by Lynda Page
With a smile on her face, Jackie responded, ‘Mrs Evans, first may I express Jolly’s sincere apologies for what’s happened? We really are dreadfully sorry. Secondly, may I assure you that we’re going to investigate the cause of the outbreak and make sure it doesn’t happen again.’
‘That’s all well and good, but where are we expected to eat in the meantime? Not in your restaurant or any of the other eating facilities you offer, I’m sure you can appreciate that?’
Jackie stared at her blankly for a moment before she replied, ‘Well, yes, of course I can, Mrs Evans, but we haven’t anywhere else but the restaurant, the fish and chip and hamburger kiosks for you to eat.’ She then added with conviction, ‘But please let me assure you that Chef Brown has been with Jolly’s for years and nothing like this has ever happened …’ she prayed it hadn’t before she had come to work here ‘… and whatever is the cause …’
Mrs Evans cut in, ‘There’s no “whatevers” about where this was caught. Apart from individual sandwiches we all made ourselves to eat on the journey here, the only other place we’ve eaten together was in your restaurant.’
Jackie was caught on the back foot. ‘Mrs Evans, I assure you …’
The woman was unstoppable. ‘You keep assuring me of a lot, young lady. But why am I dealing with a chit like you over this serious situation? Where’s the management? Skulking in their offices, are they, afraid to face the music?’
Jackie privately agreed with Mrs Evans that it should be management dealing with this serious situation. ‘No, not at all, Mrs Evans. Mr Rose … he’s our temporary manager as Mrs Jolly the owner is away at the moment on family business … well, he thought it was important to get to the bottom of this quickly. That’s what he’s doing now, making his investigation, and he’s asked me to deputise for him in the meantime, letting you know how we’re handling the situation.’
The woman took a deep breath, puffing out her chest before announcing, ‘Well, let me assure you, young lady, we’d better receive a satisfactory answer and a cast-iron assurance this is an isolated incident or we’ll be demanding that we all get our money back and you meet the expense of a coach to take us back home. Hopefully it won’t be too late for us to organise bookings at another holiday camp that isn’t hell-bent on killing us and then we can enjoy what’s left of our summer holiday.’ She pushed her face close to Jackie’s and snapped, ‘And let me assure you, we won’t be recommending Jolly’s to anyone, just the opposite in fact.’ Her face suddenly contorted in pain then and she clutched her stomach, wailing, ‘Oh, God, where’s the nearest convenience?’
Jackie’s thoughts were racing. It would be just terrible for Drina to return and find the business in ruins. Jackie had to get to the bottom of this matter quickly and somehow restore the camp’s good name. Mrs Evans and her party would need to be convinced not to leave but to stay and enjoy the rest of their holiday.
Ginger asked, ‘How are Mr Rose’s enquiries coming on? Has he found out anything at all that could shed light on the outbreak?’
‘Well, he’s only just started so it’s a bit early for that yet. Look, I have to go. See you later, Ginger.’
‘Yeah. You and Keith still coming to Helen’s birthday bash at Groovy’s tonight?’
‘Yes, looking forward to it.’ And she was. Jackie, like most twenty-one year olds, loved a night out dancing into the small hours, despite having work in the morning.
She made to leave again but Ginger stopped her with, ‘Oh, just a minute, Jackie.’ Flashing a look around to make sure none of her other colleagues could hear, she asked, ‘Have you managed to find anything out for me yet?’
Jackie stared at her non-plussed. ‘About what?’
Ginger snapped, ‘Oh, Jackie, how could you forget? You know how keen I am to find out about Al. Whether he’s got a girlfriend or not, and anything else about him.’
‘Ginger, give me a chance! He’s only been with us a couple of days.’
‘Four days and …’ she looked at her watch ‘… five hours twenty-two minutes.’
Jackie chuckled. ‘Oh, Ginger, you are a case. Look, I’m doing my best, but it’s quite difficult as we’re so busy with work and I’m …’ She was about to say ‘doing work that should be Harold Rose’s’, but stopped herself from speaking out of turn about him. Ginger had many good qualities but discretion wasn’t one of them. ‘Al doesn’t seem willing to talk about anything that involves his family or friends,’ Jackie added.
