, Jill, when you last went to the corner shop, did they have those handheld scanners?”
“Yeah, they did. Has Little Jack got them sorted out yet?”
“I don’t think so. All I did was buy a packet of Garibaldi biscuits, and he tried to charge me thirty-four pounds.”
Chapter 7
The next morning, Jack had to leave for work early, so I skipped breakfast and called in at Coffee Games on my way into the office. At first, I thought there was no one behind the counter, and I was just about to call for service when Piers jumped up and almost scared me to death.
“Piers, what do you think you’re playing at?”
“Sorry, Jill. It’s hide and seek day.”
“You should post a warning sign on the door. Can I get a caramel latte, please?”
“Of course. No muffin today?”
“No, thanks. Just the coffee.”
“Do you want it to go, Jill?”
“No, I’m going to spend a few minutes in here before I go to the office.”
Once I had my coffee, I started towards a table by the door, but then someone called my name.
“Morning, Daze. You’ve made an early start.”
“Come and join me. We’ve got a lot of work on at the moment, so we thought we’d grab a coffee to give us a boost before we get started.”
I glanced at the table and noticed there were two coffee cups. “Is Blaze with you?”
“Yes, he is.” She grinned. “He’s hiding.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be looking for him?”
“I suppose I am.” She laughed. “Sooner or later, he’ll realise that I’m not. Where’s your blueberry muffin?”
“I don’t always have a muffin.”
“I’ve never seen you without one.”
“Cheek. What is it that’s keeping you two so busy?”
“We’re on the lookout for a couple of rogue werewolves on the loose here in Washbridge.”
“How do you mean, rogue? What have they done?”
“Last
time they were here, they attacked a number of humans.”
“Last time?”
“Yes, they were recently released from Candlefield prison, after a long stretch inside. They should have been tagged to prevent them from coming over here, but some idiot forgot to do it. We were only alerted late yesterday.”
“Have there been any attacks that you know of? I haven’t seen anything in the newspaper.”
“Nothing yet, thank goodness.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Not really, but if you hear of anything unusual happening around Washbridge, give us a shout, would you?”
“Will do.”
Just then, my phone rang.
“Is that Jill Maxwell?”
“Yes, Jill Maxwell speaking.”
“This is Denise Black. I work at Parkside Hotel. The manager told me that you wanted to talk to me about the man who disappeared from the hotel a couple of years ago.”
“That’s right, Denise. Is there any chance we could get together for a few minutes sometime today?”
“I take my break at about eleven. It’s only fifteen minutes, though. Will that be long enough?”
“More than enough, thanks.”
“Okay. I’ll wait for you in reception at eleven.”
“Great. I’ll see you then.”
I’d just finished on the call when Blaze appeared looking none too pleased with life.
“What’s going on, Daze?” He snapped. “You were supposed to be looking for me?”
“Oh, yes,” she said, straight-faced. “I knew there was something I’d forgotten to do.”
***
When I arrived at my office building, I was pleased to see that the Clown sign had been removed from the bottom of the stairs. It seemed that Jimmy and Kimmy had taken my grievances seriously.
“Morning, Mrs V.”
“Good morning, Jill. Did you ask Jack about dinner?”
Oh bum!
“I’m really sorry, Mrs V, but I forgot again.”
“If you’d rather not come, just say. I won’t be offended.”
“No, it’s not that, honestly. You know what my memory is like. I promise I’ll ask him tonight. Cross my heart.”