Chapter Twelve
Ezz had taken Wednesday and Thursday off this week, as Orla could be on duty to cover the phone and fulfil the needs of the Larssons, and had enjoyed driving up to Trotternish in the north of the island. Hiking the coastal path had soothed away some of the angst of the days before, sandwiches and a flask in her backpack, the snowy peak of the Storr on one hand and the rocky Rona and Raasay across the sea on the other. She wondered whether she could allow herself time off for similar outings once the rest of the Larssons arrived on December 15th, as Orla’s last day was the 13th. Grete had told Ezz she should continue to take her days off as usual, but it still felt wrong.
On Friday morning, the last-but-one day of November, Thea strolled into Ezz’s office with a cheerful smile. She wore a balaclava with a hat over it and gauntlet gloves that made her look as if she’d swapped hands with a lobster. Her cheeks were pink with cold. ‘Christmas treesat the bottom of the steps,’ she announced. ‘Dev’s here to help me and Sheena, and he’s made stands.’
‘Fantastic. I’ll come out.’ Ezz pushed back her chair and pulled her coat off the hook behind the office door, before scrambling into it. Anticipating that an extra pair of hands might be appreciated in manhandling the trees today, she’d dressed in trousers and flat boots. Orla had left the reception desk, where she’d recently added red-berried holly to the twinkle lights, and was at the open front door, huddling into her cardigan while she made admiring noises about the two luxurious spruces lying at the foot of the stairs. ‘They’re handsome trees, are they not?’
‘They’re gorgeous.’ Ezz squeezed past and then beamed at a grinning Thea, Dev and Sheena. A stepladder and tools waited nearby. ‘Thea, do you not mind cutting down your beautiful trees?’
Thea chuckled. ‘Trees need thinning out to let others grow. And they’re not actually my trees,’ she added as an afterthought.
A nearby sash window slid up and Mats called out, ‘Hang on and I’ll give you a hand getting them into the house.’ The window slid down again with a clunk.
By the time he appeared in a hat and fleece, Ezz was at the foot of the steps, inspecting the stands Dev had created from split saplings and inhaling the wintry perfume of freshly sawn spruce. She glanced up. ‘Mats, this is Deveron Dowie. He’s Thea’s partner and has kindly helped out with the trees.’
‘Thea’s a bit wee for this job,’ Dev observed, and winked at Thea.
Mats shook Dev’s hand and then Astrid and Alvin pelted out of the door, dressed like Mats in fleeces thatlooked suitable for a polar exhibition and shouting, ‘The Christmas trees!’ Grete and Josefin lurked more sedately in the doorway with Orla, very sensibly waiting for the trees to come to them.
‘Can we have the tallest in reception?’ Grete called. ‘The ceiling is higher there than the lounge.’
With many hands making light work, the stands and then the trees made it indoors with the minimum of huffing and puffing, and then outdoor clothes were shed in a colourful pile on Orla’s chair. Ezz had stored the decorations the children had chosen in her office and now she and Orla carried out box after cellophane-wrapped box, while Grete decided which decorations should be taken into the lounge ready for the second tree.
Mats, Dev and Sheena soon had the first tree in its stand. Alvin swirled the long string of lights around his hands when no one was looking and Ezz’s nimble fingers proved adept at untangling them, grinning at the little boy’s sudden Christmas joy as he chattered to Grete about the presents he hopedJultomtenwould bring. Soon she found herself up the stepladder, threading the lights through prickly branches that smelt of winter and outdoors while the children danced around the ladder and laughed excitedly. ‘Look! There are so many colours.’
‘Can I turn them on?’
Mats chimed in. ‘Astrid can switch on the lights, and Alvin open the first box of decorations. But wait—’
Astrid didn’t wait. The galaxy of lights burst into life, half-blinding Ezz, who laughed and, blinking, stumbled back down the ladder. ‘I think they’ll have to go off again until the rest of the decorations have been hung.’
While Astrid did that, Alvin fell on the boxes and removed their lids to reveal a glittering rainbow of baubles. Mats and Dev hauled the other tree through to the lounge and Alvin promptly abandoned the Aladdin’s cave of decorations in favour of bouncing along behind them, squeaking and skipping with joy at the excitement.
Astrid remained in reception, enchanted by the baubles. ‘Here’s a star, Farmor. Josefin, look at the tiny reindeer! Ezzie, I chose these crystals for the tree, didn’t I?’
Gwen arrived and immediately called Peony and Georgia away from ironing bedding to bring vacuum cleaners. As they cleared spruce needles and sawdust, the two young women didn’t look much more than children themselves with ponytails and make-up-free faces, and let themselves be encouraged into admiring the shining baubles. Then Alvin ran back to investigate the noise made by the vacuum cleaners and immediately struck up a relationship with one of the machines – the kind with a face and a bowler hat.
Soon Ezz, Orla, Josefin and Astrid were hooking the dazzling, glittery ornaments onto the beautifully scented tree, the spruce needles brushing their fingers, while Thea and Grete moved on to the tree in the lounge. Candy canes hooked over branches, tinsel twirled madly up the trunk, and everybody chattered, buoyed by the simple act of bringing Christmas to the hall.
Finally, Ezz climbed the stepladder again, this time to top off the tree with the large silver star studded with tiny white lights.
Astrid was allowed to switch on the rest again and every coloured light sprang to life. Astrid jigged on the spot. ‘It’s Christmas, it’s Christmas, it’sChristmaaas!’
‘Christmas!’ Orla and Ezzie repeated, clapping.
Josefin laughed, cheeks ruddy. ‘We are early. It is not even December until Sunday. Then we will light candles and makeLussekatter– saffron buns – for first advent. Even though we should really wait for St Lucia Day,Lussekatterare always good.’
Not sure what first advent was, Ezz admired the finished tree, twinkling and shimmering between the connecting door to the family side and the staircase to the upper storeys. It was a jolly hotchpotch of colour.
Astrid arrived before her with a little jump. ‘We have our own tree in the playroom as well. Do you want to see? Alvin and I decorated it. Josefin helped.’
Ezz paused uncertainly. She’d spent all morning helping with Christmas decorations. Did Astrid’s invitation come before her waiting office work?
Josefin added her voice to Astrid’s. ‘Some of the ornaments are made of salt dough that the children made. Come up with us.’
Warmed by the fun of joining in, Ezz answered, ‘That would be lovely,’ and found her hand in Astrid’s as she was led into the family side, up the stairs and along the corridor to the playroom.
There, Astrid flung the door open with a triumphant ‘Look!’