‘Well, try harder for my sake, Jackie. I really fancy him but I don’t want to show myself up if he’s already got a girlfriend. But if I don’t make my move soon, someone else could get in before me.’
Jackie conceded, ‘Okay, I’ll see what I can do.’
Ginger beamed her infectious smile. ‘Then I’ll let you get on. Oh, before you go …’
Jackie had already turned away. Now she spun back, declaring, ‘Oh, what now, Ginger?’
‘No need to snap. I was only going to ask if you’d heard anything from Mrs Jolly about how Rhonnie is getting on?’
‘Not personally. I know she has spoken at least once to Mr Rose but she’s always called straight through on the private line. I presume she’s just checking how things are going here, but he’s not told me anything about the call. I only know she telephoned because I happened to be taking his morning cuppa in to him when he was speaking to her. Now I really do have to get on.’
Jackie found Chef Brown wedged in the captain-style chair before the small desk that spanned the entire width of his office. He was adding to a list he was making, when Jackie appeared in the doorway. Sensing a presence, he turned round. Seeing who it was, he smiled warmly at her. ‘Oh, you’ve saved me sending over one of my staff tomorrow morning with the list I’ve just finished of foodstuffs to be ordered. Anyway, I’m always pleased to see your pretty face, Jackie. What can I do for you?’
He seemed to be in an unexpectedly congenial mood, considering the crisis they faced. Then a thought struck Jackie and she asked him, ‘Chef Brown, have you been here in your office since second sitting finished? Not been out into the camp at all for anything?’
He looked at her curiously, obviously wondering why she had asked him that. ‘Well, not exactly here in my office. Between you and me, I did pop out the back for a crafty fag, and after that I’ve been in the dry food store, checking what I was running low on to add to my list. But other than that, yes, I have been here.’ His brow furrowed quizzically. ‘Why?’
‘Oh, then you won’t have heard.’
He shrugged his massive shoulders. ‘Heard what exactly?’
Jackie took a deep breath, wishing she wasn’t the one to be breaking the bad news to him. ‘Well, er … you see, Chef Brown … er … forty-odd campers have been struck down with food poisoning after eating their lunch in the restaurant. Sister Stephens confirms it. She says it’s not serious, they just need plenty of water and rest so that’s good, isn’t it?’ Jackie forced a smile, sensing the outburst to come.
Through her blabbering Chef Brown had been staring at her frozen-faced. Then his expression darkened thunderously. He began to rise from his chair and instinctively Jackie took several steps back as though afraid his angry words would blast her off her feet.
Towering over her, he furiously bellowed, ‘And my kitchen is being blamed? Well, I won’t stand for it! The whole place is thoroughly washed down after each service is finished, and scrubbed from top to bottom every evening. Not one single crumb is ever left lying about. It is germ-free. I inspect the hands of every staff member before each shift. If I find one speck of dirt then they’re sent off to wash them again, and again if necessary.
‘All the food I buy in is from suppliers I’ve been using for years, and all are regularly government-inspected. All meat is immediately frozen or put in the cold store as soon as it’s delivered; we never refreeze uncooked meat that’s been defrosted, and never leave it lying around for any length of time before it’s cooked. Dry goods are sto
red separately. All food waste is put in pig-swill bins kept outside, which several farmers around here regularly collect. Today’s dinner-time menu was pork chops and mashed potatoes, with jelly and tinned fruit for afters. Now you go back and tell that gutless prat Rose … who, by the way, should be here himself confronting me with this, not hiding behind your skirts … to look elsewhere for the cause of that outbreak because it never came from my kitchen.’
Despite Jackie knowing that his bark was far worse than his bite, Chef’s behaviour was still coming across as very frightening. Tremulously she responded, ‘I will, Chef Brown. And I’m sorry to have bothered you, I really am.’
With that she spun on her heel and fled.
