Page 75 of One More Christmas at the Castle
Time had slipped past quickly, as it always does when I’m cooking, and it was quite late in the morning when Xan came back in search of Plum.
‘He somersaulted in ages ago,’ I said, pushing a strand of hair off my hot forehead. ‘The smell must have been too much for him to resist.’
‘I’d left the door to the passage slightly ajar and he must have nosed his way out,’ Xan said. ‘I didn’t notice for ages – you think I’d have missed the snoring.’
‘You were probably too engrossed in what you were doing. It was only the door swinging open that made me look up and realize he was there.’
‘I wanted to tell you I’d spoken to Sabine, anyway. I told her we were all going sledging after lunch, but Henry would dash back to make the tea and she said there was no need, since Lucy could get it for once.’
‘Oh, that was kind of her!’ I said, though I wondered if she’d have said the same thing if Xan had told her it wasmewho would dash back.
‘Since there’ll be cold supper at six, she said they wouldn’twant anything to eat with it, so it shouldn’t prove beyond Lucy’s capabilities.’
‘Poor Lucy! But I’m sure she can manage to make a pot of tea for two,’ I said.
Xan and Henry set out for the field right after lunch, leaving Plum to enjoy a postprandial snooze in the sitting room with Mrs Powys and Lucy.
I soon had everything cleared away and then was free to change into a warm jumper and jeans, before heading outdoors.
I followed the trail of footsteps and the marks left by the runners of the sledge up to the wicket gate and across the field to the top of the slope, where two male figures were standing. The shorter one, wearing a bright green octopus beanie, slid out of sight as I neared, and when I looked cautiously over the edge he was swooping around a large, rocky outcrop at some speed.
‘There’s a nice, clear run down the hill a bit further along,’ Xan told me. ‘Come on!’
He’d brought the old wooden sledge, which was big enough for two, and soon we were hurtling downwards, Xan steering and me hanging on to him for dear life.
I think I was probably shrieking as we went, for after a while Simon came out, bringing a big Thermos of hot coffee and was persuaded to have a go on the sledge, too.
It was all such fun that the sky had started to darken before we finally went back to the Castle, damp, weary and glowing.
Simon, before returning to his cottage, agreed to come over later, to watch another film. The Heavenly Houseparties Film Festival continued.
‘But I still feel a bit sneaky, since Sabine won’t know I’ll be there,’ he said.
But to my surprise, Xan told us he’d mentioned to Sabinethat he’d been joining us late in the evening to watch old Christmas films and that Simon sometimes came over, too.
‘She said, “I suppose you must amuse yourself somehow, Xan, until my other guests arrive.”’
I smiled appreciatively and said, ‘After which, you can stop fraternizing with the help.’
‘Onlyofficially,’ he said, and smiled at me.
After we’d seen to supper, Henry and I had lots of time to ourselves and decided to go up to the attic in search of the Christmas decorations.
The stairs to it were next to my bedroom and led into the first of several attic rooms that opened out of each other.
They were dimly illuminated by dusty light bulbs hanging from the beams.
Henry had brought his big torch with him, in any case, and it came in handy for peering into dark corners and reading labels.
He went through to see how far the attic went, which was the whole extent of the older part of the house, though there wasn’t much in the other rooms, apart from the usual broken furniture and bits of brass bedstead.
But Mrs Powys had told him that the decorations were all stored in this first attic and I’d already found some of the boxes by the time he got back from his explorations.
They were all labelled, which made it easier, and we dragged them out into the middle of the floor, under the light bulb.
Two very large, sturdy and heavy cartons were the last to emerge from the shadows, both bearing the words: ‘Carved wooden Nativity set from Oberammergau’.
‘Must be a big one, going by the size of the boxes,’ I commented. ‘Perhaps we should unpack them here and carry the figures down separately?’
