Page 131 of The Little Teashop of Lost and Found
I half-hoped her teashop venture would be a flop, which might have been an extra incentive to move her unwelcome presence elsewhere, but it seemed quite likely the opposite would happen: everyone, it seemed, was talking about it.
The great draw (apart from the quality of the teas, which apparently is high) is that the waitresses are plain-speaking Yorkshirewomen. I can’t see what there is amusing in that, but there is, as they say around here, no accounting for folk.
44
Tried and Tested
I was up again at dawn, baking dozens more miniature fat rascals and a large marmalade cake, which I meant to finish off with a tangy orange icing later, when it had cooled. I suspected I’d soon be able to make fat rascals in my sleep …
The laundry collected yesterday’s table linen and then the artisan bread maker dropped off my order, which had to be checked and put away … and suddenly the morning had slipped away and it was time for Tilda to come in and start cutting the finger sandwiches.
Then we were off again with a repeat performance of the previous day, though with a whole new set of customers and no Nile to help, since he was out all day and wasn’t due back until late. I missed him …
That evening, when I’d closed the teashop door after Tilda and Daisy, and switched off the lights, I went up to the flat and rang Lola to tell her how popular her preserves had been.
‘You’ll have to bring a lot more. I made small open tarts with the lemon and orange curds and people were buying jars of it to take home.’
Then I told her all the amusing bits about the opening day, like George eating so many cheese scones he should be inThe Guinness Book of Recordsand what Nell had said to him.
She couldn’t chat for long, because she was going to a firework display with the girls – what with everything going on, I’d entirely forgotten it was Bonfire Night! – but I made an omelette and then went to bed, since I was so tired I was seeing Catherine wheels anyway.
It’s surprising how quickly you slip into a new routine, though of course Nell and Tilda were already an experienced double act and I expect they could have managed without me. But then, the teas wouldn’t have been so good. I mean, call me immodest, but nobody’s scones and fairy cakes float off the plate quite like mine do, even though I suspect Henry Godet might beg to differ with me on that one.
Thursday’s edition of the local paper carried a further article about the teashop, with the Rudest Waitresses in Yorkshire coming in for special mention, along with photographs featuring Nell, with her headband pulled low down over her forehead as she glowered at a rather startled-looking customer.
Tilda said she was going to order copies of all the photos of her and Nell, and I asked her to order me a complete set while she was at it – they would be a nice memento of the day, framed and hanging on the walls.
Nile had taken some photographs for my website the day we opened, too, which he helped me to put up.
And on the Friday came the first internet reviews on the Travel-Oracle site, with the benison of a scattering of stars, and I heaved a huge sigh of relief and began to truly believe it was going to work!
Food and insults for tea! The prices may be steep, but the new Fat Rascal teashop delivered on the quality of both the food and the backchat from the waitresses – and you could have as much of both as you wanted …
Bel rang on Saturday morning with a message from Teddy to say my DNA results had arrived.
‘Or the link has – you follow it to the page with your results,’ she explained.
‘I’ve been so preoccupied I’d forgotten all about it,’ I exclaimed. ‘Still, it’s long odds I’ll find even a distant relative, and the rest of the results probably won’t mean anything to me. I think I’ll need Teddy to interpret them.’
‘Shall I ask him to do that, then?’ asked Bel.
‘Yes, if he has time, because then he could explain the findings when I come over tonight, couldn’t he?’
‘OK, I’ll do that.Ithink it’s quite exciting, even if you don’t!’
‘To be honest, I’m looking forward much more to spending a restful night at Oldstone,’ I said frankly, because I’d be heading over there the moment we closed up the teashop that afternoon.
Still, I was sure that soon Tilda would be able to manage the day-to-day running of the teashop herself, as she had before, and I’d have time to write again, which was just as well, because Beauty and the rest of them had started clamouring to tell me what was happening to them now so I really was going to have to write that sequel.
‘Them birds have got very long beaks. . . and arms as well as wings,’ Shazza said, frowning at the creatures flitting about in the trees. She was short-sighted, but she’d rather die than wear glasses.
‘Long noses, beloved,’ corrected Prince S’Hallow. ‘Do you not have fairies in the Here-and-now?’
Most of the family were already gathered in the big, warm farmhouse kitchen when I arrived, though Teddy was apparently still in the library, going through my DNA results.
‘He’s been ages, so perhaps it’s something exciting, like you’re the last of the Romanovs,’ Geeta said.
‘More likely a direct descendant of Lizzie Siddal,’ suggested Nile with a glint in his eye, and I gave him a look.