Back outside she flattened her back against the wall, her thoughts racing. If the campers hadn’t eaten contaminated food from the kitchen, they had to have eaten it somewhere else. But Mrs Evans had told her they’d eaten sandwiches prepared by themselves, and it was highly unlikely they’d all had the same filling bought from the same source. Jackie heaved a despondent sigh. She had no idea where to proceed from here. There wasn’t an avenue left to explore. It seemed to her that they had no choice but to give Mrs Evans and her party their money back and pay for a coach to take them home, then just pray that the backlash against the camp’s good name didn’t prove as damaging as Jackie feared it would. She couldn’t help but feel that she had let Drina Jolly down badly the first time she had been entrusted with the responsibility of running the general office.
Al could tell by Jackie’s expression that her investigation had been fruitless. As he handed her several message slips from people who had tried to reach her on the telephone while she’d been out, he said, ‘No joy, I take it, on finding the source of the food poisoning?’
She accepted the slips and shook her head. ‘Chef Brown is adamant his kitchen is not at fault so I’ve completely drawn a blank. I suppose I ought to go and report my findings to Mr Rose, get his authorisation to hire a coach to take Mrs Evans and her party back home. And they must have their money back too. While I’m doing that, would you please telephone around a few local coach companies and get some quotes? I suppose we should be thankful it’s only going to be one coach we need, them all being from the same party, and we’re not having to ferry them back to different parts of the country.’
As soon as the words were out of her mouth something struck Jackie. Nearly ten thousand other campers had eaten the same food as the stricken campers had, and all the forty-two affected people were from the same party. There was no getting away from it. Those campers must have all eaten something in common, and whatever it was it had not originated from the camp.
To Al’s bemusement she announced, ‘Hold off on getting quotes for the coach. I need to check something first.’
Jackie dashed out again.
Having found out Mrs Evans’ chalet number from reception, Jackie rushed over there and purposefully knocked on the door. It was answered by a harassed-looking middle-aged man. ‘Yes, love?’ he said.
Jackie introduced herself and asked, ‘I wonder if I could just have a word with Mrs Evans?’
‘Oh, you’ve come to update her over this food poisoning business, have yer? Well, I’m sorry, love, yer’ll have to come back as she ain’t well enough. She’s not long got back from the toilet after being stuck on it for the last hour, and now she’s resting …’
A voice from inside called out, ‘Who is it, Cyril?’
He turned his head and answered, ‘It’s the girl from the office. She’s after seeing yer, but I’ve told her you’re …’
Mrs Evans barked, ‘Let her in. I can’t wait to hear what cock and bull Jolly’s are going to try and fob us off with to get out of paying up for the suffering they’ve caused.’
He stood aside so that Jackie could enter. Mrs Evans was lying on one of the single beds, propped up on pillows. She looked pale and drawn. When Jackie was standing at the side of her, Mrs Evans looked up beadily and snapped, ‘Well, come on then, let’s hear whatever management suggests to wheedle their way out of this and avoid paying up.’
‘I’m not here to spin you any cock and bull, Mrs Evans. I know you’re insisting you and the rest of your party became ill after eating Jolly’s food, but you couldn’t have.’
Despite her weak health, Mrs Evans barked, ‘But we did.’
‘But you couldn’t have,’ Jackie insisted. ‘You see, it’s only your party who are ill. Other campers ate at the same sitting and are not. I just wondered what else you’d eaten today? I know it’s a long shot that forty of you had the same filling in your sandwiches, but I don’t know how else to explain this.’
The woman snapped with conviction, ‘Poppycock! We all brought different food with us and ate different breakfasts too. Me and Cyril had toast for breakfast, and cheese and onion in our sandwiches. Mrs Roberts and her sister Tilly never had time to make any as they’d overslept. They caught the coach by the skin of their teeth. Mrs Davis shared her tongue sandwiches with them because she’d made too many. Cissy and Bert Matthews had bacon sandwiches for breakfast. I know that because I live next-door to them and could smell the bacon frying. They had potted meat and beetroot in their sandwiches. Cissy was berating Bert for dribbling beetroot juice down the front of his shirt, loud enough for all the bus to hear.
‘What breakfasts or sandwich fillings the rest had I’ve no idea, but isn’t that enough for you? It won’t wash, my girl. Just tell your boss to give us our money back and pay for a coach to take us home, because everyone I’ve told you about … except for my Cyril who’s always had the constitution of an ox … has suffered food poisoning.’
