‘Piss on your doormat?’ offered Vicky.
Blythe shook her head. ‘I was going to say, they let me down.’
‘But if you don’t let people in you could miss out on the one person who won’t let you down.’ Vicky repeated the arm gesture.
‘I love your optimism but I fear that person doesn’t exist. Perhaps it’s the way men are programmed or at least the ones in my life anyway. Or maybe it’s me.’
‘Yeah, that could be it,’ said Vicky with a grin, making Blythe give her a friendly swipe.
‘What’s with the arms?’ asked Blythe.
‘I’m not exactly sure but you get the gist,’ said Vicky, still opening and closing her metaphorical doors.
*
A few late arrivals dripped into the hall and Leonora called the meeting to order. Her face was grave as she tapped her flip chart. ‘This is it, team. This is D-Day.’ She looked around the room. ‘Thanks to all your efforts we are in a fine position to win the title of UK’s Most Perfect Christmas Village.’ Leonora pulled her shoulders back as she spoke. ‘But we must not rest on our laurels. We have…’ she said, checking her watch, ‘…precisely three hours and eighteen minutes until the judges arrive.’
‘Heaven help the judges if they’re a minute late,’ whispered Vicky in Blythe’s ear. Leonora glared at them and Blythe felt like she was back in school and about to get a detention.
‘We must remain focused at all times. I have a list of checks we need to undertake to ensure everything goes smoothly, as well as a late addition that I think will make a difference – we are piping music out across the village.’ She placed her palms on the tables and scanned the expectant faces. ‘This is our joker. Our trump card. The icing on our Christmas cake. And we must pull it off. Agreed?’
There was an uncertain ripple of agreement but Leonora was hyped. ‘Are we agreed, team?’ she asked in a rousing pitch.
‘Hell, yeah!’ said Vicky. Others joined in with positive responses and Arthur started a round of applause.
Leonora looked suitably happy. She turned over the page on her flip chart to reveal a long list of tasks with names assigned. Blythe was busy scanning for her name when the hall doors banged open and in true dramatic movie style the wind and rain came in in a flurry along with Sarvan, who looked like he’d swum there. ‘There’s been an accident. You need to come quick.’
37
24thDecember
Vicky had taken Eden’s hand, grabbed her things, along with the last of the cranberry and orange tarts, and followed the others as they rushed from the village hall. Sarvan had delivered the news and immediately left, leaving everyone none the wiser as to what had happened or more importantly who had been hurt.
Outside, the rain was relentless but Vicky’s curiosity had got the better of her and she was swept along with the rest of the group as they made their way to the green. In her head she ticked off the people she knew were safe. Owen immediately popped into her mind. Her heart thumped harder just at the thought of him being hurt, making her realise how much she cared about him.
Vicky heard Leonora’s cry just before she came upon the scene. As she had Eden with her, she held back just in case it was a bloodbath. She blinked through the teeming rain to see a white builder’s van on its side. Two men were standing near the vehicle checking it over and Vicky felt instantly relieved that nobody appeared injured and that Owen wasn’t involved. For a moment it seemed there wasn’t too much to worry about and that Sarvan’s dramatic entrance appeared unjustified.
However, as the group crossed the road the whole horror became apparent. The van was wrapped in fairy lights and as Vicky traced them back she was able to see the trail of destruction. The white van appeared to have left the road on the other side of the green and crashed through the fencing, dragging a multitude of lights along with it as it skidded and churned up the wet ground, taking out first the Christmas tree, then the elf house, before hitting the Grinch and finally toppling onto its side.
While Blythe was trying to calm down a distraught Leonora, Vicky went to look at the van. She approached one of the two men standing nearby. ‘Is anyone hurt?’ she asked.
‘Only him,’ said the older of the two as he pointed at the tangled frame of the Grinch.
Vicky winced at the sight of the figure’s head hanging to one side. ‘What on earth happened?’
‘He was driving.’ He pointed at the younger man, who Vicky could now see had a complexion the same shade of white as the van. ‘Just passed his test,’ he added, with an eye-roll. ‘Tyre blew as we were coming down the hill and he swerved to miss a jogger and before we knew it, we ended up like this.’
‘We need Superman – he’d sort this out super quick,’ said Eden. ‘Does anyone have his phone number?’ she asked, and the men shook their heads.
Leonora marched up to them, her face the colour of holly berries. ‘Look what you’ve done. You’ve ruined everything.’ Her eyes alighted on the logo on the man’s shirt. ‘Were you delivering something locally?’ she asked.
‘Yeah, some sound equipment to a Leonora Clarke.’
‘I’m Leonora. Is it…’
The man walked around to the back of the van and opened the door. Vicky and Leonora peered in at the mass of smashed equipment. ‘I am not signing for that,’ said Leonora. ‘And you need to move this now!’ she added, waving her arms about wildly.
‘I’ve called for recovery and I’m waiting to hear how long they’ll be,’ said the white van man. ‘But we’re going to need a crane and a low loader, I think.’
