Christmas at Wynter House

by Emily Harvale

  Carruthers looked as if he was about to have an apoplexy.

  'What is the commotion?' A commanding voice boomed out from the top of the intricately carved oak staircase at the end of the hall, and all eyes turned to Olivia Wynter. She took one stair at a time, using a large ebony cane in her right hand to help her balance and resting her left hand on the banister. But even so, she gave the impression of sweeping down the stairs like Royalty. She was dressed like Royalty too. 'Carruthers! Are you going to let those animals run wild?'

  'Apologies, ma'am.' He quickly but quietly deposited the luggage on the floor.

  'I think he has enough to do at the moment, Olivia,' Rafe said, turning to try to catch Boris. 'We can all benefit from some leeway in circumstances such as these.'

  Neva tried to help, as did Adam, Sasha and Nigel, but the dogs thought it was a good game and bounded around more wildly. It took a few minutes to catch them and all the while, Olivia made her way down until she reached the bottom stair, where she stood, chin raised, as if she were watching a peasant's revolt or something equally unpleasant. Rafe managed to grab Tempest just as the puppy seemed intent on going to introduce herself to Olivia, who backed away against the newel post as if the dog had rabies.

  Neva ran forward to take Tempest's lead from Rafe. 'Sorry. That's the second time you've saved her from impending death.'

  Rafe glanced up at Olivia. He clearly understood Neva's meaning, and Olivia looked Neva up and down as if she thought Neva might be rabid too. But who could blame her for that? Neva was wearing PJs, walking boots, and a saturated jacket. No doubt her hair was also a complete mess.

  'Olivia, this is Neva. She and her family were guests at one of the cottages.'

  'Did you not tell them to go home?'

  'He did,' Neva said. 'We decided to stay. It's very kind of you to welcome us into your home.'

  'I had no say in the matter.' She looked down her nose at Neva, but Rafe gave her a quelling look and suddenly she smiled. 'You're most welcome, at such a dreadful time. I'm sure Rafe and the staff will ensure you have everything you need. I have a headache. Please excuse me.'

  'Of course. It's lovely to meet you.'

  'Indeed.' Olivia turned her back and made her way up the stairs.

  It was really rather pointless of her making all that effort to come down.

  'I apologise,' Rafe said.

  'Rudeness seems to run in the family.'

  Had she said that out loud? Judging by the look on his face, she had.

  'Oh God. I'm so sorry, Rafe. It's me who's being rude. I didn't mean that. You've been nothing but kind today.'

  'It's fine.' He turned away. 'Judith? Would you show Neva and her family to their rooms, please?' He walked off without another word and started leading the others into what Neva assumed must be the morning room.

  'Of course, Rafe.' Judith deposited several umbrellas into a large iron stand and hurried forward, picking up one of the bags from the floor. 'If you'll follow me, Mr and Mrs Grey and family.'

  'It's Dennis and Dawn,' Dennis said, as Neva walked back towards her family to pick up her own bag. 'Neva, Rowan and Nigel, and Sasha. And Tempest, of course. Who can forget Tempest?'

  'I'm Judith. Please let me know if there is anything you need. I can't promise we'll have it but we'll do our best to get it, whatever it is.'

  She had obviously worked in the hospitality industry prior to coming to Wynter House. Perhaps a luxury hotel. She also clearly had a bit of a thing for both Adam and Rafe.

  Or perhaps Neva was being ridiculous.

  'I don't know what the plan is,' Dawn said, 'but we emptied our fridge and brought all our food and drink. Most of it can stay in the car for now, but I don't suppose there's room in your fridge to pop our perishables in, is there? Everything is in these two bags.' She nodded to two large cool bags at her feet.

  'Oh. Yes of course. We can put the bags in the walk-in chiller. Just give me one moment, please.' She grabbed the bags, dashed along the hall, disappeared through a door and was back in less than a minute, a huge smile on her face. 'All safe and sound and waiting for you when you need them. Now if you'd like to follow me, I'll show you to your rooms.'