Just then a knock sounded on the door. Without waiting for any response, another middle-aged woman bustled in. Ignoring Jackie, she addressed Mrs Evans. ‘I’m doing the rounds and you’re the last. How are you, Martha?’ She pursed her lips and shook her head. ‘Got to say, you don’t look great. As green around the gills as my Arnold is. Anyway, all the others are asking me if you’ve had any news yet on getting our money back and a coach home? And there’s the problem of where we’re going to eat tonight … well, I know food will be the last thing on your mind, and all the others struck down with poisoning, but the two of us who weren’t will be starving again soon. I mean, dinner was a while ago now, so I hope Jolly’s have made arrangements to have food bought in for us from outside. They’d better have as the only food we have left between us is those two slices of cake that me and Cyril never had on the journey because we were full from our sandwiches. A slice of cake isn’t going to keep me going until I get home. So have you heard anything from the management yet, Martha? Oh, and by the way, how are you feeling?’
Mrs Evans gave a snort of derision and said, ‘Well, you telling me I look fit for the knacker’s yard doesn’t help me feel any better, Marion! And neither does talking about cake when just the thought of food is turning my stomach at the moment. Anyway, I’m glad you’re here because this young lady has been sent by Jolly’s to try and convince us we’re to blame for the outbreak, so they can get out of seeing us right.’
Marion seemed to see Jackie for the first time. She gave her a stony glare and said, ‘Is that right? Well, you go back to your boss and tell him that it is Jolly’s fault and if they don’t settle matters with us to our satisfaction then we’ll … we’ll …’ She flashed a look at Martha Evans. ‘What will we do, Martha?’
‘Well, er … we’ll … Yes, that’s what we’ll do. As soon as we’re all back on our feet, we’ll be outside the camp restaurant warning all the other people that they’re risking their lives eating in there. And then you’ll be facing a mass evacuation, with them all demanding their money back.’
Marion gave Jackie a push towards the door. ‘Now go and warn your bosses what we’ll do if they don’t do right by us. Eh, and don’t forget some food for me and Cyril. Fancy fish and chips, mushy peas and pickled onions, do you, Cyril?’
He licked his lips. ‘I do. I’m getting a bi
t peckish, I must say.’
She told Jackie, ‘Then that’s what we’ll have. Oi, and not from that kiosk! Have it brought in from Mablethorpe.’
‘Oh, will you stop talking about food, Marion?’ Martha Evans moaned. ‘You’re making my stomach churn, and it was just beginning to settle down.’
Her friend looked ashamed and mumbled, ‘Sorry, Martha.’
Jackie sighed inwardly. It seemed that the cause of the food poisoning was a mystery that was never going to be solved. And the camp was going to bear the brunt. She just hoped the damage was minimal. Hopefully Harold Rose would agree to the injured parties’ demands … in fact, she couldn’t see how he he’d be able to refuse. By settling with them he might persuade the sufferers to look a bit more favourably on Jolly’s and decide not to spread bad publicity about them.
Jackie had just shut the chalet door behind her when she got the overwhelming feeling that something had been said inside the chalet that was the key to solving this whole mystery. She felt positive of it. If only she could remember what it was … She tried to recall all that had been said, then suddenly it came to her. Surely it couldn’t be a coincidence that out of the party of forty-two who’d all had their dinner in the restaurant, there were two who hadn’t been struck down by food poisoning and two slices of cake left? Spinning around, she tapped on the door and, in her need to explore this latest piece of information, forgot to wait for a response.
The three occupants looked surprised to see Jackie back so soon.
After apologising for bursting in on them, she addressed Marion. ‘That cake you told me was eaten on the coach … two of you didn’t have any and there are two pieces left. Well, I …’
Marion snapped, ‘Cyril and I were full from our sandwiches or there wouldn’t have been a crumb left. I’m famous for my Victoria sponge. The recipe has been passed down from my great-grandmother. I’ve won numerous competitions at church fêtes …’ She suddenly stopped in mid-flow, narrowed her eyes and wagged a warning finger at Jackie. ‘Oh, I see where this is heading. You’re desperate to palm off the blame. Well, I won’t stand for it. Three of them I made to go round all the party, with my own fair hands. Each of them good enough to be eaten by the Queen herself, let me tell you.’