Page 147 of The Christmas Invitation
‘We had a couple of spare bottles of whisky in the larder, so we thought we’d let him have one,’ said Henry. ‘Deirdre runs the alcohol stocks down for autumn at the guesthouse,so he’s probably down to a choice of crème de menthe or Curaçao by now.’
‘It’ll keep him quiet when they get back to the guesthouse on Christmas Day, and give Flora a little peace,’ agreed Clara.
In a generous moment, I’d wrapped a jar of humbugs up for Rollo. He was full of humbug, but I didn’t think he’d get the joke. I didn’t feel the need to give anything to Flora … though perhaps I already had, in the form of Rollo, if she’d got a grip on him and could negotiate a deal with the Mother Dragon.
The gaudily wrapped presents added the final festive touch to the scene: the fairy lights twinkling on the trees, the spice and cinnamon smell of baking and the fragrance of pine underlying all.
I could feel the magic seeping into my bones and the house itself seemed mysteriously to be expectantly waiting for something.
I didn’t understand any of it, but on some level Igotit – and I was hooked!
Hello, my name is Meg and I’m addicted to Christmas …
To my surprise, River had thrown himself into the whole thing, too, and I thought a few new elements might creep into the Farm’s Solstice ceremony and the Feast next year.
In the drawing room, Clara, Tottie and Zelda began stuffing Teddy’s stocking. The traditional tangerine went in the toe, where it made a satisfying full stop of a bump; then a net bag of chocolate coins and one huge penny in a round tin, which Zelda had bought in Fortnum and Mason.
She also contributed a pencil case shaped like an Egyptian sarcophagus and a small model of the cat god, Bast. Tottie’s additions were a pink sugar mouse, a retro ray gun that made a noise and flashed lights and a small paper accordion. I thought we might all come to regret that last one.
To finish, Clara pushed in one of theHorrible Historypaperbacks and then my beanie dragon, with his purple corduroy head poking out of the top.
We all agreed that it lookedveryexciting and, more to the point, would keep Teddy occupied for a while, after he woke up at some unearthly hour of the morning.
Henry was dispatched to hang this on the inside of Teddy’s door, first donning an ancient and tattered red Santa jacket and a pair of spectacles with white beard and moustache attached.
‘We really must replace this,’ Henry said, cinching red folds in round his narrow waist with a black belt.
‘It’ll look fine, if Teddy wakes up, which he won’t,’ said Clara.
‘And he didn’t stir,’ reported Henry, coming back down with an air of relief.
In fact, there was now a general feeling of unwinding and we broke out the mead and mince pies.
Henry, Clara, Sybil and River settled down to mah-jong while the rest of us played Scrabble, though Zelda wasn’t concentrating. I guessed where her mind was from her dreamy expression.
Ireallywanted to beat Lex, though I don’t know why, but my letters kept forming themselves into words so rude, I simply couldn’t bring myself to use them, even when they’d have got me the triple word score.
We wished each other happy Christmas at midnight with a toast of elderflower champagne, and then Tottie popped the baby Jesus into his crib in the Nativity scene before she and Sybil went up to bed.
Lex had volunteered to let the dogs out for a last run in the garden again and I went with him for a breath of air before I went to bed. It was very still out there, just glimmering snow and darkest indigo skies, studded with a million stars.
The dogs raced around as if the cold had sent them crazy, and a window over the garage, from which the light of a TV flickered and glowed, was flung open. Then a voice called, ‘’Appy Christmas and Gord bless Tiny Tim!’
‘Happy Christmas, Den!’ I called back, laughing, and the window closed again.
Lex was throwing snowballs for the dogs to chase, though they broke into pieces the moment they caught them.
I looked back up at the stars. I thought I could feel the world turning and planets moving in their ordained paths …
Something light and cold touched my face.
‘Snowflakes are fallen feathers from angels’ wings,’ Lex said whimsically, then spoiled the effect somewhat by adding, ‘I heard Flora telling that to Teddy once. But if it was true, then there’d be a lot of bald angels circling over Starstone Edge.’
‘Chilly bald angels,’ I agreed.
‘How are you enjoying your first Christmas so far?’ he asked, sending the dogs racing after another snowball.
‘It’s certainly different from anything I’veeverexperienced before,’ I said truthfully.
