about.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Look around you,’ said Ralph, encompassing Gabriel’s fields and the hills they bordered with a sweep of his arm. ‘We take all this for granted. Assume the immutability of it all. But nothing stays the same forever. In case you hadn’t noticed, Hope Christmas is under threat. There are moves afoot to change all this.’
‘What’s that got to do with me?’ said Gabriel. ‘What can I do?’
‘I’d say the post office is as good a place to start as any,’ said Ralph. He whistled loudly and his dog, a grey wolfhound, came lolloping up to them. ‘Best be off then,’ he said.
Gabriel walked on down the lane, shaking his head. He’d heard Ralph Nicholas was eccentric, but not that he was so utterly barking. What did that mad old man know anyway? No one was planning to do anything to Hope Christmas. Why would anyone want to destroy something as beautiful as this? Ralph Nicholas must have got it wrong. And, even if he hadn’t, Gabriel had enough problems right now without worrying about the future of his village.
Gabriel strode on down the lane to Pippa’s house, where Stephen was contentedly munching his Cheerios.
‘Shall I take them in today for you?’ he asked his cousin, who was looking distinctly harassed.
‘Would you?’ she said. ‘Lucy isn’t too well today. It would be a great help.’
‘It’s my pleasure,’ said Gabriel, and it was. He chasedStephen and his cousins down the lane to school, whooping and laughing as he pretended to be a monster chasing after them, and a pale weak winter sun emerged from behind the cold grey clouds. It gave him heart somehow. Maybe his future wasn’t so bleak after all.
Chapter Three
‘Ah, Mrs Tinsall. Thank you for taking the trouble to ring me back.’ The voice of the school secretary boomed down the phone, bristling with disapproval that she was speaking to a mother who actually went out to work. Cat had taken advantage of a break in proceedings during the discussion of the cover design for the June issue of Happy Homes to check on her messages and clocked to her dismay that she’d missed a call from school. It always panicked her when the school rang.
‘No problem,’ said Cat, her heart racing. Why was the school ringing her at 3.45? Mum had offered to go and get the kids for her so that she could go to the meeting, Magda claiming her injured finger prevented her from carrying bags and holding the children’s hands to cross the road. ‘Is dangerous, Cat-er-ine,’ she’d said in the annoying singsong voice she always used when she wanted to get out of something. ‘I do not want to be danger to the children.’
‘I have your children sitting in my office,’ said the secretary, ‘and I was just wondering if someone was planning to come and pick them up any time soon.’
‘ What? ’ Cat went cold all over. It was her worst nightmare. It would take her at least an hour to get back, even if Bev (who was gesturing to her to wind up the call) let her go.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she was gabbling now. ‘My mother was supposed to come. Oh God. Erm. I’ll try and ring her. See where she is.’
‘I’d appreciate it if you did,’ said the secretary, not noted for her diplomatic skills, ‘I’m not paid to babysit your children.’
Cat put the phone down and said to Bev,‘I’m really sorry, this won’t take a minute, can you excuse me?’
Bev rolled her eyes. ‘Don’t be long.’
Cat went into the corridor and punched in her mum’s number. She was shaking like a leaf. Suppose Mum was ill? Or had had a fall? She was normally fit and healthy, but Cat had to remind herself from time to time that her capable mother was now seventy-three. Something must have happened to prevent her from picking the children up. She never made mistakes like that.
On the third ring, her mother picked up. ‘Hello,’ she said.
‘Mum, are you okay?’
‘Well, of course I am,’ said Mum. ‘Why wouldn’t I be?’
‘I
‘What do you mean?’
‘Look around you,’ said Ralph, encompassing Gabriel’s fields and the hills they bordered with a sweep of his arm. ‘We take all this for granted. Assume the immutability of it all. But nothing stays the same forever. In case you hadn’t noticed, Hope Christmas is under threat. There are moves afoot to change all this.’
‘What’s that got to do with me?’ said Gabriel. ‘What can I do?’
‘I’d say the post office is as good a place to start as any,’ said Ralph. He whistled loudly and his dog, a grey wolfhound, came lolloping up to them. ‘Best be off then,’ he said.
Gabriel walked on down the lane, shaking his head. He’d heard Ralph Nicholas was eccentric, but not that he was so utterly barking. What did that mad old man know anyway? No one was planning to do anything to Hope Christmas. Why would anyone want to destroy something as beautiful as this? Ralph Nicholas must have got it wrong. And, even if he hadn’t, Gabriel had enough problems right now without worrying about the future of his village.
Gabriel strode on down the lane to Pippa’s house, where Stephen was contentedly munching his Cheerios.
‘Shall I take them in today for you?’ he asked his cousin, who was looking distinctly harassed.
‘Would you?’ she said. ‘Lucy isn’t too well today. It would be a great help.’
‘It’s my pleasure,’ said Gabriel, and it was. He chasedStephen and his cousins down the lane to school, whooping and laughing as he pretended to be a monster chasing after them, and a pale weak winter sun emerged from behind the cold grey clouds. It gave him heart somehow. Maybe his future wasn’t so bleak after all.
Chapter Three
‘Ah, Mrs Tinsall. Thank you for taking the trouble to ring me back.’ The voice of the school secretary boomed down the phone, bristling with disapproval that she was speaking to a mother who actually went out to work. Cat had taken advantage of a break in proceedings during the discussion of the cover design for the June issue of Happy Homes to check on her messages and clocked to her dismay that she’d missed a call from school. It always panicked her when the school rang.
‘No problem,’ said Cat, her heart racing. Why was the school ringing her at 3.45? Mum had offered to go and get the kids for her so that she could go to the meeting, Magda claiming her injured finger prevented her from carrying bags and holding the children’s hands to cross the road. ‘Is dangerous, Cat-er-ine,’ she’d said in the annoying singsong voice she always used when she wanted to get out of something. ‘I do not want to be danger to the children.’
‘I have your children sitting in my office,’ said the secretary, ‘and I was just wondering if someone was planning to come and pick them up any time soon.’
‘ What? ’ Cat went cold all over. It was her worst nightmare. It would take her at least an hour to get back, even if Bev (who was gesturing to her to wind up the call) let her go.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she was gabbling now. ‘My mother was supposed to come. Oh God. Erm. I’ll try and ring her. See where she is.’
‘I’d appreciate it if you did,’ said the secretary, not noted for her diplomatic skills, ‘I’m not paid to babysit your children.’
Cat put the phone down and said to Bev,‘I’m really sorry, this won’t take a minute, can you excuse me?’
Bev rolled her eyes. ‘Don’t be long.’
Cat went into the corridor and punched in her mum’s number. She was shaking like a leaf. Suppose Mum was ill? Or had had a fall? She was normally fit and healthy, but Cat had to remind herself from time to time that her capable mother was now seventy-three. Something must have happened to prevent her from picking the children up. She never made mistakes like that.
On the third ring, her mother picked up. ‘Hello,’ she said.
‘Mum, are you okay?’
‘Well, of course I am,’ said Mum. ‘Why wouldn’t I be?’
‘I
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