Trisha Ashley - Twelve Days of Christmas

‘We didn’t put the horses out first thing, since Becca and Nutkin are off after breakfast,’ Jude said, constructing a giant egg and bacon sandwich using a large, floury bap.

‘We thought they might as well spend a little time together in the stable before we go, then Jude can put Lady and Billy out in the paddock,’ Becca said. ‘I mucked out yesterday, so a bit of a clean-up should do the trick.’

‘Yes, I’ll do that, then drop your bags off afterwards,’ Jude agreed.

‘And Edwina will come to fetch us shortly, too,’ Noël said.

Tilda had actually come down for breakfast, and I thought that now Edwina was back to look after them, they were quite happy to go home — even if Jess would clearly rather have stayed at Old Place!

‘I could stay tonight, at least, couldn’t I?’ she wheedled. ‘It’s Holly’s last night!’

‘Of course, if your Uncle Jude agrees,’ I said quickly and he gave me one of his more unreadable stares.

‘Your Uncle Jude is entitled to a bit of peace occasionally!’ he told her.

‘Ooh! You want to be alone with Holly!’ Jess exclaimed with an air of discovery and I felt myself go pink.

‘I do, but I can’t imagine how you guessed,’ he said sardonically.

‘Jess; don’t tease,’ Tilda said. ‘Of course you are coming back to the lodge with us.’

‘We’ll all be meeting up at the Revels later in the day, anyway,’ Noël pointed out. ‘I can hardly wait!’

Once they had gone, the house felt strangely empty. I expect Lady and Billy were already missing Nutkin, too.

Jude was busy helping to ferry luggage about and then cleaning out Nutkin’s empty loosebox and Michael, who had already packed, kept me company in the kitchen while I was doing a few last-minute jobs.

I decided on some of the turkey curry as an easy dinner for tonight and took that out to defrost, then froze lots of single portions of leftover venison casserole (I’d made a double quantity, especially), with easy heating instructions written on the lids: Jude’s diet before I came was dreadful and I didn’t want him to lapse entirely as soon as I’d gone. .

It was odd with just the three of us eating lunch in the kitchen at the big table and I think Michael felt a bit of a gooseberry, even though I was glad he was there — and Jude didn’t seem to mind at all! In fact, he seemed amazingly cheerful, so perhaps he actually preferred being alone and now couldn’t wait to have the place to himself?

‘Could you take Holly down to the Revels with you this afternoon, Michael?’ Jude asked. ‘Only I have to go early to get ready and Edwina will drive Noël, Tilda and Jess there.’

‘If you’ve got room for that enormous basket of Revel Cakes, too?’ I said. ‘Otherwise I’ll take my car.’

‘No problem: they can go on the back seat,’ he said. ‘My bags all fit in the boot.’

‘What about Merlin? I presume he stays here?’ I asked Jude. ‘Yes, he wouldn’t like all the noise.’

He vanished after lunch, but came downstairs later with an armful of mumming costumes from the attic, which he stowed carefully in his Land Rover before driving off with a casual, ‘See you both later!’

His mind seemed to be elsewhere: but then, with Jude, I have learned that this is not unusual.

I changed into my red dress, boots and long winter coat for the occasion, with the bright green scarf Laura had given me. . in fact, if we got down to the village early enough, I hoped to get a chance to slip away and ring her, because I really needed to talk to her!

When I carried the huge basket of Revel Cakes into the snug of the Auld Christmas, Tilda, Noël, Becca and Old Nan were already there in front of the fire, but there was no sign of the usual inhabitant. He was probably off donning his costume.

‘Where’s Jess?’ I asked.

‘Gone to fetch Nan’s distance glasses, she left them behind,’ Tilda explained. ‘And Edwina’s gone to see Oriel — they are old friends, but she will be back in good time for the start. We old things sit outside, well wrapped up, you know.’

‘I wondered who the chairs were for,’ Michael said.

‘I don’t want to sit out: I wish I could still take part,’ Noël said wistfully.

‘I feel a bit left out, too,’ Michael agreed, ‘but I expect that’s the actor in me!’

Nancy was gathering ingredients by the vast vat in which she intended mixing the wassail and I went to see what she was putting into it.

‘I’ve another panful mixed ready in the kitchen,’ she told me. ‘It’s best to be prepared early.’

‘Yes, I’ve always found that a good plan in life, too,’ I said, though the more I thought about it, the less prepared I felt to spend a night alone at Old Place with Jude Martland!

‘This thing is insulated,’ she said, banging the side of the vast tub with a wooden spoon the size of a small paddle. ‘They used to keep the wassail hot by sticking red-hot pokers into it, but times have changed and this is much easier.’

‘It smells like a fairly heady mix — what’s in it?’

‘Ale, cloudy apple juice and a roasted apple or two, cinnamon and nutmeg. . A baby could drink it,’ she assured me. ‘But it keeps everyone warm and gives them stamina.’

‘Stamina?’

‘Yes, for the dancing.’

‘Right. .’ I said, thinking that that sounded pretty harmless. ‘Well, I’m just slipping across to the church for a few minutes — I want to ring a friend and there’s a good signal in the porch.’

‘I’d have suggested the barn, you get a pretty good signal there, too, but that’s where they’re all getting their costumes on. I hope they’ve remembered to make the circlets: I wonder if you will get one this year?’ She eyed me thoughtfully.

What circlets? I wondered, as I dashed across to the little church and called Laura’s number, hoping desperately that she would answer. When she did, I barely let her get a word in before pouring out the news of my latest discovery.

‘Laura, I’m not Jude’s cousin after all! Well, actually, I suppose I am, but so many times removed I’m probably just as much cousin to half of Little Mumming!’

‘What do you mean?’

I explained about Ned, my grandfather, having been adopted by the Martlands and she said, ‘Great! So now your little Puritan soul has been satisfied, you’re free to lust after Jude?’

‘And vice versa — not that the thought that we were related seemed to be holding him back from making a move on me before.’

‘There you are then, go for it,’ she encouraged me. ‘I can tell you want to.’

‘Yes,’ I admitted, ‘only I don’t know what he wants!’

‘I think I could make a guess,’ she said dryly.

‘Yes, but he’s already made it plain he doesn’t want to fall in love again and neither do I. But on the other hand, I’m not a light-affair sort of person, am I, let alone a one-night-stand person? And. . well, he’s difficult . There’s an attraction between us, there’s no denying that, but we argue and snap at each other all the time and although he did say once he’d like me to stay on, I don’t know if he wanted me as cook, bottle washer and unpaid artist’s model, or what !’

‘ What , I should think, by the sound of it,’ she said, amused. ‘Why not just go with the flow tonight and see what happens? Put your Strange Baptist upbringing and all those carefully-worked-out life plans to one side, and go off-piste.’

‘You’re advising me to have a night of mad passion?’

‘If it pans out that way and you want to. Then you can just walk away tomorrow. . or not. Go for it!’ she encouraged.

‘I’m afraid, if I do, I might get hurt,’ I confessed.