  Chapter Fourteen

  Neva stretched out on the huge four-poster bed. It looked as if it could have been slept in by someone from the court of King Henry VIII, or even the man himself, it was so ancient and grand. If the Wynters ever decided to move, it would take an army of removal men to lift it. But that was something that would never happen.

  What must it feel like to live in a house in which generations of your family have lived for centuries? Would it be a comfort, or a chain around the neck to know this would be your home for life?

  A fire roared in an impressive fireplace, where lions rampant held the fire basket aloft and hot ash fell onto a red-brick hearth. It would cost a fortune just to heat this room. No wonder the Wynters needed visitors to pay to walk around a few rooms and a garden.

  Judith had told Neva and her family that they could get some rest after their ordeal and large, fluffy towels were deposited on each bed, so that they could all take hot showers. Then breakfast would be served in the dining room at 10 a.m. It was 6.30 a.m. by the time they arrived so that didn't give them long, but it also meant they wouldn't have long to wait to eat. Neva was starving.

  She showered as soon as Judith had left and then jumped into bed, setting the alarm on her phone to wake her promptly at 9.30, but she didn't sleep. Her mind was replaying everything that had happened since coming to Wyntersleap on Friday. It was only Sunday and yet it was as if she had been in the village far longer.

  She washed and dressed and ran to the room Judith had allocated to her parents.

  'Come in,' Dawn said. 'Ah, Neva. Isn't this something?'

  'You're not kidding.' Neva collapsed onto their bed. It was similar to hers and felt just as comfy. 'I feel we should be paying extra just to be experiencing such luxury.'

  'Do you think we should?' Dennis asked. 'Offer to pay extra, I mean. After all, we were the ones who decided to stay. They didn't have to invite us here. They could've told us to find alternative accommodation.'

  'They still might. Adam only said we should come here today. He didn't actually invite us to stay for Christmas and the New Year. Once we've had breakfast, they might ask us to be on our way. Especially now that we're packed and ready to go.'

  Dawn's face fell. 'Do you think so? Oh, I do hope not. Wouldn't it be wonderful to spend Christmas here? But of course we would have to pay something. This is like staying in one of those posh country-house hotels and they charge an absolute fortune. Much more than we paid for the cottage.'

  'Let's wait and see.' Neva scrambled off the bed and strolled towards the door. 'Didn't Judith say something about Rafe having a chat with us all over breakfast?'

  'She did,' Dennis said. 'And if they do say we can stay, I'll have a word with him about it. I think at the very least, we should offer to pay for our food and a little bit more towards the accommodation.'

  'Who knows, Dad. He may give us a price list over scrambled eggs on toast. And if it's based on the prices they charge for the tour, we'll have to rethink the move to Merriment Bay, and possibly take out another mortgage.'

  Neva was only half joking. It would be lovely to spend Christmas here. Even with the Ice Queen, Olivia Wynter. But they couldn't expect the Wynters to let everybody stay, and the villagers would rightly take precedence.

  Rowan, Nigel, and Sasha were coming out of their room. Judith had offered Sasha a room of her own but Rowan wanted her with them for now. That was probably because Rowan was concerned about how much trouble Sasha could get into in a house like this if given free rein. She had already said it would be fun to slide down the banister of the main staircase. The only thing she wasn't happy about was the fact that she hadn't been allowed to bring Tempest upstairs. Judith said that everyone's pets would be taken by a member of staff to be towel-dried, or bathed first if necessary, wh
ich in Tempest's case it was. Her mass of fur seemed to have collected every bit of dirt in the street as they'd bundled her into the car. The pets would also be fed, and returned to their owners later.

  Carruthers was at the foot of the stairs, as if standing to attention, when Neva and her family came down. He no longer wore a suit but was far more formally dressed in a white, wing collar dress shirt, black morning coat and matching tie, grey waistcoat and grey pinstriped trousers. He also now wore white gloves.

  'Good morning,' Dawn said, beaming at him. 'Thank you for all your help earlier. I'm sorry but I didn't catch your name. I'm Dawn. This is Dennis, Neva, Rowan, Nigel and Sasha.'

  One eyebrow went up, one went down. 'Good morning, Mrs Grey, Mr Grey, Miss Grey-'

  'Whoa. Stop there,' Neva said. 'I don't mean to be rude by interrupting but please don't call us by such formal names.'

