Page 16 of All Wrapped Up
‘Are you really?’ the woman who had gasped, breathlessly asked.
‘This is Bella,’ said Jeanie, with a nod. ‘She’s keen on the festival idea, too.’
Knowing Bella must also share my love of the season, I looked at her with interest.
‘Lots of us are keen, Jeanie,’ she said enthusiastically. ‘There have been quite a few of us thinking about what Moses had in mind and how we might expand upon it. I’m guessing,’ she added, turning properly to me again, ‘that you must be the new addition to the area that Lizzie was alluding to the other night when she suggested some fresh blood could take the project on?’
‘Got it in one,’ Lizzie confirmed as I nodded.
‘I’m very pleased to meet you, Bella,’ I then responded as I realised Lizzie hadn’t specified exactly who she had been talking to that night. ‘I might ask to pick your brains if I get stuck for ideas while I’m mulling it all over.’
‘Oh, you won’t find much in there,’ Jeanie teased and Bella gave her a look. ‘Her head’s too full of fairy folk in the run up to Christmas.’
‘Yes,’ laughed Lizzie. ‘She’s away with the fairies all right!’
‘What they mean,’ Bella explained for my benefit, ‘is that I’m a fairy maker and my little enterprise is called Away With the Fairies. I’m just heading into my busiest time of the year, which is why I couldn’t take on the festival planning myself.’
‘It’s not thatlittlean enterprise,’ Jeanie said.
‘No,’ frowned Bella. ‘You’re right. It isn’t now, is it? I really do have to try harder to own the success I’ve made of it, don’t I?’
‘Yes!’ Lizzie and Jeanie said together.
‘Well, it looks absolutely wonderful,’ I said, as Lizzie quickly showed me Bella’s website on her phone and scrolled through the images of pretty fabric fairies. ‘What a wonderful job you’ve got! I guess Christmas must be full-on for you.’
It was no wonder she hadn’t volunteered to take on the role of festival coordinator with so many fairies to make.
‘And for lots of other people around here, too,’ she said, confirming what Lizzie had said about Wynbridge being big on Christmas the day we met.
If I made a success of the new venture, the town would hopefully be known going forward as being big on autumn, too. By this time next September, we could have almost a third of the year wrapped up in seasonal celebrations!
‘Do you think you might possibly be able to spare just a little time to pitch in if it becomes certain that the festival will go ahead?’ I asked Bella.
‘I’ll certainly try,’ she evasively said. ‘All along I’ve had my heart set on there being at least an autumn themed market day or two, so I could perhaps help out with that. I have this whole bolt of tiny leaf patterned fabric and I’m already turning it into fairy clothes. I’ll be adding autumn fairies to my website, but selling them here in town would be great, too.’
I rather liked the sound of the fabricandthe market. That gorgeous scene inYou’ve Got Mailwhere Tom Hanks takes his young relatives around the autumn fair was one of my favourites in the entire film.
‘Don’t talk to Clemmie about autumn fabric,’ Lizzie then laughed. ‘Because she’ll be pinching it to put up in Rowan Cottage.’
‘You’re a proper fan of the season then?’ Bella asked and I watched Lizzie turn red.
‘Well, of course she is,’ said Jeanie as she moved our drinks across the bar, ‘otherwise she wouldn’t be thinking about taking the festival on, would she?’
‘I’m sorry,’ Lizzie groaned, once she’d paid and we had sat down. ‘In my excitement, I let my mouth run away with me a bit there. I promise I won’t let it happen again.’
‘No harm done,’ I charitably said, because I could see she was genuinely upset. I clinked my glass against hers. ‘Let’s forget about it. Here’s to the festival.’
‘To the festival,’ Lizzie echoed, ‘and to you and Ash making a huge success of it.’
‘I’m pleased you’ve mentioned him,’ I said, having taken a drink, ‘because we really need to let him know that his offer to deputise is about to be taken up, don’t we?’
‘I’m going to leave that to you,’ Lizzie said, reaching for her phone. ‘I’ll give you his number and you can call him. Consider that your first task as event organiser.’
‘Don’t you think it will be better coming from you?’ I asked, even though it did appeal to my organised nature to be able to tick something off the to-do list so quickly.
‘Your circus,’ Lizzie said mischievously as she showed me her phone screen with Ash’s number lit up. ‘Your monkeys.’
‘That sounds like chaos already,’ I tutted and she laughed.
