Christmas for Beginners - Carole Matthews Page 0,24

all friendly and not remotely traumatised by having to deal with a figure of authority.

‘You could join us for lunch too, if you like,’ I offer. ‘It will give you a chance to meet some of our regular students. They’re not doing outdoor activities today due to the cold. They’d normally be out in the barns or the fields, helping with the animals. Instead, we’ve got them all tucked up in our nice warm tea room making bunting for the open day.’

He checks his watch. ‘I’m not pushed for time so that would be great. Thanks.’

‘I’ll be serving up in about half an hour,’ Bev says.

‘Perfect. We’d better get a move on, then.’

‘Right,’ Bev says. ‘I’ll leave you to it.’

As the mayor turns away, Bev gives me the double thumbs-up behind his back. HOT STUFF! she mouths.

And I have to say that I think she’s probably right.

Chapter Sixteen

The mayor and I lean on the gate of the pen. Tina Turner, Rod Stewart and Johnny Rotten all look quite frisky today. Always worrying. I point them out as appropriate.

The alpacas come over to the gate, hoping there will be food. Tina flutters her long eyelashes at Matt Eastman.

‘Hey,’ he says and softly strokes her muzzle. Pushover.

‘Don’t let their cute looks fool you, they’re in disgrace at the moment.’ I scratch Rod’s neck which he just about tolerates. ‘Aren’t you?’

They hum in unison and give us their collective butter-wouldn’t-melt looks.

Pah.

‘Tina is definitely our diva. She gives great selfies and likes Abba music. Rod, the one with skinny white legs, will back-kick you whenever he gets the chance. Johnny Rotten is our bad boy of the alpaca world and likes nothing better than making mischief. But they’re all a handful.’

‘Aren’t you all lovely,’ Matt says.

‘Because of their looks, people think that alpacas are cute. They, quite categorically, are not. They are feisty buggers, one and all, with a nose for trouble. They don’t like to be handled, touched too much and, if you are foolish enough to go near their fancy hair on their heads, they will bite you.’

And we take them into care homes! This was Bev’s idea.

‘Duly warned.’ The mayor takes a step backwards.

‘Let me show you some of our other residents.’

‘Are they any better behaved?’

I laugh. ‘Not necessarily. Bad behaviour seems to be our speciality – animals and humans. Most of the animals here, if not all, have been rescued from difficult circumstances. We tend to be quite lenient with them.’

Little Dog appears and grins at our visitor, who instantly falls in love with him. ‘You’re a fine fellow.’ Matt ruffles his ears confirming mutual adoration. Always happens.

‘Ready for our cuddle corner?’

‘Animals or people?’ he quips and ensures that I blush once more.

‘Therapy bunnies.’ We stroll along to the cuddle corner with Little Dog at our heels. ‘If the kids are distressed they can come and sit on the straw in here to chill out. It’s not usually very long before an obliging bunny hops onto their laps. Though the Flemish giant bunnies, Ant and Dec, are a tad big for that. They’d squash some of our youngsters.’

‘They’re whoppers,’ he agrees.

‘Gentle giants.’ We move on and then stop at the sheep pen. ‘I daren’t count how many sheep we have. Despite Bev telling me not to, I take on more orphans every year. We have quite a flock now. This is Anthony our anti-social sheep. He has to be kept in his own pen as he likes to charge humans and other sheep alike. Never turn your back on him,’ I caution. ‘We love him dearly, but the feeling isn’t mutual.’

Anthony stares down the mayor.

‘I’ll try not to get on the wrong side of him,’ Matt says.

‘Wise move.’ I take him further into the barn. ‘I don’t know what happened to Anthony before we got him, but some of our animals prove too much of a handful for anyone else, some have been maltreated, some are here simply because they’ve outgrown their cuteness. All of these things could apply to our students too.’

‘I’m looking to get involved in a local community project,’ Matt tells me. ‘Both while I’m mayor and then afterwards when my term ends too. This would be ideal.’

‘We’d love to have you on board.’ I gesture at our buildings, our animals. ‘All this costs a lot to keep. We get some funding for the students and Bev manages to pick up a few grants here and there, but we’re largely on our own for the rest of