  'I beg your pardon, Miss Grey. But by what else should I call you?'

  'Mum just told you.'

  He looked as if she had asked him to run naked across the hall.

  'I couldn't possibly do that, Miss Grey.'

  'Hmm. As a butler, isn't it part of your job to ensure all the guests have what they need, or is that Judith's role?'

  'Miss Thorn and I share that function.'

  'Well, at the moment, we're your employer's guests, and what we want is for you to call us by our Christian names, please. If it makes you uncomfortable, I'll clear it with your boss.'

  'No need.' Rafe appeared from one of the wood panelled walls as if by magic.

  'He just walked through a wall, Daddy!' Sasha jumped up and down with excitement.

  Rafe smiled. 'It's a secret passage which was originally a priest's hole. I'll show it to you later. It leads to the east wing and it's a short cut from my bedroom.'

  'Wow! I love this place.'

  'Me too,' he said, and it was obvious from the look in his eyes, he did. He gave the butler a quick once over and frowned, as if displeased by what the man was wearing. 'Olivia?'

  The butler gave a slight nod and Rafe sighed and shook his head.

  Had Olivia told the butler to change his clothes?

  Rafe shot a look at Neva, coughed as though he had been caught off-guard, and added: 'Archie, I know it will be difficult for you, but if our guests wish you to call them by their Christian, or given names, please do so.'

  Again the butler did the thing with his eyebrows. One up, one down. He was as bad as Rowan with her eye-rolling. But he gave a little bow of his head.

  'Of course, Mr Rafe.'

  Neva smiled. 'Thank you. And may we call you, Archie?'

  He threw Rafe a pleading look and Rafe grinned. 'I think that might be asking too much. He prefers to be called Carruthers. The dining room is the first door to your left. Please go ahead.'

  'Carruthers it is then,' Dennis said, grabbing Neva's elbow. 'Leave it, Neva. We're guests, remember.'

  But Neva couldn't, and she hung back to speak to Rafe.

  'Is there something you need?'

  His voice was cool and he wouldn't meet her eyes. Was he still cross about her saying rudeness ran in his family?

  'Yes. First, I want to apologise again for my earlier comment. I didn't mean it, honestly. Please don't be cross.'

  'I'm not.'

  'OK. Second. Thank you so much for this. The rooms are magnificent and it's really very kind.'

  'It's nothing. I couldn't leave you all to drown.' There was a hint of a grin on his lips, but only very slight.

  'Third. How come you call him Archie and we can't?'

  He looked surprised. 'Er. Because apart from the fact that he works for me, I've known him for most of my life. You've only just met him.'

  'Fair enough. But Adam calls him Carruthers?'

  'He does. Is that a question?'

  'Yes. Why doesn't he call him Archie, too?'

  'You're asking the wrong person.'

  'OK. Fine. Is there any news about the river? Did it flood the village completely? It's stopped raining. Will the water recede now? And if so, will we be able to go back?'

  Rafe shook his head. 'There's a few inches of water in the cottages closest to the river, and just a covering in the rest. If it doesn't rain anymore and the water levels drop, the water will recede. But it'll be some time before anyone can go back. The cottages will have to dry out and be checked for other damage, especially to the electrical supply.'

  'Oh. So will you expect me and my family to go home then?'

  He hesitated for a second. 'I'm not sure there's an alternative.'

  'Isn't there?' She looked up into his eyes and saw confusion. 'Where is everyone from the village going to stay?'

  Again the hesitation. 'Some may have relatives they can go to. But for those who don't, as most of them are either former or current employees of this estate, they will stay here until other arrangements can be made.'

  'But not us?'

  'I don't understand. Why would you stay here? You have homes to go to.'

  'So that's that then. Thank you, Rafe.'

  She hurried into the dining room without another word and sat beside her dad.

  'It seems we won't be staying. Rafe's made it pretty clear he expects us to go home.'

  Dennis sighed. 'Oh, what a shame. But it's probably just as well. It might be odd spending Christmas with so many strangers, and in someone else's home, especially one like this. We can take a day trip down to Merriment Bay between Christmas and the New Year. It won't be quite the same, but no one can do anything about Mother Nature and we'll all still have fun. I'll tell the others.' He leant to his side and spoke to Dawn, who passed the news along after a moment or two, to Rowan seated beside her, and Rowan passed it on to Nigel.

  'What are you all whispering about?' Sasha asked Nigel, rather loudly.

  He quietly broke the news and she didn't take it well. She jumped to her feet and yelled, 'But why can't we stay here? I don't want to go home. Rafe said he'd show me the secret passage.'

  'Sit down and behave,' Rowan snapped. 'You can't just invite yourself to stay at someone else's house. They've made plans for Christmas and those plans didn't include us.'

  Sasha sat down but sulked until Rafe asked for a moment of everyone's time. He stood at the head of the long dining table and apologised for the slight delay in the arrival of breakfast.

  'It'll be here shortly, but as you can imagine, the kitchen is somewhat busy at the moment. Penny and Taryn weren't expecting to be catering for so many today.'

  'I'll go and help,' Ethel said, slowly getting to her feet.

  'No need, Ethel,' Rafe said. 'Judith, Wendy and Sean are lending us a hand.'

  Ethel sat down again and a second or two later, a door at the other end of the room opened and Judith, Wendy, Sean and Carruthers, who seemed to be able to flit from one place to another as if he had some futuristic transportation device, wheeled in large silver-plated, or possibly solid silver trolleys, one stacked with plates over a warming rack, one with juices and glasses, one with pots of coffee and tea, and one with cups, saucers and cutlery. A young girl of about eighteen came in with a plump woman and two more trolleys and, together with the others, they laid crockery and cutlery in front of each guest, filled glasses with juices, and cups with tea or coffee. They offered cereal, eggs, bacon, sausages and mushrooms, and rounds of toast, butter and marmalade. For people who weren't expecting to cater for so many, they did a pretty spectacular job. And then, to Neva's continued surprise, they sat down at the table and joined the guests. Because, of course, given the situation, they were also guests right now.

  'I hope they don't ask us to do the washing up,' Rowan said.

  'I'd be happy to help,' said Dawn.

  Rafe gave a short speech about everyone being welcome, and was only briefly interrupted by Sasha.

  'Not everyone. Weren't not.'

  'Sasha!' Rowan glowered at her and so did Nigel and the rest of the family. They immediately apologised to Rafe.

  He
seemed a little distracted but he soon got back into his flow, especially when Adam came in and whispered in his ear.

  'For those of you with pets,' Rafe continued, 'George has kindly fed and watered them. I know one or two of you were a little concerned to be separated from them in the hall, but you'll be reunited now they're clean and dry. I'm sure you'll appreciate that some of the furnishings here are irreplaceable and whilst we realise how much your pets mean to you, we can't allow wet animals upstairs or in the main rooms of the house, I'm afraid.'

  One of the men Neva had seen in the village earlier came in with Tempest, Boris and Duchess, all on their leads and all clean and dry and rather well-behaved. An elderly man with a warm smile and a stooped back, brought in Persephone, purring happily in his arms.

  'We've put temporary beds for the dogs, in the servants' hall, and a dry blanket in Persephone's basket. Gavin and George will look after them until you've finished breakfast. I want you all to know that those of you who don't have relatives or other homes to go to, are welcome to stay with us for as long as necessary, or until other arrangements can be made. We'll keep you apprised of the current situation and we'll do everything we can to make your stay here comfortable. Are there any questions?'

  'Why do we have to leave?' Sasha yelled. She clearly wasn't going to let this drop.

  'You don't,' Adam said, but Rafe scowled at him and he quickly added: 'Not yet. Not until you're completely rested and we're sure the roads aren't flooded.'

  Nigel grabbed Sasha's arm. 'If you say another word, you won't be getting any Christmas presents. You're being extremely rude.'

  But no sooner had he finished than a crack of thunder made everyone jump and rain lashed at the floor to ceiling mullioned windows, bringing a smile to Sasha's face.

  'The roads might flood now, Daddy.'

  And as awful as that was, it made Neva smile too.