Christmas for Beginners - Carole Matthews Page 0,98
Lucas says.
‘He’ll be here,’ I counter. ‘I’m sure of it.’
‘Don’t hold your breath,’ Lucas says. ‘Daddy doesn’t care that this is a big day for us and for the students. Daddy Dearest just thinks of himself.’
‘You’re wrong,’ I tell him and hope to goodness that I’m right. I need Shelby here, otherwise I think I might go a little bit mad.
Chapter Sixty-Three
We take the animals out of their pens and lead them into the barn where they take up their places in the nativity scene. They have been beautifully dressed in festive livery and it makes me laugh out loud to see them. I’m guessing that Bev must have been busy on eBay.
The sheep and goats have little Santa hats on, held by elastic under their chins, and they look unbearably cute. The geese must be in an agreeable mood as they’re wearing jaunty Christmassy neckerchiefs and aren’t currently trying to nip anyone. Teacup has a festive scarf which he’s currently trying to eat. Sweeny and Carter are in situ in the adjacent stables which are framed by arches of holly. Just their huge presence is calming. Everyone is looking very spruce and angelic.
And, something that gladdens my heart, our feral farmyard cat – Phantom – with his half-face and goosestep gait is up in the rafters of the barn looking down on the scene. We rarely get a glimpse of him and it’s nice that even he has deigned to join in on this our special day.
The only problem – as usual – is the alpacas. As Lucas said, they’re already strangely frisky and are skittering about. Perhaps it’s because they’ve been haltered for a while and it’s one of the very many things that they don’t like. No one has even tried to get near them with Christmas adornments.
‘We’ll stay here,’ I say to Lucas. ‘Until they calm down.’
‘OK.’
To prove my point Johnny bounces round in a circle and takes me with him.
‘Chill out, man,’ Lucas tells him and rubs his neck.
As there’s activity in the barn, the crowd start to gather around, even though we’re not quite ready for them.
The donkeys, Harriet and Hilda, are much more relaxed and settle in their corner of our Bethlehem/deepest Buckinghamshire stable. Lottie and Erin have been busy behind the scenes and they lead in Ringo, Buzz Lightyear and Beyoncé all dressed for the occasion – humans and ponies. The ponies have red sparkly ribbons threaded through their manes and tails plus, as promised, red glittery hooves. The ponies look quite pleased with their glamorous selves. Especially, Beyoncé. The sheep, as malleable as ever, mill about at the front of the scene, just content to look for something they can eat.
Jack and Tamara are dressed as Joseph and Mary. They take their places in the stable behind the crib. Three more students are dressed as the three wise men and even more as shepherds are ushered in. It’s apparent that a lot of old tea towels and bed sheets have been pressed into service. I blame that on Bev. Joseph is totally ignoring Mary and, instead, is staring open-mouthed at the two rather skimpily dressed teen Christmas elves, which I don’t remember being part of a traditional nativity set-up.
When they’re all assembled, Lucas flicks a switch and lights come on all over the barn. It’s late afternoon now and is getting dark, so they shine out brightly. The star twinkles and the stable is bathed in a mellow and suitably holy glow. Behind us is a painted backdrop of a city nightscape with little fairy lights peeping through the windows. Even the blond, blue-eyed Baby Jesus doesn’t seem so freaky now he’s in context. It all looks so much better than I’d hoped and I wonder how I ever doubted that we could pull this off.
Bev comes to the front of the barn and addresses the people who’ve braved the cold to be here.
‘Thanks, everyone, for coming along today. I hope you’ve enjoyed some mulled wine, played some games, visited our sequined Santa, won something you want on the tombola and, last but not least, have learned something of the work we do here. If you haven’t, then do speak to one of our staff or our students who are here today and are happy to tell you all about us.’
Everyone gives a big clap.
‘The students are going to sing a couple of Christmas songs for you and then our resident poet, Lucas Dacre, will read his festive poem.’