‘I canna say she resembles anyone I’ve seen before,’ said Dolly.
Liv wasn’t sure whether to be offended or not.
‘I know who she looks like,’ said Winnie letting go of her frame for a moment to click her old fingers. ‘Amy Pond! She’s her double. I thought I knew her from somewhere.’
Liv was none the wiser. Fraser leaned in close and whispered in her ear. ‘In case you’re wondering She’s a character fromDoctor Who.’
‘Oh great,’ said Liv as Winnie walked in with Dolly, leaving the others to follow. ‘I look like some alien creature do I?’
‘No,’ said Fraser. ‘Amy is Doctor Who’s sidekick and played by the Scottish actress Karen Gillan. She’s human.’
‘I’ll take that as a win,’ said Liv.
Once they were finally all inside, Dolly and Jock’O began corralling everyone in the library. It was like watching a slow-motion version ofOne Man and his Dogbut with people instead of sheep and the dog was working from a wheelchair.
Liv went to join the others in the library but Fraser took her arm and held her back. ‘What is going on? I genuinely have no idea what’s happening.’
‘Err well…’ She decided coming clean was the best option and her shoulders seemed to release tension as soon as she’d made the decision. ‘I thought if we could find a local workforce who had already been stood down for Christmas they could fill in for the staff you’ve lost and the showcase dinner could go ahead as planned.’ Fraser was looking at her blankly. ‘Dolly said she’d try the tearooms and their staff were all available. Yay,’ she said somewhat half-heartedly.
‘I can’t… But… Those are all…’ He seemed to be struggling to find the words.
‘I know. It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind either. And with hindsight I didn’t ask as many questions as I could have done when Dolly said the tearoom staff were available.’
‘You think?’ said Fraser sarcastically.
‘I’m sure we can sort something out. I think offer them a free dinner and then they’ll go home quietly. Maybe after a nap but it’ll be fine,’ said Liv.
Fraser opened his mouth but Dolly interrupted them.
‘Fraser! Come on. Your team are waiting to hear from their leader.’
Fraser was turning an unhealthy sort of reddish purple colour. ‘You’d better go,’ said Liv, using her fingers to mime walking into the library. He looked like there was a lot he wanted to say but thankfully he shook his head and went inside. Liv decided to hover near the door.
‘Welcome, everyone,’ began Dolly. ‘Thank you so much for responding to our call for help.’
‘Actually, Granny,’ said Fraser. ‘Can I just step in?’ Dolly waved for him to come forward and looked on proudly as he addressed the room. ‘I’m really sorry but there’s been some sort of mix-up. I needed experienced kitchen and waiting staff and—’
‘That’s what you’ve got,’ said Meredith.
‘You’re not about to be horribly ageist, are you, Fraser?’ said Dolly fixing him with a steely eye.
Liv winced on his behalf. He briefly turned to scowl at her and she held her hands up in surrender. ‘Your call,’ she mouthed from the safety of the doorway.
Fraser ran a hand over his face. ‘Okay let’s look at it another way. For a start I need an experienced sous chef who can prep, take orders from me, and deliver top-quality cuisine.’ He looked at the expectant faces.
Donald cleared his throat. ‘I used to work as a chef de partie at Balmoral.’
Liv had no idea what that was but she was impressed. As did everyone else appear to be, even Fraser. It did cross her mind as to how Donald may have come to leave that job, but perhaps that was a question for another day.
‘Right,’ said Fraser. ‘Okay, that is really useful, Donald, thank you – but we can’t pull this off just the two of us.’
‘You’d have Effie and Liv in the kitchen too,’ said Dolly.
‘And me,’ said Winnie, with a wave. She was quite adorable.
‘That leaves Meredith, Hester, Audrey and Sheena to wait the tables, which I’ll supervise,’ said Dolly. ‘I think we have our team.’ Meredith started a round of applause and everyone happily joined in. Apart from Fraser who looked like he’d just landed in his own personal hell.
To his credit he was professional as he went through the planned menu, explained dishes and the roles that needed fulfilling. Everyone was keen, even the lady who fell asleep part way through the briefing and had to be nudged awake. At the end Dolly suggested that everyone came to have a look at the kitchen and dining room set-up so that they would be familiar with it ahead of tomorrow and, despite her best efforts to overtake, Liv found herself caught behind a slow-moving Winnie with Fraser next to her.
