Page 24 of Dreams Come True at the Fairytale Museu
‘Well, that was a fun morning I’d like tonotrepeat in a hurry.’ He looks back down the steps behind us and then jerks his head to one side to make me look too, because we’ve got a small audience of people, watching us haul, lug, and heave the pumpkin carriage, and now waiting to come in and see it in its rightful home.
‘Two minutes, folks!’ I call down. ‘Just wrangling the exhibits that have escaped again!’
The small audience laughs and I flash my eyebrows at Warren. ‘Tell you what, I bet Cinderella never had this much trouble.’
He laughs, but it gives me another pause for thought. We’ve attracted a bit of attention in dragging this along the street. I don’t know how the pumpkin carriage got down to the river, but getting it back up hasn’t been an entirely bad thing. It might even have helped business.
Warren’s forearms flex in my view. Yeah, it hasn’t been an entirely bad thing at all.
8
‘No, absolutely not, that would go against every privacy law in England. Bugger off!’
Mr Hastings, the local council leader, gives a much more polite response than I expected to our request to see the CCTV from the Ever After Street cameras.
Somehow Warren persuaded me to come along and present a united front, and we’ve accosted Mr Hastings in his office just before closing time, but our request has had a predictably unenthusiastic response.
‘Oh, come on, please?’ I try again in my most persuasive voice. ‘Someone has broken into the museum at least twice, and last time, they brought an extremely heavy pumpkin carriage out with them. Your cameras must have captured some part of that. We just want to know who and why.’
‘No one gets a look at our CCTV footage without a warrant, it would be a breach of privacy.’
Mr Hastings is standing firm on this one, and I get an idea. I point at Warren. ‘He’s the owner of the building! He has rights! He can subpoena you to show us that footage!’
‘No, I can’t!’ Warren holds both hands up, trying to stay out of this.
‘Miss Carisbrooke.’ Mr Hastings leans forward across his desk with his fingers steepled together. ‘Why would I doanythingto help you? You’re a stone in my shoe, and that’s theniceway of describing you. Every time I make any suggestion, any tiny little thing whatsoever, for the benefit of Ever After Street,youare at the helm of every protest. You arealwaysthe one riling up the other shopkeepers and making them think I’m serving some great injustice upon them rather than simply suggesting something that might be an advantage to us all. Over the years, I have realised that it doesn’t actually matter what the council’s suggestions are, they willalwaysbe met with opposition fromyou. You are an idealistic obstructionist and always will be.’
‘I don’t like change,’ I mutter as embarrassment sends heat racing to my face. I’m not really that bad, but if Mr Hastings and his fellow council cronies are suggesting something that would have a detrimental effect on someone’s business then I stand up for them, and I’m good at organising protests for things to stay exactly as they are. If it ain’t broke, don’t make needless and convoluted suggestions to fix it.
Every time anything has changed in my life, it’s rarely been for the better. After Mum died, our lives became unstable, and I put a huge amount of effort into keeping things stable and steady for my sisters. Life is easier when it’s smooth and unchanging, even if it does leave you feeling a bit stuck sometimes.
‘I find this quite a turn of events that you now seek my help, and then I remember how you assisted Cleo Jordan in trying to outsmart me, and helped Raff and Franca over Christmas last year, and I don’t think it would be in my best interests to doanythingyou ask me to, do you?’
I huff because I will never regret standing up for my friends who were being unfairly targeted by the council, but right now, I feel belittled and I wish I had someone to stand up for me in return.
Warren steps forward. ‘Maybe you could have a look yourself and tell us if you’ve captured anything then?’
‘Oh, yes, I’ll be sure to pop it right at the top of my priority list, just behind clipping my toenails and taking the bins out.’ He leans back in his chair and crosses his feet at the ankles, and I fight the urge to poke my tongue out at him. He’s made so many of us jump through unnecessary hoops since he became council leader and it’s been perfectly reasonable to push back against his power sometimes. ‘Quite frankly, Miss Carisbrooke, I think Berrington Developments’ proposal for the museum site is impeccable. It would be a huge asset to Ever After Street and bring in a vast number of jobs and new visitors, and there would be endless re-visit value too. Your museum never changes. Once people have seen it, they’ve seen it. An extra mannequin in a new costume occasionally doesn’t give them enough reason to come back. But a cinema complex with a multitude of films showing every day, a pizzeria, diner, climbing, golf, bowling… Now we’re talking! A reason for people to return every week and bring their families and friends. In fact, I was quite opposed to Mr Berrington’s rescue plan, as Berrington Developments have the full support of the council. Their proposal would do wonders for Ever After Street, and I have no doubt that this olive branch has only been offered in an attempt to allay the number of shopkeepers who would fight for you, given how often you appear here, hammering my door down to speak up ontheirbehalves.’
‘It’s not just an olive branch,’ Warren says. ‘Lissa’s got the first right of refusal to stay in place. The museum brings a lot to the street and surrounding area. She deserves a fair chance to defend her position there.’
I can almost hear the unspoken, ‘Even if it is pointless’ thatshouldfollow his words. I appreciate his attempt at showing Mr Hastings a united front, but this does nothing but confirm the local council would be glad to get rid of me. Usually I feel invisible, but this makes me feel seen in the worst way possible. It makes me feel like the only person on my side is theoneperson who’s responsible for starting all this in the first place, and leaves me feeling alone and unimportant, and scared for what the future may bring. I don’t know if I can trust Warren, but without him, there isno onewho would be on board with saving me.
‘Either way, neither of you have a right to go poking your noses into our CCTV footage, and I’d like to get home before my dinner goes cold, so if you please…’ He motions towards the door, and Warren and I meet each other’s eyes and simultaneously decide that we aren’t going to be able to wheedle anything further out of him tonight.
‘Thanks for your time.’ Warren remains the epitome of politeness as he holds the door open for me to go through first, which is nice because I can’t get out fast enough. I knew Mr Hastings didn’t like me – I didn’t expect him to be quite so gleeful to see the museum shut down.
Without either of us explicitly stating where we’re going, we head back towards the Ever After Street car park together, and I like the sense of not being alone, especially after our encounter with Mr Hastings has left me feeling small and browbeaten.
‘You’re very quiet,’ Warren observes.
‘Questioning every life choice I’ve ever made,’ I mutter, assuming he will find Mr Hastings’ clear dislike of meveryhelpful for the prospects of his cinema complex.
‘Oh, don’t worry about that stuffed-up cucumber with a puffed-up sense of his own importance. I’m sure you’ve had many vast and varied reasons for obstructing his wishes time and time again.’
‘We’ve all been forced to jump through hoops to fulfil some stupid requirement or another. He holds threats of eviction over anyone who doesn’t comply. He doesn’t care about the shopkeepers. He’s all about money and not what makes the street better.’
The noise of passing traffic is loud, and he’s leaning so close to hear me that he nearly walks into a lamppost. ‘Yeah, imagine a businessman who wanted to make money. What a bizarre concept.